BRADENTON — During a BOCC regular meeting on Tuesday, commissioners discussed a proposal for a veterans housing project near SeaPort Manatee.
The proposal comes on the heels of public pushback over the board’s inaction to move forward with a previously discussed project agreement with the Tunnels 2 Towers Foundation—a conveyance and project that appeared to have the majority support of the board back in April.
In August, Commissioners voted to delay the Tunnels 2 Towers project planned for a county-owned property in west Bradenton. To move forward, the item needs a board vote solidifying the conveyance of the site to Tunnel 2 Towers for the development of permanent housing for homeless veterans.
Not only did the unanticipated delay draw condemnation from the public—and at least one commissioner—but the vote to delay was taken with three commissioners failing to appear for the vote, despite otherwise having attended the same meeting in full and casting votes for every other item on the agenda that day.
Of the three absent commissioners for the Tunnel 2 Towers vote—James Satcher, Mike Rahn, and Jason Bearden—two are former servicemen and veterans. This fact led many in the public to suspect the commissioners had strategically avoided the vote in order to avoid being on record having voted against the approval of the project, thereby avoiding political blemish. Members of the public confronted the commissioners on their absence from the vote in emails, on social media, during public comment and during town halls which followed the 3-1 vote to delay.
The latest homeless veterans project was first proposed by Commissioner Jason Bearden two weeks ago during commissioner comments. The item appeared on the agenda but contained few details. Bearden suggested the proposed site could be built on county-owned parkland along Buckeye Road. The veterans’ tiny home community might be a viable alternative to the Tunnels 2 Towers project, said Bearden, but a short presentation of the site and proposed project showed that the “plan” was still in its infancy.
Many questions went unanswered following the presentation provided to the board two weeks ago, including who would manage the facility, whether the site would include wrap-around services, and how many homes might be able to be built on the site, among other details. In addition, county staff told the board that the county-owned land where the project might be built had development hurdles concerning wetlands and protected wildlife.
Again on this Tuesday’s meeting agenda, the item appeared on the agenda with few details or descriptions. Bearden opened the item by welcoming Michael Raposa, the Chief Executive Officer of the Society of St Vincent de Paul CARES South Pinellas.
During the presentation, Raposa detailed his organization’s history, vision and mission toward eradicating homelessness. Raposa provided statistics on the organization’s successes and examples of numerous existing project sites across multiple counties in the region. CARES is a provider of affordable and permanent supportive housing to area homeless and at-risk of homelessness, including homeless veterans.
Following the meeting presentation, multiple commissioners asked questions of Raposa. During the discussion, points were raised concerning the differences in service programs between CARES and Tunnel 2 Towers.
One specific difference that brought some hesitation from at least three commissioners Tuesday was CARES' “rapid rehousing” format.
Commissioner Amanda Ballard, drawing on her past experience having worked in the child welfare program, questioned Raposa about the CARES rapid rehousing model.
“I saw a lot of people fail to succeed in those programs because there was a significant underlying issue with mental health or substance abuse,” Ballard explained while expressing her concern.
“The success that I saw with those who were dealing with underlying mental health and substance abuse issues along with homelessness, is that those individuals found their success when they first dealt with those issues,” Ballard added.
Ballard questioned whether the program facilitated by CARES would come with any requirement that those who were provided housing would also need to agree to wrap-around support services or a commitment to sobriety. Raposa explained that there would be no requirement for clients to agree to particular services or support plans, including sobriety, in order to receive housing. He added that CARES works with a philosophy that by first addressing homelessness, the groundwork is laid for those struggling with substance abuse to willingly accept the support needed to help address underlying issues.
This philosophy for addressing homelessness in the United States is often referred to as a “housing first” approach.
Later in the meeting discussion, Ballard urged her colleagues to “look into” the history and success of rapid rehousing programs nationwide, cautioning that by her assessment such programs have not been “overly successful.”
Commissioner George Kruse also zeroed in on this specific difference between the Tunnels 2 Towers program and the CARES program. Kruse noted that previous discussions by the board on the topic of veteran housing seemed to suggest a majority desire to support a program that would not utilize a “housing first” model.
“This has come up in previous discussions about how we can’t put a facility near existing housing because what if there are people using drugs or drinking alcohol on the premises,” Kruse said, pointing out that a housing-first modeled program would not refuse housing to any client that declined treatment for substance abuse or who continued to abuse substances even while receiving housing assistance.
Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge appeared to share some concerns about a housing-first model and repeated another concern he had raised previously when the board discussed the Towel 2 Towers proposal. The chairman asked Raposa whether the organization could require a “two-year proof of residency” in order to ensure services would only be going to Manatee County veterans.
Raposa responded to Van Ostenbridge’s question by stating, “It is hard to establish residency if you are living on the streets.”
“My concern is, I don’t want to create a situation where Manatee becomes a magnet that draws folks in from all over and then they become the responsibility of county taxpayers,” said Van Ostenbridge.
However, as a member of the public pointed out during public comments, the funds the board designated for the investment in a local veterans’ housing program are federal dollars derived from the American Rescue Plan Act, also commonly referred to as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package of 2021.
Expressing the reasons that the St Vincent de Paul CARES program was more to his favor—including its work locally—Bearden made a motion to defer all votes on any veterans housing projects until Nov. 14, at which time both the Tunnel 2 Towers Foundation and the CARES Organization would return to the board with final proposals.
Bearden’s motion failed 4-3, with Commissioners Kruse, Ballard, Rahn, and Van Ostenbridge voting against the action. Bearden, Satcher, and Turner voted in favor.
Tunnel 2 Towers is scheduled to return to the board with its final proposal during an Oct. 10 BOCC regular meeting. The scheduled presentation would have been canceled had Bearden’s motion passed. However, without a majority in support of stalling all discussions, Tunnel 2 Towers will give its final presentation to commissioners in mid-October as previously planned.
To replay Bearden's item presentation and BOCC discussion from Tuesday's meeting, click the video below.
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Cat L
Love listening to people who have no grasp on mental health, talk about proper steps in relation to mental health...
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
Cat L
Love listening to people who have no grasp on mental health, talk about proper steps in relation to mental health...
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
WTF
Tunnels 2 Towers is a great project. 15 million of American Rescue Plan was exclusivity set aside for VETERANS. Of that 6 million is to used to pay Utilities for the T2T land they are receiving. The other 9 million that was promised to be set aside for Veterans is now GONE. Diverted to pork belly self serving commissioner districts. Such a disgrace to steal funds from Veterans monies that were promised to the Citizens and Veterans of our County. If we can't trust the board on 15 million promise why on earth would we trust them on the Billion dollar budget we have. We can't. The 3 that voted to delay is not worthy of office. VOTE THEM OUT
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
nellmcphillips
Wow- the Commissioners have it right in front of them with the Tunnels to Towers program and they still can’t get it right. Veterans housing is an no brainer. And our veterans on the Board chickened out. Not my monkeys not my circus - vote them all out.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
ruthlawler
My father served during WW2 in the Army Air Corps. My two older brothers and my husband served during the Vietnam War in the Air Force. As a family member of veterans, I believe that the Tunnels to Towers veteran facility is a no brainer. It is the right thing to do to approve this amazing project that would be built and operated at NO COST to our taxpayers. It would most importantly house many Manatee County veterans and bring jobs and revenue to our County. It would be up and running in a relatively short period of time, built and operated by a very experienced organization. Our Manatee County Commissioners have an opportunity to do the right thing! Will they??
Ruth Lawler
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
sandy
Bearden is an a**. It was wrong of him to postpone a decision until his project can get vetted. He needs to learn the process of amending a DRI. That's not the same as a simple rezone. It will be a much longer project to accomplish. The property was dedicated to the County through a DRI and Development Order for a park only. Also, if you look closely at this project and check the county GIS land development map for concurrency you can see the eastern side of this parcel depicted in the draft diagram is in the DRI for Artisan Lakes and not owned by the county. The southeast corner of the location of the homes appears to fall within this. Further, the Natural Resources GIS map shows considerable wetlands including where the tiny homes are proposed to be built. A wetland survey is a must to accurately delineate these and an accurate survey of the county land. Taxpayer dollars will be needed to operate this site, as stated by Michael Raposa. They don't fund it but operate it with grants, county money and private donations. With the 6M for the land, the county won't have to use addition taxpayer money for the building, maintenance, and wrap-around services. The construction of Tunnel to Towers could progress long before the onset of the approval of Bearden's proposal. I am not saying don't do it but approve T2T to start getting needed housing for homeless vets. As stated in the meeting, many vets are one paycheck away from homelessness and there may be many not documented at this time. T2T has made concessions due to some of the concerns of the board. Enough is enough.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
san.gander
Our County Commissioners are really reaching for reasons to do the wrong thing! It appears to me they don't want to house any homeless veterans, no how, no way, and especially no where in Manatee County. The very idea of locating housing out at Buckeye Road 12 miles distant from the city where all the services for the homeless are available is "evidence" of their contempt for veterans with problems. How many homeless have transportation? They Commissioners want all the homeless off the streets downtown... out-of-sight... out-of-mind! They can't have them panhandle in town and bring down property values! And as for providing aid for veterans from another county or even another state... they all served in the same U.S. Military. You owe them County Commissioners... the tax payers of this county and every county in the country should stand up and help. Let's be a model... prove we can do it best!
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this
Fishhead
Clueless board we have here. Vote these hacks out.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Report this