Ex-city official spent $10K on AirPods, tablets and more, Anna Maria report says
An investigation into a former official revealed she spent over $10,000 of city funds on personal items, such as headphones, tablets and more, Anna Maria officials say.
The investigation, which started in November 2025, questioned over $10,000 in purchases that the former treasurer, LeAnne Endres, made with city credit cards and using points from those cards.
Endres is suing the City of Anna Maria, alleging city leadership discriminated against older employees, rejected disability accommodations and illegally tracked another employee. Her attorney, Marie Mattox, previously told the Bradenton Herald that the city attempted to bring false allegations against Endres.
“Ms. Endres was subjected to a horrific pattern of abuse due to her age and disability and due to her whistleblower reports,” Mattox said in an emailed statement. “False and damning allegations were made against her to cover up the illegal motive behind her termination and the false claims then and now that are being made against her are concocted to distract from the City’s illegal behavior.”
When reached for comment on the audit into Endres’ spending, Mayor Mark Short declined to comment.
Audit investigates over $10k in purchases
Records obtained by the Bradenton Herald show the audit details $10,518.46 in charges during Endres’ tenure that the city flagged as questionable. Endres worked for the city of Anna Maria from September 2016 to November 2025.
“While this internal audit remains ongoing, we have identified several purchases on the City credit card issued under your name as well as other practices which we have been unable to link to any ascertainable City purpose,” the city said in an email to Endres in December. “The purpose of this correspondence is to allow you the opportunity to provide an explanation for these flagged purchases and practices as we continue our review.”
The purchases include $8,915.38 for items like personal marketing classes, phone cases, Lululemon products, a “pink bag” and several Apple products like an Apple Watch, AirPods Max headphones, Apple Pencil Pro and iPad keyboard.
There’s also $573.17 worth of reward points in question, which were used to buy two $200 vacuums, women’s sneakers, men’s clothing and pool noodles.
Another $1,029.91 in purchases was also detailed in the investigation as use of personal credit cards on the city’s vendor accounts.
“It is critical that the City be able to account for these purchases and practices as a steward of public funds,” the audit notice stated.
When reached for comment about the investigation, Endres directed the Bradenton Herald to Mattox, who did not immediately respond for comment.
However, in her response to the city in January, Endres requested copies of the recipes, invoices and credit card statements relating to the purchases in question.
“I am no longer employed by the City and, therefore, do not have access to City systems, records, or documents necessary to provide a substantive response. Any attempt to respond without access to the requested records would be incomplete and potentially misleading,” she said in the email.
In her response, Endres claimed that most of the purchases were “consistent with longstanding City practices under the former Mayor” and no issues were found during previous annual audits.
“Some receipts that were properly submitted at the time now appear to be missing from the November 2024 and December 2024 City credit card statements, further demonstrating that any gaps in records are not due to my actions.
“Without access to these materials, I am unable to provide a substantive explanation,” Endres’ response continued. “The City’s current approach has hampered my ability to defend myself and prove that all actions were proper and consistent with established City practices…I do not admit to any allegation contained in your correspondence.”
