COMMENTARY | Lakewood Ranch library debate reveals different ways to be a commissioner

Vanessa Baugh delivers big for her district, no thanks to Kevin Van Ostenbridge.

A benefit of single-member districts, like those represented on the Manatee County Commission, is that officeholders’ first interest is to serve, protect and enhance the needs and interests of their particular constituencies. An effective representative’s No. 1 goal will be to ensure that their residents are not forgotten when working, wheeling and dealing with their colleagues, which is vital in a jurisdiction as large and diverse as Manatee County.

Just look at what Commissioner Vanessa Baugh brought home for her district this week.

Baugh on Tuesday made a strong and, based on the 6-1 vote in favor, convincing case to spend almost $20 million on a long-promised library and related infrastructure at Premier Park in Lakewood Ranch.

A rendering of the new library to be built in Lakewood Ranch.

But it was also a good day for the sole dissenter on the commission, Kevin Van Ostebridge, who with his objection showed that there is another way to act as a commissioner that resonates beyond the borders of his district.