Kevin Van Ostenbridge

Q. What will be the top issue impacting businesses in 2021?  What role should the County play in addressing it?
A. Recovering from the impacts of COVID19 is the top concern of business owners I have spoken to. Manatee County should look into reducing burdens on local businesses. I will focus my attention on eliminating excessive taxation and regulations.

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. I see no need to raise taxes to meet budgetary shortfalls. Manatee County has an excessive amount of reserves set aside. These reserves are to be utilized when we experience unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic. Public safety will always be my number one priority when evaluating our budget. I also believe that increasing road capacity needs to be a higher priority than in years past.

Q. How would you support economic and workforce development in Manatee County?
A. We can continue to encourage economic and workforce development by being more aggressive about recruiting diverse businesses to relocate to Manatee County. In order to achieve that we have to ensure that Manatee County is a business friendly environment and that we maintain a high quality of life for all of our citizens. That means, low crime, clean water, more workforce housing and less traffic congestion.

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. Increasing the supply of workforce housing can be achieved through changes to our comprehensive plan. We need to further increase density in our urban core. Comp. plan amendments should take place in areas where amenities (shopping, jobs, transit) are available. We also need to be more aggressive in recruiting attainable housing builders to our area.

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. In district 3 we are in need of new bridges leading to our island communities. I fully support FDOT plans to construct 3 new bridges in the next 10 years. I will do all I can to expedite the process. We also need to make intersection improvements along Manatee Ave and Cortez Rd. Much of the funding for these projects will have to be advocated for from FDOT. I will also make transportation infrastructure a high priority in county budget negotiations.