Two Manatee County commissioners accused of discussing official business outside of a public meeting will avoid charges after an investigation into the complaint, prosecutors announced Friday afternoon.
Former Acting County Administrator Lee Washington filed a whistleblower complaint in June that accused Commissioner Mike Rahn and former Commissioner Vanessa Baugh of violating Florida law during a March 2023 lunch conversation. The State Attorney’s Office said it could not find enough evidence to file charges against either commissioner.
In November, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office found probable cause to determine that Rahn and Baugh had broken the law, but in a memo released Friday, the State Attorney’s Office said it conducted an investigation but declined to prosecute the case, citing “insufficient evidence.”
Washington filed his complaint more than three months after the conservation happened. He told investigators he waited that long because he, “did not want to put the county through more chaos than was already happening,” according to the memo.