PALMETTO, Fla. – Betsy Benac has been elected to a one-year term as chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, the governing board of Port Manatee. 
Benac is a former professional planner who served from 1983 to 1994 as Manatee County’s assistant planning director.Also elected at the Manatee County Port Authority’s Dec. 17 meeting to one-year terms as officers were: John Chappie, first vice chairman; Charles Smith, second vice chairman; and Robin DiSabatino, third vice chairwoman. Benac succeeds authority board member Carol Whitmore as chairwoman of Port Manatee’s governing body, which is completed by members Vanessa Baugh and Larry Bustle. The authority board consists of the seven members of the elected Manatee County Commission, but with distinctively separate officers and financial accountability. The authority sets policy and oversees major expenditures for Port Manatee.  Members of the authority board serve four-year staggered terms, with an annual election of officers. The authority meets on the third Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. at the Port Manatee Intermodal Center, 1905 Intermodal Circle, Palmetto. The meetings are open to the public. Located “Where Tampa Bay Meets the Gulf of Mexico,” Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the expanding Panama Canal, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers. The port generates more than $2.3 billion in annual economic impact for the local community, while supporting more than 24,000 jobs, without levying ad-valorem taxes.