Bradenton Times News Articles

Your long-awaited arrival is less than two weeks away, Mr. Mills. The honeymoon of six months or more which most superintendents enjoy in making initial decisions may be curtailed here because of the gravity of Manatee’s school district problems. In fact, you may have defined your own honeymoon span by promising to execute a 100-day entry plan, focusing upon budgeting and long-range preparation; this plan coincides with the end of the school year, June 30.

Manatee C.L.U.C.K. supporters wish to see the County Commissioners amend the current laws that only allow residents to keep hens for their personal use on property zoned Agricultural. In a county as diverse as Manatee, this means only a very small number of residents with large Agricultural zoned properties could own a hen as a pet. Most surrounding counties and cities have already amended their laws to allow hens and have had no increase in issues or complaints from neighbors.

Manatee County citizens showed up to oppose a special-election referendum on a half-cent sales tax to fund indigent care programs. Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker warned commissioners at the start of the meeting that it would likely be seen as a trust issue. He was right. Many residents don't trust his administration, or the board, to put what's best for the community in front of special interests. The rushed and unspecific nature of Thursday's proceedings did nothing to change that. 

County administrator Ed Hunzeker wants new stormwater, EMS and Franchise taxes. In one breath, he states that the new taxes are revenue neutral, but then says we must do this because the state is reducing our tax revenues. You want to keep your eye on this shell game, because in the end, most of us pay more.

Governor Scott set forth an ambitious agenda in his budget proposal, one that put him to the left of many of his Republican colleagues in the Florida House and Senate. He'll be looking to laud some legislative success when he hits the campaign trail, but not everyone is seeing eye to eye in Tallahassee. Whether or not the governor is able to rally the troops is likely to weigh heavily on his chances of being reelected in 2014.

Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker is again pushing for new taxes, this time a sales tax for indigent healthcare that he says could go to special referendum this June. But taxpayers are already funding a massive expansion of Medicaid that hasn't even been implemented yet. Why rush to put them on the hook for local programs that we've already proven inept in controlling costs and managing funding, when Obamacare already promises to extend healthcare access to nearly every American?

When teachers reported that a football coach at Manatee High was suspected of inappropriate student relationships, the school district decided not to report it to the state, but to instead investigate it internally through their Office of Professional Standards. Later, when a student came forward complaining that the same coach had groped her on numerous occasions and even asked her to send him a naked photo, it did the same. It seems that those decisions were not only questionable, but also broke state law.

Recently, Rep. Carl Zimmermann (D-Palm Harbor) filed a bill (HB 677) that would require websites to delete mug shots within 15 days of being notified that the charges did not result in a conviction. The bill would subject the website operator to fines and even a defamation lawsuit if the request was not complied with. In addition, the website could not charge anything to remove the mug shot, an unconstitutional infringement on First Amendment Rights of the press. 

On Wednesday, I had the chance to hear Dr. Benjamin Carson speak at the Van Wezel in Sarasota. Carson, a prominent neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins, made a national stir recently when he broke etiquette and broached the subject of politics while speaking at the White House Prayer Breakfast. The doctor's blunt nature and the fact that he was being critical of the President as he sat two seats away, made Carson an immediate hit with Fox News and right wing radio. Soon, based on little more than a few statements about back-of-the-napkin type policy ideas, the conservative base began calling for a presidential run. Why is it that rich, older, white Republicans get so excited when they hear a wealthy black person agreeing with them that the system in which both have so greatly prospered, is somehow biased against them in favor of the poor?

Following three interim superintendents, Mr. Rick Mills will soon take the reins as superintendent of the Manatee County School Board. Lieutenant Colonel Mills must be made of good stuff. During my Army hitch as an enlisted man in 1961-63, I recall how few fellow enlistees were even considered for Officer’s Candidate School, and not a single one who was tabbed for West Point. Consider the following an open letter to Mr. Mills, which poses many key questions he will face in the daunting assignment of breathing life into our district.