For two years, this woman has been trying to shine a light on Samoset's dark streets

For two years, Taura Denis has tried to get street lights in Samoset. Since then, she's been in the dark.

Between widening roads, getting sidewalks or installing speed bumps in her historic neighborhood, street lights to her seemed like the easiest infrastructure fixes.

"I said, 'Oh, we'll knock out the street lights and then we'll tackle the next thing.' But it's been two years."

To get street lights in a Manatee County community, it takes a poll with 67 percent of neighbors in support of establishing what's called a municipal services benefit unit. Once approved by the board of county commissioners, a fee would be added to residents' tax bills to account for monthly usage and tree trimming.

With the help of staff from Manatee County Neighborhood Services, Denis began collecting signatures in May 2016 and stopped late last year. On weekends. After work. On her own time.

"We have drugs and crime in spots of the neighborhood," Denis said. "But I don't know if this home was a drug home, I'm supposed to knock on that door and say, 'Oh, do you want lights shining on your activity going on?'"

There are 15 street lighting districts in Manatee, according to county spokesman Nick Azzara, the most recent one being established in 2011 in the Washington Gardens neighborhood in Palmetto.

If approved, this district would likely not include all of Samoset — only a few concentrated areas came out in full support. Florida Power & Light identified 20 existing power polls that could have lights added to them, and two new light poles are being considered.

Commissioner Charles Smith, whose district includes Samoset, wasn't sure the method of collecting signatures would be effective in a neighborhood like Samoset, with many residents unable to sign the poll due to them being renters.

That's why he specifically lobbied for the inclusion of "street lights" in the ballot language for the infrastructure half-cent sales tax that passed in November 2016. Sidewalks, roads, law enforcement buildings and dog park enhancements are included in a list of $337 million in projects so far, but not street light projects.

County Administrator Ed Hunzeker told the Bradenton Herald that, although the language allows for this use, allocating these infrastructure funds for street lights could be a "challenge."

"The biggest expense of the lights is the ongoing electric bill," he said. If the county funds are used for street lights, he added, it could "set a precedent" for other communities to want the government to pay for street lights.

Setting a precedent was the same concern District 4 Commissioner Robin DiSabatino had when the board of county commissioners decided last month to buy a 33-acre piece of land in East Manatee for $3 million, dubbed the Braden River Preserve.

During a recent county commission meeting, DiSabatino suggested that the county use funds from the Southwest Tax Increment Financing District.

"You can't even compare" when talking about public safety and the ability for residents to pay more taxes, DiSabatino told the Bradenton Herald by phone on Friday. "And yet you want to tax the people in Samoset for sidewalks and street lights when the money is there in the (Southwest District) for that purpose?"

According to Geri Lopez, director of the county's redevelopment and economic opportunity department, the fund began in October 2014. In the current fiscal year, it has a budget of nearly $5.8 million.

Lopez said there was "no restriction" for the funds to be used in this manner, but the projects funded so far have been delegated for sidewalks and roadway improvements.

"The bulk of the funds are targeted in reserves for catalytic economic development projects," she wrote in an email to the Bradenton Herald. "The rationale behind this strategy is to improve the tax base first and attract additional investment that will spur redevelopment and grow the fund to be able to fund neighborhood infrastructure projects in the future."

Public safety is a major consideration. Denis, whose husband Dimitrie Denis is running against Smith for commissioner, said she doesn't let her children out alone. Neither do other parents, she said.

"I think it's a slow process. For two years now, just advocating for the basic necessities, the lights, better roadways for kids and folks to walk on and be able to see at night," Dimitrie Denis said of his reasoning to run. It would "shake up anybody to run for their local government."

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office patrol zone that encompasses the Samoset area is considered to have "moderate" crime, according to spokesman Dave Bristow.

In 2016, there were 466 crimes committed in this zone. The next year, there were 467. Between January and mid-April this year, vehicle burglaries in the area have increased compared to the same time in 2017.

"Our feel is that lighting always helps," Bristow said. Saturating the area with law enforcement has helped as well, he added.

Commissioner Smith said that lights wouldn't only make the area safer for the residents, but for the deputies who patrol the area.

"Certainly it's cheaper to put up lights than pay $100,000 for one deputy, not counting a vehicle," he had said during a recent commission meeting.

The Braden River Preserve project put delays in the Samoset street light project, Azzara said in an email to the Herald. Also, the passing of public works department employee Sherri Robinson, who was instrumental in the polling process for these kinds of projects, had affected the timeline. Azzara said that "we are back to working on the Samoset project and will have better details of a timeline by June 1."

Even though there are opportunities for the county to help pay for the project, Denis said she doesn't mind putting up her share for the lights. She just wants to see a light at the end of the tunnel. A light on the streets of her neighborhood.

"It's a minimal thing we want done," she said.

This story was originally published April 21, 2018 at 10:40 AM with the headline "For two years, this woman has been trying to shine a light on Samoset's dark streets."