Despite Clerk’s ‘Grave Concerns,’ Manatee County Administrator's Contract Renewed

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — Despite the county clerk sharing a letter detailing her “grave concerns” about the job performance of Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes, commissioners narrowly approved the renewal of his contract in a 4-3 vote at their Tuesday meeting.

Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore voted against extending Hopes’ contract.

Now, his contract will expire Sept. 30, 2023, and automatically renew year after year unless action is taken by the Manatee County Board of Commissioners.

The board even gave him a raise — though not as high as he would have liked. Though he requested a base salary of $230,000, commissioners only gave him a $10,000 bump to $215,000. They also removed his $450 monthly car allowance.

• Related: 'Grave Concerns' About Manatee County Administrator Shared By Clerk

The renewal came after Angel Colonneso, Manatee County clerk of the circuit court and comptroller, sent a letter to commissioners, which she said "describes issues that I have been monitoring and I felt that you should have this information before you take up this item” about his contract.

She criticized him for his "lack of transparency" when it comes to responding to public records and said his "lack of communication" slows down county projects. The clerk claims that Hopes also exclusively drives a county-owned Chevrolet Tahoe despite receiving a car allowance.

In her letter, the clerk warned commissioners of “repeated troubling events that continue to happen involving your county administrator of which you may not be aware.”

Among her issues with Hopes, Colonneso highlighted a lack of communication and transparency, the impacts of his reorganization, and fiscal accountability.

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners also voted down an investigation into the complaints. The clerk has submitted her concerns to the Manatee County inspector general for an audit.

“There’s disruption to changing a county administrator” Commissioner George Kruse said. “So, to just blindly say we need to get rid of a county administrator at the start of a budget season, during a lot of projects we have going on and floating bonds and working on infrastructure, makes absolutely no sense at this stage until we have bigger discussions internally.”

Bellamy, who had concerns about Hopes since before he was hired, said, “We are bad. And what I mean by we are bad is that this is a very, very, very horrendous situation for our county to be in right now. And if you look at all of the optics…with people resigning – significant people resigning – right in the middle of budget time puts us in a situation where we as the seven of us need to identify as leaders what can we do differently.”

Commissioner James Satcher said Colonneso’s concerns about Hopes “are all solvable, fixable things that if I do my job as the person or 1/7 of the board that hires that person, I can get corrected and get back online.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Vanessa Baugh called the meeting about Hopes’ contract “ridiculous” and blamed their problems on “disinformation” leaked to media.

“From what I’ve seen — and I’ve worked very closely with Dr. Hopes — is he perfect? Oh, no. Does he have some major faults? Oh, yes. But one of his major faults is not doing his job. I’ll say it, it’s ego, and we’ve talked a great deal about it,” she said. “From what I’ve seen, and I’ve witnessed, he’s doing the job that the majority of his board has asked him to do and he’s done it very well.”

Whitmore also noted that nearly 600 county employees have resigned since Hopes became administrator last spring. She’s worried that this number will continue to grow.

“Many (employees) contacted me over the weekend to say they’re almost out the door unless we do something,” she said.

Several commissioners called for an investigation into the clerk’s complaints about Hopes – Whitmore even suggested that he be placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation – but this was voted down by the board.

“(The clerk’s) role is to protect the public trust with the highest degree of ethics, so we must assume that the allegations she has brought forward has some basis that require and deserve an investigation unless there’s evidence to the contrary,” Servia said, adding, “I am a supporter of Dr. Hopes and the reason I want an investigation is to clear his name. Right now, the public has lost trust. We’ve got to rebuild the trust of this community.”

When addressing the board Tuesday, Hopes balked at the notion of a salary lower than the one he requested or keeping his base salary the same, especially with his monthly car allowance taken away.

“In keeping the base salary the same, you are giving me less money than I was making before and far less money than any other county administrators are and you want me to come back to work tomorrow and feel that I’m adequately compensated for the work that I do,” he said.

The administrator added, “I’m pretty uncomfortable with giving me a decrease in pay. Would I do it? Yes, I would do it, but I’m not so sure that’s the way you would want to treat other employees.”

He also defended his use of a county vehicle.

“I do not want a county vehicle, but the matter of the fact is many times I need a county vehicle,” Hopes said. “I only use it for county business and when I take it home, it’s usually because I’m fueling it myself, rather than two individuals coming from transit and picking it up and taking it and fueling it and bringing it back to the parking garage.”