DOGE witch-hunt haunts Manatee County

It will be interesting to see what the DOGE team finds when it audits Gov. Ron DeSantis' travel expenses.

I would imagine a state representative — perhaps Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia — will hold a press conference at a restaurant in Tallahassee, and he won't alert Gov. DeSantis about the findings until he launches his scathing report to the public. That $10.7 million in the last fiscal year in travel and security expenses seems crazy excessive, doesn't it? Oh, and $12 million the year before. Yikes.

Your taxpayer dollars at work.

It would be only fair to hold such a press conference, because that is how Ingoglia handled his announcement about Manatee County Oct. 16 at Pier 22 in Bradenton. Ingoglia announced to the world that Manatee County has wasted $112.4 million of taxpayer money in the past fiscal year. And while he said the main culprit was excessive staffing, he didn't go into details about how that overspending figure was calculated.

Trust me.

This all annoys the heck out of me, on so many levels.

First, if the state wants to send accountants to pick apart a county's or city's budget, I have no problem with that, especially if it is a combined effort done in cooperation to come up with the best possible verdict. This doesn't have to be an antagonistic relationship.

But holding a press conference a couple of blocks down from the Manatee County Administration Building seems kind of strange. Did Ingoglia have to pay for space at Pier 22? That seems kind of wasteful when he could have held the press conference in the administration building for free. Was he trying to avoid Manatee County commissioners and executives? Why wouldn't he allow Manatee County representatives to give a statement about his findings?

It makes this all seem like a political ploy instead of genuine effort to cut government wasteful spending. Is Ingoglia promoting any bills that will eliminate property taxes? As idiotic as it sounds to eliminate property taxes, it is a subject that will be breached in the near future.

Now, there are a number of forces at play here. First, I have no doubt that Manatee County has overspent on its staff and that it hasn't been the best steward of taxpayers' funds. Over the past 10 years, I have watched the county's leadership go through several versions due to some unscrupulous practices, and every time it seems like we add county executives. That is why I constantly ask our readers to get involved in their local government.

We saw our residents rally in the 2024 election in an attempt to change the makeup of the Manatee County Commission and to secure representation that respected their desires. It was impressive, and effective.

But it's a long process and that interest can't wane, especially now.

The urgency has hit a new peak with the DOGE righteousness. It would appear that state officials are plotting ways to gain more control over your tax dollars while at the same time weakening the power of local governments. The first part of this strategy involves angering taxpayers to the point they want to dump their local representation.

Has Manatee County angered me with its decisions over the past decade? Yes. But as a voter, I still feel I can have an affect on our future.

Can we let commissioners know we aren't happy with an executive-heavy staff? Absolutely. District 5 Commissioner Bob McCann already is leading the push to eliminate positions. Can we get commissioners to reduce ridiculously high reserves, which are nearing $1 billion as compared to Sarasota County's $163 million in reserves? I would admit that has been a struggle, but I still have hope that it is possible.

Would it be possible to stop our commissioners from pushing their multi-million pet projects that have no place at a time when we can't afford to finish key road projects? Again, I am hoping.

But the bottom line is that I don't want to lose local representatives who at least know why I am angry. 

It is so hard to navigate this political storm because I support many of the Republican policies that have been crafted at the state level. I want to support Gov. DeSantis, but I also want him to understand that I don't want to lose the power to have influence over the policies being made in my county.

Am I freaking out about my county overspending $112,4 million in a $3,5 billion budget? Not really. I do know we need to do better ... even before DOGE.

I am worried about giving state level politicians more power over my community. When everyone in Manatee County wanted to protect its waterways, the state caved to developers who want to build right up against our wetlands. New state law took the teeth out of our local voters' campaign to put teeth back into a developmental boundary. It goes on and on.

In the end, to be fair, DOGE is coming up with some important issues that can be fixed through our local government. Thanks for your help.

But perhaps you should take a look at state government? The governor's salary is going to at least double — DeSantis earns $141,400 in salary (not including perks and compensations) — to more than $251,414 in 2027. State law has created an exemption from public records to law enforcement records related to transportation and protective services for the governor, which we pay for with taxes. We have no idea why travel and security costs of skyrocketed?

Isn't it time for the Governor, whose office oversees DOGE, to set an example? Clean up your own house.