The island’s county representative is facing competition in next year’s general election.
Democrat Diana Shoemaker and Republican Talha “Tal” Siddique qualified the week of Sept. 18 with the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections office to challenge Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge for the District 3 seat.
District 3 covers the western side of the county, including all of Anna Maria Island and north Longboat Key to the county line.
All three candidates are Bradenton residents.
Shoemaker was the president and chief executive officer of Manatee Habitat for Humanity for 12 years before becoming executive director of the Elders Action Network, a nonprofit organization that works to improve social and environmental justice.
Siddique has worked for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. He also is the founder and president of an activist group, Speak Out Manatee.
Van Ostenbridge, a Republican, is a lifelong resident of Manatee County, real estate agent at Bradenton-based Boyd Realty, as well as founder of Be Easy Tours, a local excursion company.
Van Ostenbridge was elected in 2020 to a four-year term as the county’s District 3 commissioner.
Shortly after he joined the board, Van Ostenbridge sparked the county’s “war” against Holmes Beach over the city’s park-by-permit system, which he says restricts island parking for off-island residents and visitors.
City officials argue the park-by-permit system protects residential quality of life.
Following the passage of House Bill 947 — filed by Rep. Will Robinson Jr., R-Bradenton — earlier this year, the county is moving forward despite opposition from the city with an overriding plan to build a parking garage at the Manatee Public Beach, 4000 Gulf Drive.
Both of Van Ostenbridge’s challengers have criticized the county’s pursuit of a parking garage without the city’s approval.
Siddique attended a protest outside the county administration building in June to speak out against HB 947 and a potential parking garage on the beach.
His support for the city earned him recent endorsements from Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth and Police Chief Bill Tokajer.
However, Siddique said he realized activism would only go so far, leading him to pursue a more involved role in the county.
“Eventually I realized it doesn’t even matter how many people you can bring together, you’ll still be ignored,” Siddique told The Islander Sept. 22. “People are simply not being heard. … I can’t even get a simple response.”
Siddique also criticized the county commission for being too “pro-developer” and said he’d like to improve quality of life and safety by bolstering the county’s existing infrastructure instead of building new.
“For me, ethics, transparency and prioritizing people over special interests and developers — that’s really the biggest contrast,” Siddique said. “I want to be that activist commissioner.… I’m proud of the fact that I’m just some guy that said, ‘Hey, I’m going to raise my hand and do the job.’”
Shoemaker’s Sept. 22 news release states that she “is running to restore the voice of District 3 voters whose concerns have been overlooked or simply ignored on huge issues such as wetlands protection or the proposed parking garage on Holmes Beach.”
“In recent years, leaders have pushed through policy decisions over — and sometimes in spite of — clear opposition from the public they represent,” Shoemaker stated in the release. “It’s time that we have leadership that understands their responsibility to listen to their voices.”
Van Ostenbridge expressed confidence in the results of his first term in a Sept. 21 email to The Islander.
“Conservatives in Manatee County know that, in my first term, I have led their county commission in delivering two tax cuts, record investments in traffic-relieving infrastructure, renewed our commitment to our sheriff’s office and its deputies, and kept the economic engine of our community open for business,” Van Ostenbridge wrote. “Conservatives know we’ve just gotten started, and we have more work to do.”
The next general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.