Board of County Commissioners

welcome to a meeting of your Manatee County Board of County Commissioners representing District 1. Caroline Felts representing District 2. Amanda Ballard representing District 3. Tal Sadiq representing district 4. Mike Ron representing district 5. Dr. Bob McCann representing district 6 at large. Jason Bearden representing district 7 at large. George Cruz. The county administrator is Charlie Bishop. Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue. Citizens are asked to limit their comments to 3 minutes. Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning. Good morning everyone. Welcome. It's April 7th, 2026, a regular meeting of the board of county commissioners. We'll get started with a invocation by Pastor Mark Gibbons from Mil Creek Baptist Church. Thank you for being here. followed by the pledge of allegiance by Lieutenant Corporal Cameron Lochner from the United States Marine Corps. >> Lance Corporal. >> Lance Corporal. Sorry, >> you just promoted him. >> My bad. And uh but you're welcome. A Manatee County Senior Veteran Services Counselor. So, please rise for the pledge and invocation. >> Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for this day. And Father, we thank you for these commissioners who serve our community. And as they meet together this morning, God, we ask for your guidance. Give them wisdom to make good decisions. And Father, we place this meeting, our city, and our leaders in your hands. And we ask all this in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. >> I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> May be seated. Thank you. County administrator, are there any updates to the agenda or deputy administrator? >> Sir, all updates were published with the online agenda. Additional public comments were received after publishing for item 48, Bishop Animal Shelter Update. Item 52, align Manatee County grant making with federal immigration law. And item 53, county administrator contract renewal. All right. Thank you very much. We'll get started with the awards and proclamations and one presentation, but we'll shift that. Oh, good. It's been updated. We'll shift that towards the end. We'll start with the presentation of the award of recognition to Dylan Raleigh and the scouts of troop 146 for the flag retirement project. Please come on up. Good morning, Mr. Chair and Commissioner. Thank you so much for allowing me to give this award of recognition to uh to Dylan Dylan Raleigh. Um if you remember last year, we gave them a proclamation for the flag retirement boxes and we put those in all of our county buildings across the county. And the reason I want to bring this uh recognition to them today is that they've collected over 3,000 of our symbol of our great nation, the symbol of freedom across the world. And those flags have been ceremoniously disposed of in the correct manner. But I thought it was important to recognize uh Dylan and the scout troop for all the work they're doing with the with the flag boxes. And I thought it was just a really cool time to do that with over 3,000 again collected. It's amazing um that people are now recognizing they can come they can bring their flags to any of the uh the flag boxes uh throughout the county and have them disposed of properly. So what I want to do is give Dylan a few minutes just a few seconds a few words. Come come on. >> Good morning. I am Dylan Raleigh. I'm 16 years old and I'm an Eagle Scout from Paris Troop 146. I'm truly honored to be here today. I want to take a moment to sincerely thank the board of county commissioners, the county administrator, and the county attorney, and all the county staff for your support in making the flag of tournament collection boxes program a possible here in Many County. When this idea first started, it was just that, an idea. But because of your willingness to listen, support, and take action in adopting this idea, it became something real, something meaningful. Because of your leadership and support, we now have a program that allows members of our community to properly and respectfully retire torn and entitled American flags. And to date, the county has collected a total of 3,781 flags. That number represents more than just flags. It respect, patriotism, and a community that cares about honoring our community. As a young person, it means a lot to know our local leaders believe in supporting ideas like this and giving opportunities for young people to make a difference. You didn't just approve a project. You helped create something that brings our community together and honors the values we all share. So, on behalf of of myself and everyone who has participated in this program, thank you for your support and your leadership and your commitment. As I begin thinking about my college endeavors, I would truly hope this program will continue to grow and strengthen even though I will not be here. Over the coming year, I plan to update you all on the progress this program is making. As I transition to college, I asked my brother Blake, who is also creating something really big for his Eagle Scout project for this community, to step in and help the community informed about updates and future milestones. I'm confident that with the comm continued support of Manatee County citizens, staff, and this this small idea, we'll keep making a positive impact. And for all citizens looking for more information, please visit mymanate.org/fls. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dylan. It's awesome to see young people in action like this. and the Raleigh family has some outstanding young men in their family. So, thank you guys very much again for what you do. Appreciate you. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Go on to presentation of the team member of the month. Since we had uh some changes to the schedule last month, we'll be presenting March and April, but we'll start with the March team member of the month. Come on up. Good morning. Kate Rucker, HR department. Um, it's an honor to have one of our own be peer nominated, peer-reviewed, and peer voted for for team member of the month. Vanessa Renee, business services systems manager, is the epitome of ACE. She is a pleasure to work with. It is no doubt when you have a project, a challenge, Vanessa is stepping up to complete it, to help you, to guide you, and uh it is just an honor to work with her. I'm going to turn it over to Deputy Director Chris Cop, her manager. >> Uh Vanessa, um uh she's just a good human being in every sense of the word. Um ever since, I mean, a lot of people may not know that she's a Navy veteran. um Corman and she had all this expertise in the medical field and she could have taken it to the private sector but uh we are blessed that she decided to come work for Manatee County government. Um she's been a huge asset to our employment health benefits team. Um she's saved our plan. I mean five plus million dollars uh single-handedly. And uh she doesn't stop there. She's definitely not defined by a job description. Uh she's quick to jump in and help other fellow employees. uh she helps out other divisions, it doesn't matter. Um she she does it to be a good person. Uh but she also learns from that and because of that she's she's moved into her new role as the business system support manager uh touching our multi-million dollar HI system which will in turn uh help every employee here with Manatee County who in turn helps our community. Uh so you know the work that she does really does reflect across this entire county. Um and uh I mean she is infectious in the office. Uh her positivity, her uh optimism is truly infectious with every single employee that we have, center of attention and by hands down the best decorated space in our entire office. Uh it's it looks like Hogwarts city there. But um uh really she takes that her work life balance. She has a beautiful family. Um, and we are just blessed to be a blip on her her career uh for Manatee County government. So, thank you, Vanessa. >> Thank you. I'm just happy to be part of Manatee County and part of human resources and I just plan to stay here. And thank you very much the HR team keeping the gears of our county working and helping so many of our employees throughout the county. We appreciate it. >> Awesome. All right. Next up, we have the presentation of the team member of the month for April 2026. Please come on up. No, she does not want to come down. All right, your team member uh of the month for April is Eric Osborne. And um it is absolutely truly a pleasure to to be able to stand up here today and and give a couple uh glowing remarks for for this uh fine team member. He is he was nominated by his peers first of all, which is always a great testament to how well you're respected within your organization. But um personally from a position of leadership uh Eric exemplifies everything that we look for in uh in team members. He's he brings passion and he cares about everything that he does. And that's uh that's always what we want to foster and encourage in our team members. And um he also brings a a high level of fiscal responsibility. And in this day and age of of uh efficiency and uh fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers for our tax dollars, he brings that uh with him. Uh just on two projects alone, he's uh negotiated and saved this county half a million dollars. Uh which is a testament to uh his his desire to make sure the project is absolutely perfect. um he has ability to look further down into the project and foresee issues and corrections that need to happen today that if they're not caught, they could create issues three and four months down the road. Uh he truly exemplifies a great team member to his peers and uh is an absolute value and asset to Eric. Eric started off um I believe in the cabinet shop. >> Yeah. and uh has worked his way up through the organization and now he's a uh full project manager and he just recently passed his PMP. So we have uh great expectations for Eric uh not only in this role but in possible future roles uh uh within this organization. So um with that I will give it to anybody else who wants to say a couple words. Um, Eric, I've I've known you for many years because we've both been in property management, but it's basically been the last 15 months that I've I've had the pleasure to work with you a lot more closely, and it's a it's a pleasure to see you get nominated and selected for this, and I'm very excited for you and your future. >> All right. All right. Well, Eric, we present to you uh this and then also award. >> Appreciate that. >> Congratulations. >> I I really do appreciate this. Uh this means a lot to me being born and raised in this county. I've been with the county now for six years. I've always worked in construction. So, I've this is the next step in in my life and I've joined a great team and and I really do appreciate this and everybody that voted for it. Thank you, >> Eric. We've had a lot of positive interactions covering so many different projects in my district, outside the district. You have a you got you got a heck of a good team. So, thank you very much for the work you're doing and congratulations to you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. All right, we'll move on to proclamations, but first I'll accept motions to approve proclamations. So move >> second. >> That's a motion by Commissioner Ron, seconded by Commissioner Balor to approve the proclamations today. You can just cast your votes in the system here. All right, that passes unanimously. We'll begin with the Boys and Girls Club Youth and Junior Youth of the Year. All right. Whereas the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County celebrating our 80th year wishes to honor the Manatee County Youth of the Year for 2026. Shayen Johnson of Palmetto and Junior Youth of the Year, Kaia Henry. And whereas the month of May shall be known as Manatee County Boys and Girls Club Youth and Junior Youth of the Year Recognition Month for defining what stellar members look like and embody. And whereas Manatee County Boys and Girls Club recognizes excellence in leadership, character, and service to and for the Manatee County Commi community. And whereas to acknowledge the outstanding service demonstrated by the members across multiple clubs and throughout the ranks of membership. And whereas one exceptional club member is selected to be the national youth of the year, serving as an ambassador for Boys and Girls Club youth as well as the voice of all whose nation all of our nation's young people nominated and moved forward to compete on behalf of Manatee County. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the board of county commissioners of Manatee County, Florida, that April 7th, 2026, shall be known, designated, and set aside as Boys and Girls Youth and Junior Youth of the Year Day in Manatee County, Florida, adopted with a quorum present, and voting the 7th day of April, 2026, and signed by our chairman, Tal Sadique. Both of you, congratulations. It's a great honor. I know it's a tough a tough thing. I've been a judge in the past. My wife has been a mentor in the past. Uh, you know, we we love this program and it's a it's a rigorous process and you both made it through. So, congratulations. >> And I'm not going to do a lot of the speaking today. I'm going to leave it to them. I know we have a long agenda. So, I'm going to first introduce our junior youth of the year, Miss Ka. >> America needs club kids. What are club kids? I thought you would never ask. When I first walked into the Boys and Girls Club, I was a shy kindergarter. Handshaking, heart racing, unsure of what waited on the other side of those doors. I had no idea that stepping inside would change the course of my life. Good morning. My name is Kaia Henry and I am from the Pond Motor Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County. Year after year, the club has helped me grow. It gives me confidence. It has taught me how to lead. It has shown me how to solve problems, communicate, and most importantly, how to have fun while learning. For example, last February when we were preparing for our Black History Month showcase. In addition to learning about famous African-American figures, we were taught the Boys and Girls Club code. While learning the code was tough, with the help from our staff and my peers, it came together perfectly. We were able to recite it in front of Mr. Willie Cooper and our friends and family. Whether I'm joining programs, welcome new members, or supporting friends, I have learned what it truly means to be a part of a community. For example, I'm a part of the Palmetto Boys and Girls Club basketball team in the Police Athletic League. Being a part of the team has really shown me what it's like to work together with with others to accomplish a goal and has taught me to be my best on and off the court. In the words of Maya Angelo, "Nothing will work unless you do." And that's why we need more club kids. The club builds character. It provides a safe, supportive place for young people like me to learn and grow in an environment filled with caring staff and friends who push us to become our best selves. When I look back at that timid little girl who first walked through the doors, I can see just how much I've changed. The club has shaped me to a confident, responsible, and thoughtful person. And I know that more kids have the chance to experience what I have, our community will be stronger. I am Ka Henry. I am an a honoral student. I am a future engineer. I am from the Palmet Boys and Girls Club of Many County. And I am a proud club kid. Hello, my name is Shaylin Johnson and today I'd like to say my speech for you guys. Attention parents and guardians. Attention parents and guardians. All Man County school sites have been closed for the foreseeable future. This was the message my mother received on March 13, 2020. In that moment, life as you knew it stopped. Classrooms in dark, fear crept in, and uncertainty and chaos was eminent. Good morning. My name is Shayen Johnson and I am from the Palmetto Boys and Girls Club, Manda County. Thank you all for coming out today. Now imagine this. A child of six living in a home never meant for living but for memory. This was my reality my life. This way living wasn't a choice for neither my siblings and I when we had to face cover in our great grandmother's home. On any given day you could hear the sound of rain hitting the wooden floorboards to a hole in the roof. Rodent scurry throughout the home and most spots dressed it in like paint splattered on a canvas. To escape this reality, I found comfort in art. Art was a lifeline for me when I was dealing with my mother's two-month unemployment, failing my classes, and I was staying quarantined throughout the pandemic for months with no good news. So, it should come to no surprise that the Boys and Girls Club became like my second home. But like all homes, it wasn't easy at first. Entering the Boys and Girls Club, I was a massive bundle of nerves just waiting to explode. My nervousness was prominent and I hesitated to communicate with everyone including staff. But the club embraced me and my talent wholeheartedly. The staff encouraged me to speak through my passion, my art. For example, our art director at the time, Annie, approached my peers and I with the idea of creating a mural to honor one of her most influential Boys and Girls Club members, Mr. Willie Cooper. contributing my talents for someone who dedicated 40 years to shaping young minds. It was an honor to help highlight his legacy. From this experience, I became more bold with my efforts in the club. I've had the privilege of creating another mural for our teen center with our current art director, Mr. Ralph. Additionally, me and Mr. Ral coordinated to create a Christmas card to represent our club at the annual UTC Christmas contest. Eventually, this led to me to becoming Keystone's vice president. As their vice president, I assisted in events, led meetings, and was involved in every aspect the program had to offer. All for the club and its members enjoyment. As famous American monk and activist Thomas Merin once said, "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. I am able to find my path in this world as a leader and artist while losing my past and embracing the future. My name is Shaylin Johnson. I am from the Pomemetto Boys and Girls Club. I am the MLK art division contest winner and I am an ACE program student at Paladon High working on the journey of my masterpiece. Thank you all for coming out tonight. and Shaylen will be headed this week to uh compete regionally. So, she'll be headed up to Tampa and we wish her the best of luck. We've got two amazing ambassadors that reflect our 80 years of service. Thank you. Thank you. >> I just want to congratulate you guys. You are both absolutely amazing. I don't want to interrupt your picture. Hold on. So both of you speak so well. You are so poised and you are amazing amazing ambassadors for our community and for the Boys and Girls Club. It is just fantastic to see you both up there. I I I at your ages could have never spoken that way and that well in front of a group of people. So, I am just immensely impressed and the work that Boys and Girls Club does for for our kids. Uh, I can't say enough good things about it. So, I I appreciate you guys and you're you're do you're going to do great things and you already are. >> Congratulations and Shaylen, good luck at the regional competition. I know the motto says community needs club kids, but I I would also add that our county, all our cities, counties, state, and country need young people like yourselves to step up, make a contribution, and make our our community a better place to live in. So, I have very high expectations of both of you to do just that wherever you go in life. And congratulations again. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to our next proclamation, Child Abuse Prevention Month, presented by Commissioner Ballard. So this is a proclamation that is very close to my heart having worked in the child welfare system uh for my entire career before being elected to county commission. Uh so I I I know the importance of um drawing attention to what is a really difficult issue. Whereas child abuse and neglect remain critical issues affecting children and families in Manatee County with an average of more than 200 children per year removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect representing a rate of 5.3 per 100 children compared to the statewide rate of 3.7. Whereas the leading causes of child removal in Manatee County are caregiver substance misuse and inadequate supervision, demonstrating the urgent need for prevention, education, and family stabilization supports. And whereas child abuse and neglect can cause severe, costly, and lifelong problems among society and victims such as social, criminal, and academic difficulties along with emotional, physical, and mental health challenges. And whereas despite elevate elevated removal rates, 36.8.84% of children in Manatee County who entered foster care were able to move into a safe and permanent home within 12 months, exceeding the statewide rate of 30.2% reflecting the strength of coordinated community response. And whereas during April, prevent child abuse manatee and pre pin wheels for prevention with Florida Department of Children and Families, Manatee Children's Services, Manatee County Sheriff's Office, and vital community partners unite to promote child abuse prevention and healthy families. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the board of county commissioners of Manatee County, Florida, that April 7th, 2026 shall be known, designated, and set aside as child prevention, child abuse prevention month in Manatee County, Florida, adopted with a quorum present voting this Tuesday, April 7th, and signed by our chair. >> Thank you all so much. I'm Kimberly Griffin. I'm the supervisor for the child protection team, and I have my amazing team behind me. Um, thank you so much for this recognition and thank you everything you do to ensure uh children are safe here in Manatee County. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next up, we have Commissioner Ron with Donate Life Month. Good morning again, Mr. Chair, commissioners, county attorney, deputy DCA Parnell. Um, I hope uh I'm an organ donor, so I hope a lot of people in the room are too. And that's why when um Donate Life asked if I would sponsor this proclamation, I had no problems in doing it. Donate Life is a great organization that helps with tissue and organ recovery for folks that need it the most. And it's so proud to do this proclamation for y'all. Whereas one of the most meaningful gifts that a human being can bestow upon another is a gift of life. And whereas over 105,000 men, women, children are currently on the national weight list for organo organ transplantation of which 6,000 reside in the state of Florida. And whereas over 49,000 a historic number of organ transplants occurred in the calendar year 2025 United States thanks to the generosity of over 23,000 deceased and living donors of which LifeLink of Florida honored more than ever before serving 360 organ donors who provided 995 life-saving transplants to patients in need. And whereas more than 10 million Flidians have already registered their decision to give the gift of life through organ or tissue donation at ww.donatel life Florida.org or on their driver's license. And whereas Lifeelink of Florida, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissue for transplantation therapy in Florida with a mission to honor donors and save lives through organ and tissue donation. Therefore, it be claimed by the board of county commissioners of Mante County, Florida that April 2026 shall be known and designated and set aside as donate life month in Many County, Florida, adopted with a quorum present voting the 7th day of April, 2026 and signed by the chair, Tal Sadiq. Thank you, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. So, um my name is Crystal Castleberry. This year is 20 years. I donated to my friend um through LifeLink of Florida went through Tampa General and she's thriving. So I just this is a strong um passion um to represent this and thank you so much for supporting it. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, we'll get to presentations, but just wanted to briefly recognize some of the other proclamations this month. Crime Victims Rights Week, Manatee County Home Visiting Week, National Arbor Day, National Public Works Week, Water Conservation Month, and World Health Day. All right, with that we'll move up to the Bishop Parker Foundation update from presented by Wendy Deming. Please come on up. A little bit ahead of schedule. >> Good morning. Sarah Brown, director of community and veteran services. I'm so excited to introduce uh Wendy uh in just a minute. We have a really unique situation here in Manatee County and especially with Manatee County government. It's very unique to have a government so engaged with our foundations in the community and we do that for a lot of different reasons, but to really be educated on filling the gaps in our community and strengthen our nonprofit partnerships and we're just really glad that we're able to do that and work so closely together. So without further ado, Wendy Deming is the CEO of the Bisher Parker Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to strengthening Manatee County community. She builds on the philanthropic legacy of the Bishop and Parker families whom vision continues to shape the region. In her role, she works closely with Manatee County and a wide range of nonprofits and community partners to address both current needs and long-term opportunities. Her work centers on bringing people together to align efforts and creating lasting impact. She has more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, governance, and philanthropy. >> Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. Good morning everybody. I'm Wendy Deming, CEO of Bishop Parker Foundation. Good morning, Chair Sadique and Commissioners. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. At Bishop Parker Foundation, our focus is simple. We partner with organizations and public entities to help strengthen Manatee County for today and the long term. We value our partnership with county staff. The collaboration and shared commitment to this community have made a real difference in how this work moves forward. I'd like to briefly ground us in where this work comes from. Our foundation was created through the generosity of Ned and Patty Bishop and Mary Parker. Individuals who cared deeply about this community and believed in supporting it in thoughtful, lasting ways. This short video shares their story. Well, it would have shared their story. Um, >> okay. All right. While it's loading, if it's not loading, I'll encourage you to go to our website because you can see it on our website. But, um, I'm pleased to announce this. I was going to show you the 8minute version. The longer version was recently selected h for the Sarasota Film Festival and will be shown as part of that so we can spread the word about Ned and Patty Bishop um to a much broader community. We'll just go to the next slide. That's fine. Thank you. So Ned and Patty's um and Mary Parker's legacy isn't something we only look back on. It's what guides how we show up today. Our role is not to lead from the front but to work alongside others. We serve as a convenor in bringing people together, a connector aligning efforts across systems and as an investor supporting work that strengthens the community over time. This work is only possible through strong partnerships, including one with the county. One example is North River Manatee County. As you all are well aware, this is one of the fastest growing areas in the county. While growth has been well planned, the systems that support people, particularly social services, are still catching up. Our role at the foundation has been to listen, bring partners together, and help strengthen how those services connect and evolve. Partnership with the county is critically important in this work. Another example is the Manatee Food Security Network. This work is focused on building a coordinated countywide system so people can readily access food. It's not about adding more programs. It's about ensuring the systems work together, reducing duplication, identifying gaps, and aligning resources. As we've been doing this work, one thing has become very clear to us. The systems that support people are deeply interconnected. When changes are made in one area, they often have ripple effects in others, sometimes in ways we don't fully anticipate at the outset. That's why taking the time to understand how these systems work together and engaging the partners closest to the work has proven to be so important. Partnership is truly what makes progress possible. The county brings scale infrastructure and tremendous public leadership. We bring flexibility, the ability to convene, and the ability to move quickly. Together, that's where we see the greatest opportunity to make a lasting impact. Manatee County is growing quickly. Our shared opportunity is to ensure the system supporting people grow alongside it. We're committed to being a strong and steady partner with you and we look forward to continuing the work alongside you. Thank you Stemming. Thank you very much, not just for your work at the Bishop Animal Shelter, but for your foundation's work and in particular some of the good things you do aren't always public, but in trying to address the human needs in North County in particular in the parish area when it comes to food security, your work with trying to identify a long-term solution for food insecurity, food pantries up there. I know a lot of people feel that impact there. So, thank you very much. And of course throughout throughout our Maninnesota region, so we appreciate it. All right. Before I get to consent, just a question to the board. I wanted to move up item 43. We have quite a few people here like to speak to it. It's a little bit timesensitive. >> All right. So item 43 is and then I'll get to consent after. So item 43 is government relations execution of services agreement for the economic development activities with the Bradenon Area Economic Development Corporation. And we'll start with Stephanie. Before I get to it, I just wanted to thank you, the EDC, business leaders, many of other leaders too are in the community. I've been working with so many of you. You've been working with all of us as a board to find a good path forward and I think the agreement we have today is a really good one, but looking forward to your presentation. >> Good morning, board. I'm going to turn it over to Amy Johnson, who is division manager for economic development. Morning, commissioners. Amy Johnson, uh, manager economic development. So, as you recall, in September of last year, the board decided not to renew the, uh, service agreement with the Bradenon Area EDC. In January of this year, staff was instructed to re-engage with um, EDC leadership and discuss potentially bringing back before you a revised contract. That's what we're here to discuss this morning. We received feedback from each of you including Commissioner Felts and were able to engage in very collaborative discussions with EDC leadership. Um we have with us this morning Amanda Parish uh EDC interrum CEO and Chris Chinfig Leone uh board chair from the EDC and they have presented or they have prepared a presentation for you to discuss in more detail the contract and answer any questions you may have. Well, thank you so much, Amy. Good morning, everyone. My name is Chris Chun Filion, and I'm the board chairman. On behalf of our investors across the EDC, it's my privilege to be here in front of you and thank you for the time this morning and the opportunity to present. Um, we are excited for the the discussion. Um, we've been doing a lot of listening over the past few months. um really in part with Amanda's help and really trying to uh better kind of clarify and and describe that economic development ecosystem for our community, the work that we do and how that has resulted into a change into the agreement that's in front of you today for moving forward with the EDC. And then we've got kind of a a sneak peek, if you will, at where we're at in Q1 underneath this new performance. Um so we can see how that looks um underneath the the new guidance. I think that uh a lot of us in the room can agree that economic development investment is is critically important to the benefit of our community as a whole. It drives benefits to our residents across the community through the work that is not only through the correct the direct capital investment, but also through the long-term annuity that comes from the the tax role benefits of highwage jobs coming into the community of highwage jobs staying in our community, their families staying here, living here, and frequenting all of the businesses that you all do when we when we live our lives. Our community is a great place to live and it's been a great place to live with natural assets that bring a lot of people here. But it's more than just a great quality of life and great place to be. It's about a quality of life for people long term to not only play but live and work. This is important for long-term resilience to the economic vitality and business community of the of of Manatee County. As you can see here from the quote from manufacturer Pilates, who's a Swiss manufacturer that just broke ground on their new facility at SRQ. We're interested and focused on bringing high quality, high expertise, and elevating the technology standards in the Southeast United States. That's the type of investment that this organization focuses on. And it's not just about cutting ribbons. It's because man, Kaia and Shayen this morning with the Boys and Girls Club community, I want them to be able to find a job here that keeps them here, a great paying, awesome engineering job for Kaya, right? That's the work that we're focused on about long-term economic resilience for our business community. So, why are we here today? As Amy mentioned, we heard a lot of feedback from this community, from our broader stakeholders across the investor group within the EDC, and we knew that we needed to take action. So, on behalf of the uh executive committee and our broader board, we took immediate action uh as soon as um we heard uh Sharon retired, we knew that we needed to pivot and get a new CEO in place. And so our board said we know that having continued leadership, having someone uh to come and meet with all of our investors and to continue the work of the organization is critically important. And that step one action was the hiring of our interim CEO, Amanda Parish. And I'm going to let her kind of take it away from here. >> Thank you, Chris. >> I'm tall. Um thank you commissioners for your your time this morning. Um when I was first given the position of interim CEO uh which I have been in for the last three months, the EC and the board made my focus very clear. It was really three major objectives. The first objective was to re-engage with our community and start figuring out who and what we need to do uh in order to best serve the community. How does the EDC move forward and to receive that input from our stakeholders, our investors, our partners? Number two was to engage with you all and your staff to come up with a agreement that is mutually beneficial, one that's based in transparent metrics, and one that is based in a true partnership philosophy. And number three, it was operationally to make sure that the staff continues to operate at their highest and best use and that we prepare the organization to receive a new CEO that can enter strategic think mode versus fix mode. So, it has been a crazy three months, a lot of fun, amazing conversations, and really I started in that evaluation bubble that you see up on screen. I started with something I call a listening tour. So, over the last three months, myself and my team, we have sat in over 150 meetings with community stakeholders, you all, our partners, investors, people who chose not to invest with us, and just simply ask questions. Why? How do we get better? where do you see the value? And it has been an amazing learning opportunity for us. In the meantime, we started collaborating with your staff. What an amazing team you guys have. And we've worked really hard to come up with an agreement that we feel is something that can continue to build trust and continue to create results for Manatee County. And that leads us here today to the recommendation bubble where we are ready to talk to you guys about our recommendation to move forward, what those metrics look like, what the cadence of conversation looks like, and how we continue to provide obvious value for Manatee County. So what we heard, I talked about the listening tour. We heard a lot and if you start to kind of dive into the data, it really started to fall within two major buckets. And the first bucket was really fundamental to who we are, what we do, how are you different, what's your value. And so sitting in those meetings, uh, I have no prior economic development experience. I wasn't able to answer that question clearly. So I did what I do best and I I went to the community and I started asking questions and I talked to the people of all of these amazing partnership organizations that the EDC works with and I said, "How are we different? Where does our value come in?" And here's what I learned. And I think because of the feedback, it's critical that I share this today. So what I've learned is that the Bradenton Area EDC is a dot connector. We sit in the middle of an amazing economic development ecosystem where we are all responsible for the economic vitality, diversity, resiliency of Manatee County. And so the truth is our main objective at the EDC is to recruit and retain target sector industry that will create high wage, high-skilled jobs for our county residents. And we do our best work when we are partnered with all of the organizations that you see on screen and even more. And the cool part is that they do their best work when they're partnered with us. For example, uh, Career Source Sun Coast. If I'm working with a company that is scared to bring their headquarters to to to our area, I call Josh and I say, "Josh, I need some information about your apprenticeship program and how 90% of the people who go through an apprenticeship program stay long term. Here's a couple emails. Here's a PDF. Boom. We're still part of the conversation." Now, a couple months down the road when that when that organization does come to the county, Josh has an amazing connection to an organization that now gives his organization opportunity to succeed. A mutual a mutual benefit of a partnership. The chamber is another great example. We are sister organizations, but our purposes are very clear and defined. We don't have an advocacy arm at the EDC. the chamber does, but some of the trends that we see and the conversations we have with our business community helps inform their advocacy that they work on. And when they work on those policies and they and they have them ready for us, we go and we present those to our business partner friends so that they can stay longterm in this community. Seort Manatee, SRQ, you guys know them. great partners, wonderful community assets. When we're working with businesses that want global connectivity at the drop of a dime, we're able to provide that. The EDC is is a wonderful opportunity for collaboration across the county. And of course, at Manatee County, you guys are responsible for allowing us to be competitive on that national scale with your incentives and helping move that project through to fruition. That's what I've learned about where the EDC sits and how we're different and what our unique ability is compared to the other organizations in town. I know I've talked about this, but I wanted to be very clear about what the EDC does. So, the Economic Development Corporation, we attract and retain target sector businesses, and those businesses are the businesses that can bring high wage, highskilled jobs to our community. And therefore, we're raising the the average wage of our citizen here. We're raising the tax base. Not only that, in parallel path, we connect established businesses to the resources they need to be successful. So, Commissioner Ron, when I met with you, you asked a good question. You said, "What are your target sectors and how how do you come up with them?" So, I just wanted to be very clear today. up on screen are our five target um industry sectors that we've been working with for the past five years. These sectors are created in conjunction with our strategic plan. Chris has actually been on the board for 10 years and he was a part of the last time we went through this process. So I'll let him kind of walk through how these are selected and why. >> Just really briefly, everything that the Economic Development Corporation does is based in data. And so uh this is also not just based on the gut feel of what the business community is telling us. We brought in an outside consultant uh Boyette strategic adviserss who collected a ton of data on the community assets that we have the opportunities that are out within the community. gaps that are we identified within uh talent pipelines uh workforce housing those types of things and then leverages those assets within the community to be able to focus within the the uh targeted sectors here. So, as Amanda mentioned, we're at the end of our strategic plan. Um, and we are uh bark embarking upon a new strategic plan this year and and that is something that as stakeholders uh the county will certainly be a a participant in that process as the county uh and uh chairpersons before you were when the original uh or our current excuse me uh um strategic plan was. So this collaborative process of of hearing kind of what the what the sectors are, what the data is telling us and leaning into where those sectors um that we will focus on is done in partnership with you. >> Thanks. >> I think it's important to note also if there is a company that comes in and doesn't fall within these target sectors, we don't say, "Oh, no, no, no, you don't fall in our in our target sectors." Um, we of course if they hit those wage criteria and will produce high wage, high-skilled jobs, we of course help them with anything they need to come into this county. So, the other bucket of information that we started to hear consistently was mainly from you guys and your your staff team here and it was all about the agreement, the contract uh for us to move forward. And long story short, you guys were looking for transparent metrics. You're looking for a cadence of conversation that allows understanding of why some of the results are happening and you're looking for a partner and and I'm all game and so is the executive committee and so is the board. So let's talk about what everyone's dying to know the details of the contract. I know you all have seen the contract. I know I feel very blessed that I got feedback from all of you um in some way, shape or form and I'm grateful. I want you to know that we worked hard to make sure that that feedback was incorporated. So, high level, what's different about this agreement versus the one um our past agreement? So, this is a performance-based agreement, not a reimbursement agreement, which means you're no longer paying for the tools of the trade. You're not paying for our data source. You are now paying our our payment is tied to the performance and hitting metrics of a scorecard. Um, I've talked about cadence of conversation a lot. We will be meeting quarterly to review those metrics so that we can start to identify, hey, here's an area of overperformance. You guys are really doing great. Maybe we need to up that ante a little bit. Or, hey, what's happening over here? How come you haven't hit this number? And so now there's an understanding amongst your team and our team and you guys why we're seeing some of the results that we're seeing. Timing. So in front of you is a contract that includes 15 months and the first time um the first segment of time is now until the end of September and that is intentional and strategic. So it allows us to continue working right now with your team. There's a lot of momentum happening. There's a lot of um good projects in our pipeline which I'll show you in a minute. And we don't want to pause. We want to hit the ground running. and we want to keep keep going. It also allows our new CEO to come in and have time to live with the contract, understand the metrics, kind of um ask questions, and when we get to that September time frame where the renewal will kick in, it allows a natural point where they can work with your team to maybe make it better, beneficial for you guys, beneficial for us, however it may be. And then last and not least, trying to work with you here and make sure that we end on your fiscal year as well. Uh I the other thing up there it says it's an annual renewal. Uh it is an annual automatic renewal. That is balanced. Uh Commissioner McCann when I communicated with you you were you clear about a termination clause. We're comfortable providing that here because we're confident that you're never going to need it. We are all on board to be amazing partners and produce transparent results that we talk about consistently with you. The biggest difference of this agreement is a scorecard framework up on screen. I know it's small. You guys have the hard copies or you have the digital copies. I've reviewed it with most of you. There are 13 different line item of metrics that we will be reporting on quarterly um and going through with your team. This is a leading indicator again meant to create conversation and allow mutual understanding as to the results. So, let's talk about the numbers. We worked very hard to make sure that we came here today with a number that was palatable but still respectful of the work and and the necessary items to properly service the metrics that you guys need to see from us. So, the number up on screen, $292,450, represents a 13% reduction from your previous agreement. We know that we're working to reestablish trust. We know that it's important for you that it's a price point that is comfortable. There is no backdating. We're not here asking for payment for the last six months of work, even though we've been working very hard with you guys in those past six months. Uh Commissioner Sadi, when I met with you, you were clear that you wanted to see the breakdown. How do you get to that number? Here it is. Uh we are hiding nothing. You can see the breakdown of staff time, the percentage of time that each person will have to take in order to serve these metrics. Uh to be completely honest, we're probably going to have to work more than the metrics up there. Um but you that is what it is. The the marketing cost. Uh Commissioner McCann, I know when you were um commenting on the last agreement, one of your comments was I want to make sure the money Manatee County is investing is going to Manatee County. U initiatives. So these are marketing dollars that are specifically tied to marketing the target market sector businesses for Manatee County. If we were under contract in Q1, here's a quick snapshot of what our scorecard would look like. So again, just starting to get you familiar with this new reporting framework. I'm running over on time. I'm not going to stand here and go through line item by line item. I'm happy to answer questions if you have specific questions about any of these. And again, quarterly, we're not just going to bore you with Excel spreadsheets. Although they do provide great information, we will work to make sure that you have graphs and visuals that make that information easily digestible so that you can share that um however you please. The other thing I I just want to note quickly is the work that the EDC does is not time agnostic. a project doesn't know that it's the end of Q2 and so therefore it's going to hurry up and finish up. So even though we will be reporting on a quarterly basis, we will also be keeping track of all the work that is happening. For example, right now in our pro in our pipeline, we have 27 active projects. Not all of those are a result of Q1 activity, but they are keeping us busy day in and day out. So, it's important when you look at even our reporting metrics, the the narrative part of it becomes very important to tell the story of the work that the EDC is doing to keep Manatee County Economic Development moving. And so, I think with that, I'm going to stop talking and just say thank you again for getting us this far and take any questions. >> Thank you very much. I have Commissioner McCann on the board. Who else do you work for besides Manatee County and how do you decide what's actually going to come into Manatee County? >> So our in our investors include all of the uh municipalities and agencies within Manatee County. Um so all of the public agencies including the port uh and airport are investors within the EDC. >> Okay. This presentation is a very good presentation, but it wasn't attached to the agenda, so obviously the public can't see it. Would you have any objection to us attaching this to the agenda? Because I got it in an email last night separate from the agenda and it's not on the agenda. So, the public can't tell. And one of the things we want is transparency. >> Absolutely, sir. No problem. Um, as you can know, we've been working on this day in and day out making sure it's perfect. So, I believe that uh the EDC did share this with all of the commissioners, but we'll make sure that that's added and published with the with any additional comments, but we can make that available on our website as well. >> Okay. The 292450, that's a yearly. Okay. So, how much of that would be paid now for the three months? >> Yeah. So, this the start date of the contract would be May 1st, I believe. >> I guess I'd have to do some quick math. It'd be so the the contract reimbures on a on a quarterly basis. So after Q2 performance, uh we would review that and then a reimbursement for that pr-rated portion of that time um would be for those two two months in that quarter. >> Okay. So what you're saying is we would pay after after you performed in this coming up quarter. There's nothing up front being paid. >> That's correct. >> Okay. And uh where are you at in finding a permanent director? Do you have a set of candidates that you're actually looking at? >> Uh we are in the process of it. Um we had over 40 candidates from across the country apply to the position. Um which I think is a great testament to the interest and the opportunity uh within our community. Um we are evaluating that with our partner. Um as you can imagine, it's quite a process to go through all of those candidates. Um, but we are excited to continue to move through that and find someone in short order. >> Did anybody from Manatee County apply? >> Uh, yes. I don't know how many, but I uh there were a couple that applied. >> Okay. Okay. There's no convenience clause in here for termination, but the termination seems uh pretty standard there. And uh it looks like a 30-day, but you know, uh if somebody has no intent to renew, it's 90 days. Why isn't it 30? So, I think that we had this is something that we had to amend with language. So, we've had this reviewed with our county attorney's office. So, there's the there's the notice period. So, during the during the term, if we give a 30-day notice, they have to fix it. And there's some language there. But the at the end of a term, if we know for sure that we're not going to, that was the 90-day notice. >> Okay. I wouldn't have done it that way, but that's okay. I have no other questions right now. >> Thank you. I'm on the board next followed by Pamela and then Commissioner Ron. So, a couple of quick things. We'll just have to amend the contract a little bit just to clear up some clerical errors. Uh the coverage the amount is 292450. Uh the cover sheet says 300,000 annually paid out 75,000 quarterly payments. So, some minor clarification there. I don't it's minor. I'm not going to vote it down because of that. Um the other thing is the contract terms. Um it just needs to say the amount is recurring annually. The way it's written we that's why we were running around talking Pamela and I would essentially cap your funding this year and it wouldn't auto renew. So we just want to clarify that. So essentially providing the annual clarifying in the contract that the funding amount is annual but it's capped per year at that amount. Whereas today it just says you're capped but we'll renew you at $0 per year which makes no sense. So just we just caught Pamela caught that. Thank you for that. So we'll we're working staff are working our attorneys are working to amend that language but no significant changes. Just clearing that up. Um >> jump. >> Sure. Why not? Since we're on that subject, >> just for the board's um understanding and clarity and and uh the EDC's understanding, under paragraph G, processing payment of the contract, the the last two sentences state, the county shall pay the EDC for services rendered under this agreement in an aggregate amount, not to exceed $292,450. It should say an annual aggregate amount to account for the fact that the term the terms of the contract allow for automatic renewal. So insertion of that word annual aggregate amount will make the contract legally sufficient. So that was just that's just one little tweak that if the board were to approve the agreement today, we would ask for the authority to make that edit to the contract before it's executed. >> All right. Thank you for that. Other than that, uh just a general comment in the process. Uh, I've had lengthy conversations with Sharon, with the old board chair, with with Chris, with Amanda since the the vote last year and our board, myself and our staff. Uh, reached out to as many economic development organizations in the state as we could from Miami to here for myself. We went to Pittsburgh, spoke to two there, quite a few just to better understand and in our region as well to better understand what can we do to move forward on this issue. continue to promote economic development, but perhaps revisit a contract that did need some revisiting. So, I'm glad to see some things that were removed that weren't necessarily adding value, like some of the social media promotion. I'm glad to see the scorecard. I'm glad to see the metrics because it holds everyone accountable, but also recognizes the difficulty of economic development as we're experiencing in our economy today. You just can't control everything in there. Yeah, we can offer every incentive in the world, doesn't mean someone's going to come here. So while it does hold you all accountable, it doesn't it's not failure if you're not able to meet those metrics. It's a good learning experience. You can move forward and it just recognizes the reality that this is economic development is is an art and a science and more ways an art sometimes. Um but having said that, we've learned our staff learned quite a bit from networking with those organizations. all almost all those ideas went into this contract and I'm happy to support it at this time with those small changes which people are running around the building to fix that. So we'll see that pop up shortly. I'll turn it over to Commissioner Ron next. >> Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you Amanda. Thank you Chris for your presentation today. Um yeah, I've been through the metrics with you, Amanda, pretty hard and I appreciate what you guys did and and setting up the metrics, setting up the overall new plan, and everything like that. Um I know you can't because of NDAs and things like that, but can you guys got a great relationship with the Florida Department of Commerce? Can you just so let the board know the the operate the last time you guys went and what took place on that of bringing this company here that's a major manufacturer, major employer. Can you just walk through that? So they know that it's not it goes beyond dot connecting. You and I had that conversation about dot connecting. I think it goes beyond that. I think it goes about relationship building with with the state of Florida with the department of commerce and outside industries that are outside the state of Florida that are major and could come here. Could you just walk through that process real quick so the board understands what you guys have been kind of up to just in one instance? >> Sure. No, I appreciate the opportunity to do so. So, um the state of Florida reached out to the um EDC as the um lead economic development organization for Manatee County and and said, "Hey, we have a potential opportunity for you. Would you like to submit an RFQ um for a potential new business to come to the area?" And so, it was a German crane manufacturer and they were looking for um a a plot of land close to a port. And so we're blessed with Seapport Manatee here as an asset, which I alluded to in the presentation. And you know, when we got the opportunity, Elizabeth at our office did a great job responding to that, submitting all of the qualifications and and we did get shortlisted. So we were able to go um to Atlanta and present to the company. Uh and it wasn't just the Economic Development Corporation. We chose to go as a community and pitch and represent our community. So we took uh members from your team uh the staff, we took people from Seapport Manatee, uh we took the land owners and and the Bradington area EDC went as well and and we all went up there and we put together a presentation and talked about why we would be the best fit for them. This is that was a true story I told about um needing information about apprenticeship programs. I called Josh because in that meeting they're like, "Oh, we're we're nervous about bringing our people here. We hear that retention in in America is is tough." And I was like, "Well, I got a guy for you." And and we sent him information and they were very appreciative. So, that's a real story. And that is relationshipbased. And um I know Elizabeth has done a great job forming that relationship with the state of Florida, Florida Commerce, and it is strong, and they continue to send us leads. In fact, of the 11 um RFQS that we have right now, seven of them have come from this the state of Florida. >> Thank you very much. I mean, and and with that, you weren't the only ones being courted. I mean, it was Port Jacksonville, Port Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades. Um so, a lot of the places including places in Texas were being also interviewed. So, I appreciate the hard work you guys did on. Hopefully, if we can land them, that'll be really good. Um but um you know thank you for the new contract with the changes that would are going to be made like commissioner like chairman Sadique said. Um I'll be in support of this. I'll be in support of the new contract. >> All right. I have Commissioner McCann on the board. >> Only two more questions. Uh a breakdown of the funds and stuff like that. Uh you know uh I think you you gave us a little bit of a breakdown in the presentation. You know, how much of this funding that we pay will be used for salaries? How much of this funding will we fo