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OPPAGA visit concerns city leaders

OPPAGA visit concerns city leaders

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability study being conducted on the three Anna Maria Island cities is starting to rattle local city leaders.

During a March 26 commission meeting, Mayor Judy Titsworth said she had participated in a conference call with OPPAGA representatives, who recently visited the Island to observe the city’s public works department.

She said that afterwards, she hoped the state representatives were considering public works as a possible department to consolidate across all three Island cities to save money. In talking with Public Works Supervisor Sage Kamiya after the visit, Titsworth said she learned that wasn’t the case. Instead, she said OPPAGA representatives were looking at public works as the only department that would need to remain on the Island if all three cities were eliminated and daily government operations were moved to the city of Bradenton or Manatee County.

“So that’s unfortunate,” she said. “I’m still hopeful because that is such an overreach. That is going to affect people so much. Their everyday lives are going to change so drastically if we don’t have their cities out here and they have to go to the county for everything. Your tax bill, you’re not assured that any of that is coming out here. I think you’re going to get more resistance from the residents and our visitors who love this Island with that type of an option. Unfortunately, I’m almost certain that’s the only one they’re looking at right now.”

Titsworth said that she’s still trying to get dialogue reopened between the city and state Rep. Will Robinson Jr. but hasn’t yet been successful.

Robinson is one of the five state legislative delegation members from Manatee County who ordered the OPPAGA study without the input of the three Island municipal governments.

While the three Island mayors said previously that they would support the OPPAGA study with the goal of looking at ways to save taxpayer money across the three cities, they all said they do not support consolida­tion or elimination of the cities.

The four possibilities being studied by OPPAGA representatives include consolidation of the three cities into one new city, elimination of the city governments and annexation of Anna Maria Island into the city of Bradenton or Manatee County or leaving the Island governments intact.

Titsworth said she believes that the OPPAGA study is focusing on elimination of the cities and an­nexation into Manatee County to get development rights for the Island. Currently, development on Anna Maria Island is controlled by city regulations. Those regulations would vanish if the city governments are eliminated.

Once the study is complete, City Attorney Erica Augello said that consolidation or elimination of the cities could be forced at the state level as a special act of the Legislature. The OPPAGA study would be submitted with a bill by the begin­ning of September and then would go through three committees in the House, voted on in the House floor and, if it passes, be put on the con-sent agenda for the Senate unless someone in the Senate pulls the bill for discussion. If the bill passes those hurdles, it would go to Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval or veto.

Commissioner Carol Soustek said it’s not just the current residents who are being affected by the ongoing study. She said she’s also spoken with potential residents who are holding off on purchasing property on the Island because of the uncertainty of the outcome of the OPPAGA study.

Titsworth said that staff members in all three cities also are working with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads about the future of their jobs. She said the only thing they can do is persevere.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he was told that Sen. Jim Boyd, one of the members of the Manatee County state delegation, would meet with him and Titsworth at the end of the legislative session, which ended two weeks ago. Schaefer said he’s los­ing patience and is drafting a letter to Boyd to try again to set up a meeting to discuss consolidation.

TOWN HALL MEETING POSTPONED

Holmes Beach leaders planned to host a town hall workshop on Tuesday, April 9, but the workshop has been postponed indefinitely and may or may not take place at a future date.

BRADENTON BEACH

Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie confirmed that OPAGGA representatives recently visited the city’s Department of Public Works, headed by Tom Woodard, which is responsible for the maintenance and repair of city-owned streets, sidewalks and traffic signs, street striping, stormwater drains and systems, maintenance of city facilities and parks and street sweeping.

When asked about his thoughts on the OPAGGA study, Chappie said, “We’re going through the process.”

ANNA MARIA

OPPAGA representatives were unable to meet recently with Anna Maria Public Works Manager Roosevelt Jones, who was on bereavement leave, according to Mayor Dan Murphy, who said that Jones is expected to participate in a phone meeting with OPPAGA representatives this week.

 Leslie Lake and Joe Hendricks contributed to this report.

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Mayor responds to OPPAGA study changes

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Mayor Judy Titsworth is reacting to the state’s decision to include a fourth option in the ongoing Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability study – eliminating the three Anna Maria Island cities and folding the Island into unincorporated Manatee County.

“It’s concerning that none of the mayors were told this was an option,” Titsworth said. “That’s concerning, why there’s no dialogue between us and our state representatives who represent us. Our citizens want to be informed so it’s important that we continue to make ourselves available.”

In an effort to help keep the public informed about the ongoing study, which is expected to conclude in late summer/early fall, Titsworth said the city has purchased the domain saveannamariaisland.com and is in the process of building a website containing facts on the three Island cities and the study as well as information for residents and concerned members of the public who want to reach out to their state representatives. Though consolidation of the three Island cities isn’t up for discussion during the current state legislative session, it’s expected that it will be addressed in 2024. Titsworth says if that happens, she fears an approval for consolidation could go through at the state level quickly and without the input of Island residents similar to the bill to construct a parking garage at Manatee Beach that was approved in 2023 without resident input and against local building regulations. She said she urges everyone who has an opinion on the potential for consolidation to reach out to their state representatives now rather than wait for it to be brought up in bill form for consideration at the state level.

The option joins three other considerations including allowing the three cities to remain as-is, consolidating the cities into one new city or eliminating the three city governments and folding the Island into the city of Bradenton.

The ongoing study, conducted by the state of Florida, is the result of a request from the five-member Manatee County Legislative Delegation and is not being done at the request of the three Island mayors. While the mayors said they would support the study insofar as it looks at potential ways for the three cities to share costs and reduce the burden on taxpayers, they’re not in favor of consolidation. Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown previously stated that he also has no interest in consolidating Anna Maria Island into his city.

If the Anna Maria Island cities are forced into consolidation or elimination by the state, Titsworth said there’s nothing protecting any other Florida municipality from suffering the same fate, including other Manatee County cities.

“If you get on the wrong side of state leaders, it’s no

Mayor: Don’t break up the team

Mayor: Don’t break up the team

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – Characterizing the possible consolidation of the three island cities as “breaking up the team,” Mayor John Chappie spoke out against consolidation efforts at a Dec. 6 Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting.

On Oct. 31, the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) sent a letter to the mayors of all three Anna Maria Island cities saying that the Florida Legislature has directed the organization to review the potential consolidation of services and government entities on Anna Maria Island. Options discussed include annexing the Island into the city of Bradenton or Manatee County, or creating a new city from the Island’s three cities.

At the Dec. 6 CRA meeting, city attorney Ricinda Perry updated the board on the OPAGGA study.

“The CRA is part of the OPAGGA study,” Perry said. “If they decide to consolidate there is a very real chance the CRA will no longer exist, which would be a major detriment to the improvements we’ve been making, and very substantial improvements.”

Perry outlined city efforts to comply with requests for documents from OPAGGA.

“The state has issued the OPAGGA study to the city and staff has spent a very considerable amount of time working through the documents and preparing the reports and the correspondence that has been requested from OPAGGA,” Perry said. “I want to recognize the clerk’s office. Terri (Sanclemente, the city clerk) has been compiling every single contract that the city has and the CRA has, and that as a team, Chief (John Cosby), Tom (Woodard, public works director) Shayne (Thompson, city treasurer ), me, Mayor (John) Chappie and Terri have gotten together to respond.”

Perry said she is hopeful that the state elected officials see the value in allowing the municipalities that have been authorized by the state Legislature to maintain their status.

“That deals with some of the concerns about cities versus services, consolidation, non-consolidation, elimination or whatever,” Chappie said. “With a smaller municipality, and the CRA, we had the ability to utilize funds to establish a viable commercial district out here on the Island.”

Chappie said that in the past, the central area of Bradenton Beach consisted mostly of bars.

“When we started, it was dying here,” Chappie said. “The ability of local government to work and transform an area, and create a viable commercial district, it’s incredible what you can do with local government, smaller government and CRAs. Without that it would have never happened, if it had been all the county.”

Chappie said with the reputation that Bradenton Beach had in years past, he doubted the current revitalization would have ever taken place.

“And that’s my pitch for not breaking up the team,” Chappie said.

Holmes Beach Commission weighs in on consolidation

Holmes Beach Commission weighs in on consolidation

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Holmes Beach city commissioners discussed the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Account­ability (OPPAGA)’s consolidation study on Nov. 14, which lists the city of Bradenton as a possible annexation destination for Holmes Beach, Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach.

Reading aloud a statement, Com­missioner Greg Kerchner said, “When I offered up my last soliloquy, I poured out my concerns over the influence of local developers, about state and county politicians not having our best interests at heart and about the threat of a consolida­tion being forced down our throats.

Holmes Beach Commission weighs in on consolidation
Commissioner Greg Kerchner stressed the importance of providing OPPAGA with all the pertinent facts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

“But maybe we can turn this threat into an opportunity. Our job now must be to help the evaluators follow their own guidelines. We must ensure that they learn the unblemished truth about what has already transpired and must guarantee that they have all the facts they need to reach fair and just conclusions so that their recommendations are in the best interests of everyone involved, islanders and off-islanders alike,” Kerchner said.

“We need to wipe away any taint of political wrangling by clearly and fairly highlighting the relevant facts while insist­ing that all pertinent issues are considered. Unfortunately, this includes all the issues around visitor parking in Holmes Beach, which, for whatever reason, continues to play an outsized role in all our interactions with legislators and other governments,” Kerchner said.

Commission Chair Terry Schaefer said the consolidation of the Island cites would be “the granddaddy of destruction and overriding home rule in our community.”

Commissioners also discussed state­ments that Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth and State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. (R-Bradenton) made the previous week regarding the study.

Titsworth said she hadn’t planned on addressing the OPPAGA study again until she read Robinson’s comments in the newspaper.

“Just because they’re saying something doesn’t mean it’s true. Just because they keep repeating the same thing doesn’t make it any more true. I don’t know how to respond to this continued narrative – and it’s always directed at me, it’s always directed at our city. We are upholding our charter, our comprehensive plan, our land development code. We care about quality of life. We are showing up to work every day,” she said.

“They keep pointing at the mayor that’s ‘putting up roadblocks,’ the mayor’s ‘that’s not doing what she says.’ I have done every single thing that’s been asked of me except putting unlimited parking in our residential districts. Name me one coastal community that has unlimited parking. There are none. We’ve proven that we have excess parking on any given day. Everybody who wants to can come right now; they just don’t want to because there’s too much congestion and traffic,” Titsworth said.

She noted the city recently created addi­tional public parking spaces along Holmes Boulevard. She also noted she previously took Manatee County commissioners George Kruse and Jason Bearden on tours of the city’s available parking spaces.

“During that peak season tour, there were empty parking spaces in our city right of ways. I showed him (Kruse) the church parking available for overflow. He was amazed. Same thing with Bearden. Spring break, height of season, there were empty parking places everywhere. How can you continue to say we’re preventing families from coming out here? It’s wrong and I’m over the false narrative,” Titsworth said.

Titsworth said the consolidation study is “a power grab from the top down” being driven by state legislators and not by the Island residents and property owners who will have no input on the consolidation study requested by Robinson, Sen. Jim Boyd and the other members of the Manatee County Legislative Delegation.

Titsworth said all three Island cities are thriving.

“Why wouldn’t somebody want the city of Holmes Beach?” she asked. “We have zero debt. We have $12 million in reserves. At a height limit of 36 feet, we have a $3 billion taxable value in our little city of Holmes Beach. The city of Anna Maria is $2 billion. The city of Bradenton Beach is $1 billion. Our three tremendous little cities equal the taxable value of the city of Bradenton and all their high rises and everything else.”

According to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office, the total taxable value of all Bradenton properties in 2023 is $5.91 billion. The total taxable value of all Anna Maria Island properties is $6.15 billion.

The current millage rates in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach are 2.05 mills. The current millage rate in Bradenton Beach is 2.3329. Bradenton is 5.8351 mills and Manatee County is 6.2326 mills.

“Consolidate us into the city of Braden­ton, they just doubled their taxable value. This is not about parking. It has never been about parking. It’s about doing what they want to do,” Titsworth said. “I don’t want to play these games. I want them to leave us alone. I promised OPPAGA we are going to work with you and give you every single thing you want from our city. We are a good city. We have so much to be proud of and we have every right to continue to be a city that serves the people who want to be here.”

Titsworth refuted Robinson’s statement that the Holmes Beach population has declined.

“That is not true. Our population is increasing, and it’s because of the hard work of our commission and our boards; and because it’s paradise out here,” she said.

In his recent statement, Robinson said he would support maintaining the height limits currently established in each of the three cities’ charters.

Earlier this year, Robinson co-sponsored state legislation that allows Manatee County to build a three-story parking garage at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.

“Representative Robinson said he’d respect the limits we have right now, but he told me if he could have had six stories, he could have gotten 1,500 to 1,700 parking spaces,” Titsworth said.

Holmes Beach Commission weighs in on consolidation
Commission Chair Terry Schaefer believes the consolidation study is motivated by financial interests. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

In support of Titsworth’s comments, Commission Chair Terry Schaefer said, “The commission stands squarely behind you. It seems like some legislators have forgotten where they came from.”

Schaefer expressed confidence that the information provided by each of the three Island cities would support their continued operation as independent cities.

“I was encouraged to hear elected officials will be interviewed. I was discour­aged to hear the plan is not to hear from the public,” he said.

Shaefer said he’s been researching the city of Bradenton and Manatee County regarding their debt obligations and financial reserves.

“It’s an eye-opener, folks. Strong positive reserves in all three Island cities. Not so much the case in the alternative. I don’t have any doubt that the whole motivation is financial. I think the garage was a smokescreen. I think it was an issue that they took up to try to taint and create ill will to divide people from off-Island and those of us who live and serve here. I think it backfired,” Schaefer said.

“If anyone is wondering why, the why is the money and the dissolution of charters. Height restrictions go away. If you don’t think there are aggressive developers out there who wouldn’t like to have an op­portunity to build something higher than 36 feet in our city and on our beaches, pay more attention to what’s happening where communities don’t have control,” he said.

On Nov. 16, the city of Holmes Beach received a request for information letter from OPPAGA. That letter can be read here.

Related coverage:

 

Anna Maria officials discuss consolidation study

 

Annexation into Bradenton a consolidation option