My name is Brice Claypoole. I’m fifteen years old and run the advocacy group Kids for Clean Water. The group was founded in 2020 by me and six other local kids. Our first campaign was an effort to help pass the Manatee County Land Acquisition Referendum. We made videos and wrote letters to the editor, trying to reach Manatee County voters. It was an encouraging experience, as the measure passed with more than 70% support from Manatee constituents.
However, another result of the 2020 election was less encouraging. With major financial support from the development industry, particularly developer and political powerbroker Carlos Beruff, multiple new commissioners won seats on the Manatee County Commission. The new board majority, most likely with direction from Beruff, fired our highly qualified county administrator and began the unprecedented move of completely reshaping the top levels of county government. It quickly became apparent that this board's main goals were to approve more development and eliminate all barriers to further building. By September 2021, their attention had turned to the land referendum. Instead of implementing the will of the voters, they partially defunded the referendum. I was treated to a harsh lesson: the fight to protect our community is never over.
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I hoped that the new board's failure to implement the will of the voters would wake people up to the corruption within Manatee County politics. Sadly, after multiple years, things have only gotten worse. Developers heaped money into the 2022 election, gaining themselves influence over a supermajority of the board. Since then, the practice of government officials serving the public has been completely forgotten. No sooner had the new commissioners been sworn into office than they began the process of gutting the county’s wetland protections.
Wetlands are essential to our way of life in Manatee County. They provide a vast amount of wildlife habitat, prevent flooding, reduce damage from hurricanes and keep our water (including our drinking water) clean and healthy. Unfortunately, they are also an inconvenience for developers who want to pave over as much land as possible. This is what drove Beruff to sue the county—twice—over its wetland buffer requirements. The courts ruled in favor of the county—twice—allowing its wetland protections to remain in force.
Once developers had bought a six-to-one majority on the board, they were able to attack the regulation from the inside. In January of this year, the president of the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association met with county officials and instructed them to make “changes” to the county’s land use regulations. Shortly after, the county proposed to delete the very wetland policy they had just finished defending in court.
The board voted on the changes on August 17, after hearing five hours of testimony about the importance of wetland buffers that ranged from explanations from scientists to passionate pleas from citizens, all of whom asked the board to maintain current buffer requirements. Their comments fell on deaf ears, however, as the commission approved the changes 6-1 after almost zero discussion. “What do you do when you can’t beat them in court?” Suncoast Waterkeeper’s Samantha Wassmer asked rhetorically. “You try buying their government.”
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I was unable to attend the hearing and found myself watching online. I noticed that not one kid was present. This decision will have a huge impact on the future of our community, so it concerned me that the voices of youth weren’t included in this discussion.
I’ve watched dead sea horses wash up on our beaches and seen dead sea turtles floating in the waves. I’ve seen mats of Lyngbya algae strangle seagrass beds that just a few years ago were lush sanctuaries for bountiful aquatic life. I understand that everything I love about our community is at risk of being lost. I fear that I will never show my kids a seahorse or a lush seagrass bed.
I knew other kids must have felt the same way and, as expected, found several who wanted to get involved with this issue. Together, we formed Kids for Clean Water’s latest campaign, which I dubbed Kids for Our Wetlands. For the past month, we have been doing everything we can to raise awareness about this issue. We have written emails and comments, spoken with the press about our efforts, made videos detailing our concerns, and created a letter to commissioners that has garnered over 90 signatures from local youths.
I will be representing Kids for Clean Water when these changes come to a final vote at Thursday's land use meeting. In the end, I don’t believe a group of concerned kids can convince this board to protect our future. However, there is an election coming up and a large body of constituents showing up to speak out against their plan to remove wetland protections might just be enough to change their minds. That’s why I’m asking you, on behalf of all the kids who will inherit Manatee County, to show up at the hearing on Thursday and tell the commissioners to preserve our environment for the future.
Brice Claypoole is a 15-year-old Manatee County environmental activist and author of the blog The Kid Who Cares. He was recently a guest on The Bradenton Times Podcast. Click here to access the episode.
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Lawdavid3265
Good for you and your organization Brice. Keep up the fight. Our best hope is for a change in county leadership at the next election. Protection of our fragile marine environment should be of great concern to all of us as it links to our physical and mental health and is crucial to our economy.
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Report this
kmskepton
Thank you for being the adult leader we sorely need!
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Report this
Charles
When a right to clean and healthy waters is in our state constitution, such issues will not exist. Best to get to the root of the problem and help get the amendment on the ballot for the voters to make the decisions, not corrupt politicians and their campaign funders. Join the effort today. Floridarighttocleanwater.org
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Report this
barbaraelliott
Dear Brice,
I apologize for the mess our young citizens have to deal with before you are even out of high school. It's adults fault. I also thank you for your service to this country through civic activism. I support you completely and have signed all the petitions regarding wetlands protection that I can. I've been an activist since your age too. I'm seventy now. It's a hard, confusing, ungrateful row to hoe. However it has its moments when you are rewarded by knowing you made a difference or just plain caused corrupt politicians a really hard time and lots of worry. Now that's a fun, worthwhile hobby or passion.You won't get rich; activism will cost not only money, time and energy but years of your life. It may cost you friendships and relationships. Follow your passion and calling. You are doing God's work and you will be rewarded. If you want to chat or get some well learned tips from an old school baby boomer hell raiser give me a call when you have time. Not only that but perhaps a collaboration between young and old would benefit all.
Once again, thank you.
Barbara Elliott
Stone Soup Manatee Inc stonesoupmanatee@yahoo.com
941-447-9929
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Report this
misty
Brice, I’m very grateful for your willingness to stand up for what is right. Don’t ever let anyone pressure you to stray from your values - it’s not worth money or the promise of a high profile job. I apologize for the mess that our commissioners are creating for your generation, but I’m confident that your generation will rescue Manatee County the the world from these and other bad choices.
Thursday, October 5, 2023 Report this
Dianna
Brice- the citizens of Manatee County appreciate both you, your sister, and Mom speaking out at the Land Use meeting 10/5/23. As a resident of District 3 we are ashamed and appalled by Commissioner Van Ostenbridge's behavior and by the negative comments that he made towards you and your sister. It is embarrassing that he would treat our younger citizens in such a terrible way at a public meeting. It is unacceptable that an adult who is also your commissioner and should be your representative would treat you in such an offensive manner.
Thursday, October 5, 2023 Report this