Manatee County Commission District 7: George Kruse

These questionnaire responses were originally published in July for the primary election.

Name: George W. Kruse

Age: 44

Family: Married to Jessica (15 years this September), who is the community engagement manager at PACE Center for Girls; two children, Alexander (13) who plays travel ice hockey with the Flames in Ellenton and Olivia (11) who plays travel soccer with the Rage in LWR

Bio: I am a conservative Republican candidate for the at-large District 7 seat of the Manatee County Commission. I have called the area home since the mid-1980s and Manatee County home since 2008. A graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in 1993, I went on to receive degrees in both management and finance from the University of Florida and subsequently received my MBA in real estate finance from Columbia Business School in 2003. I have made a lifelong career in commercial real estate finance, which has allowed for a private sector view of local government policies nationwide.

I have made it my mission to utilize my unique background and skill sets to improve Manatee County for its current and future residents. I strive to make Manatee a place my kids are happy to grow up in and even more excited to live in as they start their own families. I plan to bring a private sector, private citizen voice, an inclusive mentality and representation that focuses on smart growth and fiscal conservatism to the board. My focus on a small government and limited tax agenda will protect both the personal rights and the personal capital of our citizens.

I presently serve on both the city of Bradenton and the Manatee County affordable housing advisory boards. I am also a board member for Manatee Tiger Bay, the Leadership Manatee Alumni Association and the Sarasota/Bradenton Columbia Club. Additionally, I’m an active member with the Bradenton Kiwanis, Bayside Church, the Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement and various community/educational activities throughout the year. 

Why are you running for office?

I believe in a diverse board focused on the private citizen. We need a voice that speaks up for those who feel left out of the conversation on the local level. We further need to ensure we bring a private sector view into our policy decisions, a voice of someone who has been on the other side of past policies, both on a personal and professional level. That was critically important when I first filed back in January, and it is even more critical now as we’re seeing the struggles of our local, small businesses.

If elected, what will be your top three priorities during your term?

• I will utilize my extensive real estate experience to focus on smart and inclusive growth in Manatee County. We will develop incentives to encourage future growth where it is most sustainable. We will place a focus on in-fill redevelopment and areas in proximity to existing infrastructure, services and employment bases to minimize both environmental impact and traffic congestion.
• ​I intend to focus on diversifying our county’s employment base with higher-wage jobs. We will leverage our existing assets to provide incentive to new employees to move into the area and lessen our reliance on lower-wage, more cyclical industries such as the tourism and the service sectors. We will give a greater focus toward retention and mentoring of our current community, both the employed and the students. A combination of higher wages, lower cost-of-living and more opportunities will encourage our skilled citizens to remain in Manatee County and encourage companies to locate in our area.
• I will return both transparency and the collective voice to our local government. Too many people in Manatee County feel they have lost a voice in the decision-making process. As a private citizen outside of government myself, I will ensure that we bring discussions out in the public. I believe in open dialogue, fair representation and opportunity for all through inclusive policies.

What role should the county play to increase the amount of workforce/affordable housing?

Workforce housing is a passion of mine as I’ve been involved in it, in some form or another, my entire career. I’ve seen the overall benefits to communities by providing attainable housing to their teachers, first responders, young professionals and all others that make a community great. The county needs to, first and foremost, get out of the way. Loosening regulations, providing nonmonetary incentives for development and encouraging inclusive growth makes the development of this needed housing both more economically affordable and more likely by removing the uncertainty of approval. Encouraging smaller units, removing density/parking restrictions and working with developers in obtaining land will all help our dedicated workforce housing providers.

What do you think the county’s role is in stimulating business in the aftermath of COVID-19?

The county needs to do everything it can for our businesses and their unemployed/underemployed workers. As we were first reopening, I wrote a five-point plan to get us back open and operational and it primarily focused on less regulations to help them all through these trying times. As we move forward, however, we need to be aware of the situation we’re in today. Manatee County has a very cyclical employment base of tourism, service industry and real estate. This was a problem back in 2008/2009, and it could potentially be a problem today. We need to diversify our base with higher-wage jobs less prone to economic cycles. 

What is your position on impact fees? Should they be raised? Why? Why not?

I’m fundamentally against higher taxes and fees, and to say I’d raise impact fees would go against a core belief. Impact fees serve an important purpose in building out our roads, libraries, schools, etc., for the growth of our community. However, it’s not that our impact fees are too low. It’s that we don’t use them effectively or efficiently. We need to prioritize public/private partnerships to allow for faster, more affordable solutions. We need to prioritize projects where they are needed the most and not where a few select special interests want them to be. Resolve these issues, and you’ll see our current impact fees stretch farther and be more productive for the enjoyment of our community than they are today.

In what areas of county government spending do you think the county could cut expenses without hurting services? Would you support an increase in the millage rate to provide more services for county residents?

As I said previously, I’m against higher taxes. I believe our millage rate is too high as it is. Even if our homesteaded properties are capped at CPI, our small businesses are struggling with huge tax increases year over year on their commercial properties and storefronts. We need to look at each of our 150 line items (yes, 150) and find efficiencies to cut costs and ensure we’re being good stewards of our taxpayers’ money. Private businesses need to do annual reviews of their P&L to ensure sound fiscal strategies, and public services should be no different. Manatee County has the cash on hand to meet the needs of our community to ensure a higher quality of life but we hold it in reserves without the willingness to spend even a portion of it for the greater good of those that paid it year over year.

The Legislature has enacted laws to reduce nutrient runoff. And local governments are expected to do their part. The county staff has introduced charging a new stormwater management fee to all property owners. What’s your position?

This stormwater tax was proposed, in part, because surrounding counties, such as Sarasota, have one. However, some of these counties have lower millage rates and balance out their funds via these additional fees. I completely agree we need to immediately rectify our stormwater issues, especially out west, but I believe we have the funds, reserves and ability to do it today without the need to add further financial burden to our taxpayers. Although the proposed tax (if they ever figure out what they’re actually proposing) is initially set to be nominal, there is no guarantee that this won’t become an ever-increasing general revenue source down the road.

If elected, what will be your priorities on roads and transportation? How should the county commission address road capacity to handle future growth?

Handling our road capacity and infrastructure is a two-pronged approach. First, for those existing developments and areas of heavy traffic, we should be working with our private sector via impact fee credits and public/private partnerships to get this work completed. Until it’s done, we’re significantly impacting our citizens’ quality of life. I know because I lived on State Road 64 back when it was two lanes and miserable as more and more rooftops were going in. For future growth, we should be incentivizing development near existing infrastructure and in-fill locations to minimize the infrastructure constrains and further lessening traffic by having new rooftops in close proximity to employment bases and services to keep cars off the roads and minimizing commute times.

Vacation rentals: How should they be regulated — locally, or by the state? And if locally, by the county or municipalities? How would you regulate them?

I am a strong proponent of private property rights. I do not believe vacation rentals should be regulated locally or at the state level. We have regulations and ordinances regarding parking, noise and other common “vacation rental” issues already in place. If a rental violates these, they can be fined or shut down without regulations specific to this industry, which is disproportionally operated by, and for the financial benefit of, individuals and small groups trying to supplement their income.