MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (SNN) — Diana Shoemaker, the former longtime president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Manatee is challenging current District 3 commissioner, Chairman Kevin Van Ostenbridge. She said development, traffic, the environment, and transparency are the core issues facing the county.
“Affordable housing is an extremely important issue for me,” said Shoemaker.
Diana Shoemaker filed paperwork last month to run in the Manatee County District 3 election against Van Ostenbridge. Shoemaker said she’s concerned about the direction the county commission is taking.
“Ideas [were discussed] that were not reflecting the needs of the residents, not listening to the voices of the residents, and making decisions that wouldn’t help the community long-term,” said Shoemaker.
Van Ostenbridge is running for reelection next year. He said he’s delivered results on those issues.
“In three short years, we’ve managed to cut taxes twice,” said Van Ostenbridge.
Affordable housing is an issue Shoemaker said she’s familiar with, having led Habitat for Humanity Manatee for years.
“It’s not that the housing isn’t being built,” Shoemaker said. “It’s that it’s not being built at a price people can afford. We’re getting a lot of units coming in, but they’re coming in at $1,600, $2,000.”
She feels existing infrastructure needs to be fixed to alleviate traffic.
“We need parking garages fixed, not the one on the beach,” she said, referring to the Holmes Beach parking garage proposal which Van Ostenbridge supports. Van Ostenbridge has previously pointed to the parking garage proposal as one of the only ways to increase access to the beach.
“We’ve passed $700 million of road projects to relieve congestion. Traffic will never be finished, but we’re light years ahead of where we were,” he said.
The recent decision to remove wetland protections by limiting the buffer zone in Manatee County was a decision Shoemaker felt was predetermined and an example of concerns involving both the local environment and government transparency.
“It felt as a constituent sitting in the audience that the decision had already been made by the leadership,” said Shoemaker. “And the conversations going on in the chamber were to lead to that decision that had already been made in reducing the buffers.”
Van Ostenbridge argued he’s had the county’s back on environmental issues.
“We have actually completed the closure of phase one out on Piney Point, so whether it’s traffic congestion, the environment, keeping the economy going or cutting your taxes, we’ve accomplished what we set out to do,” he said.
On development, Shoemaker said she supports “smart” development in the community and thinks the Bradenton Riverwalk and converting the county utilities building for affordable housing for homeless veterans are examples of good development. Van Ostenbridge told SNN he feels the government’s role should be to keep up with infrastructure, not in his view to hinder business or stop growth.
The Manatee County District 3 election will take place November of 2024.
