SALEM: Appointed to AM Commission

From Page 5

Robinson and his fellow legislators also announced their pursuit of state legislation that could allow Manatee County to preempt the city of Holmes Beach’s building codes and build a multi-story public parking garage.

“I’m really concerned about our permanent resident population and the ability of our citizens to be able to govern themselves. I have a background in putting together coalitions. I would use that experience to help craft a strategy to work with the commission, the mayor and our lobbyist on this issue,” Salem said during the workshop.

During the workshop, Seymour expressed concerns about the utility grids in Anna Maria and throughout the rest of the Island. He said Anna Maria experiences power outages even on sunny days and Spectrum internet service was recently down for two nonconsecutive days, which he said impacts businesses’ ability to process payments.

“How can we partner with FPL and Spectrum to make our grid a little more stable?” Seymour said.

During Thursday’s meeting, Salem referenced Seymour’s concerns and said, “He raised an issue last week around utility liability that I frankly hadn’t considered. I’d like to dive into that a little deeper.”

During the workshop, Salem and Seymour both said they’d seek reelection if appointed. Both will have the opportunity to run in the fall election that will determine who fills the commission seats currently held by Crane, Kingan and Salem.