To the editor:

The character assassination of John Manning has gone on far too long, and it is time to set the record straight.

I was privileged to serve as John’s representative on the Solid Waste Working Group in the early 90s, and subsequently worked with him on several projects. John had announced at the beginning of his his last year on the BOCC that he would not be running for reelection. Under the law, he was no longer required to keep a log of meetings with lobbyists. He was adamant that the logs had been filed during his previous years on the BOCC, as was his aide, Joyce Martiano. He chose to settle the issue, although he knew that he was innocent, by pleading no contest and paying a token fine.

He made that choice in order that it not be a distraction to the very real problems facing the Lee County government, which was being destroyed. The County Manager, the Director of Utilities, the Solid Waste Director, the Recycling Coordinator and the Director of the Office of Strategic Financial Analysis were either fired or had resigned. The mania spread and many other senior employees, all of whom were highly valued, quit in disgust, and one commissioner was indicted for a series of felonies.

During this trying time John’s steady hand and sound judgment played a major role in keeping the government functioning. Well after the dust settled, the case of the missing logs was solved. The FBI, in preparation for the case against the commissioner had confiscated a portion of county records, among them all logs filed by commissioners. Eventually they were sent to the County Clerk who was in the process of moving into a new office, and were simply stored. All records, including the logs, were expunged when the charges against John were settled. For reasons known only to those who pushed the suit against John, no one bothered to check the records on file in John’s office.

Please write it loud and clear. John Manning is not guilty of the charges being made almost daily in the News-Press Mail bag. Gov. Crist made a wise choice in re-appointing one of the best commissioners who ever served Lee County.

Wayne Holbrook

Bokeelia