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| Top off or fill up today--tomorrow it will cost at least $.25 cents more in Florida and Escambia County... |
Early last week the latest estimate on the completion of the Perdido Key roundabout project at Perdido Key Drive and Johnson's Beach Road came back as a Spring completion--with final striping and signage completion by May 25th.
Fast forward to this weekend and I am hearing of some remarkable progress by the contractor on this project. Apparently, it looks as if this project may be completed months ahead of schedule---perhaps even by the end of this year. From staff:
"Just received some new info on the roundabout. The contractor is planning to be 100% finished by year end which is quite ambitious but would be fantastic. Also, there will be one additional permanent "mouse compliant" light installed in the general vicinity of the current Johnson's Beach detour, and an existing light right at the roundabout will be converted to amouse compliant fixture. There should be plenty of light at the finished roundabout. Contractor is still working on temporary lighting"
more to come on this.....
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Should I be thankful? My property insurance was renewed as of this upcoming 11/22/22 through my current carrier, SLIDE. (A company I had never heard of prior to last year when they took over my coverage due to the dissolution of St. John's Insurance--a company I had been with for the previous 15 years...)
Since 2004, I had St. Johns and the premiums remained reasonable and relatively stable at about $1,400-$1,500 per year.
Last year, however, the premiums jumped 100% to $2,800. Inexplicably. I just got a notification that my policy was doubling-----and that is for a homeowner, me, who had ZERO claims in the previous 16 years with the same company.
Ironically, I had my first claim last year for a roof replacement. I was bracing for the renewal and when I opened it up recently my first thought was "Okay, good, I got renewed!" lots of folks locally, for a number of various reasons due to tremendous upheaval in the worldwide and nationwide insurance market and re-insurance markets, are being dropped for no specific reason at all provided. So even though my premium is jumping up another 25% or $700 per year, to $3,500---I guess I should feel lucky?
Others are having even more difficulty than I am in Escambia County:
-One resident with whom I spoke was dropped, inexplicably and without prior notice, 2 days before his scheduled renewal. He had to literally scramble, get his roof inspected, and was able to work with his agent to find alternative coverage within 48 hours.
-Another constituent with whom I spoke was threatened with cancellation of coverage unless and until she replaced her 12 year old roof (which was allegedly a "30-year" roof). The policy she ended up getting after jumping through all the hoops was more than double her previous premium.
-Another individual with whom I have spoken and who owns his small home and property free and clear was given an ASTRONOMICAL renewal figure of $8,000 for his small home. He chose (like many that own their property free and clear) to forego carrying insurance. He's hoping for the best and that we don't have another storm.
Obviously this is a state-lvel and to some extent a federal level problem.
But it is affecting county residents and I intend to discuss it at an upcoming meeting with my counterparts. Perhaps there is more the state legislature can do? Perhaps they can utilize leverage to insure the insurers are not simply raking in the profits on lucrative and perhaps less costly/risky products like auto insurance policies in Florida--while at the same time scaling back (or eliminating altogether) their property insurance footprint in Florida. Because if allowed to do so, they will suck up all the insurance policy money that is profitable and eliminate their risk by foisting the volatile costly coverage onto taxpayers (Citizens Insurance). Should they have to take a proportionate share of the risk on property if they are cleaning up on the lower risk auto in the Sunshine State? Let's face it, they are doing that and are being allowed to do it. They are eating the cake and leaving the broccoli on the plate for taxpayers. That's how I see it.
To illustrate this, perhaps we need to look at their practices and portfolio balance (auto/property) in other states that are not as prone to natural calamities?
Look for the discussion to come.
The Florida Ethics Commission, as of late yesterday afternoon, sent to the Governor their final order in the Doug Underhill investigation, where they recommend a punishment of $35,000.00 dollars, public censure and reprimand, and removal from office for his five violations of Florida statutes related to ethics.
Read the final order and public report, hot off the press, here.
It is my understanding that Commissioner Underhill's attorney, Mark Herron, has already filed a notice of appeal.
The Florida Commission on Ethics has now, as of late yesterday afternoon, sent a letter to Governor DeSantis reducing their recent decision on Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill to writing, memorializing their recommendation that Commissioner Underhill be fined $35,000.00 Dollars, publicly reprimanded and censured, and removed from office. Read the letter, below.
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| $1.2 Billion in Capital Investment and the creation of over 10,000 jobs was the outcome achieved via Escambia's strategic use of EDATES to help incentivize the world's largest Credit Union, Navy Federal Credit Union, to massively expand in Escambia County's District 1 |
Sandra Averheart from WUWF asked me my thoughts on the upcoming election ballot referendum on EDATES (Economic Development Ad-Valorem Tax Exemptions)
I have long been a proponent of EDATES because I understand them and know they are a powerful tool in our Economic Development tool box for attracting and retaining investment and jobs in Escambia County.
In April we, the BCC, put this initiative forward for addition on the Ballot in the upcoming November General Election. I discussed my rationale for strongly supporting EDATES at that time.
Yesterday afternoon's post by WUWF captures and reiterates the important and positive aspects of EDATES. From that post:
"The EDATE incentive program was first approved for use in Escambia County and the City of Pensacola in 1992 and last renewed in 2012.
The EDATE is an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption. It’s a tool in our tool kit that we can utilize to incentivize job creation,” said Jeff Bergosh, chairman of the Escambia County Commission.
While the exemption does not apply to taxes that go to the Escambia County School District, EDATE allows for a 10-year period of no property taxes to the county, in exchange for some measurable outcomes such as job creation and capital investment.
“I believe it’s a great thing for our community, certainly a great thing for schools — and almost a necessity these days — as every community has to compete for these top-end flagship job creators,” declared Bergosh, recalling the lack of good job opportunities when he entered the workforce in the 1980s.
“I think folks realize that if we want good jobs, if you want to keep your kids, keep them with the ability to stay in Pensacola after they graduate, we got to continue diversifying the jobs base here.”
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| I'll be on 1370 WCOA's "Real News with Rick Outzen" this morning at 7:10 discussing tonight's D1 townhall in Perdido. |
Rick Outzen, host of the area's best, most informative and highly-rated morning drive news program in the Pensacola/Escambia market, has asked me to be the leadoff guest at 7:10 this morning on his hit show "Real News with Rick Outzen." He has asked that we discuss/preview tonight's town hall meeting in Perdido--which we will do.
Once he posts the podcast, I will link it here.
The final disposition in the multiple ethics complaint(s) against Escambia Commissioner Doug Underhill wrapped up this morning. And I would encourage folks that have not seen the proceedings this morning to watch the entire meeting here. Underhill's case is first up on the video----and the discussion among the panel upon hearing the evidence presented is very compelling. After reviewing the records and hearing the case presented by the state's advocate--the ethics commission moved to increase Underhill's fine from $12,500.00 to $35,000.00. They also followed the recommendation of the state's advocate (attorney/prosecutor) to also recommend to the governor that Underhill be removed from office. This is profound.
This has been a situation that has brewed for several years. Censures, lawsuits, federal lawsuits, and ethics charges. It has been a clown show in the D2 office for a long time. But those days are coming to an end. Thankfully.
In an interesting and fascinating exercise--Doug and his minion watercarriers are already vigorously rebuking this decision--saying it was all "politics and all about money and certain families' political ties!" (paraphrased). But the fact of the matter is this is the culmination of years of complaints, lawsuits, and ethics charges lodged against Underhill by multiple persons and entities for valid reasons. To my knowledge, no other sitting commissioner has had any (ZERO) complaints leveld against him.
Still, the mindless Doug sycophants exclaim "It is the other commissioners' fault" as they dutifully attempt feckless defenses of Underhill on various facebook sites this evening. It is truly fascinating to watch them leap into action, lathered, to defend their guy Underhill---despite all the evidence of Doug's various machinations.
He (Doug) has had multiple folks register complaints with the ethics commission, he has lawsuits from multiple plaintiffs, and his loss today came via a 6-1 vote from a bi-partisan, objective and neutral group on the Ethics Commission--most of whom would not know Doug Underhill if he walked in front of them because they are from other parts of Florida. The evidence was compiled by attorneys that work for the state, based upon evidence they independently compiled over dozens of months from people they did not know. To say they all "had it in" for Doug is ridiculous, delusional, and outlandish rubbish. And I suspect Doug's loyalist know that deep down. No, it is all about the evidence and the record and karma. Look, Doug has attacked, libeled, slandered and "character assasinated" citizens and constituents, fellow commissioners, community leaders---and yes---even the family members of his perceived enemies. Lies, lies, lies. The lies are cathching up to Doug now. That's my assessment.
The Governor, ultimately, will decide whether or not this punishment will happen before Doug leaves office. Some have intimated that any action on this will not happen within the 31 days left in Commissioner Underhill's term.
I guess we will see. I hope action comes immediately. It is deserved and earned. Justice served.
Local media is already all over it. See the coverage here, here, here, and here.
When the revised final order with the recommendation for removal from office and a $35K fine is published, I will post it here.
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| Sheriff Simmons' community roundtable on violence and crime meets in Brownsville, 10-18-2022 |
Escambia County Sheriff Simmons sponsored a community round table yesterday evening, and there were lots of discussions among the panel and lots of input from the community as well as the assembled group of elected leaders. I think everyone at the table is/was interested in solutions. Genuinely. Many have ideas about how we can address some aspects of the violence problem in our community. Many had reasons why they felt we have reached this point in society. For my part, I did provide input about my thoughts on the problem and my belief that any solution(s) will require a short, medium, and long range set of strategies, many of which I described in my pre-roundtable blog post on this topic.
After we went around the room a couple of times and answered audience questions, the sheriff announced the same group would definitely meet again, more than likely in January. He also asked that each of us come prepared to describe what concrete steps we are taking within our own organizations and spheres of infulence-- or are prepared to take--- to help with this community violence epidemic. So watch for this upcoming meeting early next year, it should be good.
Some issues that will be looked upon more and more going forward to curb some of the violence and to support young men (the primary culprit in most all violence in the community according to the sheriff) and their families include redoubled efforts at engagement utilizing methods like Parent University, Organized Youth Sports, and additional education and training of young students in conflict resolution and the aftermath of violence utilized as a means of resolving life issues. The panel also appeared to settle in to the idea of starting small with one or two local communities at a time for testing/implementing any agreed-upon, funded proposals. Senator Broxson stated he'd sponsor a pilot program at the state level for Escambia County to try this approach.
A Coupule of Take Aways:
SPORTS
I agree in part that sports is a way to help some at-risk youth---but only to a point. I played sports, as did all three of my children and all of their friends. But what are the core value(s) of "sports"? When I wrestled in 9th grade--the objective was to beat the opponent. When I rolled with a Judo Sensei--the goal was to throw your opponent using his force and velocity against him to defeat him. There were no social value judgments attached--none that stuck. Baseball and Football were great and fun--but the object was to work together as a team beat the opponent and win. In tennis, I try to beat my opponent. So what social/core and moral values do sports instill that will assist young men in not wanting to lead a dysfunctional, gangster type lifestyle, sling drugs, beat people, and devolve into a life of violence? Yes sports are fun, yes they instill a desire to win and to work with a team--but I don't know that this, in and of itself, instills the core, moral values that are missing from many kids' lives. (Interesting that other groups like FBLA, FFA, Key Club, Mentor Programs, Band, or even Boy Scouts were not mentioned at all.... why not?) I was a boy scout and I learned a lot of great and long lasting lessons through scouting. Call me a nerd if you want, but a huge part of what a scout learns and does (before camping and fun stuff) is core values. I still remember the pledge: "A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverant." It is and was a great youth development program--but has been marginalized and stigmatized by the mainstream in the 3 1/2 decades since my participation....
TECHNOLOGYPensacola Police Chief Eric Randall said it ---and it resonated. He is a technology guy. I am, too. And even if we do nothing to curb violence and violent community crime--technology will, eventually, end the days of the common criminal. Cameras that are ubiquitous, high tech drones that can circle entire city quadrants and video the entire area for multiple days on end, along with other high-tech marvels we've not even seen yet will eventually lead to the much easier resolution of murders and other crimes ---without the need for eyewitness corroboration. We're getting there sooner than I thought. According to Sheriff Simmons-we are already at a clearance rate of 68% for the 25 homocides in the county this year. That is a big number. We will soon need more prisons and jails--but technology, robots, drones, cameras, Intuitive AI modeling, advanced DNA technology, even sentinal robots---and other high tech surveillance capabilities we don't even have yet will come online over the next several decades and we will have clearance rates for these violent crimes that are nearly 100%. Meanwhile, citizens of means (who already largely self-segregate to gated, armed security protected enclaves of communities) will have new self-protection capabilities that will all but sheild them from the violence of the common criminal. So if we do nothing, or if we do nothing meaningful and impactful but rather simply tweak at the margins--eventually technology will take care of the issue and clean up the mess itself--leading to more and more incarceration particularly in pockets of our community where we already see geometrical growth in generational crime and dysfunction.
FATHERS and FAMILIES
Several panelists followed up my initial comments about the need to redouble our efforts at keeping families together and the dramatic disadvantage young men face when there is no father in the house. One agreed and understood the need for that to be a priority. Interestingly, two others appeared to downplay the importance of the father. One said he was able to achieve great things and he only had a mother--no father. Of course, like in his case apparently, there are strong mothers who step into the breach of a broken family and through hard work and sheer force of will are able to inspire/encourage/propel their children forward into lives of great productivity and away from crime.
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| I'll be on the area's best and most highly rated morning drive news program, Real News with Rick Outzen, later this morning at 7:10 |
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| Needed: Honest, courageous, and productive conversations at the roundtable on Tuesday.... |
Sheriff Chip Simmons has empaneled a group of community leaders to hold a round table discussion this Tuesday regarding a deadly double-shooting in District 1 two weeks back. I applaud his leadership in taking this bull by the horns. The conversation will be about the levels of violence in the community as well--not just this particular shooting. I am honored to have been invited to participate, and I look forward to Tuesday.
In the lead up to the event, I have given three media interviews on this topic, after having been asked my opinion on what, if anything, should be done to focus on the violence in our community that leads to these tragic events like the murder that happened in Bellview. Two of the pieces have subsequently been published and I believe the third will be published this week in the lead up to the roundtable.
The violence, the gun crimes, and the gangs+drugs issues we see growing in our community are symptoms of a bigger problem that few are willing to discuss: The loss of the family unit in growing pockets of our community. This dissolution of the in-tact family unit leaves many young men with no strong role model and disciplinarian in the house to deal with issues that invariably arise in child rearing through formative years.
The single biggest predictor of whether or not a young man in America will become entangled in the criminal justice system is whether or not a father was/is in the home where such a young man is/was raised. But to some, such discussions are verboten for political correctness' sake.
Imagine, as my friend Tom Danheisser posited in his hard-hitting, prescient op-ed on this topic last year, if we were trying to cure lung cancer but we could not talk about cigarette smoking? He knows what I know and he has seen it in his courtroom as has my brother in his courtroom: Fatherless families produce children who are at a much higher risk of committing crimes, being prosecuted, and ultimately ending up in prison. (And lending creedence to the media's reticence to discuss root causes of the crimes, drugs, and gangs issues in Pensacola/Escambia County that produce the carnage we see locally--I'm told the Dannheisser op-ed was also sent to the PNJ last year in May of 2021--but their editorial team refused to print it. Too much truth I suppose.....)
So this conversation Tuesday has to have a few guideposts if it is to be successful:
1. We must realize the long term solution will take decades.
2. We must realize the problem is not the police.
3. We must have the courage to speak truth and use irreputable facts and figures to buffet our positions.
4. We must realize no matter what we do we cannot and will not be able to save every young person from descending into a life of crime.
From my perspective, in order to actually accomplish a worthwhile outcome and trajectory toward
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| 5th Dimension's Rendering of this proposed development |
Pensacola stockbroker John Peacock has a problem, apparently. I'm his problem according to a screen shot I've seen now reflecting comments he has made about me on a facebook chat site.
That's cool, he can say what he wants because he has free speech. But I can and will speak my mind, too--especially now that I am attacked by him.
His (Peacock's) anger this go round apparently stems from my staunch disagreement with him about the structure of Escambia County's governance and in particular installation of a "strong" elected executive. While we did and do agree that individual commissioners should be elected county-wide--- because our decisions impact the entire county----he, Peacock believes we should have a charter county, and what he really wants is a strong, elected county executive. (I know this because he has requested multiple meetings with me and I have accommodated these in my office--where John has always been cordial and polite in his advocacy for this sort of structure when we are face to face in person) He thinks we should have a charter county with one strong figurehead he can attempt to lobby and boss around, not five individual commissioners (representing the entire county and not just downtown) to have to work through. He and a few others downtown can exert inordinate control over the county's agenda under that elected executive scenario--kind of like what happened when the schools locally used to elect a "boss hogg" superintendent which made that chief school administrator position hyper political and simultaneously all but neutered the duly elected district school board members--- making them powerless.
I say no way to that. Been there, done that, go the T-Shirt. No way, no how--and that really irritates John. I guess he's used to folks just genuflecting over the bad ideas he's peddling on behalf of truly wealthy and powerful community "leaders"that run him--- because John is a self-anointed bigshot stockbroker with self-proclaimed bigshot portfolio book of business. He thinks that affords him sway--but it doesn't obviously. So what if he's a rich downtown stockbroker, I don't care. I disagree with him, he knows it because I told him to his face in my office and also publicly when he brought this garbage to a BCC public forum. And so now he's calling me the "worst commissioner ever online" LOL.
Here's the thing though. It's not just me saying NO to this ridiculous brainchild of others he's pushing on their behalf. When he tried to pitch it to me in my office last year, he knew my thoughts then. It's not a secret, it's a NO, John. Then and now--because it is a garbage solution looking for a problem to get it's meathooks into. No. And it's a lot of people saying "NO, John." When the topic was covered in North Escambia last November--38 of 39 of the posts commenters flatly rejected it forcefully. As I told him correctly in my office--people don't want Pensacola style governance in the County. The idea is DOA when/if it comes to the county for my vote. So Peacock's lingering frustration(s) over being an inept lobbyiest for this garbage scheme manifests itself with these BS comments below, on a facebook chat site that has 11 malcontents and ZERO sway on anything.
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Instead of picking up the phone or calling me or requesting another meeting Peacock just goes on a chat site that has about 11 active members that really hate the fact that I keep winning elections and beating their candidates of choice. He goes on that site and says what he says which is untrue and I suspect he knows it's rubbish---- but he says it anyway.
I normally would not respond in such a public way to this sort of nonsense, but in this case I felt it important to respond immediately with a strong rebuttal---directly to John Peacock--not in weak fashion via a passive aggressive post on an obscure online chat site like John does. Here's the message John got back from me this morning. Directly. Let's see what he says about that! 😀
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| 5th Dimension's Rendering of this proposed development |
As I have documented in the previous posts---this project was conceived, planned, and ultimately approved while this portion of property was in District 2. The final piece of documentation was issued by the county about 30 days after this portion of the county became an official part of District 1 after the once per decade manditory redistricting process that concluded in December of 2021. So no matter who was the commissioner or who's district this fell in after redistricting--the project would have moved forward as the train had already left the station.
The other thing I have attempted to document in this series of posts is the fact that there was significant planning on this upscale development, there were multiple entities that issued permits for this construction, and numerous studies were generated to support this project's ultimate approval--including a detailed traffic study which I have read and published previously. Some have erroniously and angrily proclaimed that "The county did not do any due diligence before approving this development!!" This is untrue. The county did significant due dilligence and the documents I have released and am realeasing today support this truth. Additionally, and in addition to what we all know already (the property is/was zoned COM and the Future Land Use designation is MU-S--both of which support multifamily development) about why this was built here--I have now also confirmed with staff that this parcel has ALWAYS been either commercially zoned or that it carried the previous COM designation (C1) under the county's pre-2015 zoning designations.
It was always commercial, always zoned for multifamily, and for sale for years. That's the indisputable fact of reality.
So.... as I come close to wrapping up this series (only one more post yet to come) prior to the upcoming town hall I will have on this topic and others of concern to Perdido------ I have also received numerous additional documents pertaining to this development specifically which I am linking to this post here.
Readers who are interested in the facts and the timeline will find the stormwater study, the sales contract, design documents, and lots of additional information by downloading the files in this folder.
The PNJ has now also done a piece on this issue, which I must say was a well written, factual article.
more on that in Part V--the final post on this topic prior to the townhall.....
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| Would you want to trade a sandy beach for this in your neighborhood? |
The living shoreline project at Navy Point has had some issues through its history post-construction.
Folks in the area have passionately requested the project be removed--as the oysters have come loose from the piles and the area's swimmers, boaters, and kayakers do not like the obstructions and potential for injury from the sharp shells that in many cases have washed ashore and been left scattered on the bayou's sandy bottom near the beach.
Folks are rightly concerned about Vibrio--a flesh destroying and often times fatal condition that is found in shallow, brackish and warm bayous. Many feel these oyster piles are an unnecessary risk to water sports enthusiasts in the area---given the issues with Vibrio.
Now, I am a supporter of thoughtfully considered living shoreline projects, like the one constructed in Pensacola Bay along Bayfront Parkway. The difference there and here is this: That area is not normally home to folks who swim and snorkel--so there hasn't been a "loss" of recreation opportunity for nearby residents. Same scenario elsewhere. Areas where folks often swim and kayak should have a different system implemented to improve water quality, in my opinion. I mean, imagine if Bruce Beach was targeted for a wall of these oyster bags like Navy Point was? What reaction might that trigger? Or here's a better one: What if these oyster bags were piled all over the shoreline near the Bayview Community Center near the dog beach down there? What would those residents think?
You know the answer to that.
So now comes a privately funded study of the effectiveness of this 5 year project at Navy Point authored by a licensed, professional Coastal Engineer.
Videos of what looks like a messy, yucky disaster of a project can be found here.
I'm not a scientist, but I can sure watch these videos and read the study's conclusions (p. 19 of the study), combined with the numerous emails I am now receiving, combined with videos I have now been sent combined with what I have seen with my own eyes as I have personally visited this area on multiple occassions.
Tonight we will discuss this project at our BCC meeting.
I do not yet know what the outcome of the discussion will be---but based upon the totality of all the issues around this project combined with the study's conclusions that the project has NOT prevented erosion (which has actually become worse since the oyster bags were deployed)--I would not be surprised if the board votes to remove these bags, regroup, and come back with a better, more effective and community-friendly environemental alternative to try later.
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| I've been invited to appear on 1370 WCOA's Real News with Rick Outzen--the area's best, most listened-to, most reliable and most dependable morning drive news program. |
