Bradenton council highlights regatta success, downtown coordination, homelessness concerns and new federal funding

Councilmembers used their reports to highlight recent events, public-safety coordination and several community concerns.

Mayor Jean Brown and councilmembers praised the regatta, drone show and fireworks and thanked public-works, police, fire and METV staff for event coordination and cleanup. Jeff Burton and others noted public-art installations and the Main Street program as tools to support downtown economic activity; Burton said the CRA plans to help fund Main Street startup work in the downtown focus area.

Multiple councilmembers urged greater coordination among downtown merchants, the Chamber and the EDC so the private business community can take a larger role in organizing events and sustaining downtown foot traffic. Council discussion emphasized using existing mechanisms — chamber, EDC and CRA-funded Main Street programming — rather than creating new committees.

Members raised homelessness-related concerns: complaints about informal food distribution publicized near the Salvation Army and reports of tents in Cortez/43rd. The council and Police Chief Kramer said they will coordinate with county social workers and partner organizations (Turning Points, Salvation Army) to address outreach and service pathways and noted the city may consider ordinances that regulate distribution patterns to reduce unintended concentrations of people in business/residential areas.

Councilmember Perry reported that Congressman Buchanan’s office secured roughly $4,000,000 in entitlements for Bradenton: approximately $3,000,000 for stormwater/flood control at City Park and about $1,000,000 for downtown transportation planning. Perry said the funds were authorized in late January and will flow through federal processes and agencies for final allocation.

The council also announced an upcoming workshop on March 11 and said quarterly updates on the Face It, Fix It infrastructure campaign will be published with area-specific project statuses.