- December 23, 2024
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With a Republican sweep, the Manatee County Commission remains a one-party board. However, the Commission does have a new look.
Carol Felts is the new District 1 commissioner, representing Myakka City and Parrish. Tal Siddique is the new District 3 commissioner, representing the islands and a portion of downtown Bradenton, and Robert McCann is the new District 5 commissioner, representing the Lakewood Ranch area.
All three, along with District 7 Commissioner George Kruse, were sworn to duty by Clerk of Court Angel Colonneso Nov. 19 in the Patricia M. Glass Commission Chambers of the Manatee County Administration Building.
East County's Kruse will continue to represent the county at-large. While commissioners are not subject to term limits, Kruse said this will be his last term in office because he personally believes in term limits.
Kruse said he is optimistic about what can be accomplished with a new board.
“We spent too much of the board’s time, too much of staff’s time and too much of our dollars on things that the people don’t want, like widening 59th Street,” Kruse said. “They were in some people’s best interest. They were in special interests' best interest, but not the public’s.”
Kruse has two main goals moving into his second term — To give a voice back to the people and fix the budget that is “a disaster.”
He said the first objective is on track since citizens can once again comment on the county’s social media posts and call in to commission meetings.
The next steps are to get the advisory boards fully seated, to stop adding last minute items to the commission and land use agendas, and to start holding Town Hall meetings again so commissioners can engage with their constituents.
“The public wants more of a say in how their government is run,” Kruse said. “This (past) cycle, I think the current government broke the camel’s back and it showed at the ballot box.”
Kruse described the budget as a disaster because the board missed out on “meaningful revenue streams like impact fees in place of charging the public.”
He said until the time when tax dollars are being spent on things that will improve the quality of life in Manatee County, nothing else matters.
Like Kruse, commissioner Jason Bearden, who is entering the third year of his four-year term, fills an at-large seat and lives in Lakewood Ranch. The two new East County representatives are Felts and McCann.
Citizens who attend or watch commission meetings will recognize the Myakka City resident, as Felts has attended countless commission meetings as a citizen activist.
After eight years standing at the podium speaking to the commission, Felts was emotional from the moment she raised her right hand to take the oath of office.
"She takes it very seriously," campaign supporter Charlene Kow said. "She's excited to start up Town Hall meetings to hear from people throughout her district. She doesn't believe everyone needs to come to her."
Felts' main concern stepping onto the dais is that her district has lacked representation for the past seven months. James Satcher was the District 1 commissioner before he was appointed by Governor DeSantis to serve as the Supervisor of Elections in April.
“We haven’t had a vote,” Felts said. “We’ve got to look at how that affected the reasonable expectation of representation.”
Ultimately, Felts’ main goal has never wavered. She wants a more educated public.
She said people need to know how a cow pasture becomes a condominium. They also need to have realistic expectations as to what commissioners can and cannot do.
She said her new job as commissioner would be easier if everyone was operating on the same level of understanding. If it was up to her, the county’s organizational chart would have the citizens at the top, above the county administrator and commissioners.
Felts said the public is also at a disadvantage when it comes to resources, but developers Pat Neal and Carlos Beruff are citizens, too. She’s as obligated to “equally and effectively” represent them as much as she is anybody else.
“Everybody’s got their right to interpret and apply the law as they see fit, in their best interest,” Felts said. “The job of the representative is to do what is in the best interest of the people as a whole.”
Neal Communities last week held a neighborhood workshop for a proposed development north of State Road 64.
Now that Felts’ role has changed from activist to commissioner, she couldn’t attend the meeting or comment on the project because it hasn’t gone before the board yet. So in general terms, she said Neal did “a good thing” by holding a workshop that he wasn’t required to hold.
She gave residents credit for showing up to have the conversation. Felts saw it as an example of at least trying to solve a problem, something everyone in Manatee County is going to have to do moving forward.
The biggest complaint she’s heard from constituents is that the infrastructure is not adequately supporting the growth. She wants everyone to get ready to “tighten their belts,” both the county and its citizens.
“Do you want your trash picked up twice a week or do you want to get to work safely,” she said. “Those are the challenges we’re going to have, and they have to be acknowledged by not just your elected officials, but by the people who elected them.”
Newly elected McCann lives in the River Club. He can now add commissioner to a list of titles including Navy veteran, doctor, lawyer, pilot and scuba diver.
He said in an email that he wants to “stop the building” and restore wetlands, expand infrastructure and focus on disaster preparedness. He supports expanding services, such as local parks and recreational opportunities.
McCann wrote that he wants to see shovels in the ground at Premier Park by April. He listed his campaign promises as managing growth responsibly, improving traffic and infrastructure, ensuring that new developments contribute fairly to the community and maintaining accountability and transparency in government.
“I’m excited to get to work for the people of District 5 because we have a lot of work to do — and undo — from the previous board.”
