Anna Maria’s former treasurer accumulated a long list of questionable purchases during her last few years with the municipality.
The city’s Dec. 19, 2025, notice of internal investigation and request for information to LeAnne Endres — formerly Addy — questioned the former treasurer about $10,518.46 in credit card activity since 2022.
That includes $8,915.38 in city credit card activity, the use of $573.17 in vendor reward points, as well as $1,029.91 in personal credit card activity using city vendor accounts.
Endres served as treasurer from March 2017 to Nov. 17, 2025, when she was terminated without cause by Mayor Mark Short.
She filed a lawsuit against the city in April, seeking more than $100,000 in damages due to claims of age and disability discrimination, wrongful termination and unlawful retaliation, among other allegations.
Endres’ lawsuit listed the city’s internal investigation into her purchases as part of its “retaliatory treatment” toward her.
The city had yet to respond to her complaint as of June 5, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s website, manateeclerk.com.
According to public records, the city’s investigation identified numerous purchases “on the city credit card issued under (Endres’) name as well as other practices which we have been unable to link to any ascertainable city purpose.”
The document provided a bulleted list of concerns regarding such activity, including:
- “Use of personal credit cards to purchase items under city accounts with certain vendors resulting in the avoidance of sales tax and possible shipping charges;
- “Use of reward points under city accounts to purchase items of a personal nature;
- “Additional purchases of computers and peripherals delivered to (Endres’) home or picked up at stores that at this time have not been located;
- “Unusually high volumes of purchases of like products delivered to (Endres’) personal address while similar products were being purchased either from the same or different vendors and being shipped directly to city hall.”
The notice reflected that many of the suspicious transactions allegedly made by Endres lacked receipts, or that city staff could not locate the assets purchased.
Some transactions listed as part of the $8,915.38 in city credit card activity attributed to Endres include:
- $2,250 to Zipline in June 2024 for a virtual personal marketing class;
- $1,008.97 to Best Buy in June 2024 for an Apple Watch and AirPod Max headphones;
- $749 to Amazon in October 2024 for an iPad Mini;
- $599 to Best Buy in July 2024 for a ReMarkable paper tablet;
- $478.99 to Best Buy in October 2024 for Apple AirPods and a Magic Keyboard for an iPad Pro 13;
- $222.56 to Shorty Love Case in June 2024 for a pink bag;
- $158.48 to Amazon in August 2024 for a ReMarkable marker and MacBook Air 13 case;
- $136.31 to Loopy Cases in November 2024 for “numerous” phone cases;
- $114.99 to Amazon in September 2024 for an Apple Pencil Pro.
The city investigation attributed the use of $573.17 in vendor reward points to the purchase of two $199.99 Shark vacuums, $40.64 for pool noodles, $29.81 for women’s sneakers and $102.74 for men’s clothing.
It attributed $1,029.91 in personal credit card activity using city vendor accounts to the purchase of another two $199.99 Shark vacuums and $629.93 in 11 charges to Amazon in 2022.
The city’s notice requested Endres to provide a written response by Jan. 6 to establish the business purpose of each item, reason for purchase, the person who approved each purchase, as well as an explanation for her purchasing practices.
Endres’ response
Endres emailed a response to the city’s internal investigation and request for information on Jan. 5, but she argued that she could not provide the explanations the municipality was seeking.
“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,” Endres wrote. “Any attempt to respond without access to the requested records would be incomplete and potentially misleading.”
“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,” she added.
To provide a “full and accurate response,” Endres demanded access to a list of materials, including copies of receipts for the purchases, credit card statements, emails regarding authorization of the purchases, access to vendor accounts associated with city purchases and more.
She argued that “the majority” of the identified purchases were consistent with longstanding city practices under former Mayor Dan Murphy and that no city audit had noted issues with the purchases.
She also argued that the missing receipts were not her fault.
“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,” Endres wrote.
She added, “I do not admit to any allegation contained in (the city’s) correspondence. I explicitly reserve all rights, including the right to contest any findings or actions taken against me, to pursue all administrative and legal remedies, and to hold the city accountable for any harm caused to my professional reputation.”