Don’t tell this pair that you can’t fight city hall.
There are two people in Bradenton Beach who desire change that they feel the city commission isn’t bringing to the table and they’re ready to lead the fight.
Reed Mapes and John Metz, former planning and zoning board members, have a plan to register as a political action committee — Keep Our Residential Neighborhoods — to collect signatures in support of four changes to the city charter.
The signatures will push their ideas onto a municipal ballot in November for a citywide vote.
If passed by the electorate, the four initiatives would prohibit the construction of a multilevel parking garage anywhere in the city; install a certified public manager as chief executive officer of the city; require city commission vacancies be filled by citywide election; and prevent future construction within setbacks.
Last year, Mapes and Metz helped spearhead three charter changes — approved by voters — for the now-defunct Concerned Neighbors of Bradenton Beach.
The CNOBB initiatives, which passed Nov. 7, 2017, replaced the city’s four-ward representative system with an at-large election; reduced residency requirements for elected officials to 12 months; and prohibited changes to the city charter by a resolution of the commission.
Metz said the 2017 initiatives were meant to stimulate direct democracy and widen the candidate pool in the city.
According to Mapes, a citizen-initiated referendum is the most direct way to “cut through the minutia.”
“You can’t just change the city charter the way you can change ordinances,” Mapes said March 13. “The majority of the voters in the city decides.”
Metz said KORN’s goal is to “keep the major issues in Bradenton Beach before the electorate so they are not just decided by five people.”
“It’s clear what the people wanted and they haven’t given them that, so now we are trying to do it our way,” Mapes said.
Mapes and Metz plan to circulate the petitions throughout the city, and if enough voters sign within five weeks of the election, the initiatives will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Parking garage
KORN’s proposed Amendment 1 would “prohibit the building of any multilevel parking garages within the city of Bradenton Beach.”
Mapes said according to the city’s comprehensive plan, parking garages should not be allowed.
“They don’t fit the character of the city and they will cause more traffic,” Mapes said. “More people will come out to the island because they will think they will have a place to park.”
Additionally, the petition form states that left and right turns into and out of a parking garage from Gulf Drive would cause “further outrageous backups on Gulf Drive.”
Elections, not appointments
Amendment 2 would require seats on the city commission “be filled by a city election.”
Currently, commission vacancies — in the case of retirement, death, removal from office or other causes — are filled by appointment of the commission.
According to the petition for the amendment, three of five city commissioners either were appointed or ran unopposed and 70 percent of commissioners serving in the past 10 years were appointed.
Additionally, a commissioner who was defeated in the 2017 election later was appointed to an open seat on the dais.
“With the wards gone, we should be able to have more competitive elections,” Metz said.
Setbacks
The third amendment would “prevent the construction of anything, including but not limited to stairs or air-conditioning platforms within the setbacks in all zoning districts. The exceptions would be fences, utility services and one driveway. All stormwater attenuation shall be within the building setbacks.”
“The lots are small in Bradenton Beach,” Mapes said. “If you can’t build in the setback, it’s a legal way to limit the size of homes.”
Additionally, Mapes cited the distance between homes provided by setbacks as a measure to minimize noise problems in the city.
He also said stormwater drainage in setbacks will become increasingly important as sea levels continue to rise.
City manager
The fourth proposed amendment would require that a full-time certified public manager be hired as “chief executive officer of the city.”
Mapes said, “The city needs to be managed like a business with a $3 million budget.” He cited the shifting administrative roles of department heads in the city.
Metz said running a city is “not exactly like running a business,” and requires someone who is certified in city management.
“Having a city manager takes a lot of the politics out of the game,” Metz said. “It puts the city commission back in the position of setting policy, not just day-to-day activities.”
For more information about the KORN initiatives, email korninitiatives@gmail.com or call Metz at 619-346-0711.