HOLMES BEACH – Judy Titsworth has already served three terms as mayor, but she’s not ready to step down yet.
Titsworth is up for re-election on the November ballot and after running unopposed in 2020 and 2022, this year, she’ll face challenger Mike Roth.
“I feel that the community still needs me,” Titsworth said about her reasons for running for re-election. She noted that in her time as mayor, the city has worked to improve its failing infrastructure, reached a healthy reserve amount in case of a natural disaster, and worked to improve water quality with the Islanders 4 Clean Water campaign. One of the thing’s she’s most proud of is the revitalization of City Field with the creation of a larger dog park, installation of a new playground, bocce ball, pickleball and shuffleboard courts and the skatepark.
“That’s proof of what the community can do when it comes together,” she said, indicating the skatepark and accompanying skate bowl were funded by community members.
With good people in office and working behind the scenes at city hall, Titsworth said she feels that the community can continue to take steps forward into a future with a good quality of life for both residents and visitors. She does not, however, support having a community manager.
Titsworth said that a community manager, one city manager serving all three Anna Maria Island cities, would mean that the cities are consolidated, something she strongly opposes unless the voters band together and decide that’s what they want to do. “If the voters want it and are in favor of it, I’ll support it,” she said of consolidation, though Titsworth added that she hopes it never comes to that. If consolidation did happen, she said it would not only put a lot of people out of work, but it could also cost taxpayers more money to implement than it would save, remove current community protections and remove the character of the three Island cities. She fears that hiring a single manager for the Island would either lead to consolidation or be a disaster for employees and property owners.
“That would be extremely messy and everything would run at a snail’s pace,” she said of hiring a community manager for the Island, noting that one person would have to manage time and responsibilities across all three cities working with three different governments. “Nothing would ever get done.”
She did say that she feels there are more ways that the three cities can work together and streamline efforts to the benefit of the community, something she’d like to work on if leaders in Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach are amenable to the discussion.
One of the issues that has plagued the city for the past few years is a strained relationship with Manatee County leaders, a problem that bled over into the city’s relationship with Florida state leaders.
Titsworth said that issues with the county stem back to four years ago when she refused to publicly endorse then-county commission candidate Kevin Van Ostenbridge. Now a county commissioner and also running for re-election, Van Ostenbridge took the dais for the first time by announcing his plans to oppose the city of Holmes Beach on a parking garage at the county-owned Manatee Beach. The issue has since escalated the issue to the state Legislature, which approved a bill allowing county leaders to build a three-story garage at the beach without regard for the city’s approval processes. The relationship between the county and city has continued to deteriorate over the years.
“The only thing that’ll change those relationships is to elect people who care about relationships back in office,” Titsworth said. “Local politics shouldn’t be Republican and Democrat. It should only be about quality of life issues. Once it became where quality of life wasn’t the focus, environment wasn’t the focus and all it was is greed and power, this is why we’re where we are today.”
“As hard as I’ve tried to mend a relationship, they don’t want a relationship with the city of Holmes Beach,” Titsworth said of the Manatee County commission. “It’s like you’re trying to make friends with a wall and there’s no breaking down that wall at this point. It’s up to the voters.”
Another issue facing the city is development, something that she said she doesn’t disapprove of but feels must be controlled to preserve the quality of life for the city’s residents.
“I’m not against development. I’m against out of control development. We’re always going to have change; we’re always going to have to adapt,” she said. “You have to be a good steward to the community you’re building in and that’s where we see that divide. They don’t care anymore. And that’s where I’m going to continue to fight for the citizens. I’m going to continue to fight for quality of life. If accepting money from certain funds means we’re trading off on quality of life, I’m not going to accept that money. We’re doing alright. Our population’s on the rise. People want to live in Holmes Beach. So, we’re making the right decisions.”
The biggest issue facing the city, she said, is water quality. And while she said she’d love to reduce the millage rate, she’s more concerned about funding infrastructure to help preserve properties on the Island for years to come.
Titsworth said she’d love to see everyone in the community step up to do their part to help improve water quality, including reducing impervious surfaces and installing native plants.
Titsworth will be answering questions from the community at The Sun’s Holmes Beach Candidate Forum on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. at city hall. Submit your questions by Monday, Aug. 26 to news@amisun.com.
