Wow. Corcoran is a tool, and he took something that was literally at the top of the category, and shoved it into the bottom of a different category.
Again, that was one of the rare colleges that was appropriately structured for autism spectrum students.
New College was also the school that produced more students who went on to achieve their PHD than any other school in the United States.
They get no credit for destroying something that was truly great, and turning it into something mediocre over religious propaganda.
From someone who was directly impacted and also witnessed the crazy chaos, I am excited for Manatee! Thank you “Big Picture Manatee” for all you have done to help stop the madness!
Could BPD explain why there is not enforcement over the last several years of laws against private commercial activity, namely several jet ski rentals, horse rides and others, on Palma Sola Causeway (City of Bradenton Property)? A large portion of the causeway is occupied by these commercial operations leaving minimal space for recreational use by private citizens. Maybe a Bradenton Times story about this issue could provide information and clarity?
Well written article and very much appreciated, but one thing that most reports fail to mention is that back in the 60s when Manatee County government needed federal approval to construct the dam and create Lake Manatee, the federal government advised this would not be functional as flood control and recommend the project be enlarged to be able it to act as a flood control mechanism. Manatee County replied they were not interested in flood control, but only an unlimited source for creation of drinking water knowing well even back then that the only impediment to any desired growth was lack of available water. Well, I agree entirely that it’s time for the county to revisit this mindset and use and enlarge Lake Manatee to the point that it will provide viable flood control, but I seriously doubt the county will take that approach and will continue to allow development even with a change of commissions attitude. Money seems to rule
If only you could reverse all of the not-so-smart things you've said (or shouted) from the dais, Mr. Bearden. When the attorney has to explain things like you are a 2nd grader, maybe you should not be in charge of a $3 billion budget.
Remember our Veterans who are still homeless and struggling in Manatee County. .... Suicide Among Veterans A major, yet preventable health problem in the U.S. is suicide.1 Sadly, Veterans comprise nearly a quarter of suicide deaths in the U.S Suicidal Warning Signs In 2020, there were 6,146 Veteran suicides, which averages to 16.8 Veterans dying by suicide every day.2
Additionally, in the two decades between 2001 and 2020, the prevalence of mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) among participants using Veterans Health Administration (VHA) rose from 27.9% to 41.9%. Comparing the rate among women Veterans to non-Veteran adult women, the rate is 2.5 times higher.5 In 2017, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) reported the highest suicide rate among women using VA health services at 20 per 100,000. Since 2017, however, that number has decreased and was recorded to be approximately 14 per 100,000 in 2020.2
Suicide rates have been historically high among young Veterans and older Veterans as well. In the 20 years between 2001 and 2020, the suicide rate among Veterans between the ages of 18 and 34 increased by 95.3%. During that same time period, the suicide rate among Veterans between the ages of 55 and 74 rose 58.2%. From 2019-2020, however, the suicide rate for older Veterans decreased while the suicide rate among Veterans in the 18-34 age group increased.2
About 17 Veterans commit suicide a day.2
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/veterans/suicide-among-veterans
With the BOCC budget discussion and suggested tax roll backs, maybe with the two Deputy positions being vacant the Countu Administrator can just eliminate those positions. It seems over the past 3 years for a board and administration that preached conservatives, we have seen no cut backs but growth. Vehicles with wrapping unnecessary and many Departments that gained one or even two Deputies making over 100K. This could be away to rollback.
The story is accurate loosing tenured employees does hurt County Government and a lot of institutional knowledge.
Thank you for your excellent publication.
More than happy to have a paid subscription. In fact, after that wretched endorsement of KVO that the Herald-Tribune had in their paper just prior to the primary,I canceled that subscription and increased what I pay for yours.
Keep up the great work, please. We desperately need it.
If I was a City Councilperson, I would be screaming loudly about a proposed county Comp Plan change and development plan at the old PAL property at US 301/US 41 and 13th Ave E. With the amount of sewage being released into county waterways, no development of this size (expansion of charter school, commercial, and RV park) should be approved until such time as the city infrastructure has been fixed and updated. There appears to be no capacity. The county should deny for that very reason. Sorry for the charter school, but they have a second location near the airport.
And here we go again. The SME, the one the county signs a check for every two weeks, told them it's a bad idea to go forward until the study can be completed. "It takes years to complete these things." Can we wait? Yes, we have to. You cannot undo what has already been done but we can certainly wait until a study is presented and an objective vote can be made verses one based on emotion and developer support.
Our government is actually a representative republic not a democracy. The ability to amend our State constitution, even though it takes a 2/3 majority vote, is as close as we come to a democracy. DeMousealini even wants to prevent this modicum of democracy from taking place.
Of course Slick Rick doesn't want to have a televised debate where he will have to answer real questions. He would rather just have his fluff ads and not have to be held accountable for his corruption issues.
Glenn,
Excellent letter, very informative, and spot on. I have a question that I have not been able to get an answer to. The huge sewage spills into our waterways always seem to happen with a major flooding event caused by rain. This leads me to believe that the storm water run off is entering our sewage system, is this correct? If this is true why are the two effluents running through the same system. Obviously storm run off water should be treated differently from sewage. I have also been told that the County received a federal grant of millions of dollars a few years back to address this issue but has not acting on this. Is this true?
Like all political organizations, there has always been a degree of dissention in the REC. However, for many years Kathy King managed to pull the group together and ran a very successful organization. After all her hard work, it's heartbreaking to see how much the REC has deteriorated.
A huge thanks to Matt Bower and the citizens of Manatee County who came to speak during public comment. Matt’s comments were right on target as the public is paying either way because we will not leave McClash to pick up the tab for this alone. Kruse was also right on target with his comments. Those citizens coming to discuss the dam and flooding- please keep coming. This board has the ability to share information with the citizens, yet they keep canceling workshops and refuse to have any real discussion on stormwater issues during meetings. This problem is not going away and needs to be addressed. Again, the meeting ended at 11:30am and there was one citizen on the phone for public comment. Instead of taking the one last citizen you pushed them off until later so clearly public comments are still not important. Reverse all you want. Too little too late, the minority will be voted out in 2 years- because citizens will not forget.
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