One last settlement could signal the end to Bradenton Beach’s Sunshine lawsuit against city residents.
City attorney Ricinda Perry told city commissioners Feb. 4 that defendant Reed Mapes rejected the city’s $100,000 settlement offer, instead proposing to pay $5,000 to end litigation.
Mapes is the only defendant of six who hasn’t settled with the city in the case over Sunshine Law violations they committed in 2017 as members of the city’s planning and zoning board and Scenic WAVES Committee when discussing city issues by email and in person at meetings for the now-defunct grass-roots group Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach.
The Sunshine Law is a series of regulations intended to guarantee open meetings and public access to government records.
Defendants John Metz and Tjet Martin settled with the city for a $350,000 joint settlement, while Patricia Shay, Bill and Rose Vincent each settled their cases at $500.
The settlements include an agreement from the defendants not to pursue an appeal against a ruling from Judge Edward Nicholas of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court that required Metz, Martin and Mapes to reimburse $369,498 of the city’s legal fees.
However, Nicholas’ ruling did not include almost $100,000 in attorney’s fees for Perry, who also worked on the case — so the city was seeking a $100,000 settlement from Mapes to make up for those lost funds.
Commissioner Jake Spooner proposed a $50,000 settlement offer to split the difference in an effort to move forward.
“I could live with splitting it with him,” Spooner said. “I know we want to get this behind us, so it’d be more than fair to say, ‘Look, we already spent $100,000, so we’ll split the difference with you and leave this behind us.”
“We need to just settle it and get it over with,” Commissioner Ralph Cole agreed. “It’s gone on way too long.”
Mayor John Chappie proposed setting a 48-hour timeline for Mapes to respond.
“In my opinion, what Mr. Mapes is doing to the community that he allegedly cared for shows his true colors,” Chappie said. “The taxpayers are footing the bill.”
Mapes moved from the city after the suit was filed.
Commissioners reached a consensus to propose a $50,000 counteroffer and gave Mapes 48 hours to respond.
As of The Islander press time Feb. 8, Mapes’ response was not known.