BRADENTON BEACH – Summer may be winding down, but things are heating up in this little beachside community.

Thursday’s city commission meeting was a tense and turbulent affair that resulted in multiple city officials issuing emotionally charged remarks.

The meeting started on an off-note, when Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon introduced it as a work meeting instead of the regular commission meeting.

Recently hired City Clerk Gia Lancaster then delivered an unexplained emotional outburst that brought the proceedings to a temporary halt.

When the meeting resumed, the commission outvoted Shearon 4-1 on a previously-tabled $35,500 stormwater design expenditure.

Shearon’s composure reached a breaking point when Vice Mayor Jack Clarke asked City Attorney Ricinda Perry to revisit a commission decision reached in May that was supposed to result in commissioners receiving the same information that is sent to the mayor.

Clarke questioned why recent e-mail correspondence pertaining to city matters has been placed in the public read file rather than being forwarded to commissioners, as requested.

This triggered an emotional response from Shearon, who said, “It’s simple; if you only get half of something just request it.”

Shearon attributed the lack of shared information to an overworked staff that includes a clerk’s office bogged down by public records requests and a building department that is struggling to keep up.

“I don’t even get my e-mails. Sorry people, but this is what I am working with every day. You’ve got a city clerk…you saw her today, and then want more things done? Jiminy Christmas, we can’t even get through the basics,” Shearon said.

The visibly distraught mayor then sat with eyes closed, lightly pounding his fist on the dais until he regained his composure.

He became upset again when City Attorney Ricinda Perry suggested hiring a board certified labor attorney to help address verbal complaints made to her by members of the Public Works Department concerning the mayor.

She also suggested that the labor attorney could help evaluate the city’s “problematic” employee handbook.

Commissioner Janie Robertson said, “Are you saying we have employees that require legal counsel?”

Perry said, “I have a department head who’s lodged a complaint and two of his employees that have also made complaints, so yes, there is a personnel matter that needs attention. Given the complexities of the issues, it would be best for the city if we had a board certified labor attorney.”

When Perry tried to explain the nature of the verbal complaints, Shearon brought the discussion to an abrupt end.

“As chairman, I’m not going to allow this anymore,” he said, noting that he will not discuss the matter further until it is placed on an agenda for a future meeting or work session.

Before the meeting reached its conclusion, Commissioner Jan Vosburgh took offense to Shearon’s response to communications she has had with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to have a crosswalk installed on Gulf Drive, near the Runaway Bay condominiums.

Shearon asked to be copied on any communication Vosburgh has with FDOT, because the city is working on multiple projects that involve them and the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Vosburgh reminded Shearon that he was already aware of her efforts. She then asked to be excused from the meeting.

“I don’t like to be at a meeting with a mayor who’s so angry at everybody,” she said, before she left.

ANNA MARIA – With a trial looming next month, detectives investigating the 2008 disappearance of an Island motel owner are working against time and hoping for a break.

It’s a long shot, but they may have just caught one.

Women’s underwear found last week by crews installing water pipes on the farthest end of the Island is being tested for DNA that authorities hope is connected to the case of Sabine Musil-Buehler, who went missing just before Halloween six years ago.

Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Detective John Kenney said Monday he hopes the results of the lab tests can obtained quickly. He said the department is spending a little extra to expedite the turnaround time of the testing.

The latest pieces to the Musil-Buehler puzzle surfaced when workers using heavy equipment on a water pipe project accidentally dug up some tattered clothing that turned out to be women’s underwear. The project is on land previously searched by the Sheriff’s Office after detectives learned that the man accused of murdering Musil-Buehler might have been spotted there following her disappearance.

Kenney brought in cadaver dogs to sniff out clues and earth movers to dig up suspect areas of the land.

Since then, Manatee County has been busy on the land, owned by Jack Fisk, installing water pipes to help alleviate a water pressure shortage on the north end of the Island.

One of the crew members, Lorri Yoder, who works for Spectrum Underground, first spotted the panties.

“I was cleaning the brush out and the panties had already churned to the surface,” Yoder said. “They were green and blue and they looked shredded and faded with a white band that said Hanes.”

The crew called the sheriff’s office and a deputy took them and forwarded them to Kenney. He sent them to a lab for the quick DNA testing. Authorities have not released when they hope to have the results.

Yoder said she was told the area where she found the underwear was where cadaver dogs indicated there might be something buried. She said she hoped this find might answer some questions people have been asking for the past six years.

Musil-Buehler’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, William Cumber, has been charged with second-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to call Det. Kenney at 941-747-3011, ext. 2216.

Holmes Beach Police are looking for the occupants of the white Dodge Dakota pickup in this photo who stole fishing equipment and tools from the garage at 8000 Marina Isles at 6:15 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.

According to police, the truck stopped at the residence to load two freezers set out for Waste Management to take. While there, they entered the victim’s closed garage and stole the items, estimated to be worth $13,000. A neighbor’s security system captures the burglars driving away in the truck.

Anyone with information on the owner or the occupants of this truck can call the Holmes Beach Police Department at 941-708-COPS (2677) and ask for Detective Brian Hall.

Tips can be made anonymously with the Manatee County Crimestoppers at 1-866-634-TIPS (8477).

BRADENTON BEACH – City Clerk Gia Lancaster was absent from work on Friday and Monday after she made emotionally charged remarks at Thursday’s commission meeting.

Without any explanation, she told commissioners, “I am shocked and dismayed and I come before you to answer any questions you might have. My personal life is my personal life. I am here to do a job that I am confident I can do.”

Lancaster said that she had no money other than the change in her pocket, which she produced for all to see. She also mentioned that her aunt had fallen into a coma.

She said she came to the city hoping to make a difference in the community, but was now having second thoughts.

“I’m asking you to give me a vote of confidence. Please give me the opportunity to show you how I can be of benefit to the city,” she said to commissioners.

She told them she would be available Friday if her services were still desired. If not, she would return home to her family.

“Gia, we will handle it tomorrow,” said the mayor.

Lancaster then headed for the parking lot, followed by City Attorney Ricinda Perry, who requested a five-minute recess.

Lancaster said that initial criticism of her hiring and treatment by an unnamed public official contributed to her distress.

At Perry’s encouragement, Lancaster At Perry’s encouragement, Lancaster spent the rest of the commission meeting inside the administrative offices, accompanied by Perry and Police Chief Sam Speciale.

When the meeting resumed, no vote of confidence was given and no further discussion ensued, but Perry presented Vice Mayor Jack Clarke with a paycheck for Lancaster that required his or the mayor’s signature. A delay in syncing Lancaster’s bank account with the city’s automated payroll system reportedly led to a delay in her getting paid.

No timetable for her anticipated return has been given. A labor attorney is assisting the city and Lancaster in the matter and no further details have been disclosed.

“This is a private employee matter, and as such, we will not be providing any further comment,” Perry said Friday afternoon.

“The clerk has requested the city’s assistance and we are providing it,” Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said Friday afternoon. He attributed the matter to personal issues and not a work-related conflict.

Lancaster also failed to report to work on Thursday. The borrowed moving van she used to transport her personal possessions to the area was towed, and a dead cell phone hindered her efforts to retrieve the vehicle and report to work, according to Perry.