Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting for the New Bear Jones More Reeves Science, Center for Math and Advanced Technology Building at PSC

I was invited to attend the grand opening of a brand new facility at Pensacola State College yesterday morning.  The new facility, named the Bear, Jones, Moore, Reves Center for Math and Advanced Technology Building, was completed and opened recently after having been funded by multiple sources to include Escambia County, Pensacola, Santa Rosa County, and the generous families for which this facility was named.

President Ed Meadows gave remarks, as did Mayor DC Reeves and the families that contributed toward the costs of constructing this facility.

Although he could not be present due to illness, State Senator Doug Broxson was represented by Hal George, who gave remarks.

Dr. Meadows profusely thanked the Senator for his support of the funding of this facility.  "Without the support of Senator Broxson in Tallahassee, we would not be standing here today" he stated

I had planned to sit in the back and just listen and watch the speakers, little did I know I was on the program to give remarks.

But I was appreciative of the opportunity to spotlight just what a great asset PSC is to our community and how I went, initially, to PJC to start my college career.  I also pointed out that two of my three children as well as my brother all got their AA degrees from PSC.

"This college is the launch pad for many citizens in our county, and one of the greatest attributes of this facility is the low cost tuition.  If a student works hard, he/she can attend and pay as they go, graduating debt-free" I commented.

I thanked everyone that contributed, and also Dr. Meadows and the board of trustees for their leadership in getting this facility funded, designed, and constructed so that it can serve this community's students for decades to come.

I'll be on Real News with Rick Outzen This Morning at 7:00 AM

I've been invited to appear as the lead off guest this morning on WCOA's "Real News with Rick Outzen" this morning at 7:00AM.

We will discuss the coming week's activities and current events, as well as this week's meeting on Thursday and other topics of interest.

Tune in at 7:00 for the area's best, most reliable, accurate, and in-the-know morning drive news program.

I'll post the podcast here once Rick Publishes it.

Community Leaders in the Classroom: Sherwood Elementary School

I graciously accepted the opportunity to once again come out to Sherwood Elementary School to read to students during their "Community Leaders in the Classroom" day today.  I was joined by City Councilman Casey Jones, Police Chief Eric Randle, and Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves.  It was a really great morning. 

Now, I have been to Sherwood numerous times before as a school board member and even before that when I was a student at Sherwood in 1977 as a 5th grader in Mrs. McDonald's class.

Last year I was able to come out and read---- and again this year I was invited to do so.

Mrs. Peters' first grade class was excited to have a visitor in the class, and they apparently REALLY liked the book I chose to read to them "How to Catch a Mermaid"--a very cute story about making friends and how friends can be at your side when you need them the most.

(And NO--this little book is not one of the controversial ones slated for removal--I checked with the librarian after I chose it, LOL).

Once I sat down to tell the story and read the book--the students were transfixed; these students were EXCEPTIONALLY well behaved and listened intently to the story.  As I typically try to do--I improvised, embellished, exaggerated, and added some stuff to the story to make it fun.

"Could a mermaid outrun a submarine?"

"Will the mermaid defeat the sharks?"

"Will these children succeed in their plan to "catch" the mermaid?"

The answers were classic--and made my morning!

Once I finished the story, I thanked the children for their politeness and attentiveness, and I implored them to be good classmates and listen to and follow Mrs. Peters' rules.  Then I asked one final question:

"Are mermaids real?"  (about 80% raised their hands yes, with 20% raising hands no).  

I told them all they'd have to wait until 2nd grade, next year, to get the answer.  😉

As most of the children got up to go back to their stations, one young man came right up to me and unexpectedly gave me a big Bear Hug as I sat in the chair.  It was really special and I thanked him for being a great listener.

What a day, an hour to forget all the other horrible stuff going on the world, and to once again, through the eyes of first graders--see the world how they see it!  

Priceless!

Delegation Meeting 10/26/23: Should "Perdido" Incorporate?

Escambia County's legislative delegation met yesterday evening at Pensacola State College.

A HUGE part of the meeting was about the nascent effort to incorporate a large swath of the southwestern portion of Escambia County into a new city called "Perdido."

There were large crowds from both sides that spoke passionately for and against the proposal.

In the end, the delegation voted unanimously to move the draft legislation ("local bill") forward to Tallahassee where it will be finalized, filed, and WILL PASS.

Then, the question will come before the voters in the "study area"--as to whether or not such voting residents want to incorporate.

Such an incorporation will lead to higher taxes for those within the boundaries of this new city if the voters approve the measure.  That reality was formally acknowledged last night by the folks from "We are Perdido" that are spearheading the effort.

Now the impetus is on every registered voter to educate him/herself on what this will cost, and what benefits it could bring.  And the question needs to be, is the extra layer of government and additional taxes worth it?

I am neutral on the question--but I do represent the area so I will DEMAND complete and honest transparency so the voters I represent can make an informed decision at the ballot box next year.

But there are a LOT of details to be worked out between now and then.......much more to come on this, stay tuned.

PROPERTY INSURANCE:

I spoke on the impetus for action on our state's BROKEN and DYSFUNCTIONAL property insurance market, and the desperate need for state action to provide attainable premium relief for Floridians via utilizing the Florida Huricane Catastrophe Fund to subsidize some re-insurance which would provide IMMEDIATE relief to Florida insurance consumers.  I hope the delegation will look at this at their upcoming special session in November.  I hope they will, we will see.

They need to.

Battle of Pensacola

Yesterday morning was a chamber of commerce weather day--perfect for a community game of kickball!

The game, an abbreviated 5-inning contest, was sponsored and organized by the Escambia County Sheriff's Foundation and played at the Blue Wahoo's Stadium.

The participants, a mix of elected and appointed public officials as well as community leaders from Escambia County-were divided into two teams--an "A" team and a "B" Team.

After all the fun, trash talking, and strained muscles-- the game was decided by one single run.  Sheriff Simmons' team won, and he is the only player to score, ironically.  

Final Score 1-0

(I got one "at-bat" and was happy to get a single.)

Lots of fun but next year we need to go nine innings!  😀

(Four Escambia County Commissioners competed in the game--with Lumon May and I playing on Sheriff Simmons' team--the winning squad---and Mike Kohler and Robert Bender on the other, the losing side.)

Can Something More Be Done on Property Insurance?

Folks that think we should "wait" to do more on property insurance in Florida are living in an alternate reality.....constituents I represent that are getting squeezed want action THIS SESSION!

Tomorrow morning the Board of County Commissioners will once again be discussing legislative priorities, ahead of the upcoming Legislative session beginning early next year.

 At our last meeting we discussed this as well.

 Some things that may bubble up to the surface: 

 --fixing the disastrous "live local act" that completely preempts local control and zoning for large apartment buildings--allowing owners to bypass counties and municipalities and dump huge developments in any commercial or industrial zoned property.

 --Getting the Beulah Interchange funded and in the five year work plan for construction.  This is a MUST do.

 --fixing the reimbursement problem for federal and state prisoners who spend months and sometimes years in our county jail and for which we get no reimbursement--costing local taxpayers precious local tax dollars that should be shouldered by the State and/or Federal Government.

 and there are others as well.

 But one HUGE one that we are all living and we are all hearing about is our broken, dysfunctional property insurance market here in Florida.

 Last year's legislation did not do anything to ease costs and non-renewals yet.  This is a TOP issue I am hearing about from the county residents I represent.

 As I said in an interview on Monday with Rick Outzen, I don't know how preventing homeowners from suing their insurance company benefits anyone other than insurance companies.  I'm told a legislative scheme to force the insurers to share the savings with policyholders was baked into the legislation, which is good.  But can't more be done this year, too?

My idea is pretty simple.   Exercise the power of the legislature to compel those companies that make a literal FORTUNE selling high-priced automobile insurance in Florida (Farmers, USAA, Progressive, State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, etc.) to also sell property insurance in our state at the same proportional ratio as they do in the average of the other 50 states.  And obviously at a rate that is not simply set at an astronomical number to insure none will be sold--simply to check the box.  Make them and their subsidiaries write the same atuo/property mix as they do in other places at competitive prices.  Now, I am aware there is legislation on the books that mandates the auto policy sellers in Florida also sell property insurance---but there is a loophole that the big auto insurers are utilizing.  One company, in particular, warehouses their property policies in the state and writes these policies through citizen's insurance--which puts you and I, the taxpayers, on the hook!  This company, by the way, then subsequently keeps all their auto policies in their name under their brand. And this allows these insurers to still eat their cake and make nice profits (based upon volume of sale made--due to a 5% profit cap) on auto policies while dumping volatile, less profitable property insurance--thus allowing them to DUMP the Broccoli off of their collective plates.

It has to change.. and at some point the state will have to seriously look at also subsidizing this market,-just like the Federal Government does.  

I understand that the state of florida has what is called the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund - called the Cat Fund. And it has billions in its coffers that we as policyholders have paid when we pay our insurance premiums.  In the 30 years of its existance the cat fund has never spent more than $8 billion and it now has about $15 billion in the bank. Why can't the legislture set aside $2 to $3 billion and let the companies buy this reinsurance cheaper and pass those savings onto us as the policyholders?   Right now 35-40 cents of every dollar of premium is paying for this reinsurance.  A state subsidy here could result in an immediate 15% savings for the policyholders.  So why not do it in this next session!?!

I keep hearing that there is worry the cat fund will run out of money.  That makes no sense…it collects over a $1 billion a year from what I understand--and it has a replenishment mechanism built in to quickly re-fill the fund via policy-holder assessments post-storm----- in the event the fund was to ever become completely depleted----- which, again, has not happened in the last thirty years.

So there are roughly 7.5 million property insurance policies in Florida.  And 6 Million of those are written by Florida companies, which puts Florida firms and ultimately, Floridians, at the greatest risk

By contrast--there are about 12 million auto policies--the majority of which are written by out of state insurers!

So the out of state companies have lower risk and higher profits--where the Florida companies and Citizens shoulder the higher risks.  This needs to be fixed and balanced, period.  The legislature can do this---if they have the will.

We cannot keep telling our constituents that we have to wait two more years for the litigation reforms to take effect.  And I understand that a rate rollback isnt an option because every insurance company would leave.

 I also understand that there are 4 major reasons our rates are so high:  Inflation - we can do nothing about it and I know it costs more to replace and repair homes...

 the severe weather - we can do nothing about that either other than more strict building ordinances and stricter zoning on where housing can be developed--both of which are primarily local issues.

 litigation - The Governor and legislature has done a lot about this and all are saying we will see that it can slow rate increases.... but how long will that take?

 and reinsurance.   We MUST champion making the cat fund more accessible so we can reduce our premiums via providing insurers a cheaper re-insurance option.

 215.555 florida hurricane catastrophe fund, says:

There is a compelling state interest in maintaining a viable and orderly private sector market for property insurance in this state. To the extent that the private sector is unable to maintain a viable and orderly market for property insurance in this state, state actions to maintain such a viable and orderly market are valid and necessary exercises of the police power.

 

Isabella Subdivision-Perdido Key

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak before an HOA group from a condominium complex on Perdido Key in District 1.  

There were lots of issues to work through and we discussed a lot of initiatives that are in the works for that area.

But one area of concern expressed by the residents was the soon to be constructed subdivision on Johnson's Beach road near the intersection of Johnson's Beach Road and Perdido Key Drive--an area of much consternation post-roundabout construction.  

I was asked about it, specifically which roads would be used for ingress/egress for that subdivision.

I told the folks in the room I would ask staff about it and then publish what I learned here on this blog, which I am doing.

The subdivision has not yet been approved, it is under review.  Initial applications were made a few years back that have subsequently expired.  Recently, new drawings and plans were submitted.  These are currently under review.

At this stage, what is being requested is a 41 lot subdivision on the north and south portion of Johnson's Beach Road--as indicated on the drawing above.

Nothing has been approved yet, but this is the current state of the project

I'll Be on "Real News with Rick Outzen" This Morning at 7:00 on 1370 WCOA

This morning at 7:00 I'll be the lead off guest on the area's best, most highly rated, most trusted and most accurate morning drive news program, "Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA

I've been invited to appear later this morning at 7:00 on Real News with Rick Outzen on 1370 WCOA.

Host Rick Outzen has invited me to lead off the Monday lineup, where we will discuss the home being built for wounded warrior Corey Dingman in District 1, the mental health crisis in our area that feeds many of the social ills we deal with (crime, drug abuse, homelessness, opioid overdoses, etc.) and my upcoming discussion on Wednesday with Allison Hill, CEO of the LifeView Group, Property Insurance issues throughout my district with angry homeowners having premiums doubled or where they are dropped alltogether, and finally, an email from the Clerk about our Cares Act broadband procurement.

Should be an interesting discussion.  Tune in live at 7:00 or catch the podcast here.

Tremendous Generosity for a District 1 Wounded Warrior!

Friday afternoon a ceremony was held in District 1 to honor a wounded veteran who lives in our community.  Corporal Corey Dingman served multiple tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the United States Army- where he was severely injured.  After active service he stayed in the fight as a defense contractor overseas for nearly four years.

This past week, Cpl. Dingman and his wife Michelle were notified that they would be receiving a fully furnished, handicap-accessible, and fully-paid for brand new home in District 1.  The nonprofit group Helping a Hero has teamed up with Bass Pro Shops and Lennar Homes to begin the 100 homes challenge, an initiative established with the goal of identifying and building 100 homes for America's wounded heroes who have come home from active service gravely injured.

I was notified the groundbreaking would occur Friday morning and I was humbled to be invited and to give remarks on behalf of the community.

The highlights of the ceremony can be viewed at this video here, along with an interview with Cpl. Dingman and his wife Michelle.

It is incredible, the generosity of our nation's business community and average citizens who donate to such admirable causes as Helping a Hero.  Initiatives such as this would never get off the ground without such support AND the amazing work of corporations like Lennar Homes and Bass Pro Shops.

I look forward to early January when the community will celebrate the completion of this hero's house and we will welcome him "home" together.

Thank you for your service to our nation Cpl Dingman!

Join us for our 88th District 1 Coffee with the Commissioner This coming Wednesday, Oct. 18!

Join us for our 88th Coffee with the Commissioner event this coming Wednesday, Oct. 18th. The live stream will take place from 6:30-7:30 a.m. To join the meeting, visit us on our D1 Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/. 

Attendees this month will include County Administrator Wes Moreno, Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore, and LifeView Group CEO Allison Hill. Moreno will provide an update on county business, Gilmore will discuss public safety matters and Hill will lead a discussion with Commissioner Bergosh on the status of mental health in Escambia County, with an emphasis on the newly funded and created central receiving facility for our County.  We will also discuss other areas in our community that are impacted by a lack of proper mental health services for many who desperately need this care.

Residents are encouraged to send virtual questions and comments they would like to discuss with us during the event through Facebook, or they can be emailed to our office in advance of the session to: district1@myescambia.com

For more information, contact District 1 at 850-595-4910 or Commissioner Bergosh directly at 850-293-1459.

Learn More about LifeView here

Learn More about Allison Hill here.

Litigation to Remove Deeded Public Beach Access Easements in Perdido Appears Imminent......

I'm in receipt of an email from Attorney Steve Moorhead this week regarding public beach access easements that were discovered earlier this year.  Apparently, there are some folks and some condominium HOA's that are going to attempt to use the courts to invalidate/remove/extinguish the public access easements on the parcels that contain this language out in Perdido Key.  I reported on this a few weeks back.

This turn of events is very unfortunate.  The last thing anyone wants is litigation.  We dealt with it when we opened Access #4 and folks in the surrounding areas did not want that.  We prevailed.

Now a large swath of what we have discovered to be publicly accessible beach properties will be be in jeopardy.  But in this instance, just as was the case with beach access #4, the people will prevail.

Because the plain language on these deeds says what it says and I don't see the way by which these easements can be yanked--they were stipulated, on the deeds, when the Federal Government conveyed this land.  If they argue that the public abandoned these easements--I believe that argument fails as well.  Folks have used those very beaches and those very easements for decades--including in the 1980's when my dad and I fished up and down that beach and never once saw any resistance--let alone any "No Trespassing" signs.   Nope, if they are going to argue that--it will be an untenable position, particularly given the fact they have unclean hands as they (various condo owners and HOA's) sought, at times successfully, over the last 6 years to keep citizens off of these easements utilizing paid security, private property signs, and often paid strong-arm security to run people out.  So no, the folks did not voluntarily abandon anything--most were unlawfully forced out of areas to which they were entitled to be per that stipulated clause in all those deeds.  But not all of the citizens kowtowed to the no trespassing signs of the last 6 years and continued to use those easments despite the efforts to keep them out.  So no, arguing abandonment will fail.

So, no, I am not a lawyer and I don't need to go to law school to see how this movie ends.  The effort to remove these easements will fail, and the folks funding this effort will spend a lot of money, this lawyer will make a lot of money in this losing effort and infuriate a lot of west-side citizens in the process----but make no mistake:  This effort to take this beach access from the people ultimately fails and the people will win and these easements will remain in place.  

This action to further deprive the public of their beach access will be exceedingly unpopular in the court of public opinion---and this action in court to do this will be vigorously defended by the county.  

Vigorously.

Stop Perdido City will be Hosting a Community Forum at Jim Bailey Middle School on October 19th at 6:00 PM

Folks are organizing against the idea of incorporation in Perdido.....

A growing and building chorus of voices are rising up in opposition to the nascent effort at incorporating a large swath of the SW portion of Escambia County into a new city called "Perdido."

The group, "We are Perdido" has held multiple public meetings in Perdido, all of which I have attended.

The issue some residents have expressed to me is that their specific questions are not being answered; they feel as if the We are Perdido folks are not being on the level.  Thus, they have organized an opposition movement.  STOP PERDIDO CITY.

For my part, I am agnostic on the issue of whether or not this area of the county should incorporate.  I do not own a business in this area, nor do I own property or my primary residence in this area.  But this area is in my district so I am paying close attention and being attentive to what both sides are saying.  One thing I will make abundantly clear though is this.  Even if the incorporation is successful--the county will still collect it's 6.6165 mills on property in the new city.  Some are of the naive belief that if incorporated--"Perdido"  will just slice off this revenue from the county and keep it.  This is not the case.  The county will still get its millage, as will the school board and the sheriff's MSTU will also continue to be assessed as well as the children's trust and the library MSTU.  So the only change to folks' bills in this area, if incorporation succeeds, will be a probable additional millage levy by the new city to help fund their operations.  In addition to this, there will be new utilities taxes assessed on all utility bills in the new "city" that will likely be 10% as they are currently in other area municipalities.  In addition to this, businesses in the newly incorporated area will be subject to new business fees.

The new city will need to raise the equivalent of 3 mills worth of their current taxable value of $3.6 Billion (or roughly $10.5 Million) before they can tap into state shared revenue from the 1/2 penny sales tax for operations and the 1 penny sales tax for infrastructure.  (They will not collect any shared revenue until they raise this amount according to statutes---and the three means at their disposal to raise this $10.5 million are property taxes, business fees/taxes, and utilities taxes).

Also--many are concerned because according to We are Perdido's feasibility study--the new city does not meet the statutorily mandated population density to qualify to become a new city.

I was told by state Representative Alex Andrade he would support the new city's incorporation if it met the statory requirements.  I do not know if Representative Andrade will still run this bill in Tallahassee--even though the study area does not meet the density requirement; I do not know if he will seek a waiver from this statutory requirment and run it anyway.  That is yet to be seen, however I am aware of draft legislation already being compiled.  So that is an issue to watch as well.

So folks that are supportive need to know all of this, as well as folks that are opposed to incorporation.  

The other issue I would urge citizens who will be voting on this to think about is this:  What specific, real problem is incorporation of Perdido looking to solve? They are not taking the roads, so It can't be traffic.  They are not bringing schools, so it can't be education. They will not have their own fire service or EMS department--so it can't be public safety.  They will not have their own police force, so it can't be crime.  They will not own the county beach accesses, parks, or other facilities--so it can't be quality of life...So what specific problem are they looking to solve?

I've heard they want "control."  That's pretty nebulous and opaque.  What does that mean and is it worth the additional layered taxes/bureaucracy incorporation will bring?

Those are the questions that I would encourage citizens to ask.  Meanwhile, the flyer for STOPPERDIDO City is below.  

Working together on the Lingering Issues resulting from the Homelessness Population Explosion in the County

 

District 1 constituents are frustrated with the exploding issue of the homeless
engaging in dysfunctional (often illegal) behavior in their neighborhoods.

I had the opportunity to meet with Sheriff Chip Simmons and his top leadership staff this week, in his office, on a topic that is on everyone's minds today.  What can we do about the homeless that are engaging in dysfunctional conduct in the county?  What can the county do, what can the Sheriff's office do, and what can the community do?

I was joined in this meeting by Tim Day, the head of code enforcement and Jesse Casey, the District 1 Field Representative.

We are receiving a lot of constituent complaints about the conduct of some of these homeless individuals who are engaging in theft and vandalism of property and other behavior including drug use and in some instances sex crimes.  Constituents want action and their frustration is palpable.

The meeting was productive and the Sheriff and his staff want to assist.  The attorneys for the ECSO have been working with the county attorney on updating our ordinance relating to panhandling in the roadways, code enforcement has been working in conjunction with ECSO on some particular areas in the  county where the problems associated with the homeless  have become acute and untenable.

Here is the thing though: nobody wants to vilify or stigmatize any citizen.  Some of these folks are legitimately down on their luck and need help.  The good news is we have resources and we all, collectively, want to help those that want help.  And we will continue to assist and support those in the community that are serving the homeless and assisting them with breaking free of being homeless.

But the others who are engaging in illegal activities, the ones who are trespassing and or dumping trash all over the place trashing some neighborhoods, walking in roadways banging on windows, aggressively bothering motorists and stealing from private property to finance their substance abuse addictions--these are the ones whose behaviors cannot be condoned.

So there are a specific set of strategies that we are going to be implementing going forward.  We will find ways to quickly identify owners of private properties where illegal trespassers are camping unlawfully in order to streamline the trespasser removal process.  I believe the issuance of civil citations will also be on the table for violators/trespassers--mandating these folks appear in court.  And I do believe we will work toward an enforcable county ordinance that will assist the ECSO's efforts to keep aggressive, rude and obnoxious panhandlers out of our roadways and intersections.  There will be other tools which will also be used that are still being explored.

Additionally, I am going to seek funding for dedicated law enforcement staff at the ECSO to directly engage the homeless in the county working closely with code enforcement.  The city has a couple of officers who are doing this currently utilizing CRA funding and I hear this is working well for them.  So I would like to do something similar in the county in the areas where the problem is becomming unbearable.

So much more to come on this---but meanwhile I just want folks to know it is being worked.

I'll be on "Real News with Rick Outzen" on WCOA tomorrow Morning

I've been invited to appear as the lead off guest tomorrow morning on the area's best, most listened-to, accurate, honest, and trusted morning drive news program--"Real News with Rick Outzen" on WCOA.

We will discuss the upcoming BCC meeting this Thursday and also the idea of a high school on OLF 8 which is an idea that has been proposed by the school district.

We may also discuss some other issues as well-----given the events of this evening.

Listen in at 7:00 or check out the podcast, here, once Rick posts it.