Residents can again call in to Manatee County commission meetings

In an about face, Manatee County commissioners voted 6-0 to allow citizens to once again call in to commission meetings as of Sept. 10. 

Besides requests by citizens, Commissioner George Kruse had repeatedly asked the board to return call-ins since Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge announced that was no longer an option during a land use meeting in December 2022. 

Commissioner Amanda Ballard made the motion to bring back the option to call in at Tuesday's commission meeting. Ballard supported Kruse from the beginning. However, she said she came to realize that bringing call-ins back was “not the will of the board,” so she stopped pushing. 

Ballard tacked on the motion for call-ins after another motion regarding social media commenting was also approved in a 6-0 vote. 

Kruse made the request long before, but on Aug. 27, he asked that comments be turned back on all social media platforms in light of ongoing flooding since Hurricane Debby.

“We have flooding every time it rains right now. People want comments,” he said, “If something happens with the dam and there are 300 comments about it, then that’s something Evan (Pilachowski, Deputy County Administrator) and his team will notice. It’s like a comment cloud when you notice a lot of people asking the same questions.”

The social media comments will be turned back on, however, the county attorney’s office must review the county’s social media policy first. 

County Administrator Charlie Bishop cited issues with citizens attacking employees and even employees arguing amongst themselves in the county’s social media comment sections.

“I want to make sure that the policy is updated and that we account for case law, etcetera, and that our policy allows us to delete comments that are doxxing or harassing to employees,” Ballard said. 

The updated policy will go before the board at the next commission meeting on Sept. 10.