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VOL 20 No. 5
November 13, 2019
Sunshine lawsuit judge rules in favor of city recovering attorney fees Judge Edward Nicholas has not yet determined how much the defendants will be ordered to pay the city. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Clockwise from above, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and his wife Barbara led a group of Island veterans down the parade route Monday afternoon. AMI Historical Society board members and volunteers scooped out free ice cream at their ice cream social. Ninety-seven-year-old Air Force veteran Harold A. Burks and 97-year-old Navy veteran Carl Voyles were believed to be the most senior veterans in attendance.
parade honors veterans
The festivities included a post parade ceremony and an ice cream social. BY JOE HENDRICKS
SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – Veterans, an honor guard, three marching bands, a musical duo, local businesses and organizations, a pirate ship, police boats, police vehicles, a fire truck, a dump truck, old trucks and cars, golf carts, ATVs, motorcycles, a mounted sheriff’s patrol and more made their way down Pine Avenue Monday afternoon during the third annual Old Soldiers & Sailors Parade. Hosted by the city of Anna Maria and celebrating Veterans Day, this year’s parade featured the Lakewood Ranch, Manatee and Southeast high school marching bands. The parade ended at City Pier Park, where the annual post-parade Veterans Day ceremonies took place under the shade sail.
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Mayor Dan Murphy welcomed the attending elected officials and after the invocation the honor guard presented the colors at the base of the flagpole before the Lakewood Ranch High School Band played the “National Anthem,” followed by a trumpeter from the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus & Orchestra playing “Taps.” Murphy asked the spouses and significant others of those who served to come forward to be thanked and recognized. He then asked the attending veterans to come forward and be recognized according to the branch of the military they served in. “This is their day: Veterans Day,” said Murphy, a Vietnam War veteran himself. After the ceremony, many folks headed over to the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum for a free ice cream social. “It a great event and a great way to honor those who served our country,” Murphy said.
BRADENTON – Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas has granted the city of Bradenton Beach’s motion to recover attorney fees incurred in the Sunshine Law lawsuit the city and co-plaintiff Jack Clarke filed in 2017. Nicholas has not yet determined how much former Planning and Zoning Board members Reed Mapes, John Metz, Patty Shay and Bill Vincent, and former Scenic WAVES Committee members Tjet Martin and Rose Vincent, as defendants, will be ordered to pay the city. Nicholas granted the city’s motion during a Thursday, Nov. 7, hearing at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton. In July, Nicholas ruled all six city advisory board members violated the Florida Sunshine Law in 2017 when they discussed public business at their Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach (CNOBB) meetings. The defendants are appealing that July ruling. According to City Treasurer Shayne Thompson, the city had incurred approximately $468,000 in attorney fees and legal costs as of last week, not including costs associated with attorney Robert Watrous, City Attorney Ricinda Perry and paralegal Michael Barfield’s preparation and appearances at Thursday’s hearing. Attorneys Thomas Shults and Jodi Ruberg represented Metz and Nicholas noted the legal arguments Shults presented also applied to the five pro se defendants who no longer have attorneys.
ATTORNEY ARGUMENTS
When presenting the city’s request for attorney fees, Watrous said, “Who caused the situation that necessitated the city of Bradenton Beach and Jack Clarke to take action? That was the actions of the defendants. Was this a situation where they accidentally stepped over the line? From the clear reading of your honor’s judgement, the answer is emphatically no. This was an intentional and calculated effort by the defendants to get around Florida law and to not abide by the public records law,” Watrous said. Shults’ legal arguments centered on whether a city can sue its own advisory board members. Shults argued the city must first sue itself. “For the city to request the award of attorney fees against the individual, they must first obtain an award of attorneys’ fees against itself or one of its agencies,” Shults argued. SEE SUNSHINE, PAGE 26
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celebration of life Nov. 16. 4 THANKS-LIVING community
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Anna Maria Island, Florida
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