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 :
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5 comments:
No matter how tempting offer, please listen to the constituency and don't go with DR Horton. All those voices you hear of dissent are chiming in for a reason. Horton builds an inferior product. They lie and tailor their contracts so that they have loopholes they can later exploit. They will devalue and cheapen what was concieved in the sprit of improvement for the area. Just go to a DR Horton neighborhood and the proof is in the pudding. Talk to the people that live in the homes, the people that have to fight for warrantied repairs, the people that have to live with mold and moisture and products that were not built to last. Visit a standard DR Horton neighborhood that is 10+ years old. A higher sales price might make for a bigger initial feather in the county's cap, but the community will pay the price down the line.
On the surface, $3 million higher than Breland’s offer sounds like a lot of money, but the county will be missing out on tens of millions in tax revenue in the future from all the retail, commercial and industrial activity planned with Breland’s plan.
Anon 4:52--Although I truly embraced Breland's initial offer and their willingness to follow the master plan---they did not come to the Arpil 6th meeting. Making matters worse was their conceptual rendering--sent late on April 5th---showing their intention was to massively shrink the jobs-creating commercial and light industrial footprint of the parcel and also to scale-back the retail and amenities on the parcel's frontage----while MAXIMIZING the amount of RESIDENTIAL all over the remaining acreage of the property. To say what I saw when I opened that rendering, juxtaposed with what Breland stated in their offer letter, was disappointing----is the understatement of the year! When they did not show up April 6th nor send a team---I realized my optimism in what they had initially stated and planned was, and I'll put it this way, misplaced and somewhat naive looking backwards now in hindsight. Look to my blog later today where I will post the conceptual rendering of what Breland's real intent was, apparently, all along. NOT in line with what the community wanted, not in line with the master plan, not in line at all with anything that would have survived the board's scruting. Just massive residential development, massive. It would have been DOA for my vote. Dead on arrival.
Another fumble by the BOCC. Track housing by DRH is what you will get. Accepting a bad offer is not worth it no matter what the price. You have/had the ability to be transformative for that part of the county. Jobs in the 21st century cone to a sense of place which doesn’t exist now in the north end. Do it right or just wait.
6:19--That is where you are wrong. It is easy to say "just wait!" Meanwhile, the economy is changing, money is being printed in DC and inflation is being kept in check by every machination and method of chicanery one could possibly imagine by a group of egg-head theoretical economists that appear to be no more sophisticated collectively than the little Dutch Boy with his finger in the dike--desperately trying to keep the thing from collapsing. That's how bad it really is. And don't worry--when a dozen eggs reaches the price of $12 per dozen and gas goes back to $4.50 a gallon here, they will pat folks like you on the head and say "It's the Avian Flu and the supply chain--and Russia's war!!" and you will believe them, obsequiously, like a good little quizling. I'm not so gullible and have been around the block a time or two and I pay attenting to things going on that have their ways of trickling down to our area. And right now, it is a LOT. Add in the war in Europe and a hawkish sentiment by some at instigating a war with Russia that would be devastating--and you have a toxic environment ripe for any spark at any time to ignite it. So pardon me---but no. No thank you. Waiting for what you, anonymous, thinks will be the perfect deal for OLF 8 is a non-starter idea and I am glad the rest of the board voted to move forward by a 5-0 vote to hammer out an agreement that we can all live with that will bring restaurants, retail, amenities, a Town Center, and high-tech jobs to that field--along with a hefty profit that could exceed $20 Million Dollars that we can immediately put to work throughout the county to address some long standing infrastructure deficiencies that we all know are ubiquitous throughout this area. And, the built-up environment on that field will produce jobs and ad valorem tax revenue that will allow us to continue paying our first responders the highest salaries in the region. Is the deal perfect? No. But we can't let perfection be the enemy of good; remember the lesson of the three bears--the porrige will never be just right--always too hot or cold. So Yes, that's what we are going to do, we're moving forward. So while folks like you sit on the sidelines and take shots at those of us that lead, I will continue to be decisive and I'll also continue to get projects going and lots of improvements started in my district. And when necessary, I will be the voice of reason on that dais to push things that are critically important-----namely like getting to 1st base on a HUGE win of a deal at OLF 8 which is what happened Thursday. HUGE win.
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