Regional council elects slate of new board officers for 2023

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council has elected new board officers for 2023, with Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh taking over as chair.

According to a news release, Largo Mayor Woody Brown will serve as vice chair, while city of Dunedin Commissioner Maureen “Moe” Freaney has been elected secretary and treasurer. St. Petersburg City Council Member Brandi Gabbard is immediate past chair.

“The council’s officers play an important role in coordinating plans for our region’s future,” Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council Executive Director Sean Sullivan states in the release. “This coordination is necessary for important initiatives like the Regional Resiliency Action Plan and the Resiliency Leadership Summit that can proactively and collaboratively address regional challenges and opportunities.”

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Baugh, the release states, has been a Manatee County commissioner since 2012 and a member of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council since 2019, while Brown, who’s been mayor of Largo since 2014, joined Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council since 2012.

Freaney, meanwhile, was elected to the Dunedin City Commission in 2016 and has been involved with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council since 2017. Gabbard chairs the St. Petersburg City Council and has worked with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council since 2018.

The board officers, the release states, represent the Regional Planning Council’s members, which include six counties and 21 municipalities as they make long-range plans related to the future of the Tampa Bay region.