5 Comments
Jul 15Liked by George W Kruse

Historical lyrics the Federal government has intervened to protect the people against abuses of power by state and local governments. The Civil Rights movement is one example. The Supreme Court recently decided a case distinguishing between "gifts" and "bribes" in the political context. A gift is something received for past performance. A bribe is something received for future performance. When an incumbent candidate comes up for election and can raise well in excess of $200,000, his future actions need to be monitored closely. The application you reference coming up on August 8 is a good event to watch to see if the campaign donations were actually a bribe. A citizen can file a criminal complaint in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida. The criminal statute is 18 USC section 666.

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Another brilliant article exposing the malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance of a Commission that is completely bought and paid for by a ruthless developer cabal who could care less about the citizens of Manatee County.

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Thank you, Commissioner Kruse, for being our ONLY representative since the last election. The public should know that as a citizen who regularly watches county meetings- your substack is a cleaned up and sanitized version of the truth. The actual meeting discussion on many of these items is far worse than the public can even imagine. The reality (watch any meeting video) is disgusting and would be far more appalling to the citizens of Manatee County- the wetlands meeting and any meeting where Tunnel 2 Towers foundation was present is a good example of their regular behavior. Residents should remember that the bulk of the damage created by this “super majority” has occurred in under 1 ½ years and will have lasting effects on our community in ways that one can’t even begin to imagine but will be most obvious in traffic and the amount residents will pay for services and taxes. The sad thing is that Commissioner Kruse has only listed a few of the damaging items- there are in fact, so many items that even the most diligent person can’t name them all. A few more are: wasted tax dollars on a passive veterans park, that public park right beside Piney Point they purchased from a developer boss, creating a county media department that residents pay for so that this “super majority” has the ability to “spin” and control the narrative, no waste management contract which will cost residents, hiring an unqualified HR company which has not produced any work product, the disaster known as Hopes and the loss of institutional knowledge along with the restructuring and removal of any information on the county website which would help a citizen understand the restructure of government and almost totally eliminates the ability for citizens know who works in which department (can’t complain- when you don’t know who they are), the numerous times where this super majority stated they do not want to hear public comment- especially from those pesky citizens who come in person, the continued Code Enforcement corruption and the firing of any employee who whistle-blows (but that goes for any department- even the interim county administrator)… ect. If Manatee County citizens do not do their due diligence before voting in August, most current residents will no longer be able to afford to live in Manatee County because this is only the beginning of what it will cost to live here.

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TRUTH!

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George, I have to thank you for being a whisle blower! You have unveiled so much. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to explain so much of this information. How do we obtain the voting records of all proposals that have come before the BOCC,?

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