LWV Manatee County Commission Notes: 10/21/25

The League of Women Voters of Manatee County Government Committee observes Manatee County Commission meetings for items of interest to citizens and the League and notes adherence, or lack of adherence, to good governance procedures and the Sunshine Law. The following are the major points from the board’s regular meeting on October 21, 2025.

Link to the Agenda and Video

Commissioners Siddique and Felts attended via Zoom. Both were absent during a portion of the meeting.

Invocation Commissioner Jason Bearden

Pledge of Allegiance Steven Bell, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran

Announcements

Updates to Agenda - October 15, October 16, October 20

Awards/Presentations/Proclamations

Proclamations

National Friends of Libraries Week   

Nancy Deal, President of the Friends of the Island Library was pleased to accept the proclamation for all the Manatee “Friends of” library organizations and lauded the organizations' spirit of service.

Community Planning Month   

Rachel Layton, Development Services member, accepted the proclamation honoring how planners aids communities to provide better choices on where they live, work and play.

Manatee County Search & Rescue 25th Anniversary

John Owen, Deputy Chief, accepted the proclamation. He spoke proudly of the services this volunteer non-profit organization’s team provides and quoted statistics on how often they get called and types of rescue situations.

Requests By Commissioners (Items to be pulled from Consent Agenda)

Items 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 28 pulled by McCann. Siddique said his item to be pulled was Item 10, which was already pulled by McCann.

Consent Agenda

Approved 7-0

Select Citizen Comments (Consideration for Future Agenda Items)

• Betty was fervent that the county should NOT name a road after Charlie Kirk. She stated that Kirk was against and degraded women and minorities and he spoke violence. She said Commissioners Ballard and Bearden should be ashamed of supporting naming a road after Kirk. Finally, she stated if they insist on naming a Manatee road after Kirk, put it in your own white neighborhood but not in ours.
• Glen asked the Board to approve a $10,000 donation to Veteran Honor Flights contending that if they can fund a donation to the Navy fundraising ball, they can fund a donation to Veteran Honor Flights.

Commissioner responses:

• McCann said naming of a road after Kirk is not a done deal.
• Bearden praised Kirk and said there was a lot of disinformation out there.
• Rahn said he attended the homecoming of the most recent Veteran Honor Flight. He estimated 600 people were there and it was a very moving experience.

Items Removed From The Consent Agenda

Item 10 Approval of the 2026 Board of County Commissioners Meeting Calendar

• Commissioner Siddique said the proposed 2026 schedule has 44 meetings. His analysis of the number of meetings in other Florida counties showed that other counties, including very large counties, have significantly fewer county commissioner meetings.
• Commissioner Ballard felt only one work session per quarter was too drastic a cut. Work sessions don’t have votes and don’t require a quorum. Commissioner Felts agreed because there is so much work to do, therefore more work sessions are necessary. Felts and Kruse thought one work session per month is acceptable.
• Siddique said he was willing to be flexible and motioned for staff to work on a modified calendar based on commissioner input.

Approved 7-0.

Item 11 Adoption of Budget Amendment Resolution B-26-014

McCann asked Chief Financial Officer McClean for an explanation, saying it was for public transparency, necessary based on recent articles and audits.

McClean explained that the process for distributing Infrastructure Sales Tax was mandated by Florida Statute. The process used was identified and approved by the Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller. The money was distributed to cities and retained by the county based on population. 

Approved 7-0.

Item 12 Adoption of Budget Amendment Resolution B-25-125

McCann asked why there was money left over from 2025. McClean said the Clerk’s office is in charge of the process of closing the books and left over is rolled into the next fiscal year. It was premature at this time to say how much would be left over. McClean said the budget book available on MyManatee.org website under Financial Management.

Approved 7-0.

Item 13, 14 & 15 Change Orders on Construction Projects

McCann asked where the public can see budget amendments. Staff responded items are in the Consent or Agenda items. When asked what is the threshold is to have an item on consent or regular agenda, staff responded the decision is based on feedback during commissioner briefings and whether an item was considered administrative.

Public Comment:

Anthony said in his experience, 1 email is enough to persuade a commissioner to pull an item from Consent.

Items 13, 14 and 15 approved 5-1. McCann voting no, Siddique absent.

Item 17 Modification to Grant Agreement

McCann requested that more information be provided in the cover sheet.

Approved 6-0. Siddique absent.

Item 28 Authorization to Classify Vehicles as Surplus and Approval of Sale to Desoto County BOCC

McCann asked for the original cost of the ambulance being sold to Desoto County for Black Book value. Chad Butzow, Director of Public Works, responded $291,000 in 2017. 

Public Comment:

Glen said the $17,000 quoted Black Book value was for the chassis only. He quoted another source saying the complete ambulance Black Book value was $60,000.

Approved 4-2. McCann and Bearden voting no, Siddique absent.

Advertised Public Hearings - Legislative

Item 30. Adoption of Ordinance 25-56, establishing a $150 penalty for noncriminal parking violations Countywide - Tom Wooten, Code Enforcement Chief, and James Crutchfield, Public Safety Deputy Director

Jodi Fisk, Director of Public Safety justifying parking fine increase from $25 to $150 saying the current fine is not a deterrent for illegal parking and illegal parking by beaches interfered with first responders.

Ballard, McCann, and Kruse all questioned the huge percentage increase in the fine. McCann asserted that the increased fine targeted Lakewood Ranch because it only applies to unincorporated county property.

Public Comment:

Glen pointed out the ordinance is not beach specific. A single mother at Pride Park who’s struggling financially would be fined $150.

Motion to deny the fine increase approved 5-1. Kruse voting no; Siddique absent.

Item 31. Adoption of Resolution R-25-175, vacating a portion of a platted right-of-way known as Gardenia Street in the plat of Floriana Court, located along State Road 64, Bradenton, Florida 34208 - Shvonne Davis, Real Property Specialist - District 1

Shvonne Davis, Property Acquisition Specialist and Caleb Grimes, an attorney for the Gettel Group gave the presentation. 

Gettel wants the county to vacate the right-of-way for a nonexistent street (40 feet wide) to the owners of the properties abutting the right-of-way. Gettel owns 2 of the 3 properties asking for the right-of-way to be vacated. (see map)

• Bearden said because Gettel is building a new dealership on the side of the road in discussion, not vacating the right-of-way created a safety issue. 
• Kruse was in favor of vacating the right-of-way because there was no opportunity to put a road in that property. Vacating the right-of-way makes the land taxable.
• McCann said this was just giving away land. Felts pointed out that a car dealership would create a lot of impervious surface which is a problem for flooding.
• The County attorney said by state statute that counties are not allowed to sell this type of land right-of-way.

Motion to deny the transfer failed 2-4 Felts and McCann voting yes.

Motion to approve the transfer approved 4-2 Felts and McCann voted no

REGULAR

Government Relations

Item 33. Approval of the 2026 Legislative Priorities Document - Brent Anderson, Government Relations Manager   

Staff presented the legislative priorities document and stated that once approved, staff will begin working on the leave behind documents for the Delegation Meeting scheduled for October 27, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. The first two pages of the document will be the information that will be on the leave behind document cards. The entire document will be “live” on the County’s website

Commissioner Kruse noted that there are 7 legislative priorities. Thoughtful policy changes to Senate Bill 180 (currently freezing local changes to land use regulations) and Live Local Act (streamlining development rules and offering incentives to builders for affordable housing) may potentially have more impact on Manatee County citizens than project-specific appropriations. Last year all of our appropriation requests were funded by the legislature, however, the governor vetoed the entire $4,000,000.

Motion to approve 7-0.

Item 35. Approval to solicit for and hire five grant-funded positions dedicated solely to the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) Grant - Michele Davis, Grants Administration Division Manager   

The grant awarded Manatee County by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in January 2025 to aid in recovery efforts following the 2024 hurricane season is the largest grant ($252 million) ever awarded to Manatee County. Approving these positions ensures that financial controls will be strengthened to stay in compliance with the HUD grant requirements (2 fiscal analysts; 2 in-take specialists [housing], and 1 position as construction coordinator) for the implementation phase. No funds will be from the County General Fund.

Approved 5-1. McCann voting no, Siddique absent.

REPORTS

Community and Veterans Services

Item 32. Presentation of Updated Comprehensive Non-Profit Investment Process - Sarah Brown, Director Community & Veterans Services   

Brown gave the PowerPoint presentation which outlined the process and priorities for non-profit investment. Staff will focus on the compliance portion of the process; the selection process will be outsourced.

No action required by the Board.

Government Relations

Item 34. Government Efficiency Liaison Committee Update - Filling Committee Vacancy Timeline and Update from the Committee Chairman - Brent Anderson Government Relations Manager   

DOGE Committee lost one member; applications are being accepted through Friday of this week (October 24).

Mark Stanoch, Chairman of the Manatee County DOGE committee, stated they will be looking at the following areas: Tourist Tax; grant processing, management and procurement; how to create awareness and citizen engagement; rules of engagement with the State-led DOGE committee; and aggregation of government functions.

COMMISSIONER AGENDA ITEMS

Item 37. Discussion and Motion to Name Road After Private First Class Christopher Cobb USMC - McCann

McCann proposed a memorial naming of a portion of Prospect Road from Tallevast to Whitfield to honor PFC Christopher R. Cobb, USMC who died at the age of 19 in the 1^st Battle of Fallujah during Iraqi Freedom.

Motion to Approve 6-0. Siddique absent.

GOVERNANCE

Link to Good Governance Guidelines

"Advertised Public Hearings - Legislative" always gives the option “Presentation upon Request”. Even if the commissioners do not request the presentation, staff has prepared one. The two requested had PowerPoint presentations, but they were not available through the agenda. Whether commissioners want the presentation or not, the staff prepares a presentation, the presentations should be linked to the agenda. The public deserves the information.

Reduction in the number of meetings may be a positive step, assuming county business can be done with transparency in a shorter time frame. We hope this will also allow for more consistent attendance.

A number of questions asked were in the agenda item information that is provided by staff.

Glen's proposal that advisory board meetings should allow members to attend via Zoom may have some merit, assuming legal and technical issues allow. It could be a consideration in the renovations of the new County building in Lakewood Ranch.

Commissioners should take care to speak into their microphones and verify that it is on. Making side comments is distracting, especially so when the microphone is on.