County commission candidates Little, Servia trade barbs over campaign donations, ethics violations

Candidates for the District 4 seat on the Board of County Commissioners wrestled over donations from special interests groups and an ethics investigation during their opening remarks at a Thursday forum.

Melton Little, a 56-year-old Democrat, called his opponent’s campaign finance records into question to an audience of about 100 Tiger Bay members. He accused Misty Servia of being bought out by big development groups looking to expand in Manatee County.

“Has it crossed anyone’s mind that big development is trying to buy a seat on the commission?” he asked, claiming that the vast majority of Servia’s donations come from property development groups.

According to campaign finance records filed with the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections, Servia has raised more than $60,000 from groups that include property management, construction and architecture personnel. But when it came her turn to address the audience, the 54-year-old Republican hit back with amention of the ethics probe that Little is involved in.

“I’m not surprised at all that my opponent would be on the attack from the get-go,” Servia said. “That’s a compliment to me, because I’m the frontrunner and it’s because he has a cloud of ethics charges hanging over his head.”

That ethics complaint, related to Tampa Bay Rays tickets he and a law partner gave a judge hearing one of their cases, wasn’t something Little wanted to talk about, but queries kept coming during a Q&A session, including from Commissioner Robin DiSabatino, who chose not to seek re-election to the board and has endorsed Servia to take her place.

“Why are you criticizing Misty for her campaign donations and asserting that it’s going to be tied to special interest groups?” DiSabatino asked. “When I looked up my first race, I had $131,000 and you’ve seen how I voted all these years. Donations don’t equal votes.”

Little said he has noticed how DiSabatino and previous District 4 board members have voted and that South County residents “haven’t had someone who will actually fight for them in 16 years.”

In response to a question about the ethics violation investigation, Little said the Florida Supreme Court made a “specific finding.”

The investigation centers around whether Little and his law firm partner, Scott Kallins, influenced Judge John Lakin in 2015 when they gave him Tampa Bay Rays tickets while one of their cases was pending in his court. Lakin resigned a month after the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission formally charged him with misconduct in February 2016 for accepting the gift, citing “professional and family reasons.”

“It was a clean finding that there was no intent on my part to try and influence anyone and he made a specific finding that no one was influenced,” said Little, who also used the moment to accuse Servia of sending out negative fliers to mislead voters.

Servia denied those claims and attempted to straighten the record on on the investigation surrounding Little.

“In addition to what Little told you, the Florida Bar has recommended a minimum 2-year suspension of his law license and the state of Florida Supreme Court will soon rule on that,” she said. “A judge lost his job over this, guys. This is a serious ethics violation, which he was found guilty of and now we’re waiting for the punishment.”

In May, a judge recommended that Little and Kallins should be found guilty of misconduct for their actions, given an admonishment and be placed on probation for one year. He also recommended that the lawyers speak in front of others about their wrongdoing.

District 2 was only partially represented at the forum, as Democrat Reggie Bellamy couldn’t attend due to a work obligation and his Republican opponent Dimitrie Denis left the event shortly after giving his opening statement.

At-large Commissioner Carol Whitmore commended her Independent challenger Candace Luther for stepping up to take on a tough job, but she touted her many years of public service as evidence that she should remain on the board. Luther disagreed, stating that she has noticed a decline in the public’s faith in local government.

“Increased favoritism has been given to special interests over the wishes of the people of Manatee County. That’s not only our commissioners but also the administration and our legal team,” Luther said. “Too much emphasis has been put toward pushing proposals through, regardless of how people feel.”

The commission races will be decided during the Nov. 6 elections.

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 5:27 PM.