Bradenton Councilor Settles Defamation Lawsuit: Report

BRADENTON, FL — A current Bradenton city councilor has settled a defamation lawsuit with a former councilor.

Bill Sanders, who represents Ward 4 and is up for reelection, paid $175,000 to former councilor Bemis Smith, the Bradenton Herald reported.

Smith, who lost the Ward 4 seat to Sanders in 2018, filed the lawsuit against him in April 2019, following the election. During his campaign, Sanders made several allegations against Smith, including accusing him of “running a criminal enterprise.”

Following the settlement, Smith told the Bradenton Times, “I just hope that we can ultimately get back to a place where we can disagree civilly and campaign on the real issues, rather than making up lies and fabrications to disparage your opponent.”

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A recent third-party investigation also found that complaints that Sanders created a hostile work environment at Bradenton City Hall were substantiated.

“While he is not a city employee subject to dismissal, if he were a city employee, there is no doubt his employment would be terminated for his egregious, repeated violations of this policy,” the investigator wrote in her report.

In a letter to retired judge Gregory Holder, Sanders also admitted to making “false allegations” and “slanderous comments” about his record during a recent candidate forum. He claimed that Holder had been “reprimanded by the Supreme Court” and “removed from the bench," reports said.

Holder conducted an investigation into allegations made against Bradenton police Chief Melanie Bevan this summer.

"I have come to realize that my actions were inappropriate, harmful, and improper," Sanders wrote in his apology letter to Holder. "On multiple occasions, I publicly accused you of being removed from public office as a circuit court judge in Hillsborough County. Those accusations were false. I should have been more thoughtful before publishing the false statements.”

Sanders faces two contenders, Kurt Landefeld and Lisa Gonzalez Moore, in the November election.