'I felt that I had to memorialize what I was seeing': Manatee clerk explains concerns with county administrator
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Angelina Colonneso provided more details about her concerns with County Administrator Scott Hopes in an interview with the Herald-Tribune on Monday.
Colonneso sent a letter on Friday to the chairman of the Manatee County Commission, criticizing the county administrator for fiscal accountability issues, an alleged lack of communication and transparency, and the impacts of hefty organizational changes.
The renewal of the county administrator’s contract is scheduled for Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, so Colonneso wanted to provide the board with information about Hopes ahead of the meeting.
“In my role as comptroller, I saw things happening very fast, very frequently,” she said, “and it got to a point where I felt that I had to memorialize what I was seeing.”
Background: Manatee County clerk criticizes County Administrator Scott Hopes in letter to commission
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She said she has turned some of her concerns over to the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court's Division of Inspector General. IG audits take some time to be completed, though, so Colonneso said she decided to also share information with the County Commission herself.
Transparency concerns
In her letter, Colonneso expresses concern with how the county handles public records requests and describes a recent verbal exchange with Hopes.
During a conversation the two officials had this spring, Hopes told her that she needed to “coordinate with him” before responding to a public records request, according to Colonneso’s letter.
She said that Hopes admonished her for her promptness in responding to a public records request. Someone had requested a county employee’s resignation letter.
“He (Hopes) said that he could teach me how to respond to public records requests, he could teach me how to deal with the press, that I didn’t have to respond to it right away,” she told the Herald-Tribune.
He also said that she “could have brought down an entire county department,” according to the letter.
“And I just looked at him and said, ‘What does that have to do with a public records request, a simple request being made?’” she told the Herald-Tribune.
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Colonneso said she has repeatedly told Hopes that she’s an independent constitutional officer and that her office has its own policy on public records.
Since her conversation with Hopes, her office has learned of “what appears to be serious issues with how the county handles public records requests,” she said. She has turned those concerns over to the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court's Division of Inspector General.
She told the Herald-Tribune that she can’t reveal what the IG is looking into or doing.
Colonneso’s letter also expresses concerns with issues other than transparency. She alleges, for example, that Hopes “exclusively” uses a county “pool” vehicle for transportation, including to and from work.
Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes responds
On Sunday, Hopes told the Herald-Tribune that he disputes Colonneso's letter and that her claims were inaccurate. He said he is preparing facts in advance of Tuesday's county meeting to discuss with commissioners.
"I make decisions based on facts and data, and I am not about to try to rebut her baseless claims and inferences and allegations without the data to back it up," Hopes said.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Manatee Clerk of Court explains why she openly criticized Scott Hopes
