HOLMES BEACH – Just like the traffic headed to Anna Maria Island on holidays, an effort by Florida legislators to build a parking garage at Manatee Beach is inching forward.
House Bill 947 was filed on Monday by Rep. Will Robinson Jr., who represents Manatee County, including Anna Maria Island. If the bill passes, it will allow Manatee County commissioners to erect a three-story parking garage at the county-owned beach with no approvals from city leaders needed.
Previous plans mentioned by legislators were for a four-story garage, which would exceed the height restrictions in the city.
Though parking garages were never an allowable land use in Holmes Beach, city commissioners voted in 2022 to formally disallow multi-level parking facilities. At a meeting where that ordinance was discussed, Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge warned commissioners against the action, stating that he had planned to present an application to the city to build a parking garage on the property.
Mayor Judy Titsworth said that she’s disappointed by Robinson’s decision to file the bill and feels that it’s a blatant infringement of home rule. She said county leaders never submitted a formal application to the city for consideration of a parking garage and never put anything before city commissioners to consider allowing one through a special exception.
During a Feb. 14 commission meeting, Titsworth said that Robinson was scheduled to come to Holmes Beach later in the week to speak with city staff and tour the available public parking with her. On Monday, she said he decided to move the meeting to the end of the month.
In addition to the parking spaces already available in the city for beachgoers, Titsworth said she’d been speaking with two area churches about using their parking areas for the public outside of church service times. If the parking garage bill goes through at the state level, she said she’s unsure if those organizations will go through with providing extra parking since part of the reason for that potential solution was to avoid having a parking garage built at Manatee Beach.
She encouraged everyone to continue writing letters to state legislators and to write to each of the committees that HB 947 goes to for consideration.
While a parking garage is becoming more of a possibility, a state-funded study to look at the consolidation or elimination of the three Anna Maria Island cities is off the table – for now.
The state legislative delegation recently backed off its January proposal to pursue consolidating the cities at the state level if Island city leaders agreed to work together to consolidate some services at the city level.
Titsworth said she’s begun regular meetings with Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie and Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy to begin a discussion on how they can consolidate some services across the three cities.
While she said she’s unsure right now of where they can consolidate, she said she’s hopeful that by working together, the three can find solutions that will take away the threat of consolidation or elimination by state legislators.
She was also quick to reassure city staff that no positions were being eliminated, saying, “No one’s losing a job in the city.”
Titsworth said she’s having a bit of a difficult time trying to decide what could be consolidated.
“This is going to take quite a bit of time between the three cities to determine what can be consolidated,” she said. “We are committed to look and see what could be consolidated, listen to each other and work together.”
The mayoral meetings are a result of a recent meeting between state legislative representatives and the Island mayors concerning the consolidation of all three Island cities into one municipality or into unincorporated Manatee County.
Robinson began the year with a quest to launch a state-funded study to determine if the three cities should be eliminated or consolidated. The study, which was supported by the other members of the Manatee County state legislative delegation, has since been abandoned, at least temporarily, in favor of allowing the three Island governments to work some issues out among themselves.
“I can’t thank the citizens, visitors, residents, everyone enough,” Titsworth said of the outpouring of support from the public to fight against the consolidation study. “I couldn’t be more proud. You did an amazing job.”
My family and I have visited Anna Maria Island for more than 30 years and we have witnessed firsthand how the place is strangling itself with its popularity. Our three-month stay ends at the end of the month and we have never before seen such slow-moving traffic so early in the season.
A multi-story car park anywhere on the island is not the solution.
Our full-time home is in the Roman city of Chester in the United Kingdom, one of very few ancient walled cities in the world. It too gets swamped with tourists from around the globe, but it has a solution to gridlock – so-called Park and Ride car parks serviced throughout the day, throughout the year, by an excellent hop-on, hop-off bus service. For a small fee, users can leave their cars and ride into the city to be dropped off at numerous points on a set route, while the return is just as simple.
Chester is not unique. Several other UK tourist hotspots have adopted the idea, enabling traffic-free city streets, pedestrianization, cycle routes and a reduction in air pollution and traffic-related accidents.
The irony is that you already have the excellent shuttle bus solution in place, and, unlike the UK, acres of land off the island on which to locate car parks, multi-level or otherwise.
I urge the powers that be to give the idea some thought. Sadly, I don’t have a solution to the suggestion that AMI’s three cities should be amalgamated, but I suspect that might go away if the car parking was resolved.
First of all, I am a believer of home rule. However, when a government creates an atmosphere of dictatorial leadership, it has failed and must be changed. It is time for a change and I think that State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. is on the right track to being the catalyst to do it.
Holmes Beach has long been ruled by Mayor Judy Titsworth who has ruled with an iron hand. The one thing that she and Police Chief Bill Tokajer have created is a system of traffic-related fines that have punished both residents and visitors for a myriad of fines for anything involving traffic. Among the worst action on their part is the elimination of 645 parking spots in Holmes Beach alone. The reason given by the police chief was to help prevent crime in Holmes Beach. Has anyone read the police reports in the local Island newspapers? If you do, you will typically find a domestic dispute, a bicycle stolen, someone urinating in public. Not exactly a Chicago crime wave. Now she so generously allowed homeowners to purchase parking permits on their own property after paying a for- tune in property taxes. It is not right.
Millions of dollars every year are spent every year to attract more visitors to “old Florida.” I think not; the slogan should be, Welcome to our Sunny Island, but leave your car at home.
When invited by the county to attend a meeting in 2022, both Ms. Titsworth and Chief Tokajer refused to meet to discuss the parking situation created by them. How is that a sign of open government? You cannot govern properly by shutting the door to discussion. Somehow in the fourth quarter they were convinced to meet, but it was to no avail and nothing positive came out of that meeting. One of the things Ms. Titsworth brought up was that the parking situation was a county problem, not hers, and get this, she said they should build a parking garage at the county beach. Now in the latest news she states that she is against such a plan. Talk about flip-flopping.
Ms. Titsworth has said if the county took over, the residents would leave. That is exactly what has been happening under her watch for the past five years because of the construction of six- and eight-bedroom rental properties. This is a fact that family houses built in the 50s or 60s are being bought by developers, torn down and replaced with massive rental houses.
This is not a private island; if you want tourists, treat them like you really appreciate them. Be reminded that the Florida law states that everyone in this state is allowed to walk the beaches. There is also a federal law that backs that up.
My suggestion is to have the Manatee government withdraw the Holmes Beach parking ordinance and have the parking restriction eliminated. They should also dissolve the municipal governments, as an island with three governments in a seven- mile long strip of land is ridiculous.
I suggest that as a first step, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department take over the police force for the entire Island. They are a professional organization that already has roots on the island and has experience across the entire county.
Have the state create a single entity to govern the entire Island, either as Rep. Robinson suggested as an unincorporated part of Manatee County or establish a municipal government for the entire island.
I would like to thank you for your coverage of the controversial local bills being introduced by Rep. Will Robinson. It is extremely important that we educate all on the dire consequences of loss in home rule.
Cities were founded on the belief that local government understands best the needs of local citizens. The state then determined that cities could legislate themselves. We are currently in a time where the state had giveth and now with precedent, the state can taketh away.
Rep. Robinson has stated that the reason for the first bill on mandating a parking garage at the public beach is because the city would not budge on the reduction in parking in the city. On the contrary, the city of Holmes Beach agreed to the use of AME school, the library, and city hall for additional overflow parking. A suggestion was also made that they purchase the large Bank of America lot that has close and safe access to the public beach for overflow parking. Although county and state leaders choose to lob insults at the city of Holmes Beach, we historically have and continue to be a part of the solution for the county’s failure to plan.
Rep. Robinson has stated that the sole reason for the second bill, a study on dissolving the cities, is due to declining populations on the Island. He even went so far as stating that this is a proactive approach instead of reactive, as this will get ahead of the time when there are no longer enough residents to maintain three cities. What he said is entirely different than what I heard. Being that this study was not initiated by the city leaders and local bills are historically never controversial, it brings me to ponder on whether the proactive approach that our state representatives are taking was generated years ago with the intended outcome, the elimination of cities.
You see, when the cities lost their ability to regulate vacation rentals taking over the residential districts, this brought an onslaught of developers from all over the country gobbling up every beach house in site. The market value soared, and the local hard-working citizens were pushed out of their homes and forced to move inland. The holdouts remain but are subject to a declined quality of life due to noise, trash, nutrient loads in bays, congestion and no longer having the ability to know their neighbor.
As mayor, it is my job to support our residents and businesses and to make decisions to maintain and improve the quality of their lives. Because of these efforts, full-time residents
are returning. I have witnessed the drastic increase in property tax that the county receives by no longer being constrained by homestead caps ($17 million in the past 10 years). Add to that, the Tourist Development Tax that was sold to the voters lacking foresight. The voters thought this tax would be a good thing, it would bring money to our cities from visitors instead of just property owners. What they didn’t understand is what a cash cow it became. The city of Holmes Beach alone has contributed well over $30 million in bed tax to the coffers since its inception with little in return. It isn’t because we haven’t asked. It is because the county commission chose to use it elsewhere.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that this is all happening at the same time entire boards of county commissions are being replaced by potential “yes men” for developers. Campaigns are being driven by strategists, all heavily funded by big developer PAC money. I believe our state representatives have been taking a proactive approach for many years now and it is setting up Florida coastal cities to fail.
MANATEE COUNTY – Members of the local state legislative delegation are making plans to permanently change the face of Anna Maria Island, beginning with a parking garage and potentially ending with the dissolution of the three Island cities.
A citizens’ action group, Save AMI Cities, has already sprung up on Facebook with the intent of making voter and stakeholder voices heard by state legislators.
During a Jan. 12 legislative delegation meeting, Rep. Will Robinson Jr. brought up beach access and parking issues in Holmes Beach. Robinson, a Republican, proposed introducing a bill during the upcoming state legislative session to pre-empt Holmes Beach city leaders’ decision to ban parking garages. His plan would allow a four-story parking garage on the Manatee County-owned parcel at Manatee Beach, one story higher than the city’s limit. His fellow Republican members of the delegation, Rep. Tommy Gregory, Rep. Mike Beltran, Sen. Jim Boyd and Sen. Joe Gruters, voted unanimously in favor of the proposal and putting the bill forth for consideration at the state level.
Rep. Will Robinson Jr.
If the proposed bill makes it through all of the levels of state government, including committees and the Senate, and gains the approval of Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would allow Manatee County commissioners to subvert local government regulations and issue their own building permits for construction on county-owned property, regardless of the city the property is located in.
“I thought it was incumbent for the Legislature to step in and pre-empt that authority to allow a four-story parking garage if the county commission so votes and funds that parking garage to be built,” Robinson said. “It is fundamental for anyone to be able to visit our public beach and, in my view, parking spaces have been strategically taken away over the last few years under the guise of COVID to not allow folks to access the beach. Folks are getting frustrated – they can’t park, they can’t access the beach, they’re turning around and they’re going back home. And, to me, there’s nothing more important than to allow a person, a taxpayer, who pays for that beach, by the way, to visit that beach.”
Currently, the majority of beach renourishment funding comes from state-funded renourishment programs and the county resort tax, paid by visitors, not local tax dollars.
Parking problems
Public beach parking in Holmes Beach has been a point of contention between city and county leaders for more than two years. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to local beaches was restricted by the state to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In Holmes Beach, city leaders closed public beach parking during the lockdown. When the beaches were allowed to be reopened, city leaders took the opportunity to create a long-planned permit parking area on some residential streets near the beach. The plan was to not only give city residents who don’t live near the beach a place to park but to also reduce traffic, trash and beachgoers relieving themselves on residential streets. Permits are available to city residents only and permit parking takes up approximately 642 spaces located solely on the sides of city streets. Other streets were labeled as no parking zones at the request of residents or due to the narrowness of the roads, eliminating about 300 parking spots. The city still has more than 1,200 public parking spots, including the parking available at Manatee Beach, within a quarter mile of the beach and more along other residential streets further away from beach access points.
During city commission meetings, Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer has reported counting more than 40,000 vehicles coming and going on Manatee Avenue, just one of three Island access points, on an average busy beach day. That number can jump higher over holiday weekends.
City leaders have met with state and county representatives to discuss parking problems in Holmes Beach with few resolutions found. The city’s website features a parking map to show where vehicle and low-speed vehicle/golf cart parking is located near the beach. Plans to create an interactive parking app also are underway.
When Holmes Beach commissioners met to discuss banning parking garages last year, Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge stepped up during public comment to issue a warning if they moved forward with the ban. Van Ostenbridge said he had plans to present a proposal to build a multi-level parking garage at the county-owned Manatee Beach. Commissioners chose to move forward with the ban. The city of Bradenton Beach, where the county owns property including Cortez Beach and Coquina Beach along with two boat ramps, also has a ban on multi-level parking garages.
Holmes Beach’s three-story height limitation on structures is written into the city’s charter, meaning it would take a charter amendment being approved by a majority of voters or the dissolution of the city to remove the restriction. Abolishing it would pave the way for high-rise development.
Robinson said that he feels “very confident” in the proposed parking legislation and that he feels it will pass during the state legislative session beginning Monday, April 10.
Dissolving Island cities?
The state legislative group decided last week to look into the possibility of engaging The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to study how feasible it would be to dissolve the three city governments on the Island. If that were to happen, Robinson said it would remove the city governments in Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach, replacing them with Manatee County commissioners and administration.
He said it could be a good tax break for residents who would no longer have to pay city taxes.
In Florida, the Legislature can dissolve a municipality if either the residents of the municipality vote for dissolution or by special act. In the event of a special act by the state, a bill would have to be introduced during a legislative session, pass votes by state representatives and senators and be signed by the governor before it’s effective. The requirements for a special act involving the dissolution of a municipality state that the city in question must not be substantially surrounded by other municipalities; the county or an adjacent municipality must be willing to take on the governing of the area and arrangements have to be made to provide compensation for employees of the city.
The closest adjacent municipality to any of the three Island cities is Longboat Key, where leaders are working diligently to have the entire town under Sarasota County jurisdiction, leaving only Manatee County leaders to take over Anna Maria Island if its three cities were dissolved. If that happened, all infrastructure, building and zoning regulations and governing would fall under the same leadership as unincorporated Manatee County – the board of county commissioners currently led by Van Ostenbridge as its chair. Instead of being represented by their fellow Island residents, Islanders would be represented by commissioners elected by residents from all over the county.
Local elected officials’ reactions
Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth issued a statement in reply to the legislative delegation discussions.
Mayor Judy Titsworth
“I am disappointed at the position that Will has taken regarding pre-empting city ordinances to construct a parking garage in a coastal community when the city currently and historically has always exceeded the number of parking spaces required for state-funded beach renourishment and interlocal agreements with the county,” Titsworth said. “As a mayor in his district, I would have appreciated Mr. Robinson to have, in the very least, given notice prior to getting out of his lane in making such a bold move. At this point in time, I shouldn’t be surprised about anything that comes from this district. I do not feel Mr. Robinson needed the support of the local delegation to move on this bill but next time he moves on a bill that will affect the lives of our city residents, I hope that he would first reach out to the representatives of the city so he can become better informed. A four-story parking garage at the entrance to our city is not in keeping with the historical character of our quaint city. For this to happen, the potential gutting of our height restrictions would also be in play. These restrictions are in our city charter. This undoubtedly is what led to the next proposal by the representative which is the consideration of the consolidation and/or dissolution of the three Island cities.”
“I believe that is probably the biggest overstep and attack on home rule yet,” she continued. “Holmes Beach has been incorporated for over 70 years. We are a vibrant and prosperous city. Our population continues to grow. Our city is responsible for the majority of the contributions to the tourist development tax in the county and has contributed over $30 million since its inception. We continue to improve roads, sidewalks and storm infrastructure and continue to make public safety a number one goal. We have a very strong commission and numerous appointed boards. All board positions are readily filled by residents who desire to give their time to civic duty. The city of Holmes Beach is proud of not only retaining its residents but providing a tourism experience that is a top vacation destination. Property values continue to soar and our city has investors from all over the world. For a representative to single out Anna Maria Island to study dissolving our city chartered governments is a wake-up for all cities of this state. Because of this, I do not believe this will receive the legislative act that this representative is seeking.”
In a Jan. 13 discussion with The Sun, she said she feels that any action to dissolve the cities would be the equivalent of a “hostile takeover” by the county commission. “What happened to the will of the people?” she asked, noting that it was supposed to be a politician’s job to work in the best interests of the voters.
Addressing Robinson’s comment concerning taxes, she said there is currently a difference of $17 million between taxes paid by homesteaded residents and those without a homestead exemption in Holmes Beach. If the Island cities were dissolved and development were allowed to go unchecked, Titsworth said she feels that residents would leave, potentially allowing more properties to be acquired by short-term rental investors.
“This is a much bigger issue,” she said. “This is about more than parking.”
Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie echoed Titsworth’s statement, telling The Sun that while he doesn’t agree with how leaders in the neighboring city amended their parking restrictions, he too feels that the attempts by the state to subvert local government ordinances and dissolve the three cities have to do with more than just the loss of a few hundred parking spaces.
When contacted by The Sun, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said he does not support the state legislative delegation’s actions and does not think dissolution is a good idea. He added that he does, however, feel that there are opportunities for the three cities to share resources and work together better that are currently being missed.
The recent bombshell by the state delegation to undermine Island height restrictions, and potentially to dissolve the Island cities, reminds me of when I was younger. Two headstrong, spoiled children would get into an argument over something on the playground for which neither was willing to compromise. Then one would go to their big brother and, without all the facts and, being one not to consider other outcomes, the brother jumps in and tries to settle the argument. All should have been taught better about sitting down and discussing things to produce a better outcome.
The implementation of the parking plan most certainly could have been handled in a much better way; this was mentioned by many at the time. Plus, we have very limited, finite land. Simple math can tell you that this Island cannot accommodate all the taxpayers, all the people out of the county, out of the state and out of the country who desire to use the beach.
Now that it has come to a head with Big Brother weighing in and wanting to take over everything, the problem has become worse for all three cities.
The city now needs the residents in this fight. I know from attending almost every commission meeting for eight years that there is irony in that Holmes Beach rarely listens to residents’ positive viable suggestions towards problem resolution. The city has sometimes even made the residents out to be the aggressors, offenders or violators, and would even target, taunt or treat them with less than civility. Now the city wants residents to come to their defense.
No matter how this turns out, no one is going to feel like a winner, and there will be many losers. Hopefully, we will keep our cities, and some will finally realize we only have so much space.
To the county and state, please apply the math to your parking expectations and curb your advertising. To the city, county and state, please have greater respect for neighborhoods, communities and residents. Residents are getting caught in the crossfire.
They make it sound like beach access and parking is the issue, but is it?
A four-story parking garage at the county-owned Manatee Beach would exceed the three-story height limit that the city of Holmes Beach has wisely imposed, echoed by the cities of Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach.
State Rep. Will Robinson and his colleagues are trying to break that precedent by eliminating the Island’s three cities and their pesky regulations and putting them under Manatee County control.
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But that would not only allow for the parking garage. It would open the door of Anna Maria Island to high-rise development, east coast-style.
And that is far more likely to be behind the move by Republican legislators than “fixing” the parking problem in Holmes Beach with a single garage.
The trouble with their argument is that once high-rises or even mid-rises are allowed, the garage will be obsolete, a drop in the bucket to providing beach access, which belies their true motive – the D-word. Development.
And what would happen to beach access then, with so many parking places required by multi-story vacation rentals (let’s not even bother to pretend they will be residences)?
There’s a lesson to be learned from the Martinique condo mid-rises built five decades ago. Local elected officials put the kibosh on those extra floors almost immediately after seeing the visual impact the two buildings had on what was then truly “Old Florida.”
Now that what little of Old Florida is left on the Island has been nearly completely redeveloped (also known as destroyed), it’s apparently time to redevelop it again, this time, vertically.
We’re only number two on the state’s highest-priced real estate list, according to the Wall Street Journal. We have to be number one, at all costs.
Elderly folks were the first to be priced off this Island. Then families. Now, it’s the workforce.
Soon, unless someone clears the smoke and cleans the mirrors, it may be all of us.
HOLMES BEACH – City leaders may be more than ready to put 2022 in their rearview mirrors. The year was full of ups and downs in the biggest little city on Anna Maria Island.
The Island Branch Library celebrated 40 years in its Marina Drive location beginning in January and concluding with a springtime party featuring speakers including elected officials, residents and members of the Friends of the Island Library.
At the city commission level, leaders began the year embroiled in a lawsuit with local developer Shawn Kaleta over fines for unpermitted work and operations at the Bali Hai Beach Resort. In 2023 that case remains in court.
City leaders made the decision in early February to reduce the speed limit citywide to 25 miles per hour on city streets. The reduced speed limit does not apply to Manatee Avenue which is a state road and controlled by the Florida Department of Transportation. A registration program for golf carts was also enacted at the same time, requiring residents to obtain a sticker for their vehicles in order to drive them on city streets.
Issues between city and Manatee County leaders came to a head in March and April when a meeting between the two groups of elected officials ended with no solutions for either side’s problems discussed. Mayor Judy Titsworth and commissioners held firm on their stance to not reopen residential streets for public parking. Residents, however, are allowed to park on the street with a valid parking permit. Relations with county commissioners further deteriorated when city officials began discussing a ban on multi-level parking garages. County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge appeared before city commissioners during a June meeting to warn them against instituting the ban, saying that there would be negative consequences to the decision.
Great blue herons nesting in an Australian pine at the Kingfish Boat Ramp temporarily halted the removal of trees at the site though those plans were ultimately abandoned by the county after funding for a renovation project was lost due to excessive delays. – Kristin Swain | Sun
In addition to parking, county and city leaders also clashed over plans to renovate the Kingfish Boat Ramp. The project would have seen more than 100 trees at the county-owned boat ramp removed along with a popular shaded picnic area. Public outcry against the project fell on deaf ears at the county, though the renovations ultimately didn’t take place due to a loss of funding after numerous project delays.
The April closure of a private beach access point on 78th Street pitted neighbor against neighbor as nearby residents united to first protest the closure and then sue property owners Travis Resmondo and the neighboring Oceana Condominium Association in Manatee County Circuit Court for access. While Judge Charles Sniffen ruled against issuing a temporary injunction in August, neighbors vowed to continue the fight in court for beach access through the path to be restored.
The November election brought two new faces to the city commission in the form of Dan Diggins and Greg Kerchner. The two, along with Mayor Judy Titsworth, ran unopposed after former Commissioner Kim Rash decided to not run for re-election and former Commissioner Jayne Christenson dropped out of the race to retain her seat on the dais.
Signs block the beach access at 78th Street in Holmes Beach from public use after a busy Easter weekend resulted in trespassers invading adjacent private properties. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Construction began on long-awaited road improvements at city center, the intersection of Gulf and Marina drives, in the fall, causing traffic delays and headaches for drivers. Though planned to take place separately, the road construction intersected with a county water main project in the area, resulting in additional delays and road closures. Public Works Director Sage Kamiya said he received a round of applause from drivers and onlookers when he authorized the reopening of both lanes of Marina Drive just in time for the Christmas holiday.
HOLMES BEACH – Parking is still creating problems for city commissioners.
Commissioners relaunched a conversation concerning banning parking garages in the city during a June 28 work session. Unfortunately for them, that conversation became a bit murky as they started examining regulations concerning off-site parking and parking for businesses that requires drivers to back out onto busy roads.
At the urging of Mayor Judy Titsworth, commissioners agreed to move the ordinance to a first reading for further discussion and revision due to a shortened meeting schedule for the summer.
The discussion began with a talk about disallowing multi-level parking structures, or garages, within the city. Multi-level parking garages currently are not an approved use in any zoning district in Holmes Beach, but could be approved through a special exception. If the proposed regulations pass, the special exception approval avenue would be lost. While commissioners are not opposed to covered parking, the proposed ordinance states that parking can only take place on the ground floor. It does not prohibit a dwelling unit or business on the second floor.
If it passes two public hearings and votes by commissioners, the proposed ban on parking garages would derail plans by Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge to pursue a parking garage.
When the topic was broached previously during a Holmes Beach commission work session, Van Ostenbridge stepped up to the podium during public comment to warn city commissioners away from the proposed ban, stating that he was planning to present a proposal for a parking garage at the county-owned public beach. He left before the discussion began but told Titsworth that he was listening to the meeting on Zoom.
Though commissioners could agree on the parking garage issue, the discussion derailed a bit when they ventured into other items, including how and where to allow off-site parking for businesses. City Attorney Erica Augello warned commissioners that any change they made to current off-site parking regulations would affect existing businesses and commercial properties if those properties ever were to undergo major renovations or need to be rebuilt.
Augello noted that paid parking is already disallowed in all districts in the city.
In an additional parking discussion, Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that city leaders had spoken with representatives from Hancock Whitney Bank. During that conversation, he said that while the bank’s representatives were willing to continue the beach parking agreement with the city, they weren’t happy with the arrangement, which was causing issues for bank customers.
He added that the tow-away zone signs placed in the lot by the bank caused confusion for beachgoers and that the parking wasn’t well used by visitors. Tokajer recommended not attempting to re-enter into a beach parking agreement with the bank.
“I can’t find a compelling reason to reopen it,” Commissioner Terry Schaefer said of the lot. He added that the city doesn’t get a benefit from Manatee County by having the lot open to beachgoers after hours and the insurance for the parking costs the city money.
“I think the bank did a really nice public service for our Island and our visitors,” Commissioner Jayne Christenson said. “I commend them.”
Commissioners opted to not move forward with attempting to renew the parking contract.
HOLMES BEACH – The gloves are off in the fight between city leaders and Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge after the county commissioner made an appearance during a city commission work session.
With the possibility of a parking garage ban in Holmes Beach on the agenda, commissioners weren’t surprised when Van Ostenbridge wanted to share his opinion on the issue. After being welcomed by city commissioners, he stepped up to the podium during public comment to issue a warning against the potential prohibition of parking garages in the city.
“Think long and hard before you make this decision,” he said, stating that prior city commission decisions have resulted in county commissioners rejecting funding requests.
“How do I say this politely? It’s not an accident that the governor vetoed $2 million in funding for the city,” Van Ostenbridge said, insinuating that the recent cut made by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the state’s budget removing appropriation funds for water quality in the city was related to parking discussions.
“There will be good or bad consequences to what is decided here today,” he said, adding a warning to commissioners to be thoughtful in their deliberations.
After speaking to commissioners, Van Ostenbridge left the June 14 meeting but told Mayor Judy Titsworth later that he listened to the ensuing discussion on Zoom.
“I’m sorry he couldn’t stay,” Titsworth said when the parking garage discussion began on the dais. She noted that with taxable property values in the city increasing over 200% in the current fiscal year and Holmes Beach accounting for 37% of all bed tax funds collected by the county, it’s not in county leaders’ best interests to threaten withholding funding to the city.
“You want to protect the golden goose,” she said.
After the meeting, Titsworth posted a video response to Van Ostenbridge’s comments on the city’s YouTube channel restating her position.
“I too am sorry the commissioner chose to not listen to our response to his threats,” Commissioner Terry Schaefer said. “It’s sad how this county commission is run, putting a gun to our heads.” He went on to say that he feels that with all the tax dollars going to the county from Holmes Beach, the city is getting “a very poor return on our investment.”
In the past 10 years, more than $30 million has been funneled to the county through tourist tax dollars, Schaefer said, adding he believes the city has only received about $141,000 of those funds back for parks projects. He said he’s not in favor of parking garages in the city and felt that allowing them would only serve to help the county solve its issues created by overmarketing of Anna Maria Island and its beaches.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said she wants to see long-term traffic and mobility solutions to address issues and help residents and beachgoers coming from county commissioners rather than threats. She said that she doesn’t think adding more places to park would solve the problems facing city and county residents, primarily traffic congestion, public safety and failing infrastructure.
During his comments, Van Ostenbridge said that he was planning to put together a plan to present to city commissioners over the summer for a parking garage to be constructed at the county-owned Manatee Beach.
While the prohibition of parking garages was on the city work session agenda, parking garages are currently not an allowable use in the city, nor is paid parking. To allow a parking garage to be constructed at the beach would require an ordinance change, site plan approval and potentially an in- crease of the current height limit in Holmes Beach. The height limit now would only allow for a three-story structure.
Despite Van Ostenbridge’s comments, Titsworth noted that the discussion had been placed on the agenda not because of the potential for a parking garage at the public beach but because the property owner of the former Wells Fargo Bank location at the corner of Marina and Gulf drives was seeking city staff guidance to determine what uses could be al- lowed on the property. She said no formal proposal for the site had been given to city staff, which committed to looking at potential ideas for the site and other nearby vacant commercial properties for future commission discussion.
HOLMES BEACH – In the aftermath of a joint meeting with Manatee County commissioners, Holmes Beach city leaders are trying to figure out their next steps toward building a better relationship with county leaders.
During a March 8 work session, Holmes Beach commissioners went over their notes from the joint meeting, held March 1. They also took public comment on the meeting to help gauge public opinion following the discussion, which primarily revolved around beach parking.
Holmes Beach resident Izzy Skye, representing a group of residents attending the meeting, thanked commissioners for holding firm to their stance on not reopening residential streets near the beach to public parking.
“You cannot pave our paradise to put up your parking lot,” Skye said, speaking about the discussion where Manatee County commissioners suggested building a large parking garage at Manatee Beach. “Visitors are coming to see a preserve. This is no place for a concrete jungle.”
About the March 1 meeting, Commissioner Terry Schaefer said, “I think it was a good opportunity to look the county commissioners in the eye and see the kind of people they are.” He added that it was “obvious” that the primary objective of Manatee County commissioners was to discuss parking, something that Holmes Beach commissioners weren’t willing to change their stance on. But Schaefer said he feels there is still room for more discussions with county leaders, a sentiment echoed by his fellow commissioners.
“It was a beginning,” he said. “I’m not discouraged.”
While Holmes Beach commissioners understand that there are a growing number of Manatee County residents and visitors every year who want to go to the beaches on Anna Maria Island, they also feel that it’s the issue of county leaders to provide parking and facilities for the people wishing to access county beaches. Mayor Judy Titsworth said that she doesn’t have a problem with visitors to the Island – she said she welcomes them – however, there is only so much space available on the 7-mile island, about three of which are occupied by the city of Holmes Beach.
HBPD Chief Bill Tokajer said that, using the city’s license plate reader cameras, he counted 9 million cars coming into Holmes Beach across Manatee Avenue in 2020, increasing to 9.6 million in 2021.
In an effort to work with the county to find solutions to parking problems, and hopefully address some of the city’s concerns in a future joint meeting, she said she’s having City Attorney Erica Augello look at the lease for the land where the Island Branch Library sits to see if that parking lot can be used for overflow beach parking while the library is closed without violating the land grant from the Holmes family, which donated the property to the city.
As a stop-gap measure, Manatee County commissioners voted unanimously on March 8 to enter into an agreement with the Manatee County School Board to use the more than 60 spaces at Anna Maria Elementary School in Holmes Beach as overflow beach parking. During the joint meeting, Titsworth said that if the county wants to use the school for excess beach parking, they need to provide trash and restroom facilities along with a flashing beacon or crossing guard for the crosswalk. While county commissioners were amenable to providing portable restrooms and trash cans, they balked at providing a crossing guard or flashing beacon for the crosswalk traversing Gulf Drive.
“I think the dialogue is open and that’s good,” Commissioner Jayne Christenson said, adding that she thinks Holmes Beach commissioners need to step back and assess what they can do to address some of the issues. She suggested rebranding the city as a community across social media and the internet rather than as a vacation destination.
Commissioners agreed to have another work session to discuss potential action items before scheduling another meeting with county commissioners.
MANATEE COUNTY – Despite having 12 items on the agenda for a joint meeting, the recent discussion between Holmes Beach and Manatee County commissioners kept coming back to one contentious topic – beach parking.
It may have only been March 1, but the lengthy meeting produced as many fireworks as any Fourth of July display.
Though the parking item had a time-certain discussion planned for 11 a.m. during the two-and-a-half-hour session, the topic was the proverbial elephant in the room from the start.
The meeting kicked off with public comment, during which several east county residents stated their resentment of Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth concerning traffic and an inability for some beachgoers to find parking in Holmes Beach. The onslaught of comments prompted Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge to remind speakers to remain civil in their comments and Holmes Beach Commissioner Carol Soustek to note that while Titsworth is the face of the city’s leadership, it’s the commissioners who vote to accept or deny proposed changes, including those related to parking.
Beachgoers driving into Holmes Beach have had issues finding parking spaces for years. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Beach patrol
During a discussion on beach patrol funding, Titsworth said she’d like the county to step up their financial support of the Holmes Beach Police Department, which is tasked with policing the county-owned beach, public beaches in Holmes Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp, along with the rest of the city. While the county currently reimburses the city $46,612 for beach patrol services, Titsworth said the city pays about $150,000-160,000 per year to adequately patrol the beaches, boat ramp and beach parking.
The mayor said she’d like to see the county increase its financial support, working up to a minimum of $90,000 per year to be more in line with the amount offered to the Bradenton Beach Police Department annually for similar services, and ideally $115,000 or more to cover the entire cost of one HBPD officer.
While Titsworth acknowledged that the city of Bradenton Beach has a longer stretch of county-owned beach, she noted that Holmes Beach is a larger city and provides more public parking for beachgoers than the Anna Maria Island city to the south.
Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse said that while he appreciates Titsworth’s request for more beach patrol funding, he wanted to know what city leaders are prepared to do for the county in exchange for additional funding, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Vanessa Baugh.
Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer gives his opinion on parking issues in the Anna Maria Island city while Commission Chair Carol Soustek looks on. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer said Holmes Beach city leaders had come to the meeting to discuss items of concern, not to try and leverage one item for another.
County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, a Holmes Beach resident, said she thinks the stretch of beach in Holmes Beach is too small to necessitate the spending of more funds to police it. County Administrator Scott Hopes said he thinks the county’s funding to Holmes Beach is complimentary to the amount given to Bradenton Beach, $125,000, given the size of the city versus the size of the county park, Manatee Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp, within the city.
Accusations fly
When 11 a.m. finally rolled around and leaders could get to the discussion they really wanted to have, beach parking, accusations began to fly around the room on both sides.
Van Ostenbridge accused Holmes Beach leaders of having less than 1% of the population of Manatee County and closing its beaches to 99% of Manatee County residents to save its own residents.
Titsworth called out Van Ostenbridge for “weaponizing funding” in a bid to try and force city leaders’ hands to allow beach parking to go unrestricted in the small city to the detriment of Holmes Beach residents, who she pointed out, are also Manatee County residents who pay county taxes. She accused Manatee County commissioners of being unwilling to work with the city and learn the facts about what happens in the Island city and how issues affect residents and tourists alike.
At the crux of the discussion was the status of about 480 parking spaces located solely on the sides of residential streets in neighborhoods near beach accesses. Those residential streets are maintained by the city of Holmes Beach and are funded by tax dollars paid to the city, not the county. Public parking also has long been a headache for nearby residents, who often find trash and litter in their yards, people vandalizing their property, some trespassing and using their private pools and water hoses as public facilities and others defecating in their yards.
After more than a decade of discussion, 124 of those 480 spaces were designated in 2021 as Holmes Beach resident permit parking only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily after being closed to public access since 2020. Ever since that decision was made by Holmes Beach commissioners, it’s been a sore spot between city and county leaders.
Van Ostenbridge demanded that city leaders reopen all city streets to public parking.
“You want 400 spaces?” Soustek countered. “480 parking spaces is a spit in the ocean,” she said, noting that the number of people trying to find parking in Holmes Beach regularly exceeds that amount. She added that opening residential streets to the onslaught of beach parking wouldn’t guarantee Manatee County residents a space to park, that they would still need to get up early to drive out to the Island and avoid traffic and parking stresses.
Holmes Beach Commissioner Jayne Christenson suggested county commissioners designate some of the spaces at Manatee Beach as Manatee County resident-only parking, a suggestion dismissed by county commissioners without comment.
Manatee County Commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge, James Satcher and Reggie Bellamy listen as Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth addresses beach parking issues. – Kristin Swain | Sun
“You’ll never have enough spaces and the people will never all be able to get out to the beach,” Titsworth said, noting all of the housing developments currently planned for Manatee County and the increase of people expected to travel to Anna Maria Island’s beaches. At about seven miles long, with about three miles of that being Holmes Beach, she said Anna Maria Island only has so much room to fit people and vehicles on.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer said residential street parking wasn’t going to be used as a bargaining chip between the city and county.
Whitmore said that while she wants to work with city leaders, she’s opposed to the permit parking system and refuses to pay for one herself. She also said she feels that Holmes Beach has too many rules, including the newly instituted city-wide 25 mph speed limit.
Getting down to business
With tensions already flaring between the two groups, Manatee County Director of Parks and Natural Resources Charlie Hunsicker offered the results of a parking study conducted by APTIM/CPE, an independent group. The field study was completed in 2020 with the report from that study dated September 2021. The study area was limited to the city of Holmes Beach and conducted on parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of beach access points and compared to a similar report from 2013.
According to that report, the city of Holmes Beach has 775 public parking spots located within a quarter-mile of public beach access points, with an additional 480 spaces that are either without signs or reserved/permit only. According to the 2013 report, there were 1,255 public parking spaces with the only change being 480 spaces converted to unsigned/reserved status. Of those 480 spaces, 124 were observed to be reserved for resident permit-only parking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the other 356 “lost” spaces being attributed to parking obstructions and a potential increase in no parking signed areas. Signed public parking spaces in the study area actually increased by 12, with the number of unsigned spaces decreasing by 492 from 2013 to 2020, reducing driver uncertainty on where parking is allowed.
To receive beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is required by the state of Florida to have 364 public parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of the beach. In the city’s interlocal agreement with the county regarding beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is committed to having about 500 spaces within a quarter-mile of the beach. Currently, there are more than 1,200 public parking spaces, not including resident permit parking spaces, located within a quarter-mile of public beach access with more available throughout the city but located outside of the quarter-mile area.
Titsworth said she’s not only concerned with the issues residents see in neighborhoods but how those issues could also affect the city’s tourism, with more than 1,500 short-term rental properties located in residential neighborhoods. She added that for people just coming to the beach for the day, there need to be adequate restroom, trash and food facilities as well as crosswalks to get safely from parking areas to the beach.
She suggested that county leaders meet with her to work on a renegotiation of the lease for the Island Branch Library land to allow for public parking at that facility when the library is closed. She also noted that public parking is allowed at Holmes Beach City Hall. In addition, if county leaders want to use Anna Maria Elementary School’s parking spaces as public parking when the school isn’t open, she said they should go through proper permitting with the city and provide portable restroom facilities, trash cans and either a crossing guard or lighted beacon for the crosswalk across Gulf Drive.
Van Ostenbridge said he expects people to know how to cross the road when coming to the Island, dismissing the idea of having either a crossing guard or flashing beacon to alert drivers at the location.
Parking garage
Another idea floated around during the meeting was the construction of a parking garage in Holmes Beach to provide more public parking.
Titsworth suggested commissioners consider the purchase of additional property in the city to build a garage on, such as the old Bank of America building on the southeast corner of East Bay Drive and Manatee Avenue. The site is located about two blocks from the entrance to Manatee Beach.
That idea was shot down by Manatee County commissioners. Whitmore said it wasn’t worth it to the county to build a parking garage limited to the city’s 36-foot building height limitations. Titsworth said that with the height limitations in the city’s charter, it would take Holmes Beach voters casting their ballots in favor of changing it to allow for a larger garage to be built. Van Ostenbridge said he opposes purchasing additional property in Holmes Beach and if commissioners decide to build a parking garage in the city, he’d want it to be at Manatee Beach.
Another meeting between Manatee County commissioners and Holmes Beach city leaders is planned to take place in the future to continue discussions.
MANATEE COUNTY – After a joint meeting between Manatee County commissioners and Holmes Beach city leaders didn’t satisfy either side regarding beach parking, the discussion continued by email.
After the March 1 meeting, County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, a Holmes Beach resident and former mayor of the city, and Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth began the exchange, with Whitmore listing what she took away from the joint meeting as actionable items on behalf of the county and the city. She mentioned revamping the land lease at the Island Branch Library to use the site as after-hours beach parking, building a three- to four-story parking garage at Manatee Beach, allowing angled street parking along Manatee Avenue, allowing public parking at city hall and placing portable toilets at all possible designated parking areas with the agreement of both municipalities.
In her response, Titsworth addressed each issue, noting that public parking has always been allowed at city hall and that she would look at the agreement for the library land lease to see what can be done.
Regarding a parking garage, she said that she felt a garage could be constructed within the city’s height limits, 36 feet, and that county leaders would need to look at zoning requirements before planning to build a garage.
Titsworth also noted that parking along the side of Manatee Avenue between East Bay and Gulf drives isn’t allowed because of safety due to traffic congestion and that, if a change were to be made, it would have to be approved by not only city traffic engineers but also by state traffic engineers due to Manatee Avenue’s status as a state road.
The emails continued into the weekend with Whitmore stating that she felt Titsworth was saying “no” to a parking garage in her response. She added that she feels it should be up to the residents of Holmes Beach to decide the fate of a parking garage, should county leaders go in that direction. Titsworth said during the joint meeting discussion on parking garages that if Manatee County leaders want to build a parking garage at Manatee Beach or any other location within the city larger than the current building height limitations, it would require a change of charter, which needs resident support at the polls.
Whitmore also said that she feels the crosswalk at Anna Maria Elementary is enough to keep pedestrians safe as they leave beach parking at the school to cross Gulf Drive to walk to a beach access. She noted that the school crosswalk does not currently have a flashing beacon, as recommended by Titsworth.
In the hours before and after school, there is a school zone speed limit of 15 mph with a flashing beacon and Holmes Beach police or code compliance officers serve as crossing guards at the location. The ordinary speed through the area is 25 mph.
In her email, Whitmore also noted that she feels Titsworth’s comments on angled parking along Manatee Avenue are contradictory. She said that the area was regularly used for public parking for years before being closed due to safety concerns a few years ago. When Manatee County leaders closed the parking on the right of way further east on Manatee Avenue now used for the Kingfish Boat Ramp’s auxiliary parking, Whitmore said Titsworth appealed to the county’s leadership to reopen the spaces for boater use. Whitmore said she sees no difference in the use of the two different areas.
In response, Titsworth invited Whitmore and other county leaders to come to the Tuesday, March 8 Holmes Beach commission work session where commissioners plan to discuss the joint meeting with Manatee County commissioners and what the next steps are for the city to move forward.
HOLMES BEACH – City and county commissioners are preparing for a face-to-face meeting tentatively scheduled for March, and Holmes Beach commissioners are getting their talking points in order for discussion on several topics.
At a Jan. 25 work session, Mayor Judy Titsworth and city commissioners discussed coming up with a game plan for how to approach the meeting. Commissioners decided they need to present a united front to the county representatives, however, rather than appointing Titsworth to speak on behalf of the city, she asked that all commissioners be prepared to lead and participate in the discussions that they’re passionate about.
Titsworth said she is hoping for a productive dialogue with county commissioners and wants to make sure Holmes Beach city leaders take full advantage of the opportunity. The joint meeting will be open to the public.
Some items for discussion proposed by Titsworth and Holmes Beach commissioners include:
Increasing the amount of funding offered by the county for Holmes Beach police officers to patrol county-maintained beaches, beach parking and boat ramps.
Expanding the use of tourist development tax funds, a large majority of which is collected from vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, to include money for bike lanes, sidewalks, street lighting, landscape, pedestrian accesses, stormwater improvements and other projects to make Holmes Beach a safer, more welcoming place for both tourists and residents.
Stemming the effects of red tide, blue-green algae and other issues that adversely affect the water quality in and around Holmes Beach and the aquatic ecosystem.
Reviewing the improvements planned to take place at the Kingfish Boat Ramp and how they affect parking and picnic facilities at the park. Specifically, Titsworth said she’d like to see the removal of some parking spaces on the south side of Manatee Avenue delayed until construction on the new Anna Maria Island Bridge begins. Removal of the spaces, she said, would adversely affect the boaters who come to Kingfish to launch their boats. Also, the addition of parallel parking spaces by the existing picnic area would remove trees needed for shade and trees used by great blue herons for nesting.
Creating a better flow of communication between city and county officials concerning events and additional parking planned at Manatee Beach and the Island Branch Library.
Examining unchecked development and growth in Manatee County as it pertains to the increase in the number of potential users for Island beaches. Titsworth suggested speaking with county commissioners about the beach carrying capacity for the Island and asking county officials to fund a beach carrying capacity study, as meets the Florida Department of Environmental Protection beach carrying capacity standard, to determine if the number of people regularly coming to Island beaches is too much for the beach, natural resources and existing infrastructure to handle.
One of the major items anticipated to be discussed is beach parking.
Titsworth said she believes county leaders will push for Holmes Beach commissioners to open more residential street parking during the day for beachgoers, and she reminded commissioners the city provides more than the number of public parking spaces required to receive beach renourishment funding from the state of Florida.
Though required to only provide 324 spaces to receive beach renourishment funding, the city’s interlocal agreement with Manatee County requires just over 500 spaces to be made available for beach parking. Currently, the city of Holmes Beach provides more than 1,200 public parking spaces for beach access.
HOLMES BEACH – Anna Maria Island’s biggest city was home to some of the Island’s biggest issues in 2021.
The year began in the same manner as some previous years, with city leaders facing off in legal battles with the owners of the two-story beachfront treehouse at Angelino’s Sea Lodge. With legal issues still pending in Manatee County Circuit Court, tree house owners Lynn Tran-Hazen and Richard Hazen getting no relief on fines from the Holmes Beach special magistrate during hearings, the fate of the treehouse is still up in the air after almost a decade of legal battles. At the beginning of 2022, the treehouse is still right where it was a year ago – aloft in its beachfront perch with its future undecided, though Tran-Hazen did state in mid-2021 that if once all legal options are exhausted, the court decides in the city’s favor, the couple will have the treehouse removed.
The fate of the beachfront tree house at Angelino’s Sea Lodge still hasn’t been decided so the two-story structure remains aloft in its Australian pine perch. – Cindy Lane | Sun
The relationship between Holmes Beach city leaders and Manatee County commissioners also took a hit in 2021 over public beach parking. To resolve issues from the overcrowding of vehicles in residential areas, city leaders enacted a permit parking program, allowing public parking on some city streets near beach accesses only after 5 p.m. daily. Starting with the Memorial Day holiday weekend in 2021, Manatee County commissioners pushed back, demanding that Holmes Beach leaders reopen all residential streets to public parking to allow for more beachgoers to park in those areas. City leaders held firm to their stance and the argument is continuing in 2022, with a meeting planned to be held between the two parties to discuss issues in the coming months.
Golf cart/low-speed vehicle safety and the future of businesses renting the vehicles was a hot topic in Holmes Beach. – Kristin Swain | Sun
In good news, the city’s multiple Bert Harris lawsuits were concluded in the fall of 2021 with a global settlement option. In exchange for the owners to be able to develop three properties in the city to sizes beyond what is allowed by Holmes Beach building codes, all of the outstanding Bert Harris Jr. Act lawsuits against the city were dismissed. This brought more than three years of litigation to a close, though the residential neighbors of one of the properties weren’t too happy about a large vacation rental being allowed to be constructed in their neighborhood.
Golf cart and low-speed vehicle safety and regulations were a topic among commissioners and business owners all year. With a six-month moratorium stopping the establishment of golf cart and LSV brick-and-mortar rental companies in Holmes Beach set to expire in February, commissioners ended 2021 still discussing how to best regulate businesses and the booming use of the vehicles by visitors and residents in the city. While the discussion moving into 2022 is still on safety, commissioners have largely decided that preventing a business from opening up shop in Holmes Beach won’t stop the influx of the vehicles in the Island city as they can simply be trucked in from another location. To address safety issues, commissioners are considering lowering the speed limit city-wide to 25 miles per hour, requiring every seat on the vehicles to have a seat belt and looking at insurance concerns.
Commissioners Pat Morton, Carol Soustek and Terry Schaefer won another two years on the city commission in the Nov. 2 election. – Kristin Swain | Sun
The Nov. 2, 2021 election brought a familiar face back to the city commission dais as Commissioner Pat Morton was re-elected after losing his seat in 2020 to newcomer Commissioner Jayne Christenson. Also re-elected for additional two-year terms were Commissioners Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek. This year’s election brought out more than one challenger for the incumbents as residents Renee Ferguson and John Monetti also tossed their hats in the ring for one of the three seats up for grabs on the city commission. Incumbent Commissioner Jim Kihm opted to not run for an additional term.
