Lack of Follow-Through on Board Action and Votes Part I: Two Issues, Separate but Uncannily Similar

When the Board of County Commissioners makes a vote, the action behind that vote should be respected, and the action should be taken as quickly as possible.  That is the way a normal board functions.

Even if the vote is fractured, once the vote is taken, the vote is the vote.  That's the way our representative form of government works in our Constitutional Republic.

Look no further than the Kavanaugh confirmation from just yesterday.  A fractured, broken U.S. Senate took a vote, a nomination barely passed, and yet Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in a mere two hours later.  Say what you want about the brokenness of DC--but once that decision was made, it was consummated at light-speed.

Because that's the way it should work--even if you are a politician on the losing end of a tough vote...

And I know what it feels like to be on the bottom of a losing vote.  It's no fun.

When I was on the school board for many years, I was on the bottom of a lot of votes.  For example--I voted against our brand new middle school being built in Beulah, because I knew we didn't need it  (we have excess capacity district-wide at the middle school level and a decreasing overall enrollment-trend in Escambia's public schools), and we needed another elementary school in Beulah, not a middle school.

I also knew this would result in busing students from way outside of Beulah into Beulah--and I supported (and still support) neighborhood schools, not social engineering and busing of students from miles and miles away to meet enrollment demographic targets.   I lost that vote, and that middle school was built.  And everything I predicted would happen, did happen. C'est la vie.....

But at least that action went forward.  A vote was taken and the action moved forward.

Because in order to function, once the vote is taken --board action must be respected and enacted forthwith!

Now that I am on the Board of County Commissioners,  I see issues where previous board votes, action, and direction are not being honored but rather they are being delayed, watered-down, and/or drastically modified after critical votes have been taken.

Obviously, the board can change course if they so choose.  This is a given and it comes with its own set of problems (i.e. if the board changes course abruptly, on multiple fronts, at multiple times--the board could appear to be wishy-washy, indecisive,  or even feckless) This is not good.....

Two issues I can think of (both of which were voted on and funded multiple times before I even joined the board) that illustrate this phenomenon are the public beach access at Perdido Key and the Jobs Creation Project at OLF 8.

Perdido Key Beach Mouse Habitat and Public Beach Access ---property was purchased in 2013 for $3.1 Million dollars with the purpose of creating protected beach mouse habitat  AND for providing Public Beach access.  To  date, the board's vote on that matter has not been followed;  we


are neither providing adequate protection for the mice (no fencing between the beach and dunes, no roped off areas in the dunes, no warning signs about the habitat) nor are we providing public beach access for the taxpayers county-wide who own this property.  To the contrary, the entrance to this property has a giant "No Trespassing" sign on it.  But I believe we are on track now to FINALLY enact what the board voted upon 5 years ago.  I feel more strongly now than ever before that we will #OpenOurBeach.


OLF 8 jobs-creation project in Beulah.  I have studied the history of this project as an outside observer for many years-- since way before I came on the board of county commissioners.  I live in Beulah, right across the street from this field for the last 15 years.  This project, from its inception, was pursued as an economic development initiative to create good jobs for our area.  As a candidate for the BCC in 2016, I looked at the history of this project, and I decided it was an intelligent and beneficial project that would be good for the entire county and region.  But now that we are in the final stretch of acquiring that property--suddenly everything is changing;  Our $30 Million Triumph application is now openly marginalized by some folks opposed to creating jobs.  We are even now, as recently as last week, being lobbied to forget about creating good jobs with this property, we're told to forget about the Triumph Grant funding.  We're encouraged now, instead, to focus on making an exciting, big-city mall type "town center ringed and circled by apartments, condominiums, a regional park and yes "affordable" housing".  I even heard one resident (who knows full-well our current infrastructure is strained to the brink already) say "Beulah can be a Destination!"

I am willing to compromise to work with folks, I am supportive of a master planner giving us great suggestions and new ideas -- but if the final plan does not keep us in contention for our grant and create at least 700 more jobs--this is not what I signed on for.... I might not be able to support what this is becoming if there is NOT ONE SHRED OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT within this deal after it comes out of the hopper.

Nope, if instead we're asked to slice and dice this property to be sold to the highest bidder for the construction of even more high-density residential housing-----does this resemble, in the slightest, the board's initial intent when this project was started?  I would say the answer to this question is NO--it is not what the board voted for.  Because we are neither, nor should we be, in the residential real-estate development business.  We are not, nor should we be, in competition with the private residential construction businesses in our area.  And shame on us if we gambled taxpayer money, and spent the money we did (ostensibly for an economic development project) to simply "source" good cheap land for the private sector. There is too much residential construction our here already--we don't need more! Talk about a 180 degree departure from what this project was meant to be..

This is the problem with not following votes taken with fidelity and in rapid speed.  This is a problem that the board and staff need to discuss in depth.  Otherwise, we will become a rudderless ship being pushed from one loud, vocal constituency to the next, while average citizens get left behind and we look ineffective.