Manatee commissioners to sit on 18 fewer committees in 2016

MANATEE -- As Commissioner Vanessa Baugh prepares to be the 2016 commission chairwoman, she has already made changes to the commission's assignments on boards and committees throughout Manatee County.

Commissioners will sit on 18 fewer committees next year. Working with the county attorney's office, Baugh only assigned commissioners to boards and committees that have a resolution or ordinance requiring that.

"I really just wanted to see better interaction with different committees and staff members," Baugh said. "It wasn't always necessary for a commissioner to be there for committees to be successful. You want committees to be successful, not be hindered because a commissioner is sitting there."

While a county staff member will still be assigned to the boards and committees, a commissioner's presence at the meetings "does tend to hinder staff in their ability to do their job," Baugh said.

"A committee is there to serve, and we certainly don't want to hinder that in any way," Baugh said.

Since commissioners set policy, the commissioners should not be getting in the way, Baugh added.

"We want to make sure that the commissioners and the staff at the county are working as well together as possible," she said. "We have wonderful staff. We have to rely on them."

The committees will now send their meeting's minutes to all seven commissioners so the entire commission is aware of the meeting's happenings rather than just the assigned commissioner.

"A lot of time when you have a commissioner involved in a group, the other commissioners don't know what's going on," Baugh said, pointing to the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization as an example. "We need to address and handle that better."

So, for the boards and committees where commissioners are still assigned, Baugh would like for those minutes to be forwarded to the other six commissioners.

"It's just a way to make sure all commissioners are all informed with everything going on with all the committees," Baugh said.

The Animal Services Advisory Board is one that will no longer have an assigned commissioner.

"We have a new public safety director trying to take hold, so of course we don't want to hinder that in any way," Baugh said. "It's advantageous for us at this point to stand back and let our directors do their jobs, and then we can have interactions on the dais."

Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who has previously served as the Animal Services liaison, said she is fine with the change.

"I'm still going to continue doing what I'm doing," Whitmore said. "We won't be the assigned liaison, which is fine. I have no intention to stop working toward animal issues or health care issues or social service issues."

The other boards and committees that will no longer have an assigned commissioner are:

4-H Foundation

Affordable Housing Committee

Chamber of Commerce Health Care Task Force

Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee

Economic Development Corporation Advisory Board

Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Advisory Committee

Enterprise Zone Development Agency

Library Board of Trustees

Library Foundation Board

Manatee River Fair Association

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Planning Council

Residency Program with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

National Association of Counties

Agency on Bay Management

Florida Association of Counties

Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Mayoral Meetings

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Manatee commissioners to sit on 18 fewer committees in 2016 ."