A state-led island consolidation study has been completed.
But a group of islanders delivered their input — and that of 1,263 others — directly to the lawmakers who called for the study.
Barbara Ehren, organizer of Save Florida Home Rule, a grassroots nonpartisan group, told The Islander Aug. 30 that she and three other SFHR representatives recently met with state Rep. Will Robinson Jr. and, separately, Sen. Jim Boyd, both Republicans from Bradenton, to discuss a state study that would address the potential for consolidation of the island’s three cities.
Last year, Robinson proposed that the Manatee County legislative delegation commission the Florida Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability to study the potential consolidation of the island municipalities.
Boyd and the rest of the delegation unanimously backed Robinson’s proposal.
OPPAGA began work on the study last November and, in its process, sent information requests to the island municipalities and the city of Bradenton. The study did not involve gathering feedback from island residents.
Options explored in the study include the consolidation of island services, consolidation of all three island cities into one, consolidation of the island cities into Bradenton, as well as the dissolution of the island municipalities into unincorporated Manatee County.
The study was recently completed but will not be immediately available to the public since OPPAGA is exempt from Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, which guarantees public access to most government documents and meetings.
Boyd told SFHR representatives that the study had been submitted to the Senate but had yet to be reviewed or discussed, and would be released to the public this fall, according to Ehren.
Nevertheless, Ehren said SFHR aimed to deliver the public input that OPPAGA study lacks to Boyd and Robinson.
Part of that input included 1,263 letters from residents and visitors voicing opposition to the island cities’ consolidation or dissolution.
“We didn’t know whether they knew about the voice of the people and what it was actually saying, so we wanted to inform them of that,” Ehren said. “We don’t want them to do anything to our cities.”
The SFHR representatives included one resident from each island municipality and the city of Bradenton.
Ehren, from the city of Anna Maria, said both legislators were “receptive,” but the meetings still left her with lingering questions.
She said she asked the legislators what problems potential consolidation was intended to fix, but did not receive a clear answer.
According to Ehren, Robinson said one potential issue was the island’s shrinking residential population which could lead to a shortage of people available to participate in local government in the future.
“You can’t solve problems in the present for a problem you think might occur in the future,” Ehren countered.
She said she did not receive a “cogent” argument from either legislator about why consolidation of the municipal governments and/or services should be pursued.
Ehren said SFHR reps were “pleased” with their meetings with Boyd and Robinson and hoped to have made an impact, but “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
“All four of us came away with a very positive feeling that they heard us,” she said.
In the meantime, Ehren said SFHR would continue to seek confirmation from the Florida legislators that they would not introduce a bill to consolidate or dissolve the island cities.
“Quite frankly, we’re all happy. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Ehren said.
Boyd and Robinson did not respond to Aug. 30 calls from The Islander at both their district offices and their Tallahassee offices.
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