Go “knock, knock” at doors in Bradenton Beach’s Ward 3 this time of year and the “Who’s there?” replies can be scarce.
September and August are sleepy months in the city’s largest geographic ward, which is generally bordered by the Gulf of Mexico on the west, the bay on the east, the center of Second Street North on the south and about 1800 Gulf Drive North on the northern end.
Earlier this month, the qualifying period for the Nov. 8 municipal election in Bradenton Beach passed with no one filing to run for Ward 3 city commissioner.
Current Commissioner Janie Robertson, who can not run again because of a term limit, repeatedly has raised concerns about a lack of civic involvement from Ward 3, and she’s urged consideration of a change in commission structure.
Robertson has suggested either going to an at-large election of commissioners, which is how Anna Maria and Holmes Beach officials are elected, or creating three small wards and one at-large ward. Either change would require a city charter amendment.
Robertson and other commissioners also have raised concerns about the number of residents — and eligible voters — in Ward 3.
A general survey of the area finds a scarcity of occupied housing in September and August.
Much of the ward consists of condominium and resort communities — lots of winter-spring residents and vacationers who likely are registered to vote elsewhere.
“We usually rent the month of September right on Gulf Drive,” New Jersey vacationer Sally Ebbetts said last week. Her car, on a recent weekday, was one of just three in the parking lot of one condominium development in Ward 3. “And it’s our favorite time because we feel like we have the place to ourselves. I don’t think I know anyone who lives here.”
Block-by-block or ward population maps for Bradenton Beach were not available last week. But the 2010 Census suggests a change in population citywide — more snowbirds and vacationers than in 2000.
The city’s population in 2010 was 1,171 people, with 37 percent of the residents over the age of 65 and the median age at 58.8. The census count showed 643 households.
The 2000 census count put Bradenton Beach’s population at 1,482 people.
In its 2010 housing count, the census bureau reported 1,859 housing units in Bradenton Beach, with just 35 percent of them occupied full-time. Of the 1,216 “vacant” housing units in the city, more than 700 — 38 percent — are for seasonal or occasional use.
In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 1,762 housing units in Bradenton Beach. At that time, 45.6 percent were occupied by residents.
Citywide, the number of registered voters has declined in recent years — from 947 in 2005 to 913 this August.
If it appears that Bradenton Beach’s population decline was not evenly distributed among the city’s four wards — if Ward 3 lost a higher number than another ward — the city likely will have to redraw the districts.
That process would be initiated by the city commission and could be handled with the adoption of an ordinance, said city attorney Ricinda Perry.
Bradenton Beach election law states that the wards shall be established by ordinance, that each shall contain approximately the same number of residents, and that the mayor and the two commissioners from the odd-numbered wards are elected in odd-numbered years and the two commissioners from the even-numbered wards are elected in even-numbered years.
This year, in addition to a lack of a candidate in Ward 3, there is no opposition to Gay Breuler, the incumbent commissioner in Ward 1, and John Shaughnessy, the mayor-elect and a former commissioner.
For Ward 3, the commission will nominate candidates after Nov. 8.
Currently, Perry said, it appears the lack of a candidate in Ward 3 is the result of a lack of interest in running for office, not an unequal distribution of residents.
“Should the commission wish to look at redistricting — no indication to date — the city of Bradenton Beach would provide the supervisor of elections our boundaries and ask for them to provide options that would help keep the wards equal as to the number of residents.”
The county supervisor of elections office already is at work on the redistricting process for Manatee County government. The county’s District 5 is the largest in land mass and the smallest in population. In 2005, when boundaries were last redrawn, District 5 was expected to grow, but with the economic slow-down it has 13,000 fewer residents than District 1, according to the census.
County redistricting maps should be available later this year.
Federal and state districts also are being redrawn.