Escambia County's General Use Commerce Parks: A History of SUCCESS!

Yes, Folks are entitled to their own opinions.  But NO-they are not entitled to their own facts;  Escambia County's General Use Commerce Parks have been a SMASHING SUCCESS----not a failure!!

There is a lot of selfish propaganda being spread around the community at the moment regarding Escambia County's Economic Development efforts.  Specifically--this inaccurate information simply asserts that Escambia's Commerce Parks are a "failure."

But nothing could be further from the truth.  Our parks are a massive, overwhelmingly positive success story!

The disinformation campaign is being conducted to try to stop the Board of County Commissioners from creating high-technology, clean technology high-wage jobs at the county's recently acquired OLF-8 property in Beulah.  This "strategy" goes a little something like this: 

1.) Enlist certain community members to email the members of the Escambia Board of County Commissioners with false "knowledge" that our commerce parks are a failure

2.) Tell commissioners "we don't want any good, high paying jobs for the rest of the county located in our neighborhood"

3.) Spread the fiction that good jobs will "wreck" the area and "prevent" good amenities from being constructed on OLF-8 for the benefit of the entire community and county----as if somehow creating jobs and creating amenities for nearby residents are somehow mutually exclusive and this is some sort of a "binary choice."  (hint: doing these things are not mutually exclusive--this is not a binary choice)

It's all Pure fiction, rubbish.  

Here are the facts:

1. Our general use commerce parks have been smashing successes (see picture above). 

2.  As the board member who represents Beulah and lives right across from OLF-8 for the last 17 years--I would NEVER support building an "Ellyson" Field type of commerce park on OLF-8 and I STRONGLY support some great amenities (parks, post office, green space, restaurants, walking path, school, tennis courts) being constructed on the field.  I did not, have not, and never will support crushing machines, smokestacks, foul odors or heavy industry on this field.  OLF-8 Will NEVER be an "Industrial park."

3.  The only thing I absolutely DO NOT support is the construction of any more residential units on this property----the private market has this box checked already and we do not need to be in the business of sourcing land for developers to build more high-density, traffic exacerbating residential dwellings out here in Beulah.  We have enough already!

It sure would be great if folks, before becoming all "spun-up",  lathered, and exercised---would simply check the facts before they spin propaganda at the behest of some self-interested entities for political ----not practical -----purposes.  

Election season is over.  😊