70th Coffee with the Commissioner this Wednesday at 6:30

Join us for our 70th Coffee with the Commissioner event this Wednesday, March 16. The live stream will take place from 6:30-7:30 a.m. To join the meeting, visit our D1 Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/CommissionerBergosh/. 

Attendees will include Interim County Administrator Wes Moreno; Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore; and Florida House Representatives Michelle Salzman, District 1, and Alex Andrade, District 2. Moreno will give an update on county business and Gilmore will share the latest public safety information for Escambia County. Representatives Salzman and Andrade will join us to give a legislative wrap-up, discussing the bills that were recently passed and how they will impact the citizens of Escambia County.

Residents are encouraged to send virtual questions and comments they would like to discuss during the event through Facebook. 

For more information, contact District 1 at 850-595-4910 or district1@myescambia.com. For District 1 updates, follow @MyDistrict1 on Twitter.

On AM 1370 WCOA's Real News with Rick Outzen Show Later this Morning

I'll be a guest later this morning, at 7:10, on WCOA's hit morning radio show "Real News with Rick Outzen"

I'll be Rick Outzen's guest later this morning on the area's #1 rated morning drive news radio show, "Real News with Rick Outzen."

Outzen attended last Thursday's committee of the whole, the singular topic of which was the county's jail and the deplorable condition this facility is in currently.  The focus of that meeting was the vetting of Administrator Wes Moreno's plan to correct deficiencies and chart a course forward to remove the current inmates housed in that jail out of that facility and into better facilities.

I'll discuss this topic and more with him on his show at 7:10 this morning on WCOA-and once the podcast is published , I'll post it here

Escambia County and PBA Reach Agreement on Record Setting Starting Pay and Salary Increases for Corrections Officers!

The Board of County Commissioners and the PBA have agreed to a pay increase package that provides current officers a 16% pay increase--- and makes our starting certified officers the highest paid officers in our region.

We have issues in our jail.  Everyone knows it.

Staffing, morale, and facility issues.

So we are working as hard as we possibly can to correct all three of these issues.

And a HUGE part of the equation, we are told, has been the pay.

So our administrator, Wes Moreno, at the direction of the board, recently completed a review and a revision of the staffing grid and allocations for the corrections division, which resulted in the ability to take back thirty positions, or FTE's, (of the nearly 100 vacant positions) in order to utilize these unspent funds for the express purpose of raising  starting pay and providing record-setting salary increases for existing corrections employees to address some of our staffing issues (and hopefully morale issues) as well.

We are working the facility issues simultaneously, on a separate track.

So the increases the removal of the 30 positions yields is as follows:

Starting pay for certified corrections officers increases to $45,000.00 yearly

For existing corrections officers, raises equalling about 16% were offered as well.

Late Friday evening, the PBA membership voted, nearly unanimously, to accept the BCC's offer.

This is great news, and hopefully now that our starting pay is higher than any entity in the area--including the state---hopefully we will be able to fill the vacancies we have in this division in short order.

Thanks to Administrator Moreno and the PBA for getting this part done very quickly.

Prisoner Moves from Old Jail have Commenced--239 Moved out Friday Afternoon

According to administrator Wes Moreno who emailed the following to all commissioners late yesterday afternoon.

"Good Afternoon Commissioners,

We have moved 239 inmates out of the old jail as of the writing of this email.

Please do not respond all.

Wes  

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Get Outlook for Android"

No WAY We Will Let Them Cut Down 70 Palm Trees on Perdido Key!!

Florida Power and Light has hatched a plan to cut down 70 palm trees at 13 locations on Perdido Key in District 1.  They'll only do this if we cannot legally stop them from doing it.  Oh, and I just found out about this yesterday afternoon at 5:00PM.  And I bet the residents don't know about this plan, either.  Yet.

NO WAY!!!!

That was my visceral reaction yesterday evening (actually that AND some choice words I've not included) ------upon hearing of Florida Power and Light's  FPL's iminent "plan" to cut down 70 trees on the right of way on perdido Key.  SEVENTY palm trees.

Not trimmed.

Not re-located.

Not re-planted with smaller palm trees.

Just cut down, unceremoniously, and hauled off.

I'm now being told they want to take even more, and are actively approaching private property owners requesting the ability to cut down many palm trees located on private property, as well.

Look, I get it that sometimes trees must be trimmed back to not interfere with transmission lines---we all understand that.  But to just say you're going to send out a group of lumberjacks on ONE day, and in this ONE day remove 70 trees without any kind of discussion over it first--yeah, that's not going to happen if the county has any legal means at its disposal to stop this.

I'm awaiting additional information--including any such legal means the county may have at it's disposal to prevent this action from occurring.  below is a part of some of a very nonchalant, matter of fact email chain I received from staff describing what apparently was just about to happen------late yesterday afternoon....

"Below is a list of addresses and tree count proposed for removal.  This work has to be complete by 3.26.22 (funding constraints).  They intend to start and complete the work in 1 (one) day."

Commissioner,

 FPL will be doing maintenance on Perdido Key Drive which involves taking down palm trees.... see specific addresses below.  These trees are in the public ROW.  FPL was also going to approach folks at the addresses to see if they could address any other trees which are hindering the lines...but they do have a deadline of 3/26/22.

Simmering Anger from a few Because We Were Able to #OpenOurBeach for All

There are a few that really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, DID NOT want us to open Beach Access #4 on Perdido Key.  They lost, the taxpayers who own the property (you) won!

One week ago today we opened Beach Access #4 at Perdido Key.  It was a love fest--one of the most positive days I remember in my five + years on the Board of County Commissioners.

After 9 long years, we finally were able to #OpenOurBeach !!

Since that time, though, there have been a few folks who have tried to rain on the parade.  Like "Jones"....

"Bergosh:

Are you the moron that is responsible for opening up another access to the beach to let a flood of trespassers on to the beach?  This is going to allow every red neck drunk up and down the highway to come on to the beach and campout on private property that belongs to the folks owing homes on the beach These people using this access will not respect private property. If this does in fact pan out like I think it will I will find a way to make sure you are held personally $ accountable. I look forward to meeting you one day.  

-----Jones"

To which I responded

“Jones”

I’m the commissioner who pushed for, found the funding for, and fought against the special interests FOR opening this parcel of land.  The “Morons” (your term) are the ones who favored having a taxpayer-paid for, 300 foot parcel of gulf front property (purchased expressly FOR public beach access and habitat conservation) sit behind a locked gate with no trespassing signs keeping taxpayers out---- while nearby condo owners and others used and trashed the lot with litter and trampling walks up and down and all through the sensitive habitat-----all the while preventing the owners (the taxpayers who bought it) from using it for 8 years. Yes, those were the “morons” (to coin your pejorative term) that lost this issue, thankfully.Call me anytime if you’d like to discuss 😊  850-293-1459"

"Jones" didn't call........  And then I got this one from "Jeanette":

"...I just watched the YouTube Video you did at the opening of the new public access on Perdido Key and as a resident of Perdido Key was deeply offended.  Your comments regarding the “locked beach walkover” showed your complete ignorance of deeded beach access.  That easement has existed since the land was sold to the County and the walkover was paid for and maintained by private funds and those same private funds pay to clean that area of beach because the County does nothing..."  

 Both of these emails just oozed with disdain for the public, the taxpayers, the owners of this beach.  Just utter resentment that anyone else ought to be able to enjoy the beach.

Jeanette, of course, was wrong.  Her "deeded access" went away when the Sundowner South property was sold to the taxpayers.  They maintained "only" a 6' access easement for a walkover they owned.  But that did not give them permission to use the county's 300' of beach (which they did anyways, not surprisingly, as we didn't enforce a "no trespassing" on them as they always did to us).  What should have been mandated was that the access easement should have come with the stipulation that the walkover could only be maintained in place if it was left unlocked and accessible to the public.  That's what should have happened in 2014 to insure everyone could use that taxpayer owned beach--not just the folks at Sundowner North.  But it didn't---and that condo's occupants used our beach for 9 years when we couldn't, and kept their "walkover" locked with "no trespassing" signs affixed.  Man, what a comfortable status quo they negotiated:  a private beach paid for by the taxpayers where the taxpayers couldn't go.   So yes, Jeanett's assessment of "deeded access" was flawed--according to staff:

"Sundown North has “deeded access” to 6’ of beach between the Crab Trap and Beach Access #4. There are no additional rights for Sundown North residents over the general public to utilize the county property."

"...The County owns the 4.04 acre property on the Gulf front, south of Perdido Key Drive, which it acquired from the Trust for Public Land, which acquired it from Sundown Owners Association, Inc...The only recorded easements excepted from coverage in the County’s title insurance policy are Gulf Power’s.  There is a six foot strip that runs along the western boundary of the County’s parcel.  The County does not own this.  I assume that the Sundown condo owners on the north side of Perdido Key Drive retained the six foot strip" 

County Responds to Congressional Inquiry about The Escambia County Jail

 About a week ago or so, Congressman Matt Gaetz sent a letter to Interim Administrator Wes Moreno regarding some significant concerns he was hearing about the conditions within our jail.

This comes on the heels of several media outlets picking up the stories coming out of the jail.

This morning, Interim Administrator Moreno sent the below response to the Congressman.