BRADENTON — At Tuesday’s meeting, Manatee County Commission Chair George Kruse directed staff to cancel Thursday’s scheduled land use meeting in a defensive move to protect commissioners from what is increasingly looking like a plan to use the vote as a political tool to remove commissioners from office.
In the fall of 2023, the previous board effectively eliminated Manatee County’s wetland protection policies, despite local waterways having recently suffered a series of destructive algal blooms, and the science on the importance of adequate wetland buffers being well established.
The following year, voters flipped the board, ousting every commissioner who was up for reelection and had voted to remove the protections. The new board, dominated by commissioners who had vowed to restore the old wetland policies, reverse a policy that severely weakened the urban service boundary (also scheduled for Thursday’s meeting), and pursue the full collection of developer impact fees, set about doing so.
In the interim, the state legislature passed SB 180, a broad emergency management bill that included vague language regarding “burdensome” changes to rules in the wake of a destructive hurricane season. Developers argued that SB 180 impeded the commission’s ability to enact this and just about every other change it intended to make.
Talk of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspending commissioners who voted for the bill if it passed, and appointing developer-approved replacements (perhaps even some of the commissioners who had been defeated in 2024) swirled. As the meeting approached, a text campaign from an unidentified group urged residents to call Chairman Kruse and demand that he and other commissioners “stand up for our wetlands,” using language that sounded suspiciously like attack ads lobbed at grassroots candidates last year.
Commissioners began to seriously consider that a plan was afoot to bait them into voting for the amendment, only so that a stay might be granted, while a new board got to work undoing the changes the board has been able to make before following through with the rest of the so-called developer wishlist as the land development code and comprehensive land use plan update approaches.
"We don't have to be incorrect," said Kruse. "All Tallahasee has to do is have the implication of believing they're correct, and they can suspend us. The governor can't remove anyone from office; they can suspend us from office. Being removed is from the state senate, which doesn't meet for months. Once a majority is suspended from office, then they have the right to temporarily replace (them). So, here's my concern, and I'll lay it out ahead of Thursday. Here's the timeline ... You vote in favor of this, and it goes to court, great, that's the best-case scenario we knew.
“However, the day after we make this motion on Thursday, (on) Friday, the frequent flier developer attorneys are going to go across the street and file a lawsuit. They probably already wrote it because this was noticed. The minute they file the lawsuit, those notices get stayed, meaning the wetlands stay where they are, the 2.1.2.8 stays in our comprehensive plan until those lawsuits, which are gonna take over a year, get resolved. That's our best-case scenario. We've proven a point, and the comp plan stays the same.
“Our worst-case scenario is we vote that through and they attempt to suspend people from office, even if it's frivolous. People say, that's not gonna happen. They literally just threatened to remove all of the City of Key West (city council). They literally just threatened to remove all of the City of Fort Myers (city council), and just two weeks ago, they literally threatened to remove all of Orange County, a massive county, its county commission, seven people."
Kruse said that rather than attempting a vote, he, as chair, was going to exercise his right to direct staff to cancel the land use meeting and that so long as no one motioned to appeal his directive, no commissioner would be put in a position of choosing to vote in favor of a sensible policy even if it means a worse outcome for the county.
Commissioner Tal Siddique moved to appeal, and Commissioner Bob McCann seconded the motion for discussion. Siddique said that the public deserved to have input and that canceling a meeting out of fear of a potential outcome was a dangerous precedent to set. The county attorney later advised that the meeting would have to be opened by staff so that public comment could be taken, but commissioners would not be required to attend.
Both the appeal and its second were then withdrawn, and the meeting was adjourned. Click the video below to watch that portion of the meeting.
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graumli22
My vote is that every city council and county board of commissioners file a class action suit against the State immediately. This strong-arming of local governments by Tallahassee has to stop! SB180, in effect, rules against voters who elected their officials who align with their local priorities. That isn't something Tallahassee should have the power to undo.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
David Daniels
Pathetic cowards. George Kruse has been promising for weeks that he was going to do the right thing. He has been writing on substack and Facebook. Just 10 minutes earlier, Kruse lectured other commissioners “ that governing meant doing the right thing even when it’s difficult”. He told other commissioners that what is important is keeping one’s commitment. What a bunch of bologna. I am disgusted.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
rayfusco68
The Board has their hands tied by the Governor will just replace them if they vote to go against the corrupt legislation. They can join the other Counties in the lawsuit and THE VOTERS CAN VOTE OUT of OFFICE the CURRENT HOUSE and SENATE REPRESENTATIVES from our DISTRICT. That voters have the power to change Tallahassee just like they did in the County. The voters are the ones that keep sending these corrupt legislators back to Tallahassee.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
kmskepton
The last thing we want is a governor-appointed board, even if temporary. Hard choice - but the right one was made. They have to do something, though, about this bill.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
san.gander
This targeting of Citizens "Home Rule" by the state must be stopped. Do the people have any rights at all to determine the quality of their living environment? Is it all for sale to the highest bidder - "friends" of the state government? Perhaps it is the time of unfettered and totally corrupt government from the state capitol to the White House. The party of Greed, Nepotism, Toadyism, and Graft holds all the cards at the moment.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
Kelly
Thank you, commissioners, for recognizing these votes at this time as a trap.
We (citizens and our elected officials) live to fight another day. We are confident you will pursue the wetlands and FDAB issues and pursue fixing SB180 & SB250. Sometimes, “…the best punch is the punch not thrown.”
Mark VanDeRee
Waterline Road Preservation Group
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
David Daniels
Punch not thrown? Nobody is punching Trump either, as he is sending masked men in unmarked cars and now the military to disappear American citizens . 60 minutes didn’t punch back. Columbia didn’t punch back. Big law firms didn’t punch back. Nobody punched Hitler, either. And to say we can join the lawsuit, what lawsuit? On what grounds? The lawsuit to file would have been if we stood up - we could then get a court to interpret the vague language that bureaucrats opine applies to wetland regulations. And we should be happy to keep our “good” bocc? How is where we are now any different than where we would be under KVO? It has been 10 months and we have no wetland buffers, no rural boundary line, and no impact fees Now it is certain we’ll never have them because this was where to do it. . Oh, we got call in comments back, hooray. Try calling in on Thursday, oh wait, nobody will be there because they are running away from facing the public. Just like running away after drunkenly hitting a tree. The true type of person we are comes out when the going gets tough. There were lies then, just like it has been a lie to promise (multiple times) that this bocc was going to do the right thing. This wasn’t about fighting another day. This was about not wanting to take even the smallest chance of not staying on the public payroll, with public benefits, and all the attention and power. This was a total capitulation to developers out of concern for their own best interest, not the public.
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
Lizarnold
While I wanted them to vote just like they did in February of this year 7/0… I believe George Kruse made the right decision. The damage that folks selected by the governor to fill the suspended commissioners seats until the November 26 elections could totally pave over Manatee. Many are calling them cowards but the truth is they knew the potential damage could be horrid. We all saw what happened to traffic etc during the last BOCCs time in office. It took courage for Kruse to pull the items. At least now the commissioners remain on the BOCC and can vote no to obscene development!
Wednesday, August 20 Report this
GCDUBBAU
What Mr Kruse did not say, and what I hope the Board is investigating, is whether the Board will join with other county boards to file suit to get the arbitrary language of SB180 either defined or removed. Every county on the west coast and certainly others are negatively impacted by this bill, a bone thrown to developers by the Tallahassee pols to reap riches by rapidly rebuilding communities without regard to many common sense guidelines and moderate restrictions. Yes, cut red tape and expedite permitting but wetland protections and “keep out zones” for some of the rebuilding are necessary.
Thursday, August 21 Report this
Charlene
The fight against SB 180 is not over. They may have delayed this vote but that doesn't mean that there aren't ways to challenge the law without baiting DeSantis into putting KVO, Satcher, Turner and Culbreath onto the board while we wait for resolution through the courts.
Thursday, August 21 Report this