Brevard commissioners reject most resident suggestions during 'Speak Up Brevard' debate

Brevard County commissioners for the most part agreed with county staff recommendations, as they rejected 49 of the 59 suggestions made by local residents for improving county operations.

Then, they rejected a proposal by Commissioner Tom Goodson to provide more direct interaction between residents and county officials during the process in the future.

The commissioners' votes on Tuesday evening were the culmination of the 2024 "Speak Up Brevard" process, in which residents have an opportunity to submit their proposals to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of county government. The annual program is a requirement, under a provision of the Brevard County Charter.

What resident recommended: Here's what changes Speak Up Brevard participants want County Commission to consider

Residents who spoke before the commission Tuesday on their proposals generally were not happy with the outcome of the Speak Up Brevard process itself. Some of them also participated in a rally outside the Brevard County Government Center complex in Viera before the meeting to express their concerns, including the fact that most of the submitted proposals were recommended by county staff for rejection.

In the end, 49 resident recommendations were rejected, four were accepted and six were classified as accepted "with revisions."

"This was supposed to be a collaborative process, but, instead, we have a rubber-stamp process," Cocoa resident Kristin Lortie — who had submitted nine Speak Up Brevard proposals — said during her public comment.

The commission then rejected Goodson's proposal to have better interaction in the future with the residents submitting Speak Up Brevard proposals, in advance of the commission meeting at which the proposals are voted on. Increased interaction with commissioners is something some of the speakers requested.

Goodson's proposal did not come up for a formal vote because none of the other four commissioners would second his motion.

Commission Chair Jason Steele said he is comfortable with the current process of county staff doing an analysis of the proposals, and making written recommendations for commissioners to consider in advance of the meeting. He said having an extended discussion of the proposals with all the people submitting them would be "completely frustrating beyond words," difficult and time-consuming.

Steele said he might be agreeable to having a process in the future for more extensive evaluation of the top 10 to 20 proposals — but not all of them.

At Tuesday's meeting, speakers received three minutes apiece to sell their ideas to commissioners — even if they submitted multiple proposals — a time frame some speakers said was not adequate.

On Tuesday, only one resident was able to persuade commissioners to overturn a staff recommendation for rejection. Port St. John resident Kevin Shropshire got the commission to agree to extend the hours at the Port St. John Library, after County Commission Vice Chair Rita Pritchett, whose district includes Port St. John, backed his proposal. Under the measure commissioners unanimously approved, the Port St. John Library will be open for four more hours on Saturdays and will be open for five hours on Sundays, which Brevard County Manager Frank Abbate said will increase the library's expenses by about $25,000 a year.

In the only other change in the staff recommendations, at Commissioner John Tobia's urging, commissioners classified as "rejected" a proposal by Lortie calling for better publicizing of Speak Up Brevard to local residents. Tobia's move came after Lortie told commissioners that the county staff charactering her proposal as being recommended for acceptance "with revisions" was overstating what the staff proposed.

Most of residents' 59 submitted proposals were rejected outright for a variety of reasons, including that the proposals already were being implemented, the County Commission has rejected similar proposal in the past or that the county did not have jurisdiction over the topic of the proposal. A number of the rejected proposals dealt with environmental or development issues or with the Speak Up Brevard program itself.

Commissioners went along with county staff in approving recommendations calling for better promotion of the county's Harry T. & Harriette V. Cultural Complex in Mims and of the county's pickleball venues. They also supported a recommendation to extend turn lanes near Wickham Road and Pineda Causeway.

Abbate told commissioners that county staff put in "a significant amount of time to review, consider and respond" to the proposals. In all, the Speak Up Brevard proposals and staff responses encompassed 498 pages of Tuesday's meeting agenda.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 49 of 59 'Speak Up Brevard' proposals from residents rejected