LWV Manatee County Commission Notes: 5/28/2024

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 5/28/2024, observed by Coleen Friedman.

Link to Agenda and Meeting Video

[Note: After the retirement of Mike Bennett, James Satcher was appointed Manatee County Supervisor of Elections by Governor DeSantis. Therefore, currently there are only 6 County Commissioners.]

Invocation – Reverend Brock Patterson, Longboat Island Chapel

Pledge of Allegiance – Chelsea Busch, Manatee County 311 Operator

Items pulled from Consent Agenda – None

Presentations/Awards/Proclamations

• Michael Orama, Port Authority security officer for less than a year, was recognized for his “swift and decisive” response to an emergency which occurred on April 6, 2024. Mr. Orama used a tourniquet on a worker with a severe injury, saving his life and avoiding amputation. 
• Presentation of Retirement Award to James B. Scarbrough, Transit Attendant, honoring his 28+ years of service with Manatee County.
• Proclamation Designating June 6, 2024, as "Revive Awareness Day" in Manatee County, a Community-Based Prevention and Response Organizations engaged in delivering education and training sessions on opioids and reversal medications.

Selected Citizen Comments for future agenda items

• Mike M. asked the Board to reconsider cuts to funding for Our Daily Bread which continues to serve children’s programs in the county with food boxes. The organization has had unexpected expenses in 2024 for equipment repair. He also requested that the county improve the pollution warning system for N Palma Sola Bay which has had multiple weeks with pollution readings above the dangerous level of 75.
• Misha Richardson Judd asked for a ban on burning, and then chastised the Board for the way they discussed the Duette request for ALS (advanced life services) issuance at the April meeting and didn’t allow their fire chief to speak. She expressed anger at commissioners because they said that Duette residents can’t expect these services because they choose to live in a rural area.
• Donna stated that she is worried that there aren’t adequate emergency services in the Duette area.
• Gil R. voiced his strong opposition to the veteran’s park proposal, noting that the MC Veterans Council was not consulted on the initiative or asked to join a planning committee if there is one. He noted that the $4 million allotted for planning was not justified. 

Selected Commissioner Responding Comments:

• Van Ostenbridge responded that the Health Department covers the causeway and takes pollution measurements and burn bans are managed by the State Dept of Forestry. 
• Kruse said that fire departments are independent of the Board, but he didn’t have a problem with ALS issuance per se but noted that should they receive it, it won’t be a volunteer fire department and would have to request a millage to fund. 
• Bearden addressed the status of the Veterans Park, saying it is in “early stages” with an advisory board being put together. He said funding is moving “nicely” with an additional $3 million in process through the Veterans Resource Center with the assistance of Rep. Buchanan. 

Approval of Consent Agenda with no public comment, 6-0

Note – Included in Consent was Item #18 Execution of Agreement No. 24-R083613CD Operational Support Services for Piney Point Treatment Plant and Deep Injection Well; and Adoption of Budget Resolution B-24-059. Action Requested - Authorize the Purchasing Official, or designee, to execute Agreement No. 24-R083613CD with Chemical Injection Partners Florida, LLC for Operational Support Services for Piney Point Pretreatment Plant and Deep Injection Well at a unit cost of $24,000.00 per million gallons per day treated and injected into the Deep Injection Well.

Additional Information/Background: The Agreement staff presented to the Board of County Commissioners is for a unit price of $24,000.00 to be paid to the Contractor per million gallon per day (MGD) of water treated and injected into the deep injection (UIC) well. The estimated cost of the initial term of the Agreement is $7,824,000.00 based on the estimated volume of water to be treated and injected during the initial term of the Agreement. The initial term of this Agreement is for two (2) years with the option to renew for an additional eight (8) one-year periods, not to exceed a total of ten (10) years. Budget Resolution B-24-059 appropriates $1,304,000 in the General fund for the Piney Point Operations account key for contracted participation of the Deep Injection Pretreatment Well operating costs.

ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARINGS

Item #42, Community and Veterans Services - Authorize submission of 2024-2027 Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice

Amanda Warner, planner from Wade Trim, presented. Wade Trim is a consulting group who worked with the county to complete a required 5-year analysis of the county’s support of the Fair Housing Act. From the summary document:

Public consultation has revealed that fair housing issues and contributing factors identified in the draft AI report include a lack of fair housing education and awareness, lack of quality affordable housing, geographically concentrated areas of race, ethnicity, and poverty, enforcement of fair housing laws, and fair housing complaint activity. The AI report also includes an analysis of fair housing data, an assessment of fair housing issues and contributing factors, an identification of fair housing priorities and goals, and recommended actions to support goals specific to Manatee County.

Actions recommended to address the identified Impediments include:

1. Expand Fair Housing education within Manatee County.
2. Increase the availability of affordable housing in Manatee County.
3. Identify opportunities to reinvest in R/ECAPS to eliminate blighted conditions and spur redevelopment.
4. Strengthen code enforcement on substandard rental units.
5. Improve the enforcement of Fair Housing laws and ordinances.
6. Focus Fair Housing efforts where complaint activity has increased, such as discrimination based on disability and family composition.

No questions or comments from the public or commissioners. Motion to authorize submission of the report passed 5-0 (Bearden not present)

Regular Agenda Items of Interest

Item #43 - Adoption of Budget Amendment Resolution B-24-086, amending the FY24 Budget for the Supervisor of Elections 

James Satcher, Supervisor of Elections, presented the request for a budget amendment to transfer $841,340 from reserves in the General Fund to the Supervisor of Elections (SoE) budget. Satcher began by describing the “most important election of our lifetimes” will require expanded safety and security which includes hardware and software, expanded ability to audit 100% of races, expanded accessibility for voters with the addition of satellite SoE offices in Lakewood Ranch and Parrish as well as anticipated budget overruns. He stated that Manatee County currently has the lowest-cost SoE in Florida. In addition, many neighboring counties are using more current audit software.

Vigorous discussion ensued, including discussion of the age of the County’s equipment, voting by mail, and the budgets of other SoE offices. Kruse expressed a number of concerns:

• Questioning if 6 weeks from mail-in ballots going out the best use of time for the Supervisor to initiate such an operation
• Asking if the focus would better be served on performance 
• Supporting documents had been removed from the website agenda prior to the meeting
• The possibility of disruption for voters
• Wanting detail about what “integrity issues” had occurred in the past
• Stating the request represents a 26% increase in the annual budget for what is technically a 4-month period remaining
• Quoting a Florida report on election crimes and security from 2022 to the present in which Manatee County had just 12 of the 1,339 complaints logged in Florida. Manatee County has the least number of complaints. 

Satcher alluded to overall security and then said he didn’t want to go on the record with specifics. He stated that cybersecurity improvements were needed, because a confidential report had been shared with the governor by the federal government. [NOTE – data that Satcher is presumed to be referencing was sent to the FL Division of Elections from a “concerned citizen” who used a program called “EagleAI” to compile the information. This information was shared with all FL SoE offices. NBCNews.]

Kruse said that there was more information needed for the Board to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and the request is premature, saying if the system isn’t broken, it doesn’t need to be fixed. As Kruse began to state additional points, Van Ostenbridge interrupted to bring the item to a vote.

Motion passed 5-0.

Public Comments:

• Paula L. a 20-year resident of County, has voted in every election and has worked as a poll watcher. She has never seen any issues or heard complaints. She wondered how a new, inexperienced Supervisor of Elections could so quickly find so many problems. She also called out the potential conflict of interest for the other commissioners who are on the ballot. She requested that the motion be tabled.
• Judy P., a lifelong County resident, also asked for the budget amendment to be tabled. She worried that the county has less fiscal restraint and that the request should be deliberated more.
• Ken P. called out a potential violation of county statutes with a transfer from the general fund without proper public notice and a hearing.

Motion to approve the budget amendment passed 4-1; Kruse voted no. Ballard abstained due to conflict of interest.

Item # 47, Property Management – contract for sale and purchase for Emerson Point Expansion

Charles Meador, Property Acquisition Division Manager, reviewed the timeline of the consideration of this 94-acre property, including the role of ELMAC, and noted that the hope is to have the state buy back this parcel through the Florida Forever fund with a county lease. The current price to the county is $15.5 million. Contracts are signed; closing is to take place in July. 

No comments from commissioners or the public. Motion to approve passed 6-0.

GOVERNANCE

Link to Good Governance Guidelines

Rahn continues to seem flustered about when he needs to open items for public comment prior to calling a motion and has difficulty during the voting process. The delays interrupt the flow of the meeting and can be confusing to observers.

There were observable comings and goings of commissioners at this meeting, with several absences for votes. 

Given the number of issues identified during the review of the 2024-2027 Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice (Item #42), the commissioners should have discussed the issues, findings, and follow-up plans on the recommendations.

As usual, updates were made to the agenda after the original was posted, on Friday and early Tuesday, both after public comment was closed. In addition, the Online Link to Updates to Agenda disappeared, making it impossible for citizens to know what changes had been made to the original agenda, and when. In addition, details of the SOE’s budget request were removed from the county website before the Board meeting began on Tuesday.

Given the cost and importance to the community of Item 18, Execution of Agreement No. 24-R083613CD Operational Support Services for Piney Point Treatment Plant and Deep Injection Well; and Adoption of Budget Resolution B-24-059, it should have been a Regular agenda for discussion in the sunshine.

The commission has again approved significant taxpayer dollars without proof of need, viability studies and, if there is public input, it is ignored. These expenditures include $4 million for a Veterans Park, $1.25 million for a preliminary design criteria package for an Island garage and now $841,340 for the Supervisor of Election for the last half year.

Despite comments to the contrary, The League of Women Voters, both Republican and Democratic political parties and many independent groups support vote by mail. It is a proven safe and effective voting method.

Beardon raised his voice repeatedly in the discussion on the SoE request. The commissioner should make factual points in a civil tone.