Sarasota taxpayers shouldn't be asked to clean up Commissioner Kyle Battie's mess
On Feb. 5 the Sarasota City Commission will discuss whether to pay a $7,500 retainer to a lawyer to defend Commissioner Kyle Battie in a potential lawsuit from a Sarasota resident.
In short, it’s alleged that Battie added an item to a recent city meeting with the intention of calling out the resident on a Facebook post – and also to assert that it was racist in nature.
More: An offensive post stirs anger in City Hall. It should spur some straight talk in Sarasota.
The resident has stated that they had nothing to do with posting the material on social media, and that the post was a crude hoax carried out by other parties. In response to Battie’s public comments, the resident has retained a lawyer, who has notified the city of his client's intention to sue.
What has any of this to do with the taxpayers of Sarasota? The answer is nothing, except that they will be asked to spend the tax dollars that may be necessary to defend Battie.
I like Kyle Battie, but I believe he made a couple of mistakes on this.
The first was not checking his facts more carefully. The second was raising what should have been a personal matter at a taxpayer-funded public meeting – and doing so largely to maximize the impact of his comments.
At a time when there are Sarasota residents who require assistance simply to buy food, I do not think the city should be spending $7,500 of taxpayer money to defend what I would suggest is indefensible conduct by Commissioner Battie.
Instead, I believe the following would lead to a far better resolution:
Battie should make an unequivocal public apology to the citizen during the Sarasota City Commission's next meeting.
The city should send $7,500 to a Sarasota charity on behalf of the citizen who was wrongly accused.
We don’t elect people to use their office to give credence to personal grudges that are improperly held. We elect people to do the business of the people.
Come on, city commissioners, it’s time to do the right thing.
We all make mistakes but when we do, it’s right to apologize. What’s not right is to ask citizens to pay tax dollars to defend mistakes that won’t be acknowledged.
Martin Hyde is a Sarasota businessman. He was a candidate in the 2022 Republican Party primary for Florida’s 16th Congressional District seat.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota residents shouldn't pay the price for Kyle Battie's mistake
