12 Comments

Thank you for supporting the people of Manatee and not the builders

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Chalk one up for the good guys!

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Thank you, Commissioner Kruse, for bringing this project to Manatee County. The T2T project was a no-brainer from the first day it was presented- it hands down is the best project I have ever seen brought to the Board. Citizens would have called in public comment on that day, but of course we are not allowed to do this, so instead I sent an e-mail- “yes on the VA project” during the meeting. It was unbelievable that when T2T came back to the Board the second time- the “6" started to discredit this project and the spending of taxpayer dollars- which the “6” have continued to waste from day one without regard. It was disgusting to watch the other “6” so-called commissioners try to slander this project- in person, at town halls, and especially in these ridiculous texts. Personally, I have never been so embarrassed on behalf of the community at this board’s treatment of Mr. Naples, Mr. Vincent, and Mr. Barnebey - but that doesn’t even compare to what Commissioner Bearden did to Darryl Vincent, U.S. VETS Chief Operating Officer (google him- award winner) - this ridiculous beratement of him at every meeting brought tears to my eyes, there are not even words to describe how sorry we are of his utter disrespect. To think that T2T would bring such a wonderful project to our community and be treated in this manner is unbelievable. The T2T presentation to discredit this nonsense was awesome! We are so appreciative, and we are glad that our Veterans will have this facility!

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Here is information on the guy behind all of the negative stuff. https://thebradentontimes.com/stories/i-am-a-professional-propagandist,56559?mibextid=Zxz2cZ so tired of getting their text messages putting out false information. Just because it is close to new developments. The developers must be worried about their profits. This guys website was used by KVO last week to make the stupid claim at last weeks meeting about the wetlands. I thought I was watching a HS lunch hour and not our local government officials making a fool out of themselves. I guess this week if they didn't approve it people may have run them out of town. So thanks for voting for it. This is much better than them putting in an emergency room within 1.5 miles of another emergency room. KVO is all excited about that going in which is crazy and not needed.

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Thank you for caring about our Veterans. Not all Veterans need it, but those who do, deserve it for fighting for our country.

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That letter is an example of the most disgusting propaganda. These are homeless veterans who need help not just "vagrants". Tunnel to Towers is a very reputable organization. Expect more of this negative type of emails, letters closer to the election against challengers of KVO, Satcher, and Turner.

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This almost sounds like an attack on anyone who dares to have genuine conservative reasons for opposing this project. I am a veteran and when we returned from our duty in the 1960's and 1970's to our country without moving to another country, we were vilified. We were all vilified as drug users and killers. That having been said, some of us as conservatives do not believe in government sponsored programs such as housing which only ends up making us all dependent on government. Many people are dependent on the government for food. The government controls our air and water creating a future where we will be dependent on the government even for these basic items. All of these vets should have been paid enough during their tours of duty to be able to buy their own homes during their enlistment or afterwards. Now we have a federal government which runs budget deficits of over $2 trillion annually. Within all that money there was no room to give our military a decent wage so they would not have needed more local resources when their enlistments ended? Our priorities as a nation are seriously misplaced. Federal housing programs have always failed creating more problems than they solved. I would doubt that returning vets would support a massive government at federal, state, and local levels. I doubt they thought they were fighting for a government which would only make them more dependent. The uncontrolled growth in our county has only created a local government monster for which in the not too distant future we will not be able to afford the taxes we will have to pay.

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Well, there is zero attack on anyone who opposed with genuine reasons. Only on those that manipulated people with lies to garner opposition, much as they do in elections. If they had "genuine" reasons, they would have been honest about the proposal and stated those "conservative" reasons against it to make their case. As they knew those reasons were weak, they resorted to deceit. As for the rest of your concerns, you'll be happy to know this is the LEAST government option. Once the surplus land is conveyed, government is entirely out of this project. All funds will come voluntarily from donations to T2T and US Vets, not from tax dollars. The previous alternative would have spent considerably more tax dollars ($15MM vs a $6MM land conveyance), grown government with more property & employees to own & service the facility and given government more control over the everyday lives of those Veterans who move in. That alternative doesn't sound very conservative to me compared to this option. If the argument is that we shouldn't have even transferred the land, I'll ask about the even more valuable waterfront land we just conveyed to New College or any other surplus land we've transferred per Florida Statute that requires us to assess excess properties for housing opportunities before we can dispose of it. I'd also ask about the taxpayer cost of leaving our Veterans on the streets versus facilitating their re-entry into society. This is an amazing opportunity and I'm proud of our County and our BOCC for moving it forward!

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There is always one option to government control and spending. That option is no action and no funding. I will be the first to admit however that this board is not conservative by any stretch of the imagination. A tax and spend officeholder is not "conservative" whether they be Republican or Democrat. The money is still a transfer payment, be it education loans forgiven, deficiency balances on mortgage loans forgiven, what used to be welfare, food stamps, or handing over government revenues to crony capitalists who are developers or defense contractors. As we get closer to the election all of the Board will try to change their spots and convince us they are so-called conservatives by giving away more and more tax revenues. This board tells us they are conservative because they enhance the wealth of their crony capitalistic friends. After your failed DUI charge I believe it will be hard to convince us that you were some place other than where you were which was at a crony capitalist developer's place. That makes you as bad as the rest of the Board which has no ties to the truth. If you are a capitalist you will put the $500 million sitting in cash and cash equivalents in the utility fund to use for the people who helped accumulate the fund. Those people have all invested that money from our utility bills every month for years. Invest that money in infrastructure for those capitalistic investors who currently own their residences. I recall a famous quote, "If you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." The same applies to veterans. We should not have to depend on the government to train returning veterans for jobs. That at least would be a better investment rather than making them even more dependent on the government as the Democrats have been doing for years. We have all kinds of business organizations who should be investing in people such as veterans, that is, if they are true capitalists rather than recipients of a different type of welfare.

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Ken, those wraparound services are being funded by the charity T2T, not the county. All the BOCC did was donate the land. T2T is coming with $20M of investment to make it happen and the county will not be involved in day to day operations - unlike the other project that Bearden proposed.

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All government is a shell game. Someone who is naive can pretend that the non-profits are private. Most non-profits receive their funding from government tax dollars. In talking to a state representative recently, he recalled that many times a "non-profit" is one individual, that individual through his shell non-profit subcontracts all of his non-profit's functions to other non-profits. The original money all came from tax revenues. If you do not believe me, watch sometime when the county commission non-profit buddies grovel for tax dollars. It does not stop there. There is also the state which supplies more grant monies to non-profits. Then there is the biggest sucker suckered of all: the federal government which really enriches that one man non-profit who spreads the wealth to his "non-profit" buddies. In speaking to a government official with a strong economics background, affordable housing cannot be justified on economics grounds. It only makes the housing crisis worse by elevating subsidized rents which true capitalists then follow. Affordable housing sucks up the resources in the community. There is a disproportionate consumption of government resources: police, fire, EMT; then the forgiveness of impact fees which the rest of us pay for; etc. Eventually, long before its time, "affordable housing" is a ghetto. The landlord's rents were capped when he built affordable housing, so he cannot afford repairs, and the property runs down hill. It is an eyesore and a haven for drugs and crime. More government resources are consumed. It becomes a vicious circle which never ends as long as government is involved.

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Thank you!

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