home rule attacks

6THE SUN OPINION

The Anna Maria Island Sun Staff

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3909 East Bay Drive, Suite 210, Holmes Beach, FL, 34217 Phone: (941) 778-3986 email: news@amisun.com | ads@amisun.com | classifieds@amisun.com Like us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AnnaMariaIslandSun

JANUARY 25, 2023

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Home rule at risk

I would like to thank you for your coverage of the controversial local bills being introduced by Rep. Will Robinson. It is extremely important that we educate all on the dire consequences of loss in home rule.

Cities were founded on the belief that local government understands best the needs of local citizens. The state then determined that cities could legislate themselves. We are currently in a time where the state had giveth and now with precedent, the state can taketh away.

Rep. Robinson has stated that the reason for the first bill on mandating a parking garage at the public beach is because the city would not budge on the reduction in parking in the city. On the contrary, the city of Holmes Beach agreed to the use of AME school, the library, and city hall for additional overflow parking. A suggestion was also made that they purchase the large Bank of America lot that has close and safe access to the public beach for overflow parking. Although county and state leaders choose to lob insults at the city of Holmes Beach, we historically have and continue to be a part of the solution for the county’s failure to plan.

Rep. Robinson has stated that the sole reason for the second bill, a study on dissolving the cities, is due to declining populations on the Island. He even went so far as stating that this is a proactive approach instead of reactive, as this will get ahead of the time when there are no longer enough residents to maintain three cities. What he said is entirely different than what I heard. Being that this study was not initiated by the city leaders and local bills are historically never controversial, it brings me to ponder on whether the proactive approach that our state representatives are taking was generated years ago with the intended outcome, the elimination of cities.

You see, when the cities lost their ability to regulate vacation rentals taking over the residential districts, this brought an onslaught of developers from all over the country gobbling up every beach house in site. The market value soared, and the local hard-working citizens were pushed out of their homes and forced to move inland. The holdouts remain but are subject to a declined quality of life due to noise, trash, nutrient loads in bays, congestion and no longer having the ability to know their neighbor. As mayor, it is my job to support our residents and businesses and to make decisions to maintain and improve the quality of their lives. Because of these efforts, full-time residents are returning. I have witnessed the drastic increase in property tax that the county receives by no longer being constrained by homestead caps ($17 million in the past 10 years). Add to that, the Tourist Development Tax that was sold to the voters lacking foresight. The voters thought this tax would be a good thing, it would bring money to our cities from visitors instead of just property owners. What they didn’t understand is what a cash cow it became. The city of Holmes Beach alone has contributed well over $30 million in bed tax to the coffers since its inception with little in return. It isn’t because we haven’t asked. It is because the county commission chose to use it elsewhere.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that this is all happening at the same time entire boards of county commissions are being replaced by potential “yes men” for developers. Campaigns are being driven by strategists, all heavily funded by big developer PAC money. I believe our state representatives have been taking a proactive approach for many years now and it is setting up Florida coastal cities to fail.

Mayor Judy Holmes Titsworth Holmes Beach

Keep AMI low-rise

Reference recent “bombshell” articles; it appears money and greed have purchased Bradenton power.

Busting height restrictions will destroy our “old Florida” uniqueness and ignores our lessons of Martinique.

Consolidation smacks of power; conquer and control.

Top-down bullying is never good, nor professional or acceptable. The proposals benefit a “noticeable” very few.

ANNA MARIA

10005 GULF DRIVE FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-708-6130 Please visit www.cityofannamaria.com or contact city hall for more information. Jan. 26, 6 p.m. – City Commission meeting Feb. 9, 2 p.m. – City Commission meeting

107 GULF DRIVE N. FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-778-1005 Please visit www.cityofbradentonbeach.com or contact city hall for more information. Feb. 1, 9:30 a.m. – Community Redevelopment Agency meeting Feb. 1, 1 p.m. – Planning and Zoning Board meeting Feb. 2, 6 p.m. – City Commission meeting

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

5801 MARINA DRIVE FOR INFORMATION, CALL 941-708-5800 Please visit www.holmesbeachfl.org or contact city hall for more information. Jan. 26, 11:30 a.m. – HBPD police officers pension board meeting Feb. 1, 10 a.m. – Parks and Beautification Committee meeting Feb. 1, 5 p.m. – Planning Commission meeting ISLAND-WIDE

Jan. 26, 9:30 a.m. – ManaSota League of Cities meeting, Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key Feb. 7, 2 p.m. – Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting, Bradenton Beach City Hall Feb. 7, 4 p.m. – Council of Governments meeting, Manatee County Administration Building, fifth floor, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton

EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25

Mah-jongg for beginners, Island Branch Library, 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, 1 p.m.

SEE EVENTS, PAGE 8

FROM PAGE 6

Islanders wake up, stand up and speak up, for the “rape” of our Island is gaining momentum.

To our county commissioners and state representatives, you were elected to represent our best interests, not those of foreign investors!

You need to visualize how the change to four stories will change the Island. It will not stop at a parking garage!

Bill Hahn Holmes Beach

Robinson right

First of all, I am a believer of home rule. However, when a government creates an atmosphere of dictatorial leadership, it has failed and must be changed. It is time for a change and I think that State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. is on the right track to being the catalyst to do it.

Holmes Beach has long been ruled by Mayor Judy Titsworth who has ruled with an iron hand. The one thing that she and Police Chief Bill Tokajer have created is a system of traffic-related fines that have punished both residents and visitors for a myriad of fines for anything involving traffic. Among the worst action on their part is the elimination of 645 parking spots in Holmes Beach alone. The reason given by the police chief was to help prevent crime in Holmes Beach. Has anyone read the police reports in the local Island newspapers? If you do, you will typically find a domestic dispute, a bicycle stolen, someone urinating in public. Not exactly a Chicago crime wave. Now she so generously allowed homeowners to purchase parking permits on their own property after paying a fortune in property taxes. It is not right.

Millions of dollars every year are spent every year to attract more visitors to “old Florida.” I think not; the slogan should be, Welcome to our Sunny Island, but leave your car at home.

When invited by the county to attend a meeting in 2022, both Ms. Titsworth and Chief Tokajer refused to meet to discuss the parking situation created by them. How is that a sign of open government? You cannot govern properly by shutting the door to discussion. Somehow in the fourth quarter they were convinced to meet, but it was to no avail and nothing positive came out of that meeting. One of the things Ms. Titsworth brought up was that the parking situation was a county problem, not hers, and get this, she said they should build a parking garage at the county beach. Now in the latest news she states that she is against such a plan. Talk about flip-flopping.

Ms. Titsworth has said if the county took over, the residents would leave. That is exactly what has been happening under her watch for the past five years because of the construction of six- and eight-bedroom rental properties. This is a fact that family houses built in the 50s or 60s are being bought by developers, torn down and replaced with massive rental houses.

This is not a private island; if you want tourists, treat them like you really appreciate them. Be reminded that the Florida law states that everyone in this state is allowed to walk the beaches. There is also a federal law that backs that up.

My suggestion is to have the Manatee government withdraw the Holmes Beach parking ordinance and have the parking restriction eliminated. They should also dissolve the municipal governments, as an island with three governments in a sevenmile long strip of land is ridiculous.

I suggest that as a first step, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department take over the police force for the entire Island. They are a professional organization that already has roots on the island and has experience across the entire county.

Have the state create a single entity to govern the entire Island, either as Rep. Robinson suggested as an unincorporated part of Manatee County or establish a municipal government for the entire island.

Anthony Accatatta Perico Island

Open letter to AMI representatives

This is a copy of the letter I have sent to:

Rep. Will Robinson Jr.

Rep. Mike Beltran

Rep. Tommy Gregory

Sen. Jim Boyd

Sen. Joe Gruter

Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge

It has taken me several days to compose my anger at you and ALL of the other members of the local state legislative delegation. Who do you think you are and how dare you make an attempt to subvert our three local governments? I can’t tell you how disgusted and terrified I am with every one of you. I have always been under the impression that Republicans believed in as little government intervention as possible. It seems as though that has changed with you. Our democracy is now being taken over by a dictatorship!

I discovered early on that Commissioner Van Ostenbridge, who supposedly represents Anna Maria Island, does not support his constituents, apparently, unless they are investors, realtors or wealthy folks who can line his political pockets. He does not think or care about the residents of our three cities. He certainly appears to be another self-centered politician who is only interested in his own well-being. Now, unfortunately, it has become apparent that ALL of you legislative delegates are only interested in your own political futures. Why don’t you come out to the beach two to three times a month, especially during the summer months, and observe that there is no room for one chair, let alone for a group. The overcrowded beaches are becoming unsafe for all of us. But NO!! We have to continue to advertise all over the world and bring more and more tourists here. And then you complain that there is inadequate parking for the thousands of off-island beachgoers and then threaten us with a four-story parking garage.

I have lived here for 30 years and my parents for 20 years before that, so 50 years of being high taxpaying residents while watching AMI lose its quiet charm, especially in the last 10 years. Do you see what is happening to local residents who are leaving in droves? Do you even really care? No, because you receive more money and support from investors, etc.

Now I wonder if we need to warn residents from Sarasota, Pinellas, Hillsborough and other counties with small coastal communities that they may be next? Why don’t you take over Mar-a-Lago???

Please contact the delegates and voice your dissent before it is too late.

May God help us.

Ruth Cawein Anna Maria

Try ‘park and ride’

My family and I have visited Anna Maria Island for more than 30 years and we have witnessed firsthand how the place is strangling itself with its popularity. Our three-month stay ends at the end of the month and we have never before seen such slow-moving traffic so early in the season. A multi-story car park anywhere on the island is not the solution.

Our full-time home is in the Roman city of Chester in the United Kingdom, one of very few ancient walled cities in the world. It too gets swamped with tourists from around the globe, but it has a solution to gridlock - so-called Park and Ride car parks serviced throughout the day, throughout the year, by an excellent hop-on, hop-off bus service. For a small fee, users can leave their cars and ride into the city to be dropped off at numerous points on a set route, while the return is just as simple.

Chester is not unique. Several other UK tourist hotspots have adopted the idea, enabling traffic-free city streets, pedestrianization, cycle routes and a reduction in air pollution and traffic-related accidents.

The irony is that you already have the excellent shuttle bus solution in place, and, unlike the UK, acres of land off the island on which to locate car parks, multi-level or otherwise.

I urge the powers that be to give the idea some thought. Sadly, I don't have a solution to the suggestion that AMI's three cities should be amalgamated, but I suspect that might go away if the car parking was resolved.

Christopher Proudlove Bradenton Beach

Dissolution of AMI cities

The state of Florida appears to have a strong legal argument for the authorization of the founding and dissolution of cities. However, if you take a step back, the formation of cities is commonly driven by a nucleus of local citizens with a desire for better control of their future. The process is rarely initiated by the state Legislature.

Instead, the state Legislature typically responds to the needs of its constituency by approving or denying a grassroots effort for the formation of a city.

Since the state Legislature is unlikely to initiate an effort for the formation of a city, why would it feel it has the mandate to dissolve a city? Isn't it more appropriate to leave the question of dissolution of a city to the local needs of the citizenry with the state Legislature serving the process by approving or denying the request?