www.amisun.com
MARCH 3, 2021
THE SUN
23
Baugh named in vaccine-related ethics complaint The county commission voted 4-3 against removing Vanessa Baugh as the commission chairperson, after Baugh refused to resign from that position. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
BRADENTON – Manatee County resident Jennifer Hamey filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics Tuesday regarding County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s recent role in organizing a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination distribution site in Lakewood Ranch. Hamey, a local attorney, filed the ethics complaint one day after Sarasota paralegal Michael Barfield filed a sworn criminal complaint with 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodsky’s office and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office regarding Baugh’s participation in arranging the
event and including herself and four friends on the vaccine list. Hamey’s ethics complaint and Barfield’s criminal complaint are separate and independent actions that pertain to the same issues. Ethics complaint Taking place the week of Feb. 16 at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, the pop-up clinic Baugh helped organize was limited to 3,000 recipients in the 34202 and 34211 zip codes only. As part of her organizational efforts, Baugh also submitted to Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur a list containing the names of five specific individuals, including herself, to be vaccinated. As a result of the public fallout that ensued, Baugh later apologized to some degree for her actions and she said she chose not to receive the vaccine herself. Baugh helped organize the Lakewood Ranch vaccination site in conjunction with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lakewood Ranch developer Rex Jensen. Manatee County issued a press
randomized, lottery-based registration and standby pool protocols previously established by the Manatee County Commission, according to the ethics complaint.
ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s recent efforts regarding a vaccination site in Lakewood Ranch have prompted an ethics complaint. release on Feb. 15 in which Baugh was quoted as saying, “This unique opportunity was made possible by Governor DeSantis calling (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. president) Rex Jensen wanting to do a vaccination site near Lakewood Ranch. The governor has been trying to find large areas of neighborhoods to target.’” According to Baugh’s shortlist, which contained each person’s zip
code, address, phone number and birthdate, two of the five people on that list – Rex Jensen and his father, Lawrence Jensen – do not live in the 34202 or 34211 zip codes. Baugh’s shortlist also included Lakewood Ranch residents Robert and Marie Keehn, who like Baugh, do live in the 34202 zip code. The Lakewood Ranch pop-up vaccine site’s zip code restrictions were not in accordance with the
Hamey’s ethics complaint lists two issues for consideration by the Commission on Ethics. “Did respondent (Baugh) violate Florida Statute 112.313(6), Misuse of Public Position, by ignoring the county’s lottery system for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and instead unilaterally picking two zip codes in her district to receive 3,000 additional vaccines issued by the state, to the detriment of all other Manatee County residents 65 and over who had signed up for the lottery system?” “Did respondent violate Florida Statute 112.313(6), Misuse of Public Position, by putting herself and four friends onto a ‘VIP’ list provided to the county to ensure she received a vaccine from the extra doses provided by the state?” SEE BAUGH, PAGE 24
