Bradenton restricts Councilman Sanders’ access to City Hall after ‘unhinged’ behavior
Bradenton City Councilman Bill Sanders is facing new building restrictions at City Hall and criticism linked to a campaign mailer.
Sanders, who represents parts of East Bradenton along the Manatee River on the Bradenton City Council, has come under fire from city employees and officials in recent months. An investigative report recently determined the elected official has shown a pattern of “abusive and threatening behavior” toward staff.
City leaders have considered levying some sort of punishment, but a final decision has not been made.
Following new reports of harassment, city officials have taken an unprecedented step of preventing Sanders from interacting with certain city employees.
In an Oct. 20 email to Bradenton City Council, City Attorney Scott Rudacille and the city’s department heads, City Administrator Rob Perry announced changes to Sanders’ electronic key card, which restricted his access to a wing of the building where about 20 employees work in the Information Technology, Accounting and Administration departments.
Many of those employees were the target of Sanders’ “maddened behavior,” according to Perry’s email to city leaders.
Sanders could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Sanders barred from one City Hall area
“Based upon recent events and a continuing pattern of concerning and unhinged behavior by an elected official, I am left with no choice but to take extraordinary action to restrict access to our administrative staff and their work area from Councilman-Ward 4 until further notice,” Perry wrote in the email.
Perry said the decision follows the publication of a recent Bradenton Herald article detailing a letter signed by 13 city staffers who described hostile workplace allegations.
In a city meeting after that article published, Sanders appeared to threaten and tease staffers, including one of the employees who signed the letter, Perry said.
Sanders has repeatedly downplayed the investigation, calling it “phony” and claiming that employees were forced to participate. According to Perry, the elected official has continued to poke fun at the allegations against him.
“During a meeting of the housing committee, the councilman publicly confronted one of our employees in front of the entire committee and staff, and personally asked a signatory to the letter if she was afraid of him in front of the entire onlooking forum,” Perry explained in his email. “Politely but scared, she tried to avoid the confrontation and returned to her office visibly upset and physically shaken. The councilman smirked, grinned and laughed from the (dais) after the confrontation.
“This is simply unacceptable, demoralizing, bullying. It evidences a pattern of highly, unprofessional behavior of an elected government official who has repeatedly proclaimed there are no rules that apply to him. I respectfully disagree and cannot in good (conscience) allow this to continue unabated.”
In recent meetings, city leaders have considered levying some sort of punishment against Sanders, but a final decision has not been made.
Speaking with the Bradenton Herald, Perry said he believes it is his job to protect staff from the councilman’s behavior. At least 10 staffers have expressed concern about Sanders, he said.
“I think it’s safe to say that employees feel freer and more relaxed about doing their jobs. That’s fair to say for anyone doing their job,” said Bradenton’s Public Information Officer Jeannie Roberts, who also signed the employee letter voicing concern with Sanders. “It has made a big difference.”
Mayor Gene Brown also said he supported the changes to Sanders’ building clearance.
“I thought it was the right thing to do to make our staff feel safe,” Brown said.
City leaders have said they hoped the investigative report by a third-party labor firm would have made an impact.
Since then, officials say the elected official’s behavior has continued to make threats and harass employees. In emails obtained by the Bradenton Herald, Sanders has falsely claimed that criticisms or actions taken against him are defamation or election tampering.
Parents send cease and desist letter over campaign mailer
Sanders received cease and desist letters after his campaign sent a mailer to Bradenton residents that included a recent photo with a child in a wheelchair.
In October, city officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony at Lewis Park, where the city has plans to install Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant playground equipment, including a “Liberty Swing” that allows wheelchair-bound children to use a swing.
Manatee County resident 11-year-old Easton Gonzalez was present at the groundbreaking. Easton, who his parents said is bound to a wheelchair due to his spina bifida diagnosis, posed for photos with city officials at the event. Some of those pictures later appeared on Bradenton’s official social media profiles.
But Easton’s parents were shocked to learn that a photo of an elected official and Easton made it to a political mailer. In the photo, Sanders kneels beside Easton while both of them show a thumbs-up gesture.
“Re-elect your councilman November 8th. Supporting parks with ADA equipment compliance,” the mailer said.
Sanders did not contact them seeking permission to use the photo in a political ad, Jennifer Crofoot, Easton’s mother, told the Bradenton Herald.
Crofoot and her husband sent Sanders a cease and desist letter on Oct. 27 but were disappointed with Sanders’ response, which did not contain an apology. In a public Facebook post, Crofoot spoke out about the mailer and criticized Sanders for exploiting her son’s image.
“I wanted to stand up for my son’s right, his image and likeness. Quite frankly, this was a huge undertaking for us,” said Crofoot, who noted that her family has campaigned for six years to bring ADA playground equipment to the area. “This has really just put a damper on the whole accomplishment.”
In her Facebook post, which had more than 50 comments and 50 shares as of Thursday afternoon, Crofoot said she expected pictures of Easton to be posted after the event, but she condemned Sanders’ use of the photo as a political tool.
“With the use of my son’s photo, it could also be implied that my family and I somehow have endorsed or are affiliated with this candidate. I can assure you that is NOT the case,” Crofoot wrote. “In truth, the first time we met him was the day this picture was taken only several weeks ago.”
Crofoot and Easton found support from some city officials. Brown spoke with the family and apologized for Sanders’ decision to use the photo in a political mailer. Councilwoman Jayne Kocher commented on Crofoot’s Facebook post to criticize Sanders’ action, as well.
“I am so sorry for your and your beautiful son’s pain,” Kocher wrote. “There are so many who have suffered from his inappropriate words and actions and I applaud your strength and conviction in standing up to him.
Sanders is seeking re-election to a second four-year term on Election Day on Tuesday. He is challenged by two candidates, Kurt Landefeld and Lisa Gonzalez Moore.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 3:54 PM.
