The Smartest People in the County
Your opinion matters...just not to them
There are some people that just don’t need outside information or input. They look down on others and do not believe those people can intelligently contribute to a conversation or a solution. They believe they are the smartest people in the room. For some, they believe they are the smartest people in Manatee County.
This type of belief is viewed as authoritarian in government. In the private sector, it’s known for corruption and scandal. Although I guess it can be known for that in government as well.
As we just finished Sunshine Week, I wanted to take a quick look at the “open government” and the “transparency” you were promised during all those campaigns. I’ve asked you before; is your voice heard? Does your opinion matter? Are you being being represented by your elected representatives?
Last week I once again made a motion to bring back call-in comments for the public. Previous attempts at least garnered a second for discussion even if we didn’t get anywhere. Not this time.
The most recent claim to justify this slight to the public is…COVID. Yes, you can’t call in and have your voice heard because people used Zoom and call-ins during COVID so those things are now banned. Of course, us commissioners can, and do, call in when we can’t make a meeting. But not you.
Even the premise that it’s COVID related is revisionist history. I made the motion to end all COVID protocols in 2021 once we moved back from the convention center. However, call-in comments lasted far longer. They weren’t stopped due to rescinding protocols. They were stopped because some were sick of hearing your opinions and comments as they didn’t align with the opinions of a majority of the board.
Our BOCC meetings have become a race against the clock. Slowing them down just to allow the public their First Amendment rights is a bit too much for some. This is a board that preaches the Constitution. However, they usually like to skip ahead to page 2 when reading it.
That same meeting, I also pointed out that our county social media accounts had improperly shut down comments. Allowing comments on these accounts is a policy decision. The board is the forward-facing members of this government and the methods in which we interact with you should be at our discretion. However, the County Administrator stated that staff unilaterally shut them down without a vote of your elected board or a chance to take comments from the public..in person or otherwise.
The claim is that some people may have said negative things about staff members. While that may, and I’m sure did, happen, it never appeared extreme. What did ruffle feathers is comments about board members, well mainly one member, and that’s just too bad. That’s part of the job.
The false claim that we couldn’t do anything about those comments other than shut it down entirely is patently false. All a government has to do is retain records in the event of a request. Nothing legally prevents the social media team from hiding comments from public view if they’re deemed extreme. That doesn’t seem too hard if you’re actually trying to allow the public to have a voice.
The next step in preventing public involvement, because it’s deemed unnecessary, has been the systematic gutting of, and adjustments to, our advisory boards. Previous advisory boards of local experts in their field have dared to present facts that deviate from the board. It has been determined that only “like minded individuals” should be allowed to advise the board of county commissioners with our, I mean their, opinions and thoughts. They prefer to work in an echo chamber rather than a public chamber.
I wrote about advisory boards and other topics back in December (when I was told we were going to “look into it”).
Members of the public who wanted to use their time and their resources to better our community have been blackballed by consultants or declined due to political differences, even within the same party. A “loss” for Manatee County is worth it to some board members if it’s a “win” for themselves.
Of course, the easiest way of handling these appointments and dissenting views is to just end the advisory boards altogether. We now have an empty Animal Welfare board who could be giving input into our issues with shutting down Palmetto and we have an essentially shutdown Library Advisory board who can’t meet quorum to discuss the collections or getting LWR Library up to speed due to a lack of appointments.
These volunteer, free advisory boards dared have an opinion and use “facts” to make recommendations to the BOCC. Therefore, the majority determined that they must be stopped. Who needs these experts when we have the smartest people in the county?
Finally, you may be asking why you can’t simply discuss your thoughts and concerns directly with the board members. Even if you can’t call into meetings, post comments on Facebook or assist on an advisory board, surely you can just go out and air your grievances or get your questions answered one-on-one. Maybe you have an answer to an issue we’re grappling with in Manatee County.
Good luck.
Too many Manatee County residents dared to show up and challenge the intelligent decisions and insights of board members in public settings, so that was seemingly resolved by avoiding public settings altogether.
Maybe I’m wrong. Here’s a link to the county calendar (HERE). I’m sure you can find some townhalls to ask your questions.
Coincidently enough, my 15th public townhall in as many months is this coming Wednesday (March 20) out on AMI. Feel free to stop on by and give me your opinion. I’d appreciate it.
The late George Carlin once said:
Governments don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. That is against their interests. They want obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept it.
Ignoring the voice of the citizens is the easiest way to wear them down. Eventually the voices get quieter and accept the fact that they have no say in their government. In the end, that seems to be the plan.
You need to insist that your voice is heard. You, the informed citizens, need to demand access to your “representatives”, demand a seat at the table and demand the right to an opinion on how Manatee County is run. Do not get worn down. And do not accept this plan. This is your county and its your government.
Every two years you have a voice that can’t be muzzled by an elected board. That voice is at the ballot box. Our elections have been compromised and even these campaigns seem to be trending toward taking away your voice and replacing it with that of the uninformed, manipulated voter. It’s now, more than ever, that the informed voices need to be the loudest if you ever want a say in your Manatee County government again.
Otherwise, we’ll just leave our environment, our infrastructure and our future in the hands of the Smartest People in the County.
KVO at the Manatee Patriots meeting says he never read the comments on the county social media. He didn't care that it was shut down. There is a policy on the social media page as to what may be taken down or deleted but not for the all the sites not to have access by the citizens. He rarely acknowledges citizens comments or e-mails. They play with their phones, talk among each other, eat during citizens comments. This is so disrespectful to the citizens. First amendment cites free speech, but some of our commissioners who espouse the Constitution to us ignores that.
Once again, right on point. The majority of our current county board members serve two masters…the developers and themselves. Somehow the folks that elected them, the folks they are SUPPOSED TO represent, simply don’t matter.