MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Not even a full 48 hours later, Manatee County Board of County Commission members voted to oust newly-appointed chairperson Commissioner Vanessa Baugh and reinstate Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge to the position.
The county released the update Thursday morning, saying one of the commissioners, Amanda Ballard of District Two, changed their mind.
"At the last meeting, I made a vote which I have since — upon further reflection — come to believe was not in the best interest of the county," Ballard said during Thursday's meeting. "Today, I would like to make a motion to appoint Kevin Van Ostenbridge as the chair of the County Commission."
The motion was seconded by At-Large Commissioner George Kruse. Commissioners James Satcher and Jason Bearden dissented, but the measure passed by a vote of 4-2, the county reported. Commissioner Baugh was absent from the meeting, the county said.
Van Ostenbridge was immediately reinstated in the chairperson role, the release said.
On Tuesday, the county said the BOCC narrowly voted to appoint Baugh as chairperson — a position she previously held twice, in 2016 and 2021. She lost the position to Van Ostenbridge in December 2021 after probable cause was found in an ethics complaint lodged against her for a controversial COVID-19 vaccine site and "VIP list" in Lakewood Ranch.
Baugh would eventually admit to selecting two specific ZIP codes in February 2021 for the pop-up vaccination site and asking to put herself and four others on the list of those being inoculated.
The vaccine was just being rolled out to the general public after being approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The COVID-19 pandemic was still at its height.
Baugh previously expressed remorse over her actions saying, “I want to apologize to all the residents who I have disappointed in any action that I’ve taken according to some news outlets."
Despite calls for her to resign from the public and even within the board of commissioners, a vote narrowly allowed her to retain her position as commissioner of District Five.
In January, the Florida Commission of Ethics fined Baugh $8,000 for her role in organizing the selective COVID-19 vaccination site.