George Kruse is the right choice

George Kruse is the right choice for District 7

On Aug. 20, voters have a crucial civic duty to elect several Manatee County commissioners. Regarding District 7, Manatee County needs an At Large commissioner who can heavily influence and lead a board of any composition, and whose position is stable enough so that voters can fairly predict a consistent thoughtful outcome.

George Kruse is that person. He critically analyzes each situation and makes decisions based on fact, precedent, common sense, and with an ear toward a broad set of constituent voices. Kruse has all the experience and educational background that one could wish for in a candidate. But more importantly, he is not afraid of being a dissenting vote, of acting in strong conscience, and who puts the needs of the community first and foremost.

We have witnessed that time-after-time. The Board of County Commissioners have had votes that defy logic, reason, and go against the voices of the people. The “bend over backward” approach of these non-Kruse commissioners toward rationalizing their irrational voting agenda and ignoring established precedent and common sense is offensive and creates strong feelings of discontent and apathy among voters – perhaps exactly their intent since apathetic people don’t generally vote.

The current board, in the aggregate, green lights virtually every developer request, apparently via speed dial, and is increasing the debt burden to such a degree that tax increases are likely in our future.

The at-large commissioners, of which there are two, are of critical importance given their broad scope of responsibility and corresponding potential impact.

The last thing Manatee County needs is to elect Kevin Van Ostenbridge to be an at-large commissioner. He switched from District 3 where he is immensely unpopular to instead challenge Kruse. KVO’s behavior at the June 20 Commission meeting was wholly unprofessional and clearly guided by the special interests that have surrounded him and funded his campaign. Just take a look at where his funding originates, and you will see that it is littered with developer sources.

While one community lawyer provided materials to each board member, involving a Panther Ridge impacted issue, Van Ostenbridge immediately stood up and deposited those materials directly into the trash can for all to see. He then proceeded to superficially counter Kruse’s cogent arguments and ended with “someone has to be the adult in the room, so I’m voting for the issue.”

This is laughable irony in that he had just displayed a level of petulant behavior I have not personally seen in decades. This level of arrogance and disregard for people’s views must not be rewarded with an election victory.

And check out Ray Turner for District 5 Commissioner. He was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill Vanessa Baugh’s seat and yet many of his election fliers that infiltrate your mailbox, hype that appointment rather than any demonstrable accomplishments. You can decipher why that is.

During recent Panther Ridge issues in front of the board, within his District 5, he was not present to vote on Sept. 26, 2023, and then on June 20, 2024, he didn’t speak once, although he had many opportunities, before voting to negatively impact his Panther Ridge constituents. So, if you want “absence and silence” from a county commissioner, he’s your man. It’s up to you to decide. My wife and I are staunch conservatives and strongly support Gov. DeSantis in policy and donation, but that doesn’t mean we have to support all his appointees.Using the language of Yale baseball, no one bats a thousand, not even Gov. DeSantis.

So, we’re asking Manatee County residents to vote for candidates that have a balanced view of issues, have honest community discourse, and look to community feedback before checking their phone for texts from developers. Elect Kruse. Doing otherwise will result in a royal flush victory for developers, who expertly pull the puppet strings of every other commissioner and who also continue out of control development beyond the now disregarded Future Area Development Boundary (FADB) which was once anchored at Bourneside Boulevard.  If you can’t trust them to adhere to an established “boundary,” why should you trust them for anything else?

Mark and Tatiana Lyons

Panther Ridge

Richard Tatem deserve vote to be our representative

I support Col. Richard Tatem, a conservative Republican candidate for the District 72 seat in the State House. It’s been my honor to know and work with him on a variety of civic projects over the past five years. As a fellow veteran, I can attest to his unwavering personal integrity, decency, and patriotism, not to mention his vivid intellect and sense of humor. 

As the Manatee County School Board member for my district, I watched him faithfully uphold his principles in leading and guiding the board’s efforts to defend parental rights and fiscal responsibility, and to oppose wokeness in education.  I especially appreciated his support for my 501(c)(3) volunteer group’s “Victims of Communism – Manatee” scholarship program for all high school students in Manatee County.

Our annual program requires the students to research and compare various Communist tyrants’ governance practices (past and/or present) and how they treat(ed) their own citizens against the USG’s governance practices under our Constitution and how our citizens can expect to be treated by our government. Our goal is for the students to learn about the enduring value of the U.S. Constitution as the guarantor of American rights and freedoms.  Richard Tatem was instrumental in garnering support for our program in the public schools. 

After questioning Tatem myself, let me assure other voters that his intentions are honorable in seeking to serve in the state legislature. His objectives are to bring down taxes by lowering the cost of building public schools and by ending unfunded/partially funded mandates. Further, he is keen on protecting the water and agricultural resources in District 72. He is not funded by the property developers; rather, he wants to support sustainable, manageable development for those already here. 

Tamara Fitzgerald

Bradenton

Increased retention pond capacity, pumping stations needed

It will take years to correct the forecast models for the fact that 100-year flooding is now 10-year flooding, and 1,000-year flooding is now 100-year flooding.
In the meantime, existing floodwater retention ponds that were designed as well as those in Lakewood Ranch can be made to handle multiday, 10-inch flooding by adding a pumping station and beginning the ‘max sustainable drainage of the system choke-point’ a few days early, preventing flooding if, as was the case this time, the retention ponds are full when the storm approaches.
Beyond that, some small home areas might need to be condemned rather than repaired, and torn down. In half of the cases, a pond (with pumps) needs to be created, and in the rest, the dirt and debris from nearby retention pond creation can be used to raise the area and thereby divert the water to the nearest retention pond, permanently repairing the system.

James Mathews
Lakewood Ranch