- September 6, 2024
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District 1: Republicans Carol Ann Felts and Steve Metallo
Carol Ann Felts, 66, is running for a third time; this may be the charm.
Felts is a dedicated, familiar face in county government. A regular attendee at commission meetings, she knows the issues; she know the county.
Indeed, between her opponent, first-time candidate Steve Metallo, and herself, Felts knows far more versed for a seat on the commission.
An eighth-generation Floridian and resident of Myakka City, Felts has at times taken her three minutes of public comment to make catty remarks to commissioners. She also is often labeled as anti-development, a charge she says is wrong. “We can do it in a better way,” she says. “Myakka has an incredible opportunity to be part of growth without sacrificing the things that are important. We’ve got to protect our water and food sources for the rest of the county.”
Felts’ opponent, Metallo, has been a resident of Manatee for 48 years and has been a Manatee public school teacher for 34 years. A free-market advocate, he teaches economic and government at Manatee High School.
Metallo did not respond to the Observer.
Metallo’s website touts the standard conservative platform for Republicans — e.g. “cut taxes,” “fully funding the Manatee County Sheriff’s office”; “continue record investments in traffic reducing infrastructure projects”; and “preserve our wetlands, pristine waterways and wildlife corridors.”
But oddly, to tout his Trump-supporting bonafides, he also lists as his issues national concerns over which county commissioners have no vote: reverse inflation; secure our borders, deport illegal aliens; stop political prosecution of conservatives; drain the swamp; make America energy-independent again.
Nonetheless, even after nearly 50 years in Manatee, Metallo is an unknown in the county government scene. Felts, on the other hand, has proven her commitment to wanting good, fiscally responsible county government.
We recommend: Carol Ann Felts
District 3: Republicans April Culbreath and Talha “Tal” Siddique
Here is a snapshot:
To put it another way: In Siddique, Manatee County taxpayers would have an unencumbered, independent, thoughtful representative. Take it from his own words:
“We need a new generation of leadership outside the establishment with a fresh perspective on tackling local issues. The majority on our board adheres to the short-term needs of a select few special interest groups while failing to empower the average resident. I want to get our county government back to thinking long-term about how we spend our tax dollars and the value we get out of them.”
We recommend: Tal Siddique
District 5: Ray Turner and Robert McCann
Turner and McCann are vying to succeed former Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who resigned in June 2023, two years into her third term. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Turner to complete Baugh’s term.
Turner, 60, an immigrant from Australia, became a U.S. citizen in 2011. “I came here for the American dream,” he says. “I didn’t have much when we started.”
A resident of Manatee for 21 years, over the past 12 years in Lakewood Ranch, Turner started and built the Turner Real Estate Network, a successful residential brokerage. He became involved in the community as a member of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and secretary of the Sarasota-Manatee Building Industry Association.
In 2022, commissioners appointed him to the Manatee County Planning Commission — often a training ground for the County Commission because of the way it exposes its members to the county’s complicated land-use laws and regulations.
McCann, 66, is an 18-year resident of Manatee and has the resume of a man of all things: osteopathic ER physician for 36 years (now retired), lawyer, business executive, educator, pilot and scuba diver. He and his wife live in the River Club.
If you speak to them separately, they have the similar themes on growth — that infrastructure and planning are crucial.
Turner: “If we don’t plan for this 20-year future, or 20 years in advance, we’re going to have more and more issues. Overall growth is going to be somewhere around half-a-million increase in population the next 20 years. That’s from every prediction. You can’t ignore that.
“Second, we’re going to have 45,000 new students, so we need to plan for schools, emergency services, etc. We can’t shut off our growth like the anti-growth people want us to do. We have to plan for it.:
McCann: Two of his top three priorities if elected are “prioritize building infrastructure” and “protect our natural resources.”
“Manatee County’s population expansion calls for a multifaceted strategy that takes the environment, society and economy into account,” McCann says. “Maintaining the county’s distinctive character while attaining sensible growth requires cooperation between local enterprises, government and citizens.”
The question for voters, then, is which of the two will be most effective representing them and Lakewood Ranch?
Unfortunately for Turner, he has been lumped in as one of the paid-for-by-developers on the commission. He signed on with political consultant Anthony Pedicini, whose clients are candidates with heavy developer backing.
Asked about this, Turner says: “What did I know about politics? All I knew is his candidates were successful. I’m not a politician.”
Asked to respond to the criticism that he “caves in to developers,” Turner says: “I am nobody’s puppet. I’m not that guy. They can make those accusations, but I’m standing for what I believe in. I’m really trying to be responsive to people’s needs. I’ve met with most of the HOAs out here. They know me.”
Together, District 5 voters have two candidates who have proven their professional competence. But as development and the county’s challenges of addressing that growth continues, one way to summarize the choice is this: In the ER, you would want an ER doctor, McCann; for land-use and real estate issues, you would want a real estate specialist.
We recommend: Ray Turner
District 7/At-Large: George Kruse and Kevin Van Ostenbridge
When an organization loses its way and needs a course correction, the place to start usually is at the top. In this case, that’s the makeup of the County Commission.
Here is how a veteran of Manatee County politics — a conservative Republican, mind you — assessed the District 7 candidates:
“George is a good man with a good soul. He has made a lot of sense, and he always votes for what he feels is best for Manatee County as a whole, for the people. That is something his opponent is not about.”
We recommend: George Kruse
Thankfully, the Manatee County School Board is no longer the county’s leading butt of disparaging jokes and embarrassment. That dubious distinction now belongs to the Manatee County Commission.
Instead, the school board has been making an admirable — albeit bumpy — resurgence over the past eight years, overcoming the dysfunction and mismanagement that plagued it in the previous decade.
Credit current board members. A big step: the hiring of a promising and so-far successful superintendent in Jason Wysong. And, to top it off, board members and administrators are sensing the district’s forward momentum is making it realistic that Manatee public schools can achieve an A rating from the state. That would be remarkable.
Mind you, the board still is not quite all in sync by any means, on its mission and goals. Three of its members — Chad Choate, Cindy Spry and Richard Tatem, all new to the board in 2022 — are still learning the depths and demands of overseeing a huge organization.
But the bigger concern will be the loss of two of the board’s stalwart incumbents — Gina Messenger and Mary Foreman. They are retiring. Messenger says that after eight years “it’s time”; for Foreman, the challenges have been energy sapping. But the two of them deserve much credit for leaving the board and district far better off than when they were first elected. Job well done.
To fill their seats in Districts 1 and 3, there are six candidates. Because the school board races are considered non-partisan and three candidates will be on the ballot for each district, a candidate must receive 50%-plus one to win; or the top two finishers will compete in a runoff in the general election. Here are the races and our recommendations:
District 1: Heather Felton, Alexander “Alex” Garner, Mark Stanoch
The district encompasses northeast Manatee County down to State Road 64 and east of Interstate 75.
Voters have solid choices and good people in all three candidates, but Heather Felton and Mark Stanoch are the standouts in this race — each with skills and attributes that would make them effective board members.
Here’s the problem: They present a conundrum.
When building a board of directors, it’s important to have a variety of talents and skills. It’s much like building a basketball team. You need a shooter, playmaker, tall rebounder and defender, etc.
Similarly, on a board, it makes sense to have business leadership acumen; financial acumen; someone with people skills; big-picture creativity and foresight; understanding of and experience in the industry; and someone to challenge conventional wisdom.
In this case, outgoing board member Gina Messenger has been the voice for teachers and students, while board member Mary Foreman has been taxpayers’ financial watchdog. And fortunately, they represented different districts.
In the case of District 1, Felton would be the new Messenger, while Stanoch would be the new Foreman (and much more). But they are running in the same district. Only one can be elected.
You have to love this — one of Felton’s responses to the Observer questionnaire: “With nine years as a teacher and 16 years as a parent in our Manatee County schools, I’ve experienced the best and worst of the school system from a personal and professional standpoint … From the first day of kindergarten for my eldest to the high school graduation for my youngest … I’ve done everything a parent can do.”
At the same, Stanoch’s 35 years of business experience as a leader, senior executive manager, IT analyst and implementer and incubator of startups for Dell/Microsoft makes him ideal for being able to decipher the people, process and technological needs of the Manatee School District with its $1.4 billion budget, 6,800 employees and 52,000 students.
This is a tough call for voters. It’s a loss they both cannot be elected, but the district still will benefit with whomever voters choose. Given the attributes of the candidates for District 3 …
We recommend: Mark Stanoch
District 3: Charlie Kennedy, Jonathan Lynch and Parri Ann Parkman
The district encompasses west Manatee County, including the barrier islands.
As in District 1, each of the three District 3 candidates would bring valuable skills and perspectives to the school board. Manatee voters would win with any of the three candidates sitting on the board.
But at this moment, with the losses of the experience and wisdom of board members Gina Messenger and Mary Foreman, there is little institutional and historical knowledge among the remaining three board members.
Institutional and historical knowledge are crucial for any organization. It tells you who you are, from where you came, what worked and didn’t work in the past, and, importantly, the “why” — why things are the way they are.
In Bradenton native Jonathan Lynch and three-year Anna Maria resident Perri Ann Parkman, voters have two first-time candidates for school board. You can applaud their willingness to get involved in public office and their urge to serve.
Unfortunately, in the world of politics and public office, voters tend to place a lot of value in known candidates — people who have been visible in the community and served on public and not-for-profit boards.
In that vein, former Manatee School Board Chair Charlie Kennedy is a known and respected community figure. A long-time Manatee public schools teacher, Kennedy was elected in 2014 and 2018 to represent District 2. During his two terms, he served twice as chair and twice as vice chair of the board.
For eight years, Kennedy was a consistent voice of reason when the board struggled through its dysfunctional turmoil. Outgoing District 3 board member, Mary Foreman says of Kennedy: “Charlie’s commitment to the well-being of students, teachers and staff is unwavering.”
While we urge Lynch and Parkman to continue their interest in public service, at this time, Kennedy would bring needed institutional knowledge and wisdom to the board, along with his longtime passion to pursue what is best for Manatee’s students and teachers.
We recommend: Charlie Kennedy
Candidates: Scott Farrington and James Satcher
When Americans’ trust in government and confidence in its competence are falling into a black abyss (e.g. prima facie No. 1: Secret Service protection of Donald Trump), voters need candidates who are and will be competent and who are and will be trustworthy.
In the Manatee supervisor of elections race, voters have an indisputable and unequivocal choice of a candidate who embodies those qualities.
There really is no need to detail what we have already commented on twice and reported in our news columns about the differences between Scott Farrington, former 11-year chief of staff in the Manatee supervisor’s office, and the recently politically appointed incumbent supervisor, James Satcher.
If you are not familiar, take the time to go to these links:
We have seen these two candidates in action for years, and if we were to be charged with hiring Farrington or Satcher for this job, there would be no point interviewing Satcher. The difference in qualifications and character for the job is stark.
Let’s cite just the one, recent instance:
Only one month — one month — into his new job as supervisor, a job where his predecessor and chief operating officer had both left and a job for which he had zero experience, Satcher apparently was able to determine with certainty that he needed $841,340 “to expand safety and security measures and audit vital information and operations;” upgrade hardware and software “to perform a complete and full audit of certified election results;” add a polling site in the North River Ranch area “to expand voter access and ease Election Day lines;” and “open two satellite offices in the Lakewood Ranch and North River Ranch areas … as our county’s population center trends eastward.”
Anyone in a new, unfamiliar, totally new business leadership or management role knows there is no way he or she can possibly know in a month’s time with certainty whether to take such significant steps.
What’s more, how would Satcher even know all that was needed without ever having experienced firsthand how the supervisor’s office works through an election?
Even worse: He presented no proforma in his request for more money showing the cost of leases, salaries to be paid to new employees, how much computers and software would cost, etc., etc.
In the 12 years, former Supervisor Mike Bennett and his chief of staff, Farrington, operated the most cost-efficient office in the state with nary a voter complaint, the $841,340 that Satcher requested is more money than Bennett requested altogether in all 12 years he served.
Gov. DeSantis erred when he chose a political ally over competence. Manatee voters should correct this.
We recommend: Scott Farrington
Candidates: Darin George and Charles Hackney
It’s a logical thought: Charles Hackney is 74 and has been Manatee County’s property appraiser for 31 years. That is a long time, and many might say long enough. Anyone in the job that long is bound to fall behind a step or two.
Ahem. Hello? Donald Trump is 78. Moses parted the Red Sea when he was 80 and led his Jewish followers to the Promised Land at age 120.
Let’s drop the age thing. The issue is our standard litmus test for incumbents: Are they doing a good job, deserving to stay in office?
Hackney’s opponent, Darin George, of Ellenton, simply says: “Charles Hackney needs to retire. Change is needed, and change will be good.”
But everyone also knows change for change sake is not always good. If it ain’t broke …
What’s more, George doesn’t have a grasp of the job. (See the Observer candidate questionnaire, YourObserver.com/News/Elections.)
There is no debate: Hackney has demonstrated his commitment to serving Manatee County residents fairly and efficiently for three decades and continues to do a good job.
We recommend: Charles Hackney
