TALLAHASSEE — A bill that would revise the 2003 charter for the Manatee County Port Authority has begun moving through its assigned House committees. HB 4073, sponsored by Florida Rep. Bill Conerly (District 72), would convert the local Port Authority from a dependent special district under the oversight of the Manatee County Commission to an independent special district with most authority members appointed by the governor.
Currently composed of the same seven elected officials who serve as Manatee County Commissioners, the Port Authority board is the governing body of Seaport Manatee.
However, HB 4073 would change the governing body’s structure, reducing the authority board to five members: four appointed by the governor and one, a Manatee County Commissioner, chosen and appointed by the county commission…