Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Competition on a Level Playing Field is Good and it is Fair

Our Local New Car automotive dealerships give a significant boost to our local economy yearly--as is illustrated above.  Is it too much to ask to help insure they are treated fairly? 


The issue of "Pop-Up" Car Sales has been a concern that the Escambia County Commission has dealt with before.  But nothing was done.  The proverbial can got kicked last time this issue came around.

The problem continues.

And this time we will solve it.

We have a situation where our "brick and mortar," well-established dealerships have to compete with out of town firms that come to Pensacola, set up tents in parking lots at University Mall or the Fairgrounds, and try their level-best to undercut our locally-owned, well-established car dealerships.

They often times send flyers out in advance, flyers that lead some to believe they have actually "Won" something.  Once these unsuspecting locals show up, they are pressured to buy a car.  A certain percentage of these persons can be "qualified" for a loan (albeit at high rates)--and the "contest " where someone thought they won a prize becomes a situation where an unsuspecting local is sold a vehicle at an inflated price with not fallback protection if the car falls apart or breaks down.

NOPE--these guys are long-gone by the time the problems start.  And folks get stuck with lemons in many cases--with NO RECOURSE.

The Free Market Capitalists might not like it-----but the bottom line is fairly simple;  regulations are necessary, and they are good.  And regulations are fair and they actually foster competition if they are done properly.

We will craft an ordinance that will be fair to all car salesmen---local and out-of-town.  But there will be built-in safeguards to protect consumers and to insure warranties offered are actually backed up, and that all sales of cars are done via licensed dealers who compete on a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.

Once we do this, I think we will see less and less of the circus tent, pop-up car sales.

And this will be good for consumers, and this will be good for folks locally.

This should have been an easy win, something easy to fix a few years ago.  We will fix it right this time, though.

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