This past Saturday afternoon, a community "meet and greet" was held at Rossi Way and Dowdy Drive in West Pensacola.
The area, and the surrounding communities, have had several years of flooding and they reached out to State Representative Alex Andrade, who in turn invited me, to attend the meeting. I accepted the invitation and attended the meeting.
This area is currently in District 1, right on the border with the current D2. However-- after the redistricting takes place--the entire area will be in D2. For this reason I personally invited all currently-announced D2 Commissioner Candidates to attend as well. Only candidate Kevin Brown unltimately came out to meet the folks though. (in fairness to the others, it was a short-notice invitation). In addition to the candidates for D2, I also put a call in to the D2 office secretary, Jonathan Owens, alerting him to the meeting and inviting him to participate. He neither answered the phone, responded, nor showed up at the meet and greet.
Once at the meeting, I met several of the residents who had personally been inundated with flood waters, in their homes, twice in the last 7 years.
"I have lived here since 1989 and never had a problem," said Steve Hoxie, one of the organizers of the event. "But ever since 2014 the situation has changed and become worse and worse." he continued.
He and co-organizer Mike Arbrouet pulled together about 30 residents to discuss the issue and request assistance from both the county and the state to what is growing into an increasing problem for the area.
At one point in the meeting, one attendee spoke up with some interesting input. "We worked with the county for many years on the issues with Chris Curb--but nothing ever happened, he always had some excuse for why nothing could be done, always some explanation for why the issues weren't getting fixed." she stated. And this individual (a long-term resident of the area), it just so happens, works for FEMA as a floodplain specialist in her day job. So yeah, I'd venture a guess that she knows what she's talking about. Upon hearing the name Chris Curb--I had to ask her "Wait, you mean the guy who used to work in stormwater for the county for like 25 years wasn't able to help you back then? But now he comes to our meetings wearing a red shirt and tells us what we need to be doing?" I asked rhetorically (and somewhat sarcastically). She smiled and nodded. I want to work with Flood Defenders--I actually sat down and met with their founder Jai Faison. But it is somewhat galling to hear criticism from the former guy at the county that ran this department for decades----------- when he comes to us now telling us all the things we should have been doing for the last several decades......
Be that as it may, I am going to work with Flood Defenders to address issues in my district where they can be helpful. Heck, I'm having Chris Curb and Flood Defenders on my January Coffee with the Commissioner. I'll work with any and everyone to address this issue--as it is real and acute county-wide.
But this particular meeting was not just a gripe session--in fact it wasn't that at all. These folks just want help for a long-running concern that appears to be getting worse.
And the concern over a lack of maintenance of ditches and storm ponds is a real issue. I took the time at this meeting to describe the issues the county is experiencing currently with a lack of manpower and a lack of an able workforce in a number of county departments. I think most of the folks realized this is a real issue with which the county is contending currently.... and not just us. Most businesses and all governments at all levels are contending with labor shortages in key areas.
The residents passed out an informational flyer (and gave me a copy as well) with all the longstanding issues chronicled, one by one, on the page. This paper also had specific residential addresses, names, and contact information so that staff can reach out to explore possible solutions with these residents directly.
Although this area will no longer be a part of D1 after the recent redistricting vote takes effect (right after the new year) I will still be following up with these residents to push for a solution. That won't change just becuase the lines have changed.
I have subsequently forwarded the one page flyer and contact information from this meeting to the county engineer, the county administrator, and the county's stormwater engineer. And I sent additional specific information as well that I heard at this meeting. I have requested a meeting be organized with these staff members and these residents after the first of the year so these issues can be fleshed out in person and potential solutions worked.
This meeting will happen in January.
And yes, once organized I will once again invite all D2 candidates and the D2 office to participate as well----if they so choose.
