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| Some folks believe that there should be a different form of goverance in Escambia County/City of Pensacola--------but who do you think should call the shots-------the voters, or a few powerful, wealthy and well-connected businessmen? |
I sat down recently with a resident of Pensacola who is
focused on, in his words, “Making this community better.” This individual requested a meeting with me
to talk about governance in the county, and particularly what he feels would be
a better way forward. We agreed on
several points, (e.g., county-wide election of each commissioner and some
departmental functional consolidation for efficiency and taxpayer dollar savings)
but we vehemently disagreed on the topic of pivoting to a county-wide, elected,
and strong County Manager or County Executive.
Sitting with me at the round table in my office, this individual did make one point with emphasis: “Look, we are the largest county that still operates the way we do [elected commissioners, hired executive]—and if we move to a more modern structure like Duval County/Jacksonville-we would be Florida’s 4th largest city.” (While I do agree that such a move would make Pensacola one of Florida's largest cities--I disagreed that we are an outlier structuraly; most Florida counties elect commissioners who, in turn, hire an executive like we do it here) He went on to enunciate the benefits of such a move in terms of how the Governor treats the panhandle in general, and Pensacola/Escambia in particular.
He stated “look, if we’re the 4th largest city in the state---- which we would be if the County and City Consolidated------the Governor and his staff pick up the phone when we call.” I don’t disagree with that assessment; however, I believe that view is a distinction with no difference as the Panhandle is a Republican stronghold and therefore, we do receive attention from the Governor. Although it is diffused through a mayor, state representatives and a state senator, and to a lesser degree thorough locally elected county commissioner(s) and business leaders---we do have a strong voice with this current governor. If anything, consolidation might have negative impacts on anyone other than a “strong county executive” having the Governor’s ear—so is this a good thing?
Is changing to a consolidated city/county a good thing? I don’t think so.
I think electing strong, intelligent, ethical county commissioner candidates solves these perceived governence shortcoming "issues." Giving one person all the power inevitably leads to problems. Look no further than how Escambia scuttled the outdated concept of an Elected Superintendent--when nobody thought that was possible. The county's voters did it because they saw that having one guy calling all the shots and pushing his agenda did not work and was not right. So thankfully the voters fixed that dysfunctional structure in our area's schools locally.
Nevertheless, I am not afraid of discussing
consolidation or even discussion of a strong county executive elected countywide.
In fact, I welcome it.
I think such a discussion should be added to an upcoming agenda of the BOCC and it will
either receive support, or it won’t.
Meanwhile-in the days since this meeting with this
downtowner, I have spoken with several others who are aware of the push for consolidation
and a charter county “structure” like the city of Pensacola has.
Said one observer with whom I spoke, who has intimate familiarity with all aspects of local politics due to the nature of the business he runs: “They suddenly want the county to consolidate because they are not getting the outcomes they want from the current structure in the city with the mayor and the council. But you should ask them---why do you think the county having a strong, elected administrator is important when you, the same people, just fought to rid Escambia county of a strong, elected superintendent of schools for the Escambia County School District—the largest governmental agency,
