Manatee school board feud heats up with attempt to dump chair because of gun comment

Manatee County School Board tensions came to a head Friday during a special meeting when board member Charlie Kennedy called for Scott Hopes’ removal as chair.

Kennedy said he wanted Hopes out as chairman because of a comment Hopes last month made about having a gun on school property during a dispute with another board member, Dave Miner.

Another board member, John Colon, accused of Kennedy, who preceded Hopes as board chair, of trying to mount a “coup.”

The public display of infighting came three days after after voters narrowly approved a proposal to increase property taxes to support the school district.

Before the school board was to discuss the termination of a former school bus driver, Kennedy asked the board to consider rescinding the school board vote in November that made Hopes chair and Gina Messenger vice chair.

After nearly two hours of discussion, the board decided to postpone Hopes’ possible removal to April 10.

Kennedy’s reason was concerns surrounding comments Hopes made after arguing with fellow board member Dave Miner in February and alleging that Miner tried to run him over with his car, which was caught on security footage. Hopes was quoted as saying to Bradenton Police Sgt. Leo Donnelly, “He’s lucky my gun was in my car.”

The motion to put the item on the April 10 agenda carried 3-2, with Miner and Messenger also supporting it. Hopes and Colon opposed the proposal.

Kennedy said he wanted to see a change in leadership not because how the incident was made public, but because Hopes’ comment about his gun was made nearly two weeks after 17 were killed in the Parkland high school shooting.

“It was just the wrong time to reference a firearm on school property,” Kennedy said, adding that news coverage of the event “put the district in a bad light.”

Hopes told Kennedy that he was “more than offended” with the reason why he decided to make the motion.

Hopes filed a complaint against Miner on March 6, alleging that Miner was in “a state of rage and anger.” By the end of that week, the Bradenton Police Department found no probable cause to charge Miner.

Hopes said he was “in disagreement with the police department.”

“It’s not over,” Hopes said.

Colon came to Hopes’ defense, saying that Hopes’ gun was in his car at home. Hopes had taken his truck to the February meeting. Even if the gun was on school property, Colon said it would have been legal.

Colon added that he believed this motion was not about Hopes’ gun comment.

“This is about a coup,” he said.

Vice Chair Messenger said the tax hike “passed in spite of us” and said she supported the change in leadership until the disagreement between Hopes and Miner was resolved.

Hopes said he believed “we were moving past this,” but this was not evident on the dais, as the pair were in a heated exchange over interrupting one another.

“You’re naive if you think that voting to rescind the decision that was made in November is going to give you that result,” Hopes said to Messenger.

Hopes added that his business connections were instrumental in the passing of the recent property tax referendum to benefit the school district. If the board was to decide to remove him as chair, it would “run the risk of dividing this board” or taxpayers recalling their tax vote.

Hopes apologized for his comments after the altercation with Miner, saying they were made in the heat of the moment.

“I have never held a gun out and threatened anyone with it,” he said, adding that he was “fearful” at the time and wouldn’t make such an intentional comment.

The special meeting Friday was intended for former bus driver Jerome Heaven to have an opportunity to plead his case to keep his job after he was found guilty in February of soliciting a prostitute. Because the surprise discussion took several hours, Heaven’s administrative hearing was moved to April 10 at 2 p.m. A discussion on the outcome of the March 20 election was also moved to the April meeting.

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Manatee school board feud heats up with attempt to dump chair because of gun comment."