How much do you know about local politics Manatee County residents?
Did you know Bradenton has a Mayor?
Gene Brown – who has served since 2021.
How does he work with the Manatee County Commissioners?
The mayor has no direct authority over County Commissioners but he can have influence with them through collaboration, negotiation, and political advocacy on issues that affect both the city and county, like infrastructure and economic development.
Type of government? Board of County Commissioners.
How many Commissioners are there? 7
How many Districts are there? There are 7; 5 district seats and 2 seats at Large.
What does “At Large” mean? These chairs are elected by all voters across the county – as opposed to other members whose seats are voted on strictly by their district.
Map of Manatee County Florida Board of Commissioners Districts
Who are our county commissioners?
District 1 – Carol Felts
District 2 – Amanda Ballard
District 3 – Tal Siddique
District 4 – Mike Rahn
District 5 – Dr. Bob McCann
District 6 – Jason Bearden
District 7 – George Kruse (current chairperson)
How is the chairperson selected? Each time new members of the board are elected, the entire board will vote and elect their chair at their first meeting in December.
Who else attends these commissioner meetings? The county administrator and their lawyer.
Who are they?
County Administrator : Charlie Bishop
The County Administrator is appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, and is responsible for carrying out the policies and directives of the Commission and for the development and management of the County's annual operating and capital improvement budgets.
Pamela D’Agostino was appointed as County Attorney by the Board of County Commissioners in 2024.
Click here for more information on your County Board of Commissioners Board of County Commissioners and here for rules they must abide by: Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2012->Chapter 125->Part I : Online Sunshine
Florida House of Representatives.
What does a Representative do? They create, debate and vote on state laws and budgets. They also are supposed to represent the interests of people within their district (this is why a relationship with the county commissioners is essential).
How many representatives are there in the state of Florida? 120
Who is the representative for District 72?
Currently, Bill Conerly
What bills has Bill sponsored?
State Representative William Conerly | BillTrack50
in the progress column you will see the status of the bill, whether it is:
“In Committee”– undergoing detailed review, debate, and potential revision before considered by the full chamber.
“Dead” – failed to gain support to be considered or passed.
“Signed or Enacted” – bill received support from its committee and passed the house and senate and signed into law by the Governor.
How has he voted on other bills?
State Representative William Conerly | BillTrack50 *note SB180
Why should I care about local politics?
Local politics are your last line of defense and your first avenue to have an impact at the state level. You can get involved in local government by participating in your County Commissioner meetings – I personally recommend following Facebook or meetings can be viewed live on the Manatee County website and on Manatee Government Access (MGA) Spectrum Channel 644, Frontier Channel 30, and Comcast Channel 20 (within Manatee County).
I recommend watching or attending these meetings so you can start to learn about their strict rules for participating and speaking. You can also get a feel for who your county commissioners are by the way they conduct themselves at these meetings.
You can participate in these meetings- in person, by phone or in writing. When you do, your participation will be entered into permanent county record.
You also need to know that your comments are limited to 3 minutes. You can request more time from which can be granted by the Chairperson – but this rarely happens. A better way to ensure you get more time in front of the County Commissioners is to represent an organization, which will allow you 10 minutes.
You should make sure your thoughts are well organized, present an issue and a realistic, plausible solution. You should do your best to leave emotions out of it and focus on getting your point across and having your voice heard. Do not be discouraged or expect discourse, that’s not the purpose of this meeting.
I am personally a member of a growing organization called “Florida Crusaders” they have an even greater in-depth “Classroom” for learning more about getting involved and taking back Florida from developers, special interest groups and greedy politicians and restoring power to the People.
Florida Crusaders