Bradenton Beach commissioners unanimously approved a consent agenda item at their Aug. 21 meeting authorizing $91,050 in payments to city attorney Ricinda Perry for services rendered in November and December 2024 following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Typically, consent agenda items are not discussed, but the 5-0 vote came as commissioners pushed back against an editorial by The Islander publisher Bonner Joy in the Aug. 20 issue that raised questions about Perry’s billing, the attorney’s role in the recovery response and the city’s approach to paying legal fees — hourly versus annually.
Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in the Big Bend region Sept. 26, 2024, caused a catastrophic storm surge that emergency management officials said left Bradenton Beach 90% to 95% destroyed.
Floodwaters swept across the city, destroying homes and vehicles and burying roadways under sand. Two weeks after Helene, Hurricane Milton delivered more flooding, high winds and further destruction.
The preparation, response and recovery work were around the clock, according to city officials.
Perry, commenting on the costs, said she assisted Police Chief John Cosby and staff in emergency operations, with both she and Cosby working more than 16 hours a day.
“There were days I slept in my car at the police department,” Perry said. “I was just too exhausted … or it was unsafe to go home. I have nothing to hide, and I’m proud of the work that we did, and I stand behind everything that I billed to this city.”
Perry’s standard rate is $220 per hour, but during the storm recovery, she worked at a reduced $150 hourly rate for non-attorney tasks. Those costs, she said, go through staff review and FEMA’s reimbursement process.
“FEMA would hopefully, based off of the review of our contractor there, will approve all that … so the taxpayers are not exposed to this bill,” said Perry, adding that 87.5% of eligible costs are reimbursed.
Mayor John Chappie called the criticism unfair and insulting.
“Our people stepped to the plate and went through hell to serve our community,” he said.
Chappie noted Perry’s billing history — $123,939 in fiscal 2022, $111,439 in 2023 and $330,420 in 2024, averaging roughly $188,580 per year, or $15,756 per month — and contrasted it with Holmes Beach’s $460,000 annual legal budget, which includes $100,000 for code enforcement.
Other commissioners joined in defense of the billing and storm response.
Commissioner Scott Bear said, “It wasn’t just Ricinda who did work. We had other consultants. Nobody questioned any of the (other) work we had done. They just made it about attorney’s fees,” Bear said. “I was insulted that no one asked a question and wrote an editorial without input from any of the five (commissioners).”
Scaccianoce said, “The lawyers for Anna Maria and Holmes Beach … not one of those attorneys took the time that Mrs. Perry did to slop around in mud and muck in that disaster,” she said.
Cosby, a 30-year veteran of the city’s emergency management program who led recovery efforts, observed that the island cities were subject to a 2023 state review by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability and Bradenton Beach came out of it well.
“This malfeasance and fraud (accusations) that are supposedly going on in the city. We literally … were stripped naked by OPPAGA. And they went through everything. If there were issues, we would have known about it,” Cosby said.
The OPPAGA study was a review on the possible consolidation of Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach. The findings were presented to state legislators in early September 2024. The results of the study were released to the public in January.