Manatee Election Commissioner James Satcher fires four people after defeat

Manatee County's appointed election supervisor, James Satcher, has fired four staff members following his primary election defeat, and community members are publicly raising concerns about his role as a “lame duck” in the upcoming general election.

Satcher was appointed elections supervisor by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, defeating Scott Farrington, who served for 11 years as chief of staff in the office of retiring elections supervisor Mike Bennett. Voters countered that decision in the primary by electing Farrington with about 59% of the vote.

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Bennett told the Herald-Tribune that he supports Farrington and criticized Satcher's firing of a full-time absentee ballot worker on Election Day, as well as a full-time voter services worker and two temporary poll workers the next day.

“It's unfortunate that Florida law requires the new supervisor to take office after the November election, which is January,” Bennett said. “So Satcher has his job until January, but he's showing once again that he's not a manager. No manager in his right mind would fire four senior staff members before the November election.”

Others have taken action. Former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash created a petition on an online petition platform calling on DeSantis to remove Satcher from office in time for the general election to be held and appoint Farrington to the seat. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had been signed by 1,612 people.

Election officer dismisses four employees

Satcher has laid off two full-time staffers and two temporary poll workers since losing the Republican primary.

Former full-time election services employee Mark Darnell was laid off on election day, August 20. He worked in the absentee ballot services area and was paid all of his vacation entitlement of 68.25 hours and his sick leave of 85.75 hours.

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“Mark chose to resign from his position, leaving the team severely understaffed on one of the most important days of the year,” Jonathan Clendenon, IT director for the Manatee County Elections Department, wrote in an email. “Rather than seek a constructive resolution to a disagreement with his colleagues, he chose to retire from his duties.”

Former full-time director of voter services Christine Palmer was fired the next day, as were temporary staffers Harriet Darnell and Teresa Margraf.

Palmer was fired after a disagreement over the selection of temporary workers during the election. She was paid her full holiday entitlement of 236.75 hours and her sick pay entitlement of 500 hours, records show.

“The temporary workers did not come through a temporary employment agency or a job advertisement, but were acquaintances of Ms. Palmer and already had experience as temporary workers,” the office wrote in a dismissal letter. “One of them was also the mother of a former employee.”

Bennett, who oversaw the previous work of those staffers, criticized the decision, defending the perceived opposition to the current leadership by citing years of experience in conducting elections under his previous watch.

“Just because he is stupid enough to fire four key people before the election in November, Satcher will be responsible if the election is botched,” Bennett said.

“These on-call workers probably have over 10 years of experience and have worked multiple elections,” he said. “We hire these part-time workers again for every election because they are extremely well qualified.”

Farrington faces questions as he takes on his role at Manatee SOE

The Manatee SOE office looks a little different than it did when Farrington last worked there as chief of staff; now he waits patiently to return to the office, but this time as its senior officer.

The records show that since Satcher's appointment, thirteen employees have either voluntarily left the office or been terminated, including Farrington himself and the four most recent firings.

Since his appointment, 60 new staff members have been hired, starting with the immediate hiring of David Ballard as chief of staff. Ballard is the husband of County Commissioner Amanda Ballard.

“It's hard to even imagine what's coming, and so it's hard to say what needs to be done,” Farrington said. “I know he's bought new equipment, new software, hired new people and laid off some.”

“There's not much I can do until I get back,” he said. “I hope there's a good election in November, but I have concerns about letting so many experienced staff members go just before one of the busiest elections Manatee County has ever seen.”

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