29th Coffee With a Commissioner Event is this Tuesday at 6:30 AM

Our Final Coffee of 2019 will happen this Wednesday at 6:30 AM--All are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Our office will be holding our 29th Coffee with a Commissioner Event this Tuesday, December 3rd.

We will meet at the Denny's Restaurant on Mobile Hwy across from Walmart.

This will be our last Coffee event of 2019--so all are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

We will also Facebook Live the session so that all questions and answers can be viewed in real time by those constituents who may not be able to make the meeting in person.

There are lots of topics out there for discussion, and I anticipate much discussion on the following:

1.  Vacating Cameron Lane
2.  Going Cashless at the Beach Toll Booth
3.  The Latest on Opening Perdido Key Beach Access #4
4.  The Latest Plan to Recapitalize the Pensacola Civic Center
5.  The status of Modernizing Beulah's Fire Station #2
6.  Roundabouts at the Beach
7.  The Master Planning of OLF 8
8.  The Master Planning of the Greater Beulah Area
9.  Opening of the Latest Public Library in District 1's Bellview Community
10.  Any other topics of county-wide or D1 interest

When the Head-Waiter Runs the Restaurant.........Part I: "Who is in Charge?"

"I am in charge!!" shrieks the Head Waiter at a posh restaurant.  In actuality, he is simply an employee of the restaurant.  As a practical reality, however, perhaps the head waiter does, indeed, run the restaurant.....

Note:  This series is based upon a fictional account of an antisocial, smug restaurant "head waiter" employee that has hijacked and paralyzed an entire fictional restaurant and its staff with his antics and histrionics-jeopardizing profitability, stigmatizing certain employees, and destroying morale among the waitstaff.  The below account is fictional, an account based largely upon the author's imagined scenarios and circumstances combined with his experience working in and owning restaurants; any resemblance or similarity with any person or other entity, living or dead, whatsoever, is purely and simply coincidental....................................................................................


Part I:  Who Runs This Place?

This is a story about a series of unfortunate incidents at a well-regarded, very fine French Restaurant in Escambia known as "Chez Pretentieuse."  Like many restaurants, it had a hierarchy of super talented extremely dedicated employees, supervisors, shift managers, directors, business managers, site managers, auditors, accountants, head waiters, waiters, food runners, bus boys, chefs, sous chefs, line cooks, valets, parking lot attendants, restroom attendants, and hosts and maitre D's. Because it was a publicly traded business--the actual owners of the restaurant were the members of the public, the shareholders.  Many customers were privately confounded by the massive numbers of employees.  Some regulars would often quip "This restaurant staffing looks like a government bureaucracy--no wonder the price is so high and the service is so slow!"  But they came back again and again because the food was good and in many respects Chez had a monopoly of sorts in the area.

"Who is in charge of the restaurant--who actually calls the shots, Who Runs this Place?"  Some customers and others would often ask whenever the occasion would arise where something was askew at the restaurant.  And this was always a tough one to answer.  But the best explanation would often go something like this:  "Chez is owned by the people, policy is created and overseen by the Board of Directors,  Operations are managed by the Area Manager who supervises the Site General Manager.  The Head Waiter is an employee of the Site General Manager but he, the Head Waiter, supervises the waitstaff (and they shall operate strictly on the state health license and permit of this Head Waiter), but the overall operation is a public corporation, publicly traded and owned!

Although "Chez" was very well regarded, over the last several years some concerning circumstances came to light and area management decided to make various personnel changes to keep the

Accessibility the Potential Casualty in the Fight Against Opening Beach Access #4 in Perdido Key

If those opposed to opening beach access #4 in Perdido are successful, a handicapped-accessible Escambia County-owned beach location would be one of the casualties.......

For those who have not followed the deliberate attempts to keep 300 feet of publicly-owned, prime Gulf-Front beach property inaccessible to the general public, you can read all about this ongoing, sordid spectacle here.

Several of us are working to open this beach, and we will #OpenOurBeach.  But there have been a few setbacks that have thrown us off of the timeline we were given by staff last year at this time.  

Most recently, it is a red herring, faux argument straw-man concocted to advance the fiction that opening this beach might "draw a lawsuit" for the county and leave vulnerable, protected wildlife species "unprotected."  This is total BS garbage, a smokescreen. 

You see,  there are these special interests, those with hidden agendas, and their bidders (primarily nearby condo owners who have a padlocked, "no-trespassing" private walkover to access our beach) who like the comfortable status-quo.  They don't want us to do what we said we would do (provide public access) when we purchased this property with taxpayer funds in 2013;  they like things just the way they are right now.  It is very, very comfortable for them as it now stands presently.

It goes a little something like this:  

"We can use this beach, we live here and we have access to it that you cannot use--our access point is Private--we don't want you here!"   See how that works?

And meanwhile, NOTHING is being done to protect the habitat and the dunes at this parcel.  A casual walk to this parcel from the nearby Crab Trap Restaurant will illustrate this in stark terms:   Litter, rubbish, used fire-rings and footprints all through the dune system that is supposed to be the protected habitat for the mouse.

As of today, sadly, Escambia County has failed to do either of the things it said it would do when it spent $ Millions on this property in 2013.  No protection for the habitat, no public beach access.

But thankfully, now we are finally seeing the forward progress that many of us have longed for and pushed for--because contrary to the fake news, false narratives proclaimed by some--- this was never political--it is and always has been about access to that beautiful beach.

So the project has now officially been socialized with The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, initial plans have been drawn up that indicate 36-37 parking spots with room for emergency vehicles to access and turn around if necessary, a location and infrastructure for a permanent restroom facility to be constructed in the future has been included--and most importantly--Handicapped, accessible "mobi-mats" will be utilized at this site to allow citizens with disabilities to access this beach.  This will be Escambia County's only handicapped-accessible, free- beach access point in Perdido Key once it is constructed!

The project is going to the County's Development Review Committee in December, and will be brought back before the board for funding (which we will make available from oil-spill proceeds I believe) in January if all goes according to plan according to conversations I have had with relevant staff members.

Because this is the right thing to do, opening this beach for all of us to use.   And no matter what anyone says--we will #OpenOurBeach !

Doing What is Right Part III: A Completed HR Report from 6-24-2019 is NOT a Public Record?

How long must an employee suffer and be punished for making a valid, sustained complaint against a supervisory employee?

As I have chronicled in Part I and Part II of this series--there appears to be an issue percolating around an Escambia County employee that filed a harassment complaint against his supervisor.

Ever since his complaint was filed--it appears as if he has been stymied, stigmatized, and deprived of due process rights as mandated in county policy and relevant collective bargaining agreements.

I was contacted by this individual in November after this employee tried over and over to get resolution on his situation utilizing his chain of command with no success--for nearly 6 MONTHS!.

Nobody was listening.

I listened, and I am listening.

I have received a copy of the five page HR investigation summary of this employee's harassment claim against his supervisor.  The report corroborates what this employee claims.  This report was completed, and recommendations were made for resolution, on June 24th of this year.

But then the report was shelved.  Nobody did anything with it, and the employee asked over and over and over for a copy.  He asked over and over and over to get back to his job.  He was stymied.  Nothing was given to him for five months.  Meanwhile, he was prevented from working shifts he traditionally has worked and this has had the net effect of reducing his income by 15-18% over what he has earned in the past.

So upon my receipt of the report, I immediately thought I would publish it--after all, it was inactive and nothing was being done on it.  Jim Little of the PNJ saw part I on my blog and made a public records request for the 5-page report.  So I asked our attorney if it was a public record releasable on my blog and also to the PNJ.

Here is what I asked of our attorney:

"As you know, Jim Little from the PNJ has made a public request of me for the email string below as well as the embedded photographs within what I am forwarding to you in this email—which includes the first five pages of an HR document from June (?) of this year apparently.  Because I want to comply and I always do comply with the state public records statutes—please supply the specific statutory exemption that applies and which precludes me from sending the below string specifically--- to include the photographs embedded-- to Jim Little in answer to his public records request.  Please be specific. 

As you and I discussed, I know this does not comport specifically with county policy—but that in and of itself

Doing What is Right Part II: Stuck in "Purgatory"

How long must an employee suffer and be punished for making a valid, sustained complaint against a supervisory employee?

As I discussed in part I--it appears we have one county employee that is desperately trying to get back to his job, a job he loves to do--but he is being stymied by a bureaucratic gridlock and a lack of action.  This has resulted in reduced pay for this individual as well as continuing stress.  Meanwhile, this employee has gutted it out, been put on a "performance improvement plan" that to the best of my knowledge is not being followed-up on as designed by the staff and supervisors of this employee.  So this employee is stuck on a hamster wheel, stuck in a weird kind of surreal "Purgatory" for the last 6 months.  It is time the story gets told, we MUST break the gridlock on this!

On May 1st of this year, this employee lodged a formal complaint of harassment against a supervisor.

The supervisor was notified on May 1st, the same day the complaint was lodged by the employee, and then again on May 13th via an email (below) and asked again to provide documents and other relevant information--to show their side of the issue.

To which the supervisor, the one who was the subject of the original employee harassment complaint, responded:

To Which the Supervisor's Supervisor immediately responded:

I have added the redactions above in an abundance of caution and to protect the identity of the employee and the supervisor involved.  There was a 5-page written summary document of the investigation of this harassment issue completed on June 24th....5-months ago.  The report  is very favorable to the employee and I wanted to publish it as a part of this story but I have been advised that I cannot release it yet.  The reasons why, and the rationale I was given for not being able to release it will be discussed in part III.

Sunshine: Part II

Some folks think they understand the sunshine law and what it means.  When they begin to write about it, their ignorance on the topic is spotlighted.....

I am not a lawyer, but I still have an opinion, just like the "facebook-page self-anointed experts" do on topics like the Florida Sunshine Law.  So here is my opinion on Sunshine.

One thing I understand is that giving my opinion on a topic or a subject that may come before the full board for a vote is NOT a violation of the sunshine law.  That means I can blog and facebook post and do radio and TV interviews on topics that might come before the board without being in violation of this law.

---But what about if I sent a memo outlining my reasons for supporting something specific on an agenda, to my fellow commissioners before a vote,  telling them implicitly how I was going to vote....Would that act in and of itself be a violation of the Sunshine Law?  NO it would not be, so long as I didn't solicit or receive responses from my fellow board members--that's my understanding of the law.  (I don't do this, I'm just pointing out that one-way communications, so far as I understand it, are not sunshine law violations).

---How about this one:  What if I walked up to one of my fellow commissioners at a social function not at a meeting and said "Hey-I'm going to vote YES for the [fill in the topic coming up for a vote]!!"  and then walked away?  Would that be a violation?  NO, so long as the other board member said nothing and did not respond in any way--this is my understanding of the law.  (I'd never do this either--and it would be risky because if the board member who I said this to said anything back signalling his/her intention--this could be construed a meeting out of the Sunshine)

What WOULD be problematic and what COULD be construed a meeting out of the Sunshine?

---Back to back meetings with members of the board individually by staff members or polling the board in advance of an advertised meeting by calling the members one by one.  These individual meetings or calls could happen and the individual board members might not even know.  These are the scenarios that concern me.

--Conduits:  If a person takes my opinion on a topic then goes to another commissioner and gets his thought on that topic, and then on a subsequent discussion slips and discloses what the other board member said----that could be a violation via the conduit who relayed the information.

Sunshine! Part I

Some folks think they understand the sunshine law and what it means.  When they begin to write about it, their ignorance on the topic is spotlighted.....

As I return from a really relaxing, really great weekend getaway out of state-- I see some familiar faces online spouting inaccurate, ridiculous tripe purported to be the "truth."  In some of this garbage that is nothing more than ill-informed opinion-- I am named.

But the opinions expressed are not factual.  They are simply opinions--and everybody has one, just like the famous old saying goes, the one everyone knows but I won't spell it out for you here.

So the latest "Opinion" being bandied about as fact is that it is against the law to project an opinion on a topic ahead of a vote.  ILLEGAL!!  "It is illegal it is a violation of the sunshine law!!"they are saying as they work themselves into a frenzied lather with their conjecture and speculation on a topic that they clearly do not understand.

So let me explain the way it really works, in my opinion and in practice.  (i.e. this is how I operate, and as I have operated since 2006 when I was first elected as a school board member locally)

1.  I blog about things that interest me.  I do this to share my thoughts on topics with constituents.  I do this to clearly stake out my opinions on  topics of interest--some of which I also strongly advocate for in my work as an elected representative on the Escambia Board of County Commissioners.  (and previously as a member of the Escambia County School Board) I do this often so that folks will know in advance how I intend to vote on issues.

2.  I maintain a Commissioner Facebook Page--from which I interact with constituents for the reasons listed in #1 above.  I do not block anyone, nor do I erase comments.

3.  I write OP-eds in the PNJ from time to time.  for the same reasons listed above, in #1.

4.  I go on radio shows frequently, when I am asked to do so, and discuss topics of interest and topics that will come before the board for a vote.  for the same reasons mentioned in #1 above.

5.  I appear from time to time on Channel 3. for the same reasons mentioned in #1 above.

6.  I do monthly coffee's and frequent town hall meetings to hear from constituents and to let constituents know where I stand on a host of topics.  I do these for many reasons and for the same reasons mentioned in #1 above.


So for folks to get so exercised over this is really quite perplexing.  Why else would the media want to speak with any of us, the elected board members, if we could not discuss anything that could potentially come before the commission for a vote?  Believe me, they don't care nor do they have any interest in talking to us about our hobbies or what restaurants we like.  They ask us for our thoughts on topics that involve our official duties!  Hello?!?

Giving my opinion out like I do is NOT a violation of the sunshine law, no matter what any self-anointed facebook site "expert" wants you to believe. The lack of understanding of this is really quite astonishing....More on this in Part II.

Big Restore Act Projects on the Agenda Tomorrow

A Frank Discussion about Perdido Bay

Cato the Elder  234–149 BC

Late last week I had the opportunity to have a very frank discussion about Perdido Bay with a long-term resident of the area. This individual called my office and arranged an afternoon teleconference. We talked about the health of the bay, we talked about the issues that are impacting the bay.  And we talked philosophy as well.  This person has some strong feelings about what is causing all the trouble in Perdido Bay. She was also honest in what she hoped the outcome would be.  As I discussed these issues with her, I kept thinking about the famous quote commonly attributed to famous Roman Orator, statesman and soldier--Cato the Elder-- about the nature of politics and local issues and concerns.  The famous quotation from Cato the Elder is  “the average Roman doesn't care about what the legions are doing in foreign lands. He cares only about the pebble in his shoe.”.

My questions in bold and her responses italicized.

Have you noticed the bay has improved over the last decade or so--since IP started sending their effluent through a polishing wetland facility they created?

"No I really haven't.  I think it has become worse.  I've lived on the bay since the 1970's and I can tell you it's not better.  Now, we all thought that diverting the effluent through wetlands would be the solution-we really did but the plant increased the production and so the bay is getting more and more of the water from that process--and so no, I don't see it getting better"

What about the studies that show the bay is improving, and the Nutter and associates reports that show the bay's water is within allowable tolerances?

"We paid for our own studies and we compared them to a baseline of biological surveys that DEP used to do in the 1970's and  early 1980s--and looking at the changes over time it is clear that the bay has not improved but has become worse. Florida DEP used to conduct these surveys but then they stopped in the late 1980s."

I was told there were no crabs in the bay, so I went out and caught some.  I also saw seagrass and some crustaceans on driftwood in the upper bay--is this not a sign of improvement?

"I understand the grass beds are making a comeback, but I don't see the animals and the fish coming back in large numbers-so I don't see the grass alone as a sign of health"

The water itself has always been murky, kind of brown not unlike Pensacola Bay is in the upper portion near the Pensacola Bay bridge--do you believe this is because of IP alone?

"I think IP is a large contributor.  A few years back when they had the explosion at the plant and had to suspend operations for a few weeks, I could tell the difference in the bay immediately!  Within just the two weeks they were closed down and stopped the pumping of their water--the clarity of the bay water came back--I could see a noticeable improvement in just that short period of time.  So I believe if we stopped pumping the effluent through the wetlands and into Perdio Bay, we would see improvement very rapidly"

What is your goal, do you want to see International Paper get shut down?

"A lot of people think I am anti-International Paper-but I am not.  I actually have worked with them through the years, all of them as one company came through and then another.  I think the people that work there are good and that they are trying but I just think it is too much to be dumped in our little bay--the bay is just too small to take it.  I tell people if they could reduce production or somehow not dump the water into the bay-I would be fine with International Paper."

Isn't it a bit hypocritical?  I mean, we all use the products IP makes, and if we force them to close this mill here-don't you realize they would just take their production elsewhere-potentially to a country that has more laxed environmental regulations than we do here in America--which would ultimately lead to more pollution for the planet?

"I agree, I do realize that, but I live here so I care about this because this is where I live.  That's what is so tough about this issue,  and I don't know what the answer is.  If this was happening in Pensacola Bay or somewhere else or in some other state or some other country-- it would not affect me as directly as it does now and so therefore I would not be as actively opposed.   And if and when the mill does close--I know that will be a very large economic impact, I know that. So I'm not sure h"ow this gets resolved.

I have heard that International Paper is working through the process and is working on a Site Specific Alternative Criteria--what do you think about that?

"I don't believe they will possibly get one, how could they?  I just don't see that as a possibility and I don't think it will happen.

If you could wave a magic wand and get any outcome you wanted, what would that be?

"I don't have any anger towards IP, but I do wish they could be shut down, so I suppose that is what I would want as an outcome, yes."

Doing What is Right Part I: Due Process and the Presumption of Innocence

How long must an employee suffer and be punished for making a valid, sustained complaint against a supervisory employee?

I recently spoke with a long-term employee of the county who has been put through the ringer for no fault of his own.  He has endured a financial punishment and been stigmatized at his work site. He and his family have been targeted and hurt financially and this punishment continues to this day. This is NOT right, this will get resolved.

And sadly-- based upon what I have seen thus far, and what has been presented to me thus far from this employee combined with information I have received independently from other sources--it appears as though the blackballing of this employee was done for reasons that appear to be retaliatory in nature.

This individual works in a job of high stress and tremendous importance.  As a matter of fact--we have a hard time hiring enough employee's with the certifications and abilities possessed by this individual.  In spite of this, the hours of work for this individual have been cut, along with his OT hours which in prior years accounted for a large portion of this employee's pay.

From what I have gathered, this individual has worked for us for the last 8 years and has NO adverse employment issues on his record prior to this whole episode erupting like a volcano last spring.  No counseling, no adverse or deficient evaluations, no complaints filed against him.

He was just an employee doing a good and necessary job for his employer-the citizens of Escambia County.

That all changed on May 1st of this year when this individual lodged a job site harassment complaint against a supervisory employee above him on the org chart.  According to this individual, with whom I have now spoken numerous times-"Suddenly the environment became toxic, and I felt I was being singled out because I stood up for myself and for those under me with whom I work."

Within two weeks, our HR department notified the supervisor about the complaint and named the junior employee who made the complaint.   A report was generated by HR that all but affirmed the facts outlined by this employee in his initial complaint, and this report had bullet point recommendations intended for the supervisory employee who was named in the complaint--in order to correct the workplace issues and improve the atmosphere.

It should have ended there, but it didn't.

The HR investigation ended and two days later, on May 16th, and the report was never provided to either of the employees. It was shelved for the past 4 1/2 months. the supervisory employee who was the target of the initial complaint subsequently filed a formal, state-level complaint

A Somber Day for Escambia County....

Today we will honor a fallen firefighter who died in the line of duty last week, it will be a somber day in Escambia County.  It is my understanding that planning for this event has been taking place for four days straight so that this man will receive the hero's service and burial he deserves.  It is my understanding that there will be 70 Firetrucks from around the Southeast in attendance-- along with thousands of family members, firemen, and citizens participating in this service.

Memorial Service for District Chief Dwain Bradshaw Details:

The community is invited to pay their respects to Escambia County Fire Rescue Volunteer District Chief Dwain S. Bradshaw Tuesday, Nov. 12, when he will be honored with a service and memorial procession before being laid to rest.

Bradshaw, age 41, a Volunteer District Chief at Escambia County Fire Rescue Station #1 in Bellview and Volunteer Assistant District Chief for ECFR Station #2 in Beulah, was killed Nov. 6 while on scene at a multi-vehicle accident on the Muscogee Bridge.

Services for Chief Bradshaw are scheduled as follows:

•             Visitation: 10-11 a.m. - Hillcrest Baptist Church, 800 E. Nine Mile Road.

•             Funeral services: 11 a.m. -Hillcrest Baptist Church, 800 E. Nine Mile Road.

•             General public attending the funeral, but not part of the procession must park at the John R. Jones complex. ECAT will transport attendees to and from the services.

•             Grave site: Immediately following funeral services - Pensacola Memorial Gardens, 7433 Pine Forest Road

Those wanting to pay their respects along the route are asked to please follow these safety rules:

•             Procession route will begin at Hillcrest Baptist Church proceeding West on Nine Mile Road to South Pine Forest Road ending at Pensacola Memorial Gardens.

•             Do not set up on Hillcrest Baptist Church property or block entrances and exits.

•             Anyone near the route, please be aware traffic will potentially be stopped and delayed approximately 45-60 minutes.  Procession traffic may impact the funeral route from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm. You may want to avoid the area altogether.

•             All exit ramps from I-10 at Exit 7 for Pine Forest Road will be temporarily closed during the procession.

In lieu of flowers or other gifts, those interested in donating to the Bradshaw family may do so through the Chief Dwain Bradshaw Memorial Fund GoFundMe. All donations will be given to the family.

EDATES--Good for the Economy Part III

As I have discussed in part I and part II of this series of blog posts on EDATES--I generally am supportive of them because in most instances they are good for the economy and they help us attract targeted industries and diversify the jobs base.  The local newspaper apparently dislikes EDATES, judging from the vicious way in which they attacked International Paper for receiving their EDATE (which has expired, by the way and is no longer in force)  Late last week we received the most up to date list of all current EDATES, and I am listing them below.  It appears as if most are set to expire in the next 1-2 year period with the exception of one that will be in effect through 2028.  I wonder if the newspaper will be as vicious and aggressive toward ALL EDATES---or will their vitriol only be reserved for the EDATES for organizations they "dislike?"  Here is the current list....

Business                                                                          Expiration

Ascend Performance Materials                                        2022

Daily Convo, LLC                                                            2028

Gelman Sciences, Inc.                                                      2019

Genesis Property Holdings                                              2019

Landworks Investments, LLC                                          2019

Lewis Bear Co. (Bear Marcus Pointe, LLC)                   2021

NFCU Phase II                                                                 2019

NFCU Phase III                                                                2020

NFCU Phase IV                                                                2021

Rodney Rich and Co.                                                        2019

Regardless of the media's support or non-support of EDATES--whether or not the County Commissioners can have the power to grant these economic development incentives must be authorized by a vote of the citizens of our county.  Our current authority to grant EDATES will expire in 2022.

There is a possibility that the question of whether or not to authorize EDATES may be placed on the 2020 ballot.  This will be up to the Board of County Commissioners to make this decision.

Andy Got Catfished! Marlette Manipulation 22.0

In an unusual twist  and a departure from reality and what typically occurs in real life-- Andy Marlette appears to willingly allow himself to be "Catfished"...luckily the rest of us are not quite as gullible......

Cartoonist Andy Marlette just loves to let me rent space in his head.  It is so funny.  Between his never ending barrage of attacks on Christianity, our President, the First Lady, our Congressman, our State Representatives, Well-established and well-respected local employers, and others that are conservative-he still manages to do cartoon after cartoon about me...One after another.  I'm almost like a "regular" in his rotation, LOL.

Apparently--he also likes to be "Catfished", as evidenced by today's cartoon of me that he did and which I have improved above.

You see, Andy's compromised, conscripted.

He takes money from people and does their ideological  bidding.  He intimates in his cartoon of me today that I do likewise.

Of course, this simply is not true.  I have never taken anything of value, not one thin dime, from International Paper.  Nothing, nada.  What I have done is meet with the experts at FDEP who dispute Andy's propaganda about IP.  Then I met with IP executives and toured their facilities and saw the wetlands firsthand. I requested a tour to learn about what was going on (Something, ironically, that neither the PNJ nor Andy Marlette has requested from IP).  I am paying for independent analysis of water samples from the bay in an attempt to validate the findings.  I look into things and I do research, I do NOT let folks just get over on me--because I am an independent free thinker.....

Sadly, the same thing cannot be said of Andy Marlette.  He takes money from his Patron du jour-whomever that happens to be at any given time--- and allows himself to be used like the tool that he is.  Sound's kinda like the world's second oldest profession.   And Andy really likes it!

Yes--he has already been catfished by whomever his "Patron" Du Jour is today--and maybe he doesn't even realize it?

Yes, yes, anyone who he is told to keep the gloves on with----or who pays him--- and Andy subserviently, obsequiously, and like a good boy does just that.  No cartoons. No dumb articles.  He is very, very obedient.

Everyone else is a target though--particularly if Andy's Patron says so and doesn't like the target.

But here is something for Andy's microscopically small brain to ponder:   What if Andy's Patron du jour is/was the real bad guy, or at a minimum an opportunist and a user--or a fake or a phony?  What

PADP's Next Civic Center Proposal will be Kept Confidential

There are very valid reasons to keep certain proposals confidential and exempt from records requests during the competition phase of a procurement, as the BCC voted to do with the next round of P3 Proposals to replace the current Pensacola Civic Center...

The importance of protecting certain proprietary information contained within project proposals is vital--in the private sector AND in the Government sector as well.

If this information is compromised, there are all kinds of ramifications that could come from such a leak.

It is for this reason that Florida statutes allow for certain proposals to be kept confidential and exempt from public records release for certain periods of time prior to the selection process of a board being completed.

In economic development, there are protections for projects as well in statute.  Unfortunately, these are not always honored.

And as we have seen locally-- if information is leaked prematurely-- projects can fall apart and ill-will is created.

This very thing happened not long ago with an economic development project here in Escambia County-- and in the fallout of that fiasco--- where our Non-Disclosure Agreement was actually violated-- we lost a manufacturing firm, several dozen jobs, a tenant in one of our commerce parks, and in the process we created a huge ruckus for this company among it's then current employees out of state--who were unaware of any planned move by the company until this information leak occurred out of Escambia County.

It is for this reason that I requested that an add-on be included in yesterday's meeting of the BCC to insure that the board voted up or down on whether or not to give the next P3 proposal from PADP (to construct a new events center and field house at the current site of the Pensacola Civic Center) this statutorily permitted confidentiality.

And last night the board voted unanimously to do this as a part of the County Attorney's Action Items.

It is now anticipated that the BCC will advertise for submission of P3 proposals for a 21 day period, and that any and all proposals received as a result of this advertisement will be treated as confidential until such time as the board takes action of proposals received.  And it is likely we will receive at least one proposal; PADP has signalled that they will be sending a revised proposal and it will be kept confidential and not released to the public.  Because the board voted to do this last night.

Read our attorney's letter stating this below.

BCC Says NO to Paying Commissioner Doug Underhill's Legal Fees

The BCC said no to paying for Commissioner Doug Underhill's legal fees at our regular meeting last night....

There was a discussion item on last night's BCC agenda, the subject of which was the payment of legal fees for Commissioner Doug Underhill.  The board had previously rejected the idea of paying these fees prior to the case being heard in circuit court.

The local court case happened and the judge ruled in favor of Commissioner Underhill.

$15,600.00 in fees and costs were presented last night for the board to consider paying.  The wrinkle now for me is the fact that an appeal to the district court of appeals has been filed in this case.

 Absent that appeal, I believe the BCC would have paid the legal bill for the successful defense of the lawsuit brought against Commissioner Underhill in the circuit court.  This would have been appropriate under statute and board policy.  Had we refused to do this, I have every confidence that such a non-payment would have itself been challenged in court and we would have lost that case. 

And then we would have been paying fees on top of fees to attorney Ed Fleming.

So I brought a motion for the board to consider last night which would have allowed for the amount owed currently to be set aside in a reserve account after full payment of the current bill to Ed Fleming by Commissioner Underhill was verified.  This ammount would be held until such time as the court of appeals came back with a dispositive ruling on the case.  If the appeal was ruled in favor of Underhill--the fees held in reserve would have immediately been paid to him.  I felt like this was fair given the circumstance and I felt it would insure timely payment to Ed Fleming for his services rendered in this current case.

But the board did not want to support this sort of an arrangement, I did not get a second on this motion I made.

After much subsequent discussion by the board, Commissioner Underhill made a motion of his own, that the full legal bill be paid immediately.  His motion died for a lack of a second.

After much further back and forth dialogue on this topic by the four of us on the dias, the outcome is crystal clear now.  The BCC simply says NO to paying Commissioner Doug Underhill's legal fees. 

I suspect we will next address this topic if and when the appelate court renders a decision on the circuit court case, which could take months or even years......

DEO to Escambia Regarding the Comprehensive Plan Amendment: "No Comment"

The county received the below correspondence from the Department of Economic Opportunity regarding our comprehensive plan amendment--and I am told by relevant staff this means the county is proceeding correctly and there are no issues with what was submitted.  This, however, does not stop citizens from taking further exception with plan amendments in the circuit court, however.  From the state:

"Please see attached correspondence from the Department of Economic Opportunity regarding the above comprehensive plan amendment.  In addition to this electronic message, a paper copy of the letter is being mailed to the addressee.  Paper copies of the attached correspondence are available upon request.  Please contact the Department planner identified in the attached letter if you have any questions or concerns.  Thank You"       

              

                 

EDATES--Good for our Economy, Part II

EDATES allow the county to give valuable incentives to targeted industries in exchange for job-creation and footprint expansion.  This is not a bad thing, this is a GOOD THING!

In part one of this series I talked about the recent baseless and ignorant attacks on EDATES from the local media.

In this post, I want to talk specifics about EDATES....who gets them locally, what it costs the taxpayers in unrealized ad valorem revenue, and the value created by the BCC approving these agreements.

The complete list of all recipients of EDATES locally are contained on the spreadsheets here, here, here, and here.  The spreadsheets, provided to me by the county's budget and finance department, highlight the areas where we exempt taxes;  County, Library MSBU, and the Sheriff's MSTU.  In the header of the vertical columns, you will see the value of the  subject property to be exempted, expressed in three ways:

1.   Market Value of the Property
2.   Assessed Value of the Property
3.  The Amount of the total Assessed Value that will be Exempted via the EDATE

At the far right, the value of the exemption received is listed, and at the bottom of the sheet the grand total of all exemptions is listed.  For the four years I have included, the average yearly total of these exemptions given (which equates to the unrealized tax revenue)-is roughly $1.7 Million Annually.

Some things to consider when looking at EDATES as an economic development tool:

1.  The period of the incentive is capped at 10 years, after which time full tax is paid on full taxable value of real property.
2.  There is a ying and a yang to these agreements; something is given by the county, and for that something is given by the entity receiving the EDATE (additional jobs commitments usually)
3.  The local School Board receives full tax revenue on the full taxable value of properties that the County provides EDATES to, from day one of the agreement (school taxes cannot be diminished via EDATES under statute, and neither can the Fire MSBU)
4.  The county does not have to give EDATE exemptions on the full amount of the taxable value of a property; the BCC can give an exemption on a portion of the value and collect taxes on the rest--and this happens frequently.

Look over the list of recipients on the spreadsheets I have linked.  These are good companies, that pay good wages and support thousands of jobs locally!

When IP received their EDATE in May of 2008 (before any current member of the BCC was on the board)--it was given in exchange for a massive expansion of their production and an investment of over $200 Million dollars to their plant.  It was supported unanimously at the time, and signed by my predecessor's predecessor, Mike Whitehead, then chairman of the board and D1 Commissioner.  It did give IP an exemption of roughly $1.6 Million yearly for 10 years.  And this exemption has expired as of 1/1/2018.  With IP supporting 500 personnel and 100 contractor personnel and having an economic impact in our area that is calculated to be $250 Million annually over the last ten years--I believe what the BCC did in 2008 was a good move----especially given the dire circumstances nationally that were occurring at that time....Someone should wake up and remind the local media personalities about the great recession of 2008 that served as a backdrop to this BCC decision of 2008, and tell them it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback but not easy to make tough decisions in real time--and this is what distinguishes the "doers"  (us) from the "pundits" and "gadflys" and "critics" (them).

EDATEs--Good for our Economy, Part I

Fake News Media locally is now attacking EDATES.  They are so ravenous in their new attack they have overlooked the fact that several of us on the dias didn't even vote for these--we inherited them.  Fake News.

Reading some of the garbage in the news lately can bring on a migraine style Excedrin Headache fast.  I mean really fast.

Because a lot of it is garbage, pure rubbish. 

Much of it is opinion blended with half truth, spiced with innuendo, and topped off with ad hominem attacks.  Pertinent facts are left out, lies are inserted, other issues are hyper-exaggerated, and the overall goal becomes to enrage the reader--not inform the reader.

At it's core, it is nothing more than opinions paraded as news designed to stir up animosity toward "some" elected officials. 

Local print media has changed and evolved, and it is now all about "hits" and "clicks" and "shares" and other statistics that lead and compel writers to stir division, stoke anger, push boundaries and run up the click counts--hoping for the next big "viral" story.  This is also how the writers are compensated in many instances--it becomes a glorified "popularity contest."

Good news stories by and large do not stir big numbers, and this leaves attack pieces and contrived controversies to carry the slack.

A recently departed PNJ reporter, who actually wrote really well and put out good stories, is no longer there because the pieces written by this individual, according to someone with whom I spoke who is very familiar, just did not stir up enough clicks. 

So now the focus is not on who, what, when, and where--it is  "Let's Get Salacious and Controversial!!!---Let's Get CLICKS!!" 

Take for instance this tripe about EDATES for area employers.  Somehow, this is now twisted into some kind of a bad thing for our area and economy.  This is an opinion piece, but it infuses some information purported to be factual, and devolves into one messy, sloppy attack piece. 

The target?  County Commissioners like me who support economic development and EDATES.

(EDATE stands for  economic development ad valorem tax exemption.  You can read all about them here.  What they are, how they came to be, what they are for, and how they are approved.) 

We have a number of companies that currently receive these incentives, and over the past four years we have exempted an average of $1.6 Million annually from these employers.

And for this, we generate jobs in manufacturing, we incentivize expansion of existing footprints, we get agreements for new equipment to be purchased and put on line locally, and we diversify our jobs base.  These are good, tangible results for the revenue we forego.

In one instance and for one company--we have exempted millions of dollars with EDATES.  We have also paid incentives from a different pot for additional jobs to be added.  With this one company--that total may well approach $50 Million Dollars in incentives.  And for that, we have a company that has invested $1.2 Billion in facility construction locally and employs 8,000 Escambian's currently with an annual payroll of $400 Million Dollars!  So yes, this incentivization pays back for years and decades to come--it pays back in spades.  No mention of this in the Sunday attack piece, though.

International Paper is now targeted because they have received EDATES for equipment purchases.  I am told by a source very familiar that the large investment made by IP may have gone to a different location were it not for a generous EDATE provided by our county a number of years back (before I was elected to this board).  Had that investment gone elsewhere--there is no guarantee the new IP jobs (or the existing jobs) would have stayed in Pensacola.  So now we have IP with 500 employees, 100 Contractor Employees, and a $250 Million Dollar yearly economic impact in our area --and the cartoonist is mad about the less than a Million dollars yearly over the last 20 years that we have exempted for IP.  Do the math for yourself, do not simply buy what the cartoonist wants to feed you in his ill-conceived, slanted, half-truth hatchet pieces.  He is a biased partisan hack, nothing more.

The intelligent strategy, looking at what IP has invested and what they are working to accomplish here in Escambia County-- is to keep their jobs here and work with IP to help them come into compliance with the environmental regulations that are required.   It is simple, it is a no-brainer.  It's what we are doing and IP is following the process to do this and they are in compliance with the law.

More about our EDATES in part II....

37 Parking Spots in Latest Revised Conceptual Plan for Perdido Key Public Beach Access #4

The latest conceptual plan for our next public beach access in Perdido Key is shown above.  Highlights include ADA accessibility, Fire/EMS/Lifeguard accessibility, 37 parking spots, and 300' of Gulf Front Beach for the Public to enjoy!

The latest conceptual drawing for our newest public beach access point for Escambia citizens has been created and submitted to the natural resources department.  It contains 37 parking spaces and will provide access to first responders in the event that water rescues are needed.  The site  will also be developed in an environmentally friendly manner, allowing us to be good custodians of the resource, providing necessary habitat for several endangered species.

After speaking with staff about this project, it appears as if the month of November will be consumed with taking this plan through the county's Development Review Committee Process.  After that, according to staff, a development order could be issued sometime in mid to late December.  According to staff:

"The following are the key steps to initiate the project:

• Completion of approval process through Escambia County Development Review Committee
• Completion of permitting through Florida Department of Environmental Protection (CCCL permit)
• Completion of permitting through Florida Department of Transportation (Driveway permit)
• Receive probable cost to construct from the Engineer of Record
• Board of County Commissioners to provide a funding source for construction
• Resolution of any legal challenges
• Bid for construction
• Actual construction"

Civic Center Parking: What is the Right Price for Parking?

What is the right price for parking to charge patrons who are attending events at the Pensacola Civic Center?

I received the below email comment from a frustrated constituent:

"I’d like to who [SIC] approved another $2.00 increase in parking Fees at the BC after raising the parking fees $5.00 just about a year ago? $12.00 to park at a substandard facility is a slap in the face to the patrons."

So I asked staff to look into this issue--and the max charged in lots controlled by the Civic Center is supposed to be $10.00--not $12.00.  Here is what I found out from my staff query about the parking:

The Bay Center has 3 parking lots in front and 1 in back that hold approx. 1,069 parking spaces  

       

• Front                        288
• Trolley 1                  138
• Trolley 2                  178
• Back                         465

        Total                      1,069

 (historically, the Civic Center had 16 acres for event parking before the tech park was built across the street on the south side of the facility)

• The Parking ticket fees are collected in the parking lot by the Winterfest organization. Bay Center has a contract with Winterfest.
• Parking fees are $10 for all tickets in Bay Center lots, other lots managed by Winterfest can be $20 or more per space.
• All tickets are reconciled to cash collected per event.
• Event and parking fees are separate and collected separately.
• Event parking is $10.
• Hockey can charge up to $12 for parking in the front lot--all other lots are $10 for Hockey.

(Comparable location event parking fees:)

• New Orleans - $20-50
• Mississippi Coliseum - $10
• Mobile - $5 (Generally do not have events)
• Tallahassee Arena - $10
• Baton Rouge - $10
• Warf - Free

 History of fees:

• 1985-1993 - $1
• 1993-2014 - $3 + Ticket price
• 2014 - $5
• 2015 - $10/Events/Concerts   $5 Hockey
• January 2019 – All parking $10