Prepping for a possible COVID-19 shutdown, Manatee seeks options to keep economy open
Fearing a potential federal lockdown under President-elect Joe Biden, the Manatee County Commission appears to be preparing to find options to keep local businesses open.
Biden’s transition team has debated a short-term nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed some 248,000 Americans. As of Tuesday afternoon, 359 Manatee residents had died from the virus and a total of 14,855 have tested positive.
At the end of the county’s work session Tuesday, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who was sworn-in Tuesday morning, asked the County Attorney’s Office if staff could begin researching what legal options the county may have to keep its local economy open during a federal shutdown.
“It looks as if Joe Biden is likely to be our next president, and a lot of people that are likely to be in his administration are voicing the need for a federal shutdown of our economy,” said Van Ostenbridge, a Republican. “We went through that once already and the feedback we got by far, the No. 1 issue was keeping the economy open.”
Biden’s COVID-19 plan makes no mention of a federal lockdown, but it does call for a nationwide mask mandate.
Biden has been projected as the winner of the Nov. 3 election. President Donald Trump has filed numerous legal challenges alleging voter fraud and other wrongdoing, with little evidence to support his charges.
Chief Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague said such a request would require a full vote from the Board of County Commissioners, which does not vote during work session meetings. However, he said would direct staff to begin researching the request.
“People around here don’t want stimulus checks, right? They want paychecks. We have a lot of businesses in District 3 out on the island — hotels, restaurants. What are our constitutional rights? What are the rights of our constituents and business owners?” Van Ostenbridge asked, noting out that a presentation from legal staff should provide options to “defend and protect our local economy.”
According to Clague, the task will require several hours of research. In general, the County Attorney’s Office requires a motion from the board if the request will take more than two hours of work.
“We can certainly look into that if that’s the prerogative of the board,” Clague told Van Ostenbridge.
Fellow commissioners said they didn’t have a problem with the County Attorney’s Office investigating the issue. Any potential options that legal staff present will need to be voted on by the board.
“If a commissioner wants something researched, I have never heard of the commission not approving it,” said Commissioner Carol Whitmore.
In order to fully approve the request as quickly as possible, the board agreed to host a special meeting later this week to approve the request and give legal staff more precise instructions.
The meeting will be held immediately after Thursday’s 9 a.m. Port Authority meeting at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 4:31 PM.
