Comments on: Change Of Plans: Consolidated Government Will Pay For City Pensions

By: jACKRUBY

jACKRUBY — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:45:10 +0000

Do not trust these people to READ THE DOCUMENT. It could be good, but because everyone knows they wont read it, it will probably be BAD. Now that they have put money in the game, this bird WILL FLY! And where is my copy… I will read every page of it.

By: SW

SW — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:24:47 +0000

Government is not a shrinking animal; it, by it’s own nature, gets larger.

I am not immediately aware of a situation where a government got smaller.

By: John Peacock

John Peacock — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:31:40 +0000

SW, I appreciate your comments. You referenced Jacksonville. 40 years ago, Jacksonville/Duval was just a little larger (25,000) in population than we were. They said that consolidation and a Mayor/Council form of government is what allowed them to be where they are today. Clearly they have progressed and we haven’t. I am not indicating that I want to be like Jax, St. Pete or anyone else. I do however want my vote to count of the direction of our community. The collective “we” the voters shoud decide which direction we want to go. The current system prevents that. I am unclear on why you think consolidated government necessarily means bigger government. This system would force candidates to run on the budget, etc. When was the last time one of our elected officials ran on a platform of significant issues. They don’t because ulitmately the have no ability to effect that change individually. Instead we get candidates that run on platforms such as “I’m less nuts than the guy I am trying to replace”. We can do better. Whether we ultimately consolidate or not, the single member district have to be complimented with an elected executive that runs at large and is responsible for completing the agenda he/she lays out to the voters.

By: SW

SW — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:12:59 +0000

The reason most live in the county is because we don’t want to live in the city. If the city way is better, by all means go live there. Don’t push this on us.

Since when is getting bigger government going to mean better government? We should cringe when government says it’s going to be good to us, or make live better for us. There’ll be a price to pay.

Sure, the rural county form of government isn’t perfect; neither is the city council/mayor form in many towns. We’ll take it and maybe we can make improvements every now and then.

Do you think that many people won’t vote with their feet?

Maybe in a larger town like Jacksonville, Atlanta, Houston, or Miami where the city encompasses the county, a consolidated government would work; wait, Atlanta has surrounding towns, so does Houston….

By: John Peacock

John Peacock — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:45:15 +0000

All, I fully understand your concerns about consolidation. I guess what I struggle with the most is implicit in your rejection of the new proposal is an acceptance of the current system. I don’t see how the current single member district system has served any of us well. It provides minimal accountabilty and stifles leadership. Would be great if we could all put our collective energies together to figure out a system that provides a framework for economic growth and accountability. If not this proposal, I would love to know what you would propose. Getting “better” people to run, while sounds easy, doesn’t typically happen in this form of government. True leaders do not want to be 1 of 5. Leaders want the ability to lead, make changes, and be accountable for those changes. This system all but prevents that.

By: SW

SW — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:37:13 +0000

I know! We can all just vote to let Pensacola annex the entire county as the city limits; that would work. Only one election; no rebuilding of government; no wasted time on writing new charters. They can just go ahead and start taxing us at the municipal rate and everything. Representation wouldn’t even have to change.

We would begin getting all those city amenities and stuff. What a deal.

NOT!

By: Oversight

Oversight — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:26:18 +0000

So according to John P., going from five to nine voting commissioners is better as we assume all of Pensacola’s liabilities. Sorry, I don’t think so. Good for Pensacola, but not good for the residents of the county.

By: John Peacock

John Peacock — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:34:01 +0000

Robert, I welcome the discussion and debate. Just a point to think about, the county residents are currently funding the maritime park through the capture of CRA revenue and we did not have a vote in that. The entire reason I feel we should consolidate including a Mayor/Council or Executive/Council form of government so that there can be accountability which doesn’t exist now. As long as we continue to operate in the county with 5 single member districts, the community will continue to struggle. Change that and we change our future! Leave it the way it is and we will continue to be toward the top in the state in statistics that are less than complimentary

By: Me!

Me! — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:27:42 +0000

PLEASE!!! DON’T FORGET WHO STARTED THIS CONSOLIDATION MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE. GREG EVERS!! VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE AND SEND HIM BACK TO HIS FARM. SCOUNDALS LIKE HIM IS WHAT IS RUINING THIS COUNTRY!!

By: City employee

City employee — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:04:28 +0000

Trish, either dept has its pitfalls. Go with police and risk getting sued for ten million or be a hero in a big red truck but get fat from all the huge meals. Your choice, heads or tails? By the way…..I’m a little fat.