Matt Bower

Q. What will be the top issue impacting businesses in 2021?  What role should the County play in addressing it?
A. COVID-19 has impacted nearly every business, requiring many to shift and adapt their operations. One of the biggest challenges is the uncertainty about the future. Locally, I believe the tourist related businesses will continue to be the hardest hit, service industry professionals in particular and those that had mandated closures or forced to reduce operations due to government regulations. Together with the Chamber and the business community, the County’s role is best served to monitor and evaluate how our businesses are impacted. By working together, and providing certain stimulus plans, the County could play a valuable role to help people stay or be re-employed, and assist those in need. For example the county provides critical rental housing assistance to maintain a workforce, an important component of solving a complex solution. Solutions will require careful evaluation and a meeting of the minds. This must be a team effort.

Q. Anticipating a decline in revenue during upcoming fiscal years for Manatee County, how would you address budget shortfalls?  What are your priorities within a decreased budget?
A. Being conservative in nature, I will be evaluating every aspect of the county’s budget and not just from a standpoint of a forecast of a declining revenue source but our critical needs. Further, I do not necessarily agree that we are expecting a decline in property taxes which have actually increased this year. We will see shortfalls from sales tax revenues and also state resources. With a considerable amount of unrestricted cash balances, the county is well positioned to make wise decisions to maintain and improve our economy while still keeping the necessary reserves on hand for times of economic turbulence. I have made no secret, my priorities are improving our traffic congestion, updating our infrastructure, being a leader in our water quality crisis avoiding future red tide economic disasters and ensuring our emergency services/public safety are maintained and even enhanced.

Q. How would you support economic and workforce development in Manatee County?
A. Everyone deserves an opportunity to thrive. Improving the opportunities and the quality of life for everyone in Manatee County should and will be part of our economic compass. I will support the County’s responsibilities to collaborate with community leaders and surrounding organizations that will help advance business and workforce development. Investing in our future is vital to our sustainable and responsible growth with a mission towards a more diverse, healthy and vibrant community. One of the first things we need to ensure is that our educational system is providing a talented workforce. I will work with not only the school board but are colleges and universities to refine our goals. The Chamber is an important conduit for the business community to the government. With a combination of educational programs, providing workforce housing and a reason for our young people to stay, work and play local, we can maintain a vibrant future. I do not believe the county can be successful without a collaborative, community effort. I will be the “Peoples Voice” and provide effective leadership with the skills instilled within me when I served our Country for 7 years in the Army. I would serve an important role as a commissioner being the only veteran, helping to tap an important resource, assisting and hiring our vets.

Q. Manatee County lacks a sufficient supply of attainable housing to support the local workforce.  This impacts businesses in terms of attracting and retaining talent and affects the community’s quality of life.   What role should the County play in the supply of attainable housing and how would you address this issue?
A. From a government aspect, we need to continue to be flexible in our planning to accommodate housing that is affordable. If there is a time to be more flexible in development, it would be towards affordable and workforce housing. To promote and incentivize these housing types , the County has within our codes allowances for more density, flexibility and reduce impact fees. Further collaboration with other organizations especially relating to veterans is a must in my opinion. It is also important that we have a yearly review of what is the status of our workforce and affordable housing and make changes as necessary.

Q. Transportation continues to be an issue within Manatee County, both in terms of existing options as well as long-term planning and projects.  What are your top 2 transportation priorities and how would you fund them?
A. The county has been reactive versus proactive in our transportation woes. My first order of business is to be forward thinking and planning well ahead of our current and anticipated traffic problems. Addressing traffic to and from our islands will be a key factor for my district and impacts the whole county. We need to replace our aging bridges not only including the 3 island bridges (Cortez, Anna Maria and Longboat Key Pass) but also the Desoto bridge with designs to reduce congestion. These projects have been part of our future plans for too long without action. Funding does exist within the MPO’s allocation, it just needs to be prioritized and maintained as a priority and having me as a commissioner, I will get it done. Second, growth must pay for itself. It is not paying for itself now and this takes money from our needed transportation projects within our urban areas such as downtown Bradenton. We have a transportation process that only funds less than half of what is needed for growth and maintain our infrastructure. This has caused significant congestion on our roadways, which now requires more money to solve. While mass transportation should be part of the solution it is critical we find the money to solve our congestion issue or our businesses will continue to suffer.