Re-district for the future

The surge of Manatee County growth centered in Lakewood Ranch is tilting the center of the county ever eastward — and leaving county leaders with the challenge of re-drawing political boundaries.

Both the Manatee County Commission and the Manatee County School District are looking to create new districts based on the 2010 census.

But there is a twist. When the County Commission re-drew commission boundaries in 2005, it did so with an eye toward continued blazing growth in Lakewood Ranch. Because of the real estate collapse and subsequent recession, much of the growth has not occurred, meaning that District 5 actually has about 13,000 fewer residents than other districts.

So the county is faced now with either equalizing the districts as the population currently stands — which is the case in two proposals — or allowing for future growth in Lakewood Ranch, which is reflected in one of the proposals.

We urge the county to expect Lakewood Ranch to be the growth leader again and make allowance for more growth in District 5 than the other districts. The area has already seen a burst in building permits and if the federal government doesn’t continue making stupid mistakes, real estate will eventually rebound strong east of Interstate 75.

The School District re-districting is a little more complicated.

The two school districts that cover the East County area have exploded since redistricting was done in 2000, so that the areas covered by School Board members Julie Aranibar and Barbara Harvey now have far more voters than the other three districts.

Schools in the East County area also reflect the growth as, despite the economic downturn and population stall overall, Braden River High School is at 111% of its utilization rate.

Like the County Commission, the School Board should re-draw its districts to allow for growth in East County. Fair and even representation is one of the hallmarks of representative democracy, and it is not right for the people of East County to be consistently under-represented when growth patterns and zoning show that is clearly where most of the county’s growth is headed.

+ DEAL stalled, not dead
The deal to create DEAL — the Design and Economic Acceleration Lab — in Lakewood Ranch is off. But a new deal is possible.

DEAL was announced in January with plenty of fanfare as a joint effort by State College of Florida, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch and economic development groups to create a one-stop resource center for economic development, plus create the nucleus for a new campus for SCF.

But due to a surprising amount of turnover in the leadership of many primary players, the 72,000-square-foot economic development hub is on hold. While disappointing, it is not discouraging.

This type of collaboration just makes sense. Everyone gets extra leverage by being in one place, and with the population center of the county moving inexorably eastward, SCF may want to look long-term towards the Lakewood Ranch area. SMR is holding the 150-acre parcel it was contributing to the project for a resurrected DEAL or a new type of joint effort.

When the new leadership settles in, the concept should be put back on track.