Four Republican candidates for Manatee County Commission speak at luncheon

MANATEE -- Four Republican candidates running for seats on the Manatee County Commission spoke about some of the top issues facing the county during a luncheon Friday.

At the luncheon, sponsored by the Women of Manatee County Republican Club, were Vanessa Baugh, who is running for re-election in District 5 in East Manatee; her challenger Kathleen Grant; Betsy Benac, who is running for re-election to the at-large District 7 seat against Candace Luther, who did not attend; and Steve Jonsson, who is running for the District 3 seat in West Bradenton and the islands. Two other candidates for the District 3 seat, Matt Bower and David Zaccagnino, are running with no party affiliation.

Only Republican candidates were invited to speak.

During the hour-long luncheon, each candidate spoke for two minutes, introducing themselves, followed by responding to questions on impact fees, the county's funding issues and the top issue in each respective district.

Impact fees

In December, the commission voted to increase the

county impact fees, which went into effect April 18, to help pay for the effects of growth.

Baugh: "We need them. They serve a good purpose, but we need them within reason. It is a fine line."

Benac: "Impact fees are one of the very limited sources of revenue that we have to pay for new roads."

Grant: "I know impact fees have a limited use, but we do need them. We are growing, but I don't understand the graduated implementation."

Jonsson: "It is a major source of revenue for the county. I am for them as long as kept competitive and money from them is used appropriately."

Possible half-cent sales tax

The county commission is currently considering whether to ask voters in November to approve a half-cent sales tax in November.

None of the candidates gave a definitive position on the proposal.

Baugh: "Infrastructure is not being taken care of. I am not talking about new roads. I am talking about repairing old roads. Things along that line. We don't have money in the budget nor have we ever."

Benac: "We do have a hole in our budget that has to be filled. I am for fiscal responsibility. You can't just leave holes in your budget. It would not work."

Grant: "I can't believe that there aren't places where we can cut. There are infrastructure needs. Our roads are not in good shape."

Jonsson: District 3 is "an area that needs a lot of infrastructure work. We would really like to see something done there. Where does the money come from and is the sales tax the right answer?"

Baugh: "Roads. Out east it's growing more rapidly than anywhere else in the county. We need roads in the district."

Benac: "I think it's the fiscal situation that we are in and it is related to growth. How are we going to be able to handle the growth that is coming in?"

Grant: "I think until we have infrastructure in place we got to think twice about allowing more growth."

Jonsson: "I think in my district traffic is becoming a big problem. That's part of the price we pay for living in paradise."

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Four Republican candidates for Manatee County Commission speak at luncheon ."