Baugh, new commissioners are trying to destroy Manatee County government | Opinion

Three days into my retirement, I was enjoying a special day with my family at Busch Gardens, with no intention of watching the newly sworn in Manatee County commissioners in their rapidly called “special meeting.” I had previously seen candidates George Kruse, Vanessa Baugh and Kevin Van Ostenbridge meet at the Convention Center during breaks in meetings, when they were presumably in the “safe” stage of not violating the Sunshine Law, due to being contested candidates (the write-in who was “running” against Kruse was the same write-in who had been put in place to run against me in my first race.)

Anyone who has followed the four candidates on social media knew they were working together to create a “conservative agenda,” finally being able to replace “RINOs” such as myself and “Big City Liberal” — according to the PAC-funded attack ad sent out on behalf of candidate James Satcher — Priscilla Whisenant Trace. When I heard they had called for a “special meeting” after the port meeting, supposedly to ask the county attorney to address a possible shutdown under uncertified President-elect Joe Biden, I knew they were up to something.

As a two-time candidate for public office, I am now familiar with the process to get elected, and the role of political action committees, or PACs. When I ran against Joe McClash in 2012, the laws were different and I had no idea how a PAC worked. It was actually the research done by then-Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporter Jeremy Wallace following the 2012 election that disclosed monetary amounts developers provided to the PAC that funded the negative fliers against McClash.

As an elected official, you accept the reality that PAC money funded by developers helped get you into office, and then you make the decision what to do about it. I was never asked by a developer to approve anything. However, I was frequently asked to do something about the development process. I had an agenda of trying to simplify the Land Development Code, to increase densities in the urban core,and to streamline the development process. The county had been growing up until the Great Recession, and in 2012 many Manatee residents were still unemployed, as growth had ground to a halt, so my agenda resonated with the public.

What actually happened is that while we were able to increase densities in the urban core, we failed at the LDC simplification. The public mistrust of any changes to the LDC prohibited staff and the commission from adopting a simplified code, and even though planned developments are no longer mandated, the legacy of the 1990 LDC makes planned development the prevailing zoning in the county. This does not mean better development, and actually grants the ability to do more waivers to county standards. Additionally, the Growth Management Act was eliminated, so there is no longer a requirement to insure adequate infrastructure is provided before development occurs. Not approving a staff-recommended rezone that is compliant with the density allowance of the Comprehensive Plan results in a taking claim/lawsuit against the county by the property owner/developer. However, if a development that violated the Comprehensive Plan was proposed, I had no problem voting against it.

So what are the marching orders for these newly elected commissioners? (And I include Commissioner Baugh, as she is the appointed leader of the pack.)

They have called for a “new direction “ that is “more business like,” someone who is not a “bureaucrat” to be the administrator. The assumption that government should be run like a business is wrong.

First, if the county was a business it certainly would not have a board of directors who know nothing about the “business,” as these new commissioners have proudly stated. There is no profit motive in protecting the public health, safety and welfare. As I learned in Econ 101, the addition of government regulation increases the cost of goods and services.

So, make drastic cutbacks in Manatee County government, right? Sure, if you want all of the projects that the Infrastructure Sales Tax is funding to just stop. These projects are being designed and built by the private sector. However, the funds cannot be spent unless someone in government has oversight and spending authority.

Also, we happen to be in the middle of a pandemic and the resulting economic impacts of unemployment, food insecurity and a housing crisis. I subscribe to Abraham Lincoln’s view that the “legitimate object of government is to do for people ... what they cannot do for themselves.” People are in desperate need for assistance and an unprecedented amount of money has been allocated under the current federal CARES Act and there undoubtedly will be another allocation, which we need to be ready to accept and distribute.

It is in the public services arena where Administrator Cheri Coryea excels. Ask anyone in the region and they will tell you they are envious of the job that Cheri’s team has done managing the CARES Act and getting the resources out to small businesses, organizations and individuals. Her organized management style is so respected that she is able to coalesce not only her staff, but legislators, other governments and non-profits to GET IT DONE. She has never shied away from any challenge, and amazingly she seems to tolerate some of the worst behavior I have ever seen from commissioners who are purposely trying to undermine her efforts to protect the quality of life for all citizens in Manatee County.

I worked hard to get Cheri into the position of the first female county administrator because I knew what a great job she would do for the county where I have worked and lived for almost longer than Kevin Van Ostenbridge has been alive.

I am horrified to see these three men with almost no business experience in Manatee County try to destroy everything that has been accomplished in the county, along with their self-appointed leader Vanessa Baugh who never looks up from her phone enough to know what’s going on, yet has no problem stating lies like, “I wrote the resolution myself.”

Please write your commissioners, use social media and letters to the editor to let this self-appointed voting bloc know they won’t get away with bringing in their selected “business person” to eliminate regulations, expand the urban service area without adequate services, eliminate impact fees and do the bidding of their financial backers.

Betsy Benac served on the Manatee County Commission from 2012 to 2020.

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 5:03 PM.