MANATEE COUNTY – Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Ray Turner to replace Vanessa Baugh on the Manatee County Commission.
The governor’s appointment was to take effect Aug. 1. Turner takes over for embattled District Five Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who recently announced her resignation effective at the end of July.
“I’m honored to be appointed by Governor DeSantis,” Turner said in the press release the county issued on July 27. “I will do the very best job I can to serve the people of Manatee County. I look forward to hitting the ground running.”
According to the press release, Turner has been a Manatee County resident for more than 20 years and was a member of the Manatee County Planning Commission at the time of his appointment. Turner, the secretary of the Manatee Sarasota Building Industry Association, began his real estate career in 1991 selling custom homes and later transitioned into real estate finance, international marketing and executive management.
Turner was scheduled to be sworn into office at an Aug. 1 workshop.
Baugh departs
In June, Baugh announced her resignation effective at the end of July, citing family as her reason for resigning. She participated in her final county commission meeting on July 25 and then vacated effective Aug. 1 the remainder of her current four-year term.
During her abbreviated final term, Baugh, a Lakewood Ranch resident, faced intense media scrutiny and was the subject of an ethics complaint and a Florida Commission on Ethics investigation for her role in organizing a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in early 2021.
The pop-up clinic Baugh helped organize provided vaccines for a small number of people on her own personal shortlist and for residents living in two specific Lakewood Ranch zip codes.
In January, the ethics commission investigation led to Baugh agreeing to an $8,000 settlement as a penalty for her role in organizing the clinic. When reaching the settlement in January, Baugh admitted she used her position as an elected official to the benefit or privilege of herself or others.
