County commissioner lost at re-election. He insists, ‘I’m not going anywhere’

Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith said Friday his Democratic challenger Reggie Bellamy, who defeated Smith in last month’s Democratic primary, broke the law and is confident that come November he will remain in office.

Smith made the claim the day after the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office closed its investigation of a complaint filed by Smith and found no wronging by Bellamy.

At a news conference, Smith disclosed a complaint he filed on Aug. 30 with law enforcement and the Florida Elections Commission pointing to a bulk mailing, worth $832, that took place prior to the election that was not originally accounted for in Bellamy’s campaign finance report.

Smith claims Bellamy ran an “invisible campaign,” and that the mailer made the difference in the election where Smith lost by 180 votes.

“Had I known about the bulk direct mailers I would have adjusted my campaign strategy accordingly,” Smith said in his complaint. “His unlawful conduct influenced the election results as demonstrated by the small margin.”

Smith went on to say that Bellamy committed perjury and fraud when he failed to disclose all the campaign funds he had spent.

“There was an amendment made to one of the campaign reports that was made due to an oversight,” Bellamy said. “Which is not an uncommon occurrence. It is very unfortunate that the community resources, along with taxpayer dollars have been spent on such an issue. I will continue to focus my time and energy on running a positive campaign to represent the people of District 2 and Manatee County. I will have no further comment on this matter.”

Bellamy faces Republican Dimitrie Dennis in the Nov. 6 general election.

The sheriff’s office launched an investigation into Smith’s complaint in mid-September. The investigator spoke with Sharon Stief, chief deputy of the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Office, who noted Bellamy immediately responded when the mistake in his campaign filings was discovered and followed instructions on how to correct it. The amended report was accepted by the elections office, Stief told the investigator.

Steif acknowledged to the investigator, “That this is very common during elections and many candidates frequently miss documenting expenses and later amend them.”

Smith said Friday that, “Mr. Bellamy will probably attempt to amend receipts and every time he does, it’s an admission of guilt.”

He insisted that Bellamy had broken the law and that law enforcement knows more than what he was willing to reveal Friday. Smith said if Bellamy is found guilty on any level of the accusations, he cannot be certified in November as the new commissioner. The Democratic Party would then choose who would fill the vacancy, assuming Bellamy wins in the general election.

Smith said “top brass” within the sheriff’s office has informed him that they initially gave Bellamy the benefit of the doubt but was moving forward with the investigation. Smith said he expected from those conversations that charges would be pending any day.

Smith, several times, mentioned his last contact with law enforcement regarding the investigation was Sept. 17. The sheriff’s office’s investigation was closed Thursday, with no charges being filed.

“Through this investigation, I did not, at any time, discover where candidate Reginald Bellamy intentionally intended to hide or not list the $832 expenditure,” the sheriff’s report states, which concludes with, “No crime was committed and this case will be closed.”

Despite sheriff’s office’s findings, Smith called for the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office to pursue charges.

“The election was stolen,” Smith said. “Mr. Bellamy knows it. He knows he committed multiple crimes. It’s just a matter of time before law enforcement approaches the state attorney to ask for him to be charged and I have no doubt that’s what’s going to happen. We’re not looking for anything special. We are looking for the state attorney to follow the law.”

Smith said if the state attorney does not pursue charges, “It makes no sense for any candidate to follow the law.”

The complaint will move forward with the Florida Elections Commission, as every complaint undergoes a process. However, according to state statutes, there may be an issue with Smith releasing the complaint to the media. Florida Statutes say, “All complaints are confidential and exempt from public disclosure until after a probable cause determination.”

Smith can reveal he filed a complaint, but he is not supposed to reveal who it is against until the commission determines a hearing is needed based on probable cause.

The only exception is if Bellamy waives that confidentiality in writing. Bellamy said Friday he had not.

The elections commission could not offer a comment on the complaint until probable cause is either determined or not.

This isn’t the first time Smith has publicly called out Bellamy. Earlier this year, Smith held a press conference demanding Bellamy be fired from his position as director of the Palmetto Youth Center amidst rumors Bellamy was going to run against Smith. He made several allegations against Bellamy that proved to be untrue.

Smith contends that come November, “I’m not going anywhere.”

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 12:23 PM.