Charter for Manatee County is an interesting prospect

Manatee County held a celebration on Jan. 14 that might make you think Commission Chair Tal Siddique has a pretty good idea about adopting a county charter.

Siddique brought up the idea of a charter during his state of the chair address Jan. 6.

The celebration on Jan. 14 was the groundbreaking for Valor Commons, the county's veterans connection hub and memorial campus, which is billed as a "first-of-its-kind site."

The site is 5215 Buckeye Road, Palmetto.

A county release explained, "Valor Commons represents a major new investment in veteran services and remembrance, combining resources, reflection spaces, and public gathering areas into one innovative campus designed to honor military service past, present, and future."

It's a $40 million project that commissioners say eventually will be funded through a nonprofit. OK, that in itself, seems like a shaky proposition to proceed without that commitment in writing.

Should we call this a pet project done without regard to the public's desire?

In talking with Lakewood Ranch area residents over the past year, none of them mentioned that we need to have a site for veteran services and remembrance.

Once again, I want to stress that I am not against improving veterans services. In fact, I am all for it. I do, however, question a $40 million memorial when we have serious infrastructure issues as Manatee County's population continues to explode.

Our commissioners are on record as saying we just don't have the funds for major roads projects at this time.

And when a group of our local veterans made it clear in September that they were not supportive of Valor Commons because of the location and funds being spent, you would think commissioners would have paused the project to seek the residents' feedback.

But no. On we go.

So back to Siddique's proposition. A lot of the talk was about increased "home rule" with a charter.

I immediately thought of Manatee County's problems with SB 180, where our state legislators added language to a hurricane recovery bill to supersede our county's efforts to protect our wetlands or to control growth in our rural areas.

Alas, a county charter isn't likely to make a difference when it comes to state law. Just ask Sarasota County, which adopted a state charter but ran into problems when the state passed laws to make moot its charter's language to ban retail plastic bags and to use ranked choice voting.

Voters will have to change the state's way of thinking through the selection of their representatives and senators.

But Commissioner George Kruse does believe a county charter is worth some serious thought.

"If you don't have a charter, the state is basically saying 'Here's how you are supposed to govern yourself,'" Kruse said. "Anything we can do to have a say, that's a good thing."

Kruse gave an example of term limits. If a county doesn't have a charter, the state says it can't make any decisions regarding term limits and must follow the state's direction. However, if a county has a charter, it can decide upon its own term limits.

The home rule part of a county charter also is about giving the voters more power when it comes to its own commission going rogue and not following the wishes of the voters.

You can read more about charters on our reporter Lesley Dwyer's story (East County Observer, Jan. 15). An interesting quote in her story was by Siddique.

"It's time to start recognizing that people will get on the board who don't have the county's best interest in mind," Siddique said. "A charter can make it harder to implement big changes because voters have more of a say."

For example, if a commission comes up with a pet project on its own and moves forward with it against public input, a charter could provide voters a way to get the project put on the ballot for final determination.

Would this delay worthy projects? Probably so.

A charter could determine the amount of commissioners you want on the board, or could set wetland protections.

Twenty Florida counties have charters. How would Manatee County become 21?

Siddique said the commissioners will discuss the particulars of adopting a charter in a March workshop,

You can bet there will be a citizen's committee selected that will draw up the wording and issues for a charter, and then a draft will be passed along to commissioners for approval.

If you are the devil's advocate, you might note that any member of such a committee is likely to be approved by the commission, which could have an impact by rejecting any candidates who don't align with their priorities. Then the commission also would have the right to send back any draft of a charter for the same reason.

Even so, it would be a start.

Do I think it is necessary?

It's a tough question. I would like to think that everything we have talked about is being decided by the commissioners we have selected to represent us. But we have recently experienced when commissioners have their own agenda without regard to their constituents.

With all this in mind, the 2026 election looms as one that sets the stage for a host of critical decisions.

How are we going to proceed with our dealings with state government, which by many accounts thinks of Manatee County as an annoying hangnail to be clipped? Do we adopt a charter? 

Do we treat builders, who have shaped many of the amenities we enjoy, like a plague?

In the 2024 election, voters made selections based on candidates they wanted to remove. Hopefully, the 2026 election is based on who will serve us best.

Have you been on the fence about running for office? Do it. Is there a person in your community who would make a great commissioner or state representative? Talk to them about running.

Most of all, get involved. Call your commissioners to have them explain what a potential charter would mean. What are their ideas about smart growth? How are they going to improve infrastructure if they don't have the funds?

For information about registering to vote, getting a mail-in ballot, contacting candidates, or running for office, go to VoteManatee.gov.