Forward Manatee to try and win over voters for March 20 election

Leaders of a political action committee recently put together to promote the March 20 school tax referendum say there is too much talk about finances and not enough talk about people at Manatee County School Board meetings these days, obscuring how critical certain school problems have become.

Forward Manatee leaders say those people stories, were they told, would describe how shortages of teachers and bus drivers have become critical and are impacting children daily, said Philip Brown, the retired president of the United Way of Manatee County who is now the chairman of the roughly two-month-old new edition of Forward Manatee.

“The real story here is that we currently have a shortage of people who are teaching and caring for our children,” Brown said.

The bus driver shortage is so acute that office workers with commercial driver’s licenses from the school district’s transportation department are regularly driving buses to fill routes.

Parents are also complaining about their children arriving home late.

Brown believes the only way out of the mess is for Manatee County citizens to vote for a one-mill property tax increase on March 20, which, Brown’s group believes would generate roughly $33 million to make Manatee pay competitive for teachers and bus drivers and for other staff positions.

Forward Manatee was the group that helped pass the extension of the school district’s half-cent sales surtax in 2016, Brown added.

Brown, the tip of the spear for the new group, plans to tell its story by talking it up at meetings and going out into the community to communicate the message.

Brown said Tuesday he has already shaken a lot of hands on behalf of the referendum and the reaction he has received has convinced him it will pass.

“I am confident the referendum will pass as our residents come to understand what this is all about and why it is necessary,” Brown said.

March 20 approval is critical, said Ron Ciranna, deputy superintendent of business services for the School District of Manatee County, which backs Forward Manatee’s agenda.

“The referendum coming up on March 20 is designed to help us deal with all these issues,” Ciranna said. “Sarasota County has a one-mill that brings in $59 million and they are able to pay all of their employees. It is especially hard for our district to hire bus drivers.”

Forward Manatee has legally registered with the Supervisor of Elections in Manatee County as a political committee, Sharon Stief, chief deputy of the elections office, confirmed Tuesday.

“No one has filed with us,” Stief said when asked if a group opposing the referendum has filed.

Forward Manatee will raise some money, but will basically run a low-budget campaign, said David Voss, the group’s campaign manager.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Forward Manatee to try and win over voters for March 20 election."