MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Manatee County commissioners narrowly voted Tuesday to reappoint District Five Commissioner Vanessa Baugh as the Board of County Commissioners Chair.
Baugh, who has previously served as the commission's chair twice — in 2016 and 2021 — will assume the position immediately, the county said in a news release.
“We need to come together," she said. “We need to get on the same page and run the County like it needs to be run.”
Baugh took over as chair from District Three Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who served in the position in 2022 and early 2023. The county said Commissioner Jason Bearden made the motion for the change in leadership. It was seconded by District One Commissioner James Satcher. Commissioners Rahn, Kruse and Van Ostenbridge reportedly dissented, but the measure passed by a 4-3 vote.
Ostenbridge replaced Baugh as chair 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.