Our debris removal consultant, Thompson Consulting Services, provided board members the below report this morning on our debris hauling to date for our three debris removal contractors.
Interesting information that citizens will want to see. The recovery is underway!
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| Debris Removal Underway in Beulah on September 25, 2020 |
I have asked if the roads in gated subdivisions like Nature Trail in District 1 can be cleared like the rest of the roads in the county are being cleared. Currently, the answer seems to be no.
But the folks that live in private, gated neighborhoods and on private roads are taxpayers, too. I believe they should be entitled to debris removal after storms just as the rest of us are. It's funded by taxpayers--and they are taxpayers, too.
County Administrator Janice Gilley has sent the below request on behalf of the citizens who live on private roads and in gated neighborhoods. We will see what comes of it. Meanwhile, I have communicated with residents in Nature Trail who are currently paying for the removal of debris from that neighborhood's common areas. It is my understanding that members of the HOA board of Nature Trail have also reached out to county staff to seek assistance. I have been contacted via email by residents of Innerarity Island about this same issue.
This morning 4 Pallets of Blue Tarps are being deployed to District 1 at the Equestrian Center.
Staff will be handing out the tarps at 8:00 this morning, one per car, on a first come, first serve basis.
These are 20X26 heavy duty tarps, provided by the state of Florida through FEMA.
Please let neighbors that may not have power or access to information know.
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| The segment of the 9-mile road project in Beulah between exit 5 and Beulah Road is more than 24 months behind schedule and $6.5 Million over budget. Apparently, I'm not supposed to be upset about this though---even as I see bright sunny 3-day weekends go by where no work is being done on the site.... |
Yesterday morning at the Florida Alabama Transportation Planning Organization Meeting I was able to ask representatives of the Florida Department of Transportation about the agonizingly slow progress on completing the 4-lane upgrade of 9-Mile Road in Beulah.
Folks out here that I represent are angry. And that is putting it politely.
Citizens subjected to this agonizingly slow project and road intersections that are so out of level it is damaging vehicles are fed up. They are coming to me with angry complaints--but I'm hearing now that I am "coming on too strong" by blogging about this and putting FDOT on the defensive.
My constituents don't care though. They want answers!
They want to know what I want to know: Why is this project so badly behind schedule and over budget?
I asked, and here are the initial answers given by FDOT representatives at the TPO in Gulf Breeze yesterday. These FDOT folks were present and knew my questions would be coming due to media coverage of my blog post from Monday on this topic.
Bryant Paulk, of FDOT, described four major issues/changes that the contractor has been awarded on this segment of the project which have led to the completion deadline slipping. I have requested, through the executive director of the TPO Austin Mount, to meet with the new FDOT District 3 Director as soon as possible to discuss these issues and get more specific details, and that meeting will take place sometime within the next few weeks I am told.
So here's what's going on according to FDOT yesterday---four major contract change orders, over 1000 additional contract days, have been awarded by FDOT to their contractor on this job:
1.) Change order one was for more and larger noise walls along the side of the project adjacent to Nature Trail Subdivision, at an additional cost of $400K via an addition of 110 contract completion days.
2.) Due to the increase in traffic on the corridor--the contractor was awarded a $2.3 Million Dollar change order and an additional 325 days for completion
3.) To speed up just the first portion of this segment to have the 4-lanes complete between exit 5 and NFCU way--an acceleration award to the contractor was made in the amount of $1.4 Million
4.) Cistern Leaching over a section of the segment resulted in additional contract completion days and a $1.1 Million dollar addition to the contract.
According to Mr. Paulk--a total of 1,089 additional contract completion days have been added to the contract since it was commenced in 2016. During the discussion, Mr. Paulk indicated that the initial completion was slated for late 2018---before the addition of the additional contract days for weather and holidays. He stated that the project is now expected to be completed by May of 2021 and as of right now it is $6.5 Million over budget.
So in my meeting that will be scheduled soon, I will request much more information on these delays and the specifics of the change orders, and I will post what I learn here.
Look--I get it. FDOT is not happy this is over budget and behind schedule. They want it done ASAP just as we do--just as I do.
The difference is--they are comfortably distanced away from this project unlike me and my constituents who have to navigate this nightmare multiple times daily. And they also seem quite happy to defend the reasons why this is so badly behind and even seamlessly double-down on how these delays and cost-overages are "normal" and just "part of doing business."
That's where our agreement ends. This project is an absolute, unmitigated disaster.
So I'll be asking for the information and rationale for why they feel this project and these cost overruns and delays are acceptable--because I think it is unacceptable and most of my constituents do as well.
We heard about it last week, and today it arrived.
The Windfall arrives!
The Board of County Commissioners received this check, above, today via courier.
It is an incredible sight to behold, a check that big. Massive!
So many good things are going to be constructed and put into place for the citizens with this money--as according to our discussions last night it is "unrestricted" funding--meaning it can be used for any legitimate public purpose.
Split up 5 ways for each commissioner in his district--this equates to nearly $1.7 Million per commission district.
Boom! What a windfall.
It makes me think of a catchy tune from the 80's band "Krokus" I saw performed live at the Pensacola Civic Center in 1985 as this obscure band opened for Kiss.
The song was purportedly about Dynamite Sticks exploding.... I think....supposedly........ The song was titled "Tonight, Long Stick Goes Boom!" anyway--it was a catchy song unofficially known as the greatest AC/DC song AC/DC didn't record!
Bringing it into 2020 in Escambia County I'd say lets call today's version-----"Today, Big Check Goes Boom!"
You can be sure there will be more to come on this cash, how it will be split, where it is going, and how it is going to be spent!!
I was a guest this morning on Don Parker's Good Morning Pensacola Radio program. The topic: 9-Mile Road and the consternation the lack of completion is causing residents out in Beulah.
I appreciated the opportunity to be on the show with Don--and for those who missed it the podcast is here
So we see in this morning's PNJ an article outlining FDOT's apparently new push for something "they" think is important: creating a 6-lane road out of what will within the next year or so (finally) be a 4-lane Nine-Mile Road.
But there are a couple of issues with this....
First---how about we address the 9000 pound elephant in the room FDOT?!? Why the hell is the current project so badly over-budget and behind schedule? That is the question residents I represent want to know!! This entire weekend was brilliant, bright sunshine and no rain---yet I saw NOT ONE worker on 9-Mile road between Mobile Hwy and Exit 5 working. Why not? I mean, this project is tracking to be nearly 24 months behind schedule---residents that I represent want to know why this FDOT project is not a 24 hour a day, weekends and nights, priority for completion? I want to know this too, so I will be asking this question SPECIFICALLY at the TPO meeting we will be having this Wednesday.
Seriously. People are pissed off that an entire grocery store (Publix at 9-Mile Road) can be built in less time than it is taking a half mile of two lane road. Heck, folks are seeing quicker per mile construction over water on the Three Mile Bridge than what they are witnessing on this flat 9-Mile road project through Beulah. This agonizingly, astonishingly slow pace that is suddenly, apparently the new normal is apparently just peachy with FDOT. I'm going to ask about this SPECIFICALLY as well on Wednesday.
So with this as the backdrop---why are we even talking about making 6-lanes on this road NOW?? Who is pushing this? Did an outlandish, expensive ($74 million), and inefficient "special interest" idea get laughed out of a room full of Tallahassee deciders a few months back, and is this the "new" project this special interest group now is pushing? Gosh I hope this is not the new "we gotta have this" project because there are MUCH MORE important projects that need to come first that will have greater impact on the issues out here than talking about 6-Lanes through Beulah. I have my suspicions, more on that after I get more information from sources familiar this week in the lead up to the TPO meeting.
But in the meantime, if I might be so audacious and bold as to actually describe what is important to folks out here that actually live and drive here:
#1----FIX the interstate and exit five to 2 LANES NOW, add a dedicated turn lane on the West Bound I-10 Shoulder IMMEDIATELY from Pine Forest Road for one mile to exit 5, as currently the cars are stacking up this distance on the shoulder and some drivers needing to get off on exit 5 are actually slowing down and stopping on the freeway in feeble and frantic efforts to merge at the last minute at exit 5. This is going to lead to a catastrophe if it is not corrected IMMEDIATELY!! I Know this is a Federal Roadway---but let's get them engaged and get this done before people die!!!!!
#2. FDOT, for the love of God, MAKE YOUR CONTRACTOR FINISH THIS CURRENT 4-LANE PROJECT IN BEULAH BETWEEN EXIT 5 AND MOBILE HWY. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH WITH THREE DAY NO WORK WEEKENDS AND LAME EXCUSES WHEN THIS PROJECT IS TRACKING 24 MONTHS BEHIND!!!
#3. Get moving on the Beulah Interchange project!! It is elementary to those that live here--even if we are not traffic specialists like you all: If you pull HALF the Beulah traffic off of 9-Mile Road north to Isaacs lane and what will eventually be our interchange there----this lightens the traffic load on the heavily-congested portion of 9-Mile Road through Beulah on 9-Mile Road in front of NFCU. Hello?!? Duh??
I am going to start to become RELENTLESS on the ridiculousness of some of what I am seeing with FDOT on this stuff. Enough is enough with the ridiculousness and fecklessness FDOT!!
We had our latest update from the design team that is working on a master plan for OLF 8 this past Thursday. And it was excruciating. It ran long, and they droned on and on and on.....it went too long and it was too detailed. It reminded me of a lecture in Astronomy class when I was in college. Too much talking on stuff that did not matter.
Importantly---the presenters were totally and completely out of step with what we were looking for.
They brought ideas and concepts that appear to be more well suited to a large metropolitan city--not a rural, bucolic suburb struggling to maintain the last vestiges of a country atmosphere.
These "consultants" were talking about building a hotel and up to 1900 residential units on OLF 8. This idea had all of us on the dais shaking our heads side to side---so much so even the News Journal noticed the cognitive dissonance coming from the zoom screen....
In a decade's long effort and $18 Million dollars later----we want JOBS not a low-wage retail mall, high-rise hotel, and 1900 residential units in a walkable TOWN! That is not what we acquired this property for!
I have been steadfast and consistent on this project since day one when I inherited it upon taking office--even as I live right across the street. We need high-tech, clean tech jobs in nicely designed buildings with SOME amenities for nearby residents. That was the compromise. Yes, I represent this area, and YES I live right across the street.
Would I LOVE it if the field was packed with nice retail amenities, restaurants, grocery stores and retail and a park and a soccer field and a clock tower and cobblestone streets and a cultural arts museum and an agricultural display, and a large kite-flying field, and pickle ball courts, and outdoor yoga, and outdoor art displays, etc. etc. etc. Yes, of course I would--selfishly as a resident nearby--who wouldn't? That would be fantastic----even if I KNOW the land was not purchased for my enrichment and entertainment--sure I'd like that. Selfishly--YES--I'd love it!
But that is not why we worked so hard and spent so much time and effort on acquiring this key real estate situated right on the freeway in a growing, booming area of commerce.
We need to create good jobs, for residents of the ENTIRE COUNTY and get some value added to the property through a Triumph Gulf Coast grant for infrastructure enhancements to the bare land which will help us offset the costs of acquisition, and then we need to maximize the value of this land and turn it over to folks who will create GOOD JOBS with it. Good jobs, some amenities for nearby residents, but JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!!
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| With the release today of precinct by precinct data by the SOE's site--it is now official--Bergosh won Beulah. Both of Beulah's precincts! |
There were lots of conversations, there was lots of speculation.
Some online haters on online chat sites that are actually simply echo chambers of hate were CONVINCED that my victory was somehow illegitimate.
Many of these folks were just sure that Beulah--the community where I have lived for the last 16 years, the community where I raised my family and sent all my kids to Beulah Elementary School, the community where I have lots of friends, the community my opponents PLASTERED with signs----was going to vote me out. This will sure rattle their collective cages and give them fits, what I'm about to point out to these haters that were convinced I couldn't carry my own back yard. They were just sure of it as they talked online. Sure of it!!!!
And then along comes the primary breakdown and lo and behold--what do you know.
I carried Beulah's precincts, both of them (43 and 114)
Thank you Beulah!
Not only that, but I carried every precinct in District 1 with only two exceptions (26 and 86)--Bellview area.
So yes it may be true that more than 2/3 of registered voters did not vote in this election.
Yes it is true that I did not get 50% of the votes from the less than 1/3 of District 1 voters that participated.
But here is a newsflash for all haters: I won. Hands down.
Just look at the precinct by precinct numbers. There was an election. There were four competitors. I received the most votes. I won by nearly an 1100 vote margin.
Attention all haters that hate me and consistently underestimate me: I'll be here for the next 50 months! and in 4 years and 2 months (50 months) we can run it again if you want!
Until then, I'll keep working--you keep hating!
| A picture of an Andy Marlette cartoon similar to this one (above) hangs currently outside the office of the District 2 Escambia County Commissioner. This one, above, is a much better version of it though! After it became apparent I won the election on August 18th, I was called first by Jonathan Owens who congratulated me on the victory and conceded the election. A short time later, I received a similar call from Jesse Casey. He and I had a great conversation and we discussed the potential of collaborating on a number of issues going forward for the betterment of the district and the county. So naturally, when called by the media that same night, I was in high spirits and a great mood, and I was gracious and magnanimous when quick to point out my perception that the race was by and large a "clean, issues-focused contest." This was my perception based upon the fact that I had blinders on and I DID NOT look at social chat sites in this election for the most part--- and instead I remained focused on my race and the finish line and the checkered flag on August 18th. So was I overly magnanimous when I said my opponents didn't go negative? Since the election, I have now had the opportunity to peruse several web sites, Facebook sites, etc. I also watched a "Blab" TV special one of my opponents was apparently running during the election. Sadly--the local realtor who was the "host" of this "program" made some statements about me and my family that were straight up lies. Outright, bald-faced lies. And this particular opponent DID NOT correct his host as he should have done. This is disappointing. This was a negative attack by proxy based upon false information--a set-up job. This opponent ultimately came in third place, being beaten badly by both myself (by 17 points) and by Jesse Casey (by 8 points). This same individual posted pictures and videos with characters wearing ridiculous monster costumes and #hashtag signs talking about what he deserved.....blah, blah, blah.  Dancing in monster-costumes with ridiculous hashtag signs in the streets didn't help this year's 3rd place finisher. He still lost, and he lost badly... It meant nothing and worked for him about as well as a belly-flop from the high dive in a pool drained of water. Newsflash: In local contests folks do not like negative ads and they do not work! And by the way, as Clint Eastwood famously quipped in one of his movies---"deserve's got nothing to do with it!" and this opponent in this election was dispatched, handily, along with the costumed creatures and ridiculous hashtags.. I've also come into possession of some campaign literature from my opponents that I did not know existed on election night. I was not aware until after the campaign that the second place finisher in the election put my picture on one of his mailers exclaiming that I "bicker" instead of work. Sorry to see this---because listen--if you have to resort to putting an image or likeness of your opponent on your mail-piece--that is going negative. Believe me, I wouldn't do it ever because it is an attack--even by the picture that is used it can be construed as an attack. And it should not be done--people don't like this. This particular opponent came in 2nd place. For the third straight election.....
So let's talk about a positive campaign versus a negative campaign, and what a negative attack campaign is....... A positive campaign never mentions one's opponent and does not bash him/her. A positive campaign describes the attributes the candidate will bring to the position, his/her experience, his/her vision, his/her strategy, his/her endorsements, his/her education and achievements, etc. etc. These are the types of campaigns I have consistently run in every campaign in which I have participated. I have NEVER ONCE printed an image of an opponent on any mail piece or on my website. Because to do so is negative. Negative campaigns come from candidates that are desperate and lacking vision and/or resources and/or a message that resonates with voters. Some common themes of negative campaigns are: --Lying about an opponent's record. --Using surrogates to attack an opponent to keep hands clean. --Putting an opponent's likeness on campaign literature --Naming (by title or name)an opponent in a negative light--disparaging him/her. Unfortunately--as I now take the time necessary to look at the multiple websites and literature of all my opponents in this race--it appears that I was overly magnanimous in my assessment of the election. I was simply unaware of the savage attacks online and on mail pieces that were happening during the campaign. Nope, this was a dirty, ugly campaign after all--that did not have to be. Truly disappointing. But hey, in 4 years and 2 months we can do it all over again if folks want to. In 50 months--we can go again! (wow that is a LONG time--reminds me of Leslie Nielsen's scene in Creepshow--"I can hold my breath for a long time!....") I'll be ready, I'll be waiting, I'll be POSITIVE, and most importantly---I'll once again be victorious should I choose to run again for this office. 50 Months... Jeez, that's a long, long time from now...... |
