Sarasota City Commissioner Kyle Battie called criticism of him “a public lynching” as his fellow board members boosted his legal defense another $10,000 in city funds at a Monday meeting.

Battie thanked each commissioner by name for their support after Sarasota Circuit Judge Stephen Walker agreed last month to dismiss the defamation lawsuit against him by local activist Kelly Franklin. Battie publicly accused Franklin of referring to him earlier this year with a racial epithet in a Facebook post.

Walker ruled that since Battie made his accusation against Franklin during a City Commission meeting, his comments were protected by absolute immunity for a public official.

Franklin maintains that the commissioner’s accusation was a hoax aimed to destroy her credibility. The nexus of the legal dispute was not to litigate whether the post was real, but if Battie’s comments were protected by his role in an elected capacity.

City Attorney Robert Fournier told the commission that because the judge concluded Battie acted in his official scope, they had a legal obligation to cover his fees. The city has now agreed to pay his legal costs up to $25,000.

Battie’s defense firm – Bentley Goodrich Kison – has so far billed him over $26,000. The city will now cover the first $25,000 and its insurer will cover the rest, for now. Future payments of public funds to Battie’s defense will be up to the commission.

City Commissioner Battie calls actions “shameful”

Battie agreed to reimburse the city if he can recoup attorney’s fees in court. The commissioner criticized Franklin for her lawsuit, characterized himself as a victim and claimed that he and his family have been attacked over it.

“But that’s neither here nor there,” Battie said at the meeting. “This is what comes with the territory and it’s shameful what’s going on as she continues to pursue this. This is on her. It’s not on us, it’s not on me, it’s not on my character.”

Although the commissioner did not mention Franklin by name, her name was clear on the alleged post he raised at a commission meeting.

The original post, Franklin’s attorney Richard Harrison said in an earlier statement, was about a safari trip his client had taken and posted about last December. Harrison obtained text messages through a public records request that he presented at a commission meeting early this year. One texted showed that Battie texted himself a screenshot of Franklin’s original post on Dec. 20, 2023 – less than a month before the commissioner made his accusations.

In his closing remarks Monday, Battie said accusations by Harrison that he knew about Franklin’s original post were false.

“To sit here and lie and say I knew this, and I knew that – you don’t know what I knew,” Battie said.

Ron Kashden, Franklin’s husband and a candidate for the City Commission challenging Mayor Liz Alpert, spoke at the meeting’s public comment. He urged the commissioners to institute a “effective, pragmatic code of conduct for commissioners” to prevent what he said were Battie’s knowingly false comments about his wife.

City Commissioner Erik Arroyo defended Battie and his immunity as a public official during his closing statement at the meeting. He said no amount of regulation by of the commission of their behavior can trump the absolute immunity Florida law afford them.

“It’s not our job to be arbiters of this, it’s our job to honor what has been given by the state of Florida, which is absolute immunity for taking the daggers that we take here as elected officials.”

Harrison told the Herald-Tribune that he will file an amended complaint to Walker on Tuesday but is looking ahead toward the appeals process. The attorney said there are two basic facts of the case he cannot change: That Battie is an elected official and that his statements came during a public meeting.

“If those two facts alone are enough to get the immunity, there’s nothing I can do about that.” Harrison said. “We’ll have to go up to a higher court and try to change the law.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lawsuit against Kyle Battie likely headed toward appeal