Manatee County DOGE committee gets to work

While the Florida State DOGE Task Force has been busy auditing Manatee County’s expenditures since Aug. 5, Manatee County citizens are just getting started. 

The newly appointed Government Efficiency Liaison Committee convened for the first time Aug. 26 at the Manatee County Administration Building. 

Mark Stanoch, former tech executive and Manatee County School Board candidate, was elected as the committee’s chair. 

The other four members to make up the board are Mill Creek’s David Otterness, vice president of Willis Smith Construction, The Lake Club’s Donald Berg, president of DCB Advisory Services, Mallory Park’s John Settineri, a former lawyer and CPA, and Bradenton’s Benjamin Heavener, a senior CPA at Jim Gay CPA.

The committee has been tasked to essentially mimic the state’s audit by digging through records and finding ways to cut spending in Manatee County. 

While there are only five members of the committee, all Manatee County residents can contribute to the audit either online or in person. A form can be found on the Manatee County website at MyManatee.org, and each meeting allows time for citizen comments. 

Country Club East’s Art Vetter attended the first meeting to ask the committee to look into what the county is spending to install three youth baseball fields at Country Club East Park. The $6.4 million price tag has Vetter stumped. 

“I remodeled and built 2,500 gas stations in my career,” he said. “I’ve never built a baseball field, but I can’t see it costing that much money. It’s just dirt, a little bit of clay and some fencing. Why (is the county) spending that much money?”

Vetter said the last gas station he built in Bradenton, before retiring five years ago, only cost $3 million to build, and it included a 5,100-square-foot building with cooking equipment, coolers and walk-in freezers, plus gas pumps and underground tanks outside. 

As a contributing member of the public, Vetter was able to speak his mind and leave the meeting. Committee members were given access to 4,500 documents to review before the next meeting Sept. 23. 

The documents, which include the budget books for the last three years, were compiled by county staff members for the state’s task force.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

In addition, Settineri asked to see the county's organizational chart, including the number of employees, and Stanoch requested budget benchmarks from other counties.

Heavener noticed the county making big ticket purchases of buildings and land recently that he'd like to look at more closely.

Otterness said he didn't have an agenda other than having a new way to serve the community. 

His one-year term as the 2024 chair for the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance was up. He’s also going to hit his eight-year term limit on the board for Easter Seals Southwest Florida this year. 

“The best thing I can bring is just running a business of about 100 people,” he said. “I see the economic side, the finance side, the HR side and the IT side.”

While the committee was established to serve as a liaison to the state task force, Otterness sees his role as a liaison to the public, as well.

As vice president of Willis Smith Construction, he’s often in front of the public at events. He said he will be directing residents to the county’s website, so they can officially document their suggestions.

The comments will be reviewed by the committee each month. 

Commissioner Jason Bearden sent a bulleted list to the committee of expenses he would like reviewed. He suggested citizens do the same. 

Infrastructure was at the top of Bearden’s list. He noted that it costs Manatee County $8 million to build one mile of road. 

“This is their (citizens) money,” Bearden said. “They need to know how it’s being spent.” 

The committee has one year to conduct its audit and offer recommendations to the commission. The state task force said it will return its recommendations within 60 days of its site visit in August.