Six questions for Manatee County Commission candidate Joe Di Bartolomeo
Tara Preserve Community Development District board member seeking District 5 seat on county commission.
Joe Di Bartolomeo, a second-term member of the Tara Preserve Community Development District, is running as an independent for the District 5 seat on the Manatee County Commission now held by Ray Turner.
“I have met with many members of our community and the overwhelming message is that the constituents are not being heard, the advantage is always to the developers and immediate change is needed to reverse the destruction to our quality of life, property rights and environment,” Di Bartolomeo said in a news release announcing his campaign. (You can read the full release below.)
Di Bartolomeo’s candidacy as a no-party-affiliated candidate means that if he qualifies for the ballot, he will advance to the general election in November to face the winner or winners party primaries and any other NPA and write-in candidates.
Other candidates in the race are Republicans Turner, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the commission last summer after Vanessa Baugh resigned; and attorney/physician Robert McCann.
District 5 is comprised of Lakewood Ranch and other neighborhoods in East Manatee.
The Bradenton Journal had a few questions for McCann. (His responses have been lightly edited for clarity and style.)
(McCann earlier responded to similar questions. Turner has not.)
The Bradenton Journal: Presuming you considered political and personal factors before deciding on whether to run, what’s the one thing that most convinced you to join the Manatee County Commission and run for election next year?
Di Bartolomeo: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” My parents raised me with this guidance, and it has become the foundation of my values, moral compass and life aspirations. With that in mind, it is now time to apply my education, skills and experience for the benefit of the citizens of Manatee County. In my opinion, the level of greed, self-dealing and destruction of Manatee County by most of our elected commission is beyond norms, ethics and comprehension. Therefore, I pledge to be your voice, your vote, and your champion to try and stop the mismanagement at the county commission level.
The Bradenton Journal: Which issues will you emphasize as a candidate and as a commissioner, if you are elected?
Di Bartolomeo: There isn’t enough paper, ink or your reader’s time to list all the issues caused by the mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility of our current commission majority. I would like to bullet point my three highest priorities:
Our “quality of life” Matters – This encompasses everything that every person in Manatee County faces, no matter what your party affiliation is.
It’s the quality of your drinking water.
It’s your time sitting in traffic, no matter the season.
It’s the urban sprawl that is straining our roads, utilities and schools.
It’s the cost of our housing and our home-owner’s insurance.
It’s the future tax hikes that will be necessary to pay our new bonds.
It’s the future water bill when we are forced to use Peace River water.
Our “property rights” matter – We consistently hear from the dais about “land rights” of the developer community.
Why aren’t our property rights just as important?
What do we need to do to stop over development in our communities?
Who is advocating for us from the “throne” to protect our best interest?
Our “environment” matters – The economic drivers for all of Florida and specifically Manatee County are agriculture and tourism.
Why have we decreased the “buffer zone”?
Why haven’t we closed Piney Point gypsum stack?
Why are we changing the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code to not protect our environment?
Why are we continently dealing with red tide and algae blooms?
The Bradenton Journal: What will be your priorities when addressing issues related to growth and development in District 5 and countywide, if voters elect you this year?
Di Bartolomeo: I am a businessman, having owned and operated several small businesses. I am an advocate for free markets, but not for “out of control” markets. I am not anti-development. Quite the contrary. I support smart development that has a net zero sum financial cost to Manatee County. What does that mean? It means that after a community is built, the revenues from impact fees and other levied fees and taxes need to be equal to the cost of the roads, utilities and schools associated with that growth.
Currently, that’s not the case and it is not fiscally responsible to continue to assess impact fees that recoup 40% of the actual cost to pay for the additional infrastructure. Worst, the county needs to lay the money out before the communities are completed and with 10-year highs in interest rates, now is not the time to take on additional debt with new bond issues. The commission and thus we taxpayers, just paid $500,000 for a revised impact fee study but this commission continues to use the previous study from 2015. I think all your readers would agree that material and labor cost a lot more now than in 2015.
Your readers can fact check this for themselves, but a current commissioner publicly stated that Manatee County has a responsibility to build more communities because people want to live here. The developers claim these new communities will bring in tax revenue and customers to local small businesses. They fail to address the effect on our already strained infrastructure and that our large county reserves are being drawn down quickly. This will inevitably lead to higher property taxes, higher water rates and a diminished quality of our lives.
The Bradenton Journal: What should the county government do to incentivize the development of workforce housing and other more affordable housing options in Manatee County?
Di Bartolomeo: The first thing we need to do is to stop inferring that “workforce housing” is “low-income housing”, as it is not. We need affordable housing. Almost every small business in Manatee County has a “help wanted” sign posted. You cannot make $15 - $25 per hour and live in most of Manatee County. To increase the available employment pool, we need to increase public-private partnerships in which nothing is off the table to achieve the goal of more affordable housing. It can be anything from tax breaks to incentives. Our workforce is our strength and future.
The Bradenton Journal: What is one issue facing the county that you think the commission has not spent enough time addressing?
Di Bartolomeo: If I state one issue. It appears that all the other issues are minor. Let me list what the majority of commissioners are not addressing:
Why is there public civil discourse on the Dais?
Why does partisan ideology have any role in Manatee County decisions?
Why is a Republican conservative majority not being fiscally responsible and creating policies for tax hikes and escalated water bills in the near future?
Why does the commission not listen to or hear, their constituents?
Why does the commission dismiss facts and experts that go against their own ideology?
Why is the commission reducing transparency and public comments?
Why does this commission not care about protecting our quality of life, our property rights or our environment?
The Bradenton Journal: Manatee County is nearly surrounded by and adjacent to water – the Gulf of Mexico, the Manatee River, etc. What should the county be doing to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and more intense hurricanes and tropical storms?
Di Bartolomeo: Mitigating the effects of climate change, particularly addressing rising sea levels and more intense hurricanes and tropical storms, requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts at our county level. Here are some suggested actions that we could take:
First, no matter your political affiliation, accept that climate change is real and affecting us all.
Second, develop and implement climate action plans:
Identify vulnerable areas and prioritize actions based on risk assessments.
Third, invest in sustainable infrastructure:
Retrofit existing infrastructure to be more resilient to climate impacts.
Invest in green infrastructure, such as permeable pavements, green roofs, and sustainable drainage systems, to manage water and reduce the risk of flooding.
Fourth, protection and restoration for our ecosystems:
Preserve and restore coastal wetlands, such as planting more mangroves, while trimming them less, which acts as natural buffers against storm surge and rising sea levels.
Develop, implement and enforce regulations that protect our critical habitats.
Fifth, enhance building codes and zoning regulations:
Strengthen our building codes to ensure that new construction is resilient to extreme weather events.
Implement zoning regulations that restrict development in high-risk areas, such as flood-prone zones and coastal areas, which includes returning our buffer zones to 50 feet.
Sixth, community engagement and education:
Raise awareness in Manatee with enhanced public relations campaigns about climate change and its impacts on our community.
Engage with our residents and businesses to foster a sense of shared responsibility and encourage sustainable practices.
Seventh, emergency preparedness and response:
Develop, validate and regularly update our emergency response plans that specifically address the increased risk of hurricanes and tropical storms.
Investigate, evaluate and invest in enhanced early warning systems and evacuation plans.
Eighth, collaboration and partnerships:
Collaborate with neighboring counties, municipalities, and regional organizations to address shared climate challenges.
Seek partnerships with academia, NGOs, and private sector entities to leverage resources and expertise. Facts matter.
Ninth, monitoring and evaluation:
Implement monitoring systems to assess the effectiveness of mitigation and adaptation measures.
Regularly evaluate and update plans based on new climate data and scientific findings.
By adopting a multi-faceted approach that combines policy, infrastructure, community engagement, and international collaboration, counties can play a crucial role in mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change.
Yay !
That is the best Q&A than any other candidate had so far !
We Can Have Hope !
Joe sounds like a great candidate!