Apologies. The Bradenton Journal is back

Vote on Tuesday like your democracy depends on it. Because it does.

First things first. I apologize for being sporadic with this newsletter the past few months. A combination of health concerns, two hurricanes, responsibility at my day job and a general weariness after the epochal primary elections in Manatee County in August, left me needing a break.

But now I am back, maybe not as frequently as before, but The Bradenton Journal will remain focused on reporting on and analyzing politics and public policy issues in Manatee County, starting with Tuesday’s general election.

The original plan was for The Bradenton Journal to endorse in some of the local races and ballot measures — after all, we’re not the Washington Post — but that is one of the things that fell to wayside during our temporary hiatus. And with only a few days before Election Day on Nov. 5, you’ll have to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

One thing I will endorse is that you vote. If you haven’t already voted, whether by mail or in-person early voting, make a plan and vote like our democracy depends on it.

Because it does.

At the presidential level, voters have an imperfect choice. Like everyone else, I wish we had better options, even after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. But it’s the choice we have and, I would argue, it is an easy choice. I guess that is one thing for which we can thank the aspiring tyrant / convicted felon on the ballot.

In Manatee County, the choices are a little tougher, after Republican primary voters dispatched a developer-funded cabal of incompetents and lackeys in August. The stakes in the four county commission races to be decided are not as a high — it’s hard to see any of the primary winners or the Democratic and NPA candidates on the ballot for the general as a bad choice for the county. But choices have to be made.

I am glad I don’t live in county commission District 1 and have to choose between three candidates — Carol Felts (R), Jen Hamey (NPA) or Glenn Pearson (D) — who each offer a set of experience and policy positions that should leave no doubt that the winner will be a much better commissioner than the soon-to-be-unemployed James Satcher ever thought of asking for permission of his developer backers to be.

If you think the commission needs a strong rural voice, which I think it does, vote for Felts. But Hamey has similarly been a leader in Parrish, where residents are living with the consequences of so many decisions by previous commissioners. (Plus, it would be kinda cool to see what an NPA commissioner could accomplish in deep red Manatee.) And if ideological diversity matters on the county commission, a Pearson victory would bring that.

The choice isn’t any easier in District 3, where I live, Republican newcomer Tal Siddique, freeh off of his defeat of the scandal-plagued April Culbreath, faces Democrat Diana Shoemaker, the former head of Habitat for Humanity in Manatee County. Yes — and it can’t be written enough — that means the commission will soon be free of Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who decided to lose another GOP primary race to fellow Commissioner George Kruse when it became clear that Siddique would beat him in this one.

Another incumbent, Ray Turner, lost his GOP primary to Dr. Robert McCann, who know faces NPA candidate Joe Di Bartolomeo. Regardless of who wins, District 5 residents will finally have a commissioner, unlike Turner and Vanessa Baugh before him, who isn’t in the pocket of developers.

And in the race for the at-large District 7 seat, Kruse, the leader of the grassroots rebellion that saw three of his current or former colleagues defeated, faces fellow Substack author, Democrat Sari Lindroos-Valimaki. They have each left a paper trail well worth the voters’ time before they vote.

There are other local races we’ll be following on Tuesday, especially for seats on the Manatee School Board, which is losing its two most-experienced — and frankly, most reasonable — members, Mary Foreman and Gina Messenger, who both decided against running for re-election.

Foreman has endorsed her former school board colleague Charlie Kennedy, a veteran teacher who previous served eight years on the board. Kennedy faces businessman Jon Lynch, a self-described “parents’ rights” candidate with ties to the same political consultant whose clients lost all of their county commission races.

For Messenger’s seat, retired businessman Mark Stanoch faces former teacher Heather Felton.

As teachers, Kennedy and Felton would bring much-needed perspectives, and in Kennedy’s case, experience to the school board. Stanoch seems like a good guy but the last thing a board that already includes the ideologically stunted Cindy Spray and whomever the governor appoints after Rich Tatem thankfully steps down after Election Day, is more of the same.

By the way, I recommend you vote against Amendment 1. I am still waiting for someone to explain how knowing a school board candidate’s party affiliation and injecting more partisanship into school board races would improve the quality of public education in Florida. (Passage also would mean fewer people would likely get to vote in many school board elections because of rules governing party primaries.)

One last race worth mentioning: the nasty contest between Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown and former councilman Bill Sanders. Bradenton voters deserved much better than this. I’ll be watching to see whether the anti-development sentiment that helped shape the results of the primaries in August will extend to the race between the developer-backed Brown and an outspoken — some might say, “abrasive” — challenger.

Check back on Tuesday to see what you, the voters, decided.

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Marc R. Masferrer, previously a newspaper and digital editor in Bradenton for more than 16 years and a journalist for more than 33 years, has received multiple awards for his writing, including a first place for commentary writing in the Florida Press Club’s 2022 Excellence in Journalism Competition and a second place prize in the 2023 contest for work published in The Bradenton Journal. You can reach him at Marc.R.Masferrer@gmail.com. You can also like The Bradenton Journal on Facebook.