Educate, Involve and Engage

Plus: 2024 Town Hall Dates!

As Manatee County continues to grow exponentially, I do not believe we have kept up with our civic duty to involve and inform the residents of how our government works on their behalf. I get way too many questions about the basic functions of various departments, comments about the lack of a public voice or concerns about why development is continuing as it is.

The Manatee County Government owes it to everyone to provide this knowledge to all citizens that seek it. We owe it to all of you to create an environment within your government to let your voice be heard. We owe it to every resident to ensure an informed electorate is making good, educated decisions.

The way forward is to expand our public outreach in educating all citizens, involve them in the public discussion and engage with each and every resident…like the local representatives we were elected to be.

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EDUCATE

I’ve had a number of people ask me about how they can learn more about the basic functions of local government. We have complicated org charts and departments that seem foreign to those outside of our downtown building.

One way Manatee County can increase our citizen education is through the implementation of a Citizens Academy. Much like the Leadership Manatee program, the Academies found in other municipalities conduct multi-day programs to allow participants the opportunity to truly learn how various departments function.

As Sumter County states on their Academy page:

Sumter County is pleased to offer the Citizens Academy. An opportunity for Sumter County residents to gain an in-depth look at their local government. The program consists of five days of four-hour long presentations and tours of the various Sumter County agencies and departments. The program culminates in graduation at Sumter County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting.

Many counties and cities offer these programs. Two great examples from similarly-sized counties are Citrus County (Program Link) and Pasco County (Program Link).

Pasco put out a nice program summary on YouTube a few years ago.

If you want a local example, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has a great Citizens Academy. You can find more info on their program HERE.

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The other area of education which citizens are consistently asking for is a comprehensive look at our overall development process.

Manatee County should develop a speaking series to explain all aspects of Development Services and the Land Use process. These can include sessions on:

• Rezoning

• Understanding the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Cost

• The steps a development takes from proposal to approval

• Impact Fees and how they’re collected & utilized

• Affordable Housing

• Legislative vs Quasi-judicial

• Stormwater and environmental reviews

• Thoroughfare Plans

• Capital Improvement Plans

• Utility infrastructure and expansion

• Etc.

Representative staff members and commissioners can hold in-person lecture series-style events at MPAC or elsewhere and these can be recorded for easy access by future residents interested in learning more about how their county is growing and why.

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INVOLVE

Once we work on educating the residents of Manatee County, we need to put that new knowledge to good use.

Our County presently has 19 advisory boards listed on our website, although not all of them are presently active.

Wednesday night we discussed this at my town hall. The best way to have informed citizens feel involved in their community and their government is to give them a voice and a seat at the table. What better way than through these advisory boards.

Let’s be honest, this is the best bang for the buck for taxpayers as they’re volunteer positions. Other than the nominal cost of meeting space and some staff time, the County is getting free advice from the very residents that know these topics better that we ever could.

Manatee County should look to substantially increase the number of advisory boards and get some real direction from real members of our community. A few new board proposals made during Wednesday’s town hall include:

• Animal Welfare Advisory Board - This is technically an existing board but I can’t find minutes since Feb 2021. With all that is going on with the move to Bishop and the issues with overpopulation, this seems like a board that should be reinstituted immediately.

• Rural Communities Advisory Board - This has been brought up before. Some statewide organizations have rural caucuses because they acknowledge the needs and concerns of our rural areas are unique and we’ve got a great population of engaged citizens representing agriculture, Myakka, conservation areas, etc. that would be more than willing to lend their time and ideas.

• Waterways Advisory Board - Manatee County relies on our waterways for everything from drinking water to recreation to tourism to environmental protection. A diverse advisory board can assess regulations and make proposals on mangrove protections, future boat ramps and beach renourishment among many other things to protect this critically important resource.

• Disabled Persons Advisory Board - This is one that I’m already engaged with the Administration on its formation.

I’m sure there are many more areas of Manatee County that could be improved through informed public input. Let me know, via email or in the comment section, of any other potential advisory boards that we can look into.

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ENGAGE

The final piece to improve our education of the public is to simply engage with that public. Too often, the only way many citizens can hope to get access to any commissioners or staff is through emails that often go unanswered. Otherwise, you can come in for three minutes of one-directional comments. We need our government to better engage with the residents, especially after we’ve educated you and given you a seat at the table.

I’ve been holding monthly library town halls throughout 2023. They’ve varied from as small as 10 or so people to some that were so large we had people standing in the back or sitting on the floor. Regardless of the size or the location, they have all been engaging and informative - in both directions. A number of initiatives have started, or have already been completed, as a result of discussions or comments at these town halls. As I’ve told many people, these have become my favorite part of being a commissioner.

I have one more town hall left in 2023. It will be on Wednesday, December 20 at the Central Library in downtown Bradenton. If you get your shopping done, grab some hot chocolate over at Orange Blossom and come by to check it out.

Due to the success and productivity of this year’s town halls, I am happy to announce that I’ll be continuing them into 2024! Our great Manatee County Library Services staff worked diligently to coordinate a schedule that moves throughout the county.

Our first one of the new year will be on January 24 at the soon-to-be opened Lakewood Ranch Library Branch. I’m very excited to add this new library to the rotation for those out east and for anyone else that wants to come to LWR to check out the newest branch in our library system.

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The Manatee County Government has great staff with an abundance of knowledge to disseminate to the residents that are clamoring to learn more about how our county functions and how they can be more involved.

Let’s make 2024 the year we proactively work to educate and inform all citizens. Let’s get everyone involved in the decisions of YOUR government that directly affect YOUR lives!