Escambia County: A Classy Organization that Says Farewell to Departing Members with Class

The County gave Commissioner Robinson a classy, well-attended thank you celebration and send off today--I was honored to present him with a framed proclamation, a plaque, and a gift as our way of expressing the County's appreciation to Grover C. Robinson IV for his 12 years of public service to Escambia County

This afternoon was an occasion to celebrate Grover Robinson's 12 years on the Escambia Board of County Commissioners as the District 4 Representative--and Escambia stepped up for the occasion.

The county staff did a superb job of organizing, planning, and putting on a nice goodbye party for one of our own that will be leaving after giving 12 years of service to this board.  How classy, what a class act Escambia County is! 

Grover was presented with a framed proclamation, a very nice plaque, and a parting gift as well as a nice celebration for friends, family, and other elected officials to attend. 

Appetizers, beverages, and just an opportunity to say "Thank You" to a member that has given a significant portion of his life to this board in public service.  That is the right thing to do.

Other boards locally that do nothing for their departing  members beyond a small plaque should seek to emulate the County's method for honoring elected representatives that are leaving. It's appropriate, and it is classy.

In speaking with staff today, I was told  "Yes, we do this for all of our commissioners that leave the board."  "We provide food and beverages and a nice gift for the commissioner who is leaving--as a respectful gesture of thanks and gratitude."

How refreshing this perspective is compared to other organizations with which I have worked.

What a classy organization full of great people. 

The County gave Commissioner Robinson a classy, well-attended thank you celebration and send off today--I was honored to present him with a framed proclamation, a plaque, and a gift as our way of expressing the County's appreciation to Grover for his 12 years of service to Escambia County

As Grover himself said it today...."We are fortunate in Escambia County that we have the finest citizens working for us!"  He is right!--

I can't say enough great things about this staff...professional, courteous, respectful, knowledgeable,  and timely with information.  What a great place to serve as an elected official.  I am blessed to have the honor of serving here and I am thankful!

And we wish Grover much success in his new role as Mayor of the City of Pensacola as we say good bye to him--he's going to do a great job for the citizens!

What is the Realistic Timeline for us to #OpenOurBeach ?

This is a rough depiction of what our timeline looks like going forward in our effort to get Perdido Key Beach access #4 open for the general public that paid for it.

Yesterday was a profound day in the quest for Escambia County to #OpenOurBeach that we have owned for nearly 5 years but that we have chained-off from public access.

The Board of Adjustment unanimously voted to grant the county a Conditional Use Permit for the public park and beach access at Perdido Key.

The four hour meeting--complete with lawyers and nearby condo owners fighting hard against the opening of this beach--can be watched here.

Kudos to the citizens that showed up and fought for this public beach access.

But now that we have the Conditional Use Permit--what's next?

According to staff that are extremely knowledgeable on how this process will play out going forward, we could realistically be celebrating Independence Day at this brand new public access park in Perdido Key!

Of course, there is a chance that the nearby condo owners could have their attorneys file suit to try to stop this...I hope they don't.  (they REALLY do not want the general public having access to this beach that they consider their private beach;  they love the comfortable status quo they have enjoyed over the last several years where only THEY get to enjoy this beach...)

But barring anything unusual, and if the BCC identifies the funding source and votes to authorize the spending necessary to complete this project----- this beach should be open for use by ALL ESCAMBIA CITIZENS by the Summer of 2019!

It is going to be awesome when we #OpenOurBeach !!  I will be one of the first ones out there enjoying it when we get it done.  I might even drag a cooler with me :)

More Housing in Beulah---on the OLF 8 Field?????

9 Mile road will be 4-laned in late 2019, and will have 
walkable, bikable sidewalks from the interstate to Beulah Road.  
There are already more than 2,000 new residential units 
under construction or planned within
walking distance of NFCU's campus...why do we need more?

It confounds me, the idea some are putting forth about building MORE housing in the I-10/9-Mile Road area of Beulah, the current epicenter of growth in Escambia County.

More than just wanting more housing where we don't need it, these same folks want it to be high-impact, high-density housing (Condos, Townhomes, and Apartments). Yes-- these same folks want to fill the OLF 8 field we are soon to be acquiring--with more housing!?!

This is a terrible idea for many reasons, not the least of which is we don't need and cannot take any more high-impact, high-density residential out here in Beulah!  And if we fill the OLF 8 we are soon to acquire with a Fancy Mall encircled by condos, townhomes, and apartments--we can kiss our $30 Million Dollar Triumph grant to create jobs good bye.  This would be disastrous.

Folks, I live out here in Beulah and I have owned a home across from the NFCU campus for nearly 15 years.

There has been growth, tremendous growth.  I have lived it.

But the infrastructure of our area simply HAS NOT kept pace with the growth.

It is for this and many other good reasons that I have voted against the last several big residential projects in the Beulah area.  It's because we can't take any more growth in residential until our infrastructure catches up.

We are working the infrastructure projects as quickly as we can, but we are way behind the curve, way behind.

So looking forward to completing a master plan for our soon-to-be-acquired OLF 8 property, (regardless of who pays for it, the county or NFCU) we need to ensure that if I get out-voted and we


leave open the possibility of building more housing on OLF 8--that the planner look at how much is already constructed, under construction, or in the planning pipeline to be constructed already within walking distance to NFCU's campus.  This must be considered.  The planner should also consider the fact that most residents out here in Beulah DO NOT WANT a town of Beulah to be built out here!  They want some amenities, some restaurants, some shops--but the folks that elected me have told me point-blank that they want to retain the rural charm of this area--they don't want it to become a city!

So we come to a big decision point on Monday of next week.  Do we destroy the remaining rural, charming characteristics of Beulah by building towering high-density residential on the OLF 8 field?...or...do we listen to the people of this area that have lived here for decades and DO NOT WANT that?

I believe we can achieve a compromise that limits new housing in this already over-crowded space, makes smart decisions about the  development of the OLF 8 (Including adding a minimum of 1000 good jobs on the site to keep us in the running for a $30 Million Dollar Triumph Grant) while

Newpoint Chapter Comes to a Close….Vindication

People lost their careers and went to jail--just as I correctly predicted when I learned about the Newpoint cover-up in late March of 2015.  This whole fiasco also helped pass the appointed superintendent model locally --a historic silver lining for Escambia that was, in part, born of the Newpoint mess

If you steal from the state, if you steal from students, if you try to cheat the system—eventually it will catch up to you and the wrongs will be righted.

So it is with some satisfaction that now we see another person involved in the Newpoint Charter Schools fiasco get sentenced tojail.  Good—that is a good outcome. Rip off teachers, steal money from kids, you deserve to go to jail so far as I’m concerned.

But that is an outcome that almost didn’t happen…and it happened too late for the taxpayers (the school got bonuses for BOGUS test scores before the whole thing tumbled down on them…) and it happened too late for many students that were subjected to that school and all of its spectacular dysfunction for far too long to keep negative headlines out of the press.

As a staunch school-choice and charter school supporter—it is and was somewhat ironic that I was the board member that received the whistle blower’s complaint and ACTUALLY did something with the information.  If I had not blown this up—my prediction is that Newpoint would still be operating in Escambia County today.  Sad, right?

I won’t rehash how it all went down-but there are a few of us that know the whole truth. For those that want to know the truth about how it went down, and what the Judge meant when he referred to “misfeasance” by public officials in his sentencing yesterday—I’d suggest the following blog posts (here here here here here and here) as a primer.  You'll get the flavor if you read them.

The nefarious conduct at Newpoint was being actively swept under the rug by district staffers at the behest of the superintendent’s office throughout 2014 and into early 2015.  That is a fact, and it is also factual that multiple staff members told me this point blank:  “We were told NOT to tell the school board about all the problems at Newpoint.” (these employees and the Newpoint Whistle Blower were the heroes of this story—they risked their jobs by telling me and doing the right thing)

I made the decision to unilaterally report the misconduct to the State Attorney’s Office, over the strenuous objections of the Superintendent, when I went to his office to confront him about the accusations.  He told me I was wrong.  “You are making a mistake –you  are wrong!” he yelled. 

Here’s the thing, though.  I was right, and he was wrong.  He was a part of the problem and he is

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.

Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee Holds First Regular Meeting in Beulah

The Northwest Section of District 1, which includes Beulah, is illustrated in the map above.  This is the fastest growing area of District 1--and the most impacted by growth.

The nine members of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee held their first regular meeting this week in Beulah.  The meeting was held Monday night in the cafeteria of the newly-opened Beulah Middle School.

Joining the group for this meeting were several members of County Staff, myself, and several local residents.

The meeting went well, the discussions were good, and the comments from the public were mostly positive.

Staff and committee members prepare for the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

The committee hammered out the meeting dates/times for the next four meetings, as well as the location for these meetings.  Committee Vice Chair, Mr. Wilson Taylor, Principal of Beulah Middle School, has graciously offered up his school's cafeteria for these meetings going forward, which the committee felt was a great location.

Staff and committee members hear from residents during the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

Beulah resident Chester Holland spoke to the committee  "I've lived out here since 1974, and I don't want to lose what we have out here--people out here like it the way it is."

Beulah resident Christine Rogers also weighed in  "I live behind the [OLF 8] helicopter field and I am here tonight because I am concerned and I want to know what is happening.  I also like the fact that you are having the meetings here in a location that I can attend."

Several members of one family attended but indicated they just wanted to observe and listen.

Several committee housekeeping items were handled as well:

--Handouts on Robert's Rules of Order were distributed

--Staff gave a presentation on planning acronyms

--Staff gave a presentation on current area traffic projects and completion timelines

--the agendas for these meetings will be published on the County website, along with backup materials, at least one week before the meetings going forward.

--a public forum section will be on the agenda going forward so citizens can speak

--promotion of the meeting will be done via the county's regular meeting schedule advertisement, along with social media that citizens present said they would post.  Additionally, Kim Adderholt (a committee member that works for NFCU) said she would look into advertising these meetings internally at Navy Federal Credit Union.

the committee set goals for the next four meetings as well.

Next month, at the December 3rd meeting--the committee will hear from staff on the lessons learned from a previous county planning effort, the Perdido Key Master Plan.

At the January 14th meeting--the committee will discuss the work previously completed by the Beulah Community Master Plan citizens.

February's meeting will be a session for synthesizing the initial plans into a working rough draft, and the March meeting--tentatively and hopefully--will be promoted as an opportunity for the general public to come and add their voices for the effort.

Discussion of current area conditions at the first regular meeting of the Northwest District 1 Advisory Committee

This is an aggressive schedule for the next four months, but this committee is comprised of impressive folks who seem genuinely interested in moving forward with plans to make this community better.  I look forward to watching them work and seeing the product of their work come to fruition.

Learn more about Escambia County's NW District 1 Advisory Committee  here, here, and here.

A Tremendous Win for Students, Parents, and Teachers in Escambia County!

We will now allow our elected School Board to hire the best, most qualified superintendent of schools to run our district starting in 2020.  This is a great win for students, parents, teachers, and the school district.  A HUGE night for Escambia County!

The vote has happened.

The voters of Escambia County have spoken.

They have chosen progress over politics.  They have chosen the future over the past.

They have voted to reject the status quo and the old way of operating our schools.

Beginning in 2020, the Escambia County School District will officially join the rest of the country and the civilized world and we will allow our elected school board to hire the best, most qualified Superintendent of Schools from a nationwide search.

We have moved from the backwards, throwback, and abnormal system of ELECTING our superintendents to the more modern and effective method of APPOINTING our superintendent.

No more good ole boy politics, no more nepotism and cronyism.  Bye Bye to that.....

Finally, we can have this official concentrate on educating our students rather than ginning up support for the next election.

This was the biggest, most important issue on the ballot tonight.  This is a HUGE victory for students, parents, and teachers.  This will come as a shock to many people who have stated, point blank, that "This will NEVER happen in Escambia County!"

Well, it just did.  Thank you to everyone who worked to make this happen.

Thanks to Quint Studer, DC Reeves, Michelle Salzman, Walker Wilson, and the Pensacola Young Professionals for their efforts and resources added to this cause.

I am so glad we got this over the line and I am so hopeful for the future of this district now that we have joined 99.5% of the rest of the world by finally, at long last, fixing our broken, dysfunctional, and backwards governance model.

Big night, big win.

Big future!