Leadership Pensacola (LeaP) Spends a Morning with the Board of County Commissioners

LeaP class 2019 spent the morning with the Escambia Board of County Commissioners today

Today the newest Leadership Pensacola class spent the morning with the Escambia Board of County Commissioners. 

Leadership Pensacola (LeaP), is a project of the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, designed to cultivate and incubate leaders in the community.  From the Pensacola Chamber Website about LeaP:

"Leadership Pensacola (LeaP), a program of the Pensacola Chamber Foundation, aims to develop community-minded leaders during its 10-month-long program. LeaP is designed to help participants acquire an understanding of the issues facing the Pensacola area and to gain the leadership skills necessary to resolve them. Candidates sought come from a cross-section of the community – men and women from different political, career, educational, social and cultural backgrounds. Participants accepted into LeaP are involved in a balanced combination of retreats, day-long seminars and community projects. The program is refined annually by a committed group of LeaP alumni. Area decision-makers offer their time and expertise while tours and interactive exercises are built into each day."

The class of 2019, roughly 40 of them,  heard first from commissioner Lumon May.  He spoke to the group about his reasons for serving on the County Commission, and his thoughts about this service.

I came into the room right after Commissioner May, and my portion of the session was to take questions from the group, describe the day's Committee Meeting, and tell the group a little bit about what the biggest issues of the day would be.

The discussion centered on the complex, lengthy land swap between the U.S. Navy and Escambia County--the OLF 8 issue.  I had the opportunity to give the history of the issue, the current state of the project, and my personal thoughts on the matter--as the chairman of the board and as the representative of the district where OLF 8 sits geographically.

LeaP class 2019 spent the morning with the Escambia Board of County Commissioners today

Several great questions were asked, about OLF8 and even about Public Beach Access on Perdido Key.

After the Q and A, the LeaP class came down to our chambers to sit in on the Board's workshop.

It was good to see so many citizens interested in what we do and how we do it, I enjoyed speaking to this group and I look forward to seeing how this class progresses going forward.