Watch the Video of our Perdido Key Town Hall Meeting Here

Agenda and Run of the Show for Tomorrow's Perdido Town Hall Meeting

 Here is the agenda for tomorrow evening's Town Hall Meeting in Perdido.

Great Evening with Constituents: D1 Perdido Town Hall 9-18-2023

 We had an excellent, informative, and productive townhall meeting last night in District 1.  I appreciate all the citizens and staff that came out and participated.  For those unable to attend, I am linking the video of the event here, below:

Agenda/Run of the Show for This Monday Evening's D1 Town Hall in Perdido

D1 Perdido Town Hall Monday, September 18th

I'll be hosting a town-hall meeting in Perdido on Monday, September 18th at 6:00 PM.

I have not yet selected and booked a venue, but I will this week and will announce it via a press release from the county's CMR department.

As I typically do, I will request relevant staff be present to discuss the wide ranging issues of concern for the folks that live and work in this area of District 1.  And I am open to adding topics as well, so anyone who would like to have focused discussions added to the agenda can offer such ideas by emailing them to District1@myescambia.com or by calling me directly at 850-293-1459.

Some initial topics of consideration/discussion at the town hall:

--Traffic and the Roundabout, including the recent study of it's performance and potential improvements

--Growth Management and better notification of residents prior to large developments being approved

--the timeline for completion of the multi-use path

--Homelessness and the implications on the community and how the county is working to address this issue

--creating more parking at the access points and providing additional access

--beach safety

--litter and roadway refuse collection

--Incorporation questions 

I'll also invite my counterpart elected officials from the State, ECUA, and School Board to attend and bring relevant updates.

More information to come shortly.

I'll be on Real News with Rick Outzen on 1370 WCOA Tomorrow Morning at 7:00 AM

I'll be on the area's best, most listened to, most reliable, and most accurate morning drive news talk radio show--"Real News with Rick Outzen" tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM

I've been invited to appear as the lead off guest tomorrow morning on 1370 WCOA's Real News with Rick Outzen.

We will be discussing last Thursday's BCC meeting, Perdido Key, Moday's town hall in Beulah, the latest on OLF 8, and other issues of interest from last week.

Listen live at 7:00 or catch the podcast here.

Great Turnout for our Beulah Town Hall Meeting Monday Evening

We had a lot of great questions from the audience and staff responses.  I appreciate all the citizens who made time in their schedules to come and participate in the town hall meeting.  I also appreciated all the staff and fellow elected officials that participated.  If you were not able to make the town hall, you can watch the recording of it below.

Beulah Town Hall this Monday Evening, June 5th, 6:00-8:00 PM

 

D1 Perdido Town Hall Tuesday October 25th 6PM-8PM

 We will be holding our next townhall in the Perdido/Perdido Key are of District 1 on Tuesday, October 25th 2022.

We will have the gymnasium at Perdido Bay United Methodist Church reserved for this function which will occur from 6:00-8:00 PM on the 25th.

The primary topic will be traffic and ongoing impacts to traffic caused by multiple ongoing construction projects in the are to include work on Sorrento Road, Johnson's Beach Road and Perdido Key Drive, and the intersection of Innerarity Point road and Perdido Key Drive.

We will also discuss all aspects of the multi unit townhomes/marina project which is slated for construction on the north side of the Baars Bridge.

In the lead up to this townhall, I will be publishing all the information I have received on this project thus far, including the traffic analysis and permits received for the project from all entities, Federal, state, and local.  I'll be inviting the developers representative to this meeting to discuss all aspects of the project with the public, and staff from the relevant county departments will be on hand as well to answer constituent concerns and questions.

As I always do at every town hall I host, I will go through every comment submitted and have staff answer questions posed, and any questions we do not have a ready answer for, we will send once we get it to the constituents.

Bring your questions and concerns and we will see you all on the 25th!

How Did the Beulah D1 Townhall Audience Feel About Various Topics?

Instant "Polling" of a town hall audience:

Yes, it is probably completely unscientific.

Yes, it is probably not statistically valid at all.

Nevertheless--It does give me a sense of where those that are concerned about local issues are leaning on particular topics of interest to District 1 Escambia County Residents.  

And there are some striking commonalities between the audience responses in both of my recent town halls.  

--100% agreement on term limits for all politicians.  

--100% agreement on Sheriff as person who should run the jail.  

--100% agreement on economic development as a valuable function of the county commission.  

--100% DISAGREEMENT on the statement that "The Pensacola News Journal"  is in step with our community's values....

Lots of areas of agreement.

So, even with the structural shortcomings of such an instant opinion poll--there is value in it and there is a viewpoint that I glean from these sessions.

With that in mind-----see the below sheet for how the residents at the Beulah town hall last night felt on each topic:

Florida Power and Light Representatives Speak at Last Night's D1 Townhall in Beulah

Although it is an issue that the Board of County Commissioners does not control--I know citizens are frustrated and concerned about the rate hikes from Florida Power and Light.  I've received irate (and that is the censored version) phone calls and emails from constituents I serve wanting answers and information.  

So I invited representatives from Florida Power and Light to attend last night's District 1 townhall in Beulah.  And Rick Byars, Becca Boles, and Sandy Sims from Florida Power and Light came and discussed this very issue at length with the citizens and staff who attended the town hall.

For those who missed the event or who are interested in seeing the questions and answers, the video of the town hall is linked, below.  (FPL rate discussion begins at minute 35:00)

On "Real News with Rick Outzen" later this Morning on 1370 WCOA-the Area's #1 News Talk Station!

I'll be the 7:30 guest this morning on the area's #1 news talk station, 1370 WCOA and the morning drive's #1 rated morning news program--"Real News with Rick Outzen"

I'll be the 7:30 AM guest later this morning on the area's #1 rated news and information show in the morning drive hour--"Real News with Rick Outzen" on 1370 WCOA--the area's #1 local news/talk radio station.

Topics to be discussed will include a recap of last week's meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, upcoming events of interest to county residents, and the District 1 Town Hall meeting this evening at 5:30 PM at Beulah Middle School.

Tune in live later this morning  OR

Catch the podcast here (once it is released it will be posted)

What Questions will I Poll the Audience With at Tonight's Town Hall Meeting?

As I typically do during my town hall meetings, I ask the audience their opinions on various topics of interest to the citizens and constituents of Escambia County.  Not necessarily scientific, It is always very interesting.  Here are the questions, below, that I intend to ask at tonight's D1 Townhall in Beulah.

District 1 Townhall Meeting this Tuesday in Beulah

We will have a District 1 Townhall event this coming Tuesday, February 22nd in Beulah.

Like the one we had a couple of weeks back in Perdido/Innerarity--I anticipate this one will be well-attended.  As was the case in the previous Townhall in January, I will have a sizable contingent of County staff on hand to assist me in answering every question put forward by citizens that night.  And any answers we cannot give immediately, we will follow up via email or telephone to provide the answers.  See the agenda for this townhall here, below.

Massive Turnout for First D-1 Perdido/Innerarity Town Hall, Post Redistricting

Audience Members from half the room signal their strong support for Escambia County's work in pursuing good jobs from top notch employers through taxpayer funded economic development........ at the Perdido Key/Innerarity D1 Townhall held on 1-31-2022 

We had a massive, spillover and standing room only capacity crowd at last night's townhall meeting in the newest parts of District 1 post-redistricting, Innerarity/Perdido Key.

More than 130 folks attended the town hall that we estimated would bring 50 or so participants, therefore many attendees stood at the back of the room while others peeked in through adjoining hallways at the venue, First United Methodist Church of Perdido Bay.

We kicked off the meeting with a moment of silence, the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and staff introductions.  This was followed by brief remarks from Administrator Wes Moreno and School Board Chairman Kevin Adams, followed by D-1 ECUA Board Member Vicki Campbell.

After the remarks, we went into discussions about various county-wide issues of concern, then narrowed the conversation to areas of specific concern to the southern portion of D1--Perdido, Perdido Key, Innerarity, and nearby, adjacent communities and neighborhoods.

We took in dozens and dozens of thoughtful questions and comments of concern.  Fortunately--staff from the county representing nearly every department were on hand to answer most issues on the spot.  

Others were referred to relevant staff who were tasked with finding the answers and to getting the information back to the constituents that asked such questions.  

Multiple staff members spoke and gave input on the big issues:  Traffic, Sorrento Road, Innerarity causeway, Galvez Landing, Perdido Key Beach Access, Public Beach Access at Perdido Key versus private beach ownership, equitable funding for this part of the county (as a large portion of the county's revenues are funded out of Perdido Key yet the sense of the group was that a reasoanble, proportionate share is not being spent back in this area), FPL light bills, The 401(a) issue, and a host of other topics.

One of my favorite parts of these town hall meetings comes when I solicit audience information and input on a rapid-fire series of questions.  I was pleased to see nearly everyone in the room participate in my "Agree/Disagree" agenda item.  I'll go through each of these questions and the subsequent audience reactions in a follow-on, stand alone blog post.

We ended the meeting at about 7:45, and I expressed my sincere appreciation to those who came,  and particularly the ones who stayed to the end to come up and introduce themselves and elaborate on their particualar issues with me,  one on one.  This was the best part of the event--meeting the people, hearing their issues, and taking what they requested to staff for solutions.

This is how government is supposed to work!

My thanks to the citizens that came to the event, the staff that showed up and participated, and my counterparts from ECUA and the School Board who gave remarks and made themselves available/accessible.  Also, thanks go out to Mrs. Debbie Malsberger-Legislative aide to State Representative Michelle Salzman, for attending on behalf of Rep. Salzman.

The staff had a major issue with Internet Bandwidth at the location and therefore, unfortunatley, the livestream was not of very good quality.  But the event was recorded and a better recording will be posted on the county's webpage later this morning.  When it is posted, I will link it here.

Agenda and Run of Show for Tomorrow's Innerarity/Perdido District 1 Town Hall Meeting

 

Interactive Town Hall Meeting in District 1 will Happen on 7-15-2019

On Monday, July 15th we will be holding our next town hall meeting in District 1.  We will hold this town hall in the cafeteria of Beulah Middle School beginning at 6:00 PM.

Staff from the county will be present as well, in order to answer questions and take audience questions/concerns.

In addition to covering the topics above, we will take comments and questions from audience members that wish to participate, and we will also have an interactive session where questions will be asked of the audience with the intention of soliciting opinions from the group via hand-held cards that will say either "agree" or "disagree"--in order to get the group's input on a variety of pressing topics.

This will be an interactive town hall, with audience participation encouraged.  In addition to taping the town hall for later addition to the county's website, we will also be live-streaming the town hall on Facebook for those who cannot make the meeting in person but who want to watch online.

Coffee with a Commissioner this Coming Wednesday, June 26th-Town Hall July 15th

I'll be having my 24th "Coffee with the Commissioner" event this coming Wednesday morning, June 26th from 6:30-7:30 at the Hardees at Wilde Lake and Pine Forest Road.

These meetings are very informal and allow citizens to interact with me directly, with staff members present to take concerns and address issues.

And in three weeks I'll be holding a town hall meeting in Beulah to discuss an upcoming climate survey that will be coming in the mail to residents of Beulah and the northwest portion of District 1.

This town hall will be at 6:00 PM at Beulah Middle School on 9-Mile Road at Beulah Road.

We will be giving an update on multiple topics of interest at the town hall, but the main topic will be rapid growth and finding the best, most intelligent way to manage this growth in this part of the county.

We will also be talking about OLF 8 and the work to master plan that land for the benefit of the community.

I encourage ALL interested citizens to attend one or both of these upcoming meeting so that you can give me your ideas thoughts on how the county can serve you better!

County CMR Staff Releases Full Town Hall Video from 7-26-2018

Comment of the Night

Imagine this:  Someone that works for Navy Federal Credit Union saying they would NOT support a similar firm coming to OLF 8 to bring thousands of jobs and that they would in fact WORK AND VOTE AGAINST THIS! (I can't make this stuff up....)

Toward the end of the Beulah Town hall Meeting that was held last night--several folks waited behind to speak with me directly.

Several were very complimentary--which I appreciated.

Several were vocal opponents of mine going back several years when these same folks supported my opponent in the election, the opponent who wound-up finishing in last place.

"Asinine" was the word one woman showed me the definition for as she had it up on her cell phone and approached me at the podium.  "Why did you not read that word, it isn't a cuss word" she queried?  I told her I didn't feel it was appropriate--but we discussed her concerns.

Next a frequent and vituperative critic came up. (Ironically, this individual is critical of growth and has sharply criticized the growth in Beulah--yet this same person works for Navy Federal Credit Union)  "You are dead-set on a commerce park---but why?  she asked.  "I want to bring more jobs" was my response.  Then I asked her a hypothetical question----to which I received the COMMENT OF THE NIGHT.

"XXXXXXX  imagine if, hypothetically, we were able to lure another large financial services firm to our park at OLF 8--perhaps something like USAA.  What if they were going to bring over 6,000 good paying jobs to our area and develop OLF 8 like Navy Federal Credit Union developed their McDonnel campus next door--wouldn't that be a great win for the community?"  I asked.

With a smirk on her face, she answered as she turned walked away  "No, we would vote against 
that!  It's the number of people--we don't want more PEOPLE out here even if it was USAA!"

I know this is the mindset of some out in Beulah that wish the 4-H club and cow pastures were still the view along 9-Mile Road --but this comment seemed astonishingly selfish and amazingly myopic.

Like I have said--I can't have a rational conversation with someone who looks at Navy Federal Credit Union, and all they have brought to our area, and says "I wish they would have never come here!"

Likewise, I cannot have a logical discussion with someone who, knowing firsthand how beneficial NFCU is to the community, would fight against a similar institution bringing good jobs to our area.

I have to believe this misguided, self-centered, and negative opinion is not the sentiment of most of this area's population.

Luckily, I do believe this individual is in the extreme minority in this opinion given the facts that are known about what a grand slam home run NFCU has been for our community.