Local Government Concerned Rubonia Citizens Get Runaround

BRADENTON — Residents of Rubonia want their community center back. They don't want someone else from someplace else coming into their neighborhood and telling them what works best for their community. But Manatee County Commissioners appeared unsure toward the concerns of a dozen residents who came there to speak before the board at Tuesday's meeting.

Community leaders from Rubonia spoke to the need to keep the community center as if it were the very glue that held the town together.

And in the voice of each speaker you could hear the cir de coeur, generations deep, to save what they felt they couldn't trust in the hands of strangers.

Mary Brown, now chairwoman for the Rubonia Community Center said, "The history here goes back to my grandparents, we opened the center and provided the programs." Brown said that Rubonia is vital to Manatee County. "Please take a look at Rubonia as a whole."

Residents of the 100 year-old plus community came to vent, and not just about the community center

Charles Miller (one of the many community leaders) said he first filed a request back in 2009 to have someone from the county consider street drains and sidewalks where there were only ditches. Miller later said he didn't get an answer, so he re-submitted it in 2011. Miller said, "Please reconsider putting us back in the 2016/2017 FY budget." 

Timothy and Brandy Newman said they just moved to Rubonia months ago, and when they found its charm they knew they wanted to stay. But Timothy said, "We do need sidewalks. Kids there walk to Palm View, just a few blocks away, but there aren't any sidewalks. They have to walk in the road. That is dangerous."

Brandy Newman said, "We love Rubonia. This is our daughter's first day at summer camp. Wouldn't it be great to not have to bus her out for activities. Are we going to wait for something to happen?"

Barbara Heinz said, "Never have I ever seen a community beat down like Rubonia by this commission." Heinz, like all that spoke before her, said the community should stay in the hands of those from Rubonia.

Morris Goff said there were four canals that carried the water away from Rubonia, and that it didn't always flood. It was when they changed U.S. 41 that the water had nowhere to go. Goff said you could look at Rubonia from Google satellite maps and see the problem the ACOE created when they rerouted U.S. 41.

Not all of the 30-some Rubonia residents that came spoke, but each one that did conveyed what the neighborhood meant to them. 

Commissioners promised there wasn't any plan to sell the center, just that they wanted to go through the typical process these things normally take. They wanted to entertain what other offers might suggest. 

Commissioner Baugh said she had never heard about the U.S. 41 problems before, even though it has been published on more than one occasion in local media outlets.

On July 9, all of the invitations to negotiate (proposals) will be submitted. In another meeting on July 23, the county will host a questions and answer session, and then, on August 20, all proposals are due in.

The county has provided a donation of $30,000 to supply transportation for the children of Rubonia by sending them to the Girls and Boys Club during the summer.