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Century Gives Nod To Group That Wants To Consolidate County Government
December 2, 2008
The group that wants to consolidate the governments of Escambia County, Century and Pensacola into one unified county government moved one step closer to their goal with a resolution from the Century Town Council Monday night.
The council’s resolution, which is identical to resolutions passed recently by Escambia County and the City of Pensacola, simply says that Century supports moving forward in exploring the governmental consolidation sought by the group Escambia All For One.
“It lets the legislature know that you are in favor of moving to the next step,” Scott Remington, member of Escambia All For One, told the council. That next step involves a presentation to the county’s state legislative delegation on December 8. They’ll ask the state legislators to support a bill to form a commission to draft a consolidated government charter. That charter would then be a presented to Escambia County voters. At that point, voters in Century would decide if they wanted to keep Century’s town council government or become part of the consolidated Pensacola-Escambia County.
“This is not an endorsement of consolidation,” Remington told the council as they considered the resolution.
Supporters say the consolidated government, which would create the fourth largest city in Florida, would create a better opportunity to economic development because of a larger scale local area. It is expected that the charter government would operate similar to the federal government with an executive, legislative and quasi-judicial branch.
The single executive branch leader, Remington envisions, would provide a single point of contact for the county much as the governor does for the state.
“The structure of government doesn’t work when you fragment everything,” he said of the county’s current governmental structure.
If the state legislature approves the local consolidation bill, a commission would be formed to draft the charter. That commission would be comprised of citizens from across the county.
“That’s really what the citizens’ committee brings to the table,” Jason Crawford co-chair of All For One said. “It’s a grassroots directive.”
“I want to know more about it,” Century Mayor Freddie McCall said. “We are not accepting it or saying that we are for it until we see it,” he said of the charter.
The Escambia County Commission and City of Pensacola also want to see and vote on the completed charter, if the group gets that far. If the county or either municipality were to vote down the charter, it would only be symbolic; it would still be on the ballot for the voters of the county to decide.
“They can do it whether we agree to it or not,” Council President Ann Brooks said.
Pictured above: Scott Remington of Escambia All For One addresses the Century Town Council Monday night. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
15 Responses to “Century Gives Nod To Group That Wants To Consolidate County Government”
I would like to know who Jason Crawford and Scott Remington speak for. Who are the people that organized Escambia all for one? Who they speak for goes a long way toward validing the intentions of the group. But in my opinion I do not think that what they have in mind is the best for the county but only what is best for the city. Just like the new proposed gas tax for ECAT buses, we have direct control by contacting our county commissioner. If we were the new residents of the city of pensacola believe me we would be funding these buses, why all the mayor would have to say is make it so. That is what a strong mayor type of goverment would do. Kiss your voice in goverment good bye. I have no problem with reduceing waste in goverment, but I do have a serious problem when I feel that our representation in our local goverment is going to be lost.
If this is done like here in Charlotte, this won’t change the jurisdictions of cities, towns, or what is county as for taxes, etc. Zoning reviews and approvals for zoning changes or non-compliance issues should still go through the local jurisdiction, then the county could roll the building permit process, and the associated zoning review to insure compliance, into one process. The upside is more centralized organization with less contracdictary ruling (but you’ll always have some when more than one person is involved) and should have a one stop location for permit submission and approvals. The down side is it will be in county offices in the south end, so travel will be required for all permit procedures. The zoning ordinance for county jurisdictions and for towns currently with ordinances should not change. If the county is trying to roll it all in with the city of Pensacola, then you may want to fire up the phone lines.
reply to Jay Very well said.
Lowering the milliage rate and raising a property’s assessment equals a tax increase! Nice try, but don’t disguise this shell game with actually being a tax decrease. Talk to someone who actually lives there and ask him or her if the taxes have decreased or increased on the same piece of property. More and bigger government will require more money period. If this “consolidation” is the utopia that the website purports, why isn’t everyone jumping on the bandwagon all around the state and nation? It’s true that the city of Pensacola lacks vision and the Escambia County commission has been a lot of good old boys for years. Amendment 1 has done more for getting these two entities to pull away from the proverbial trough and stop recklessly spending than consolidation ever would. Amendment 1 has already moved the two into discussion about eliminating duplication of some services. This needs to continue because there are areas that the city and county can consolidate to make our current fiscal situation more efficient without throwing the baby out with the bathwater and reinventing the wheel.
When has the city of pensacola ever had any interest in the county ? We should become awear that we will only be a tax base for them. Do you really want to live in the so called city limits.The only thing pensacola backs is tourism. They need some one to fund the maritime park and what ever other silly ideas they have. What I find that is so insulting and so offensive is that they think they can run a county when they can not even run a city. This is some of the same group that pushed for charter goverment . I also want to know why on their web site it does not list who is pushing this.Here is some thing to think about. The sewer plant was moved because it is in a flood zone and subject to to much damage. So let’s build a maritime park in a fema deemed flood zone on a bay front of a hurricane prone city. You realize that if we consolidate that WE will be picking up the tab to rebuild it. I think that it would do every one good to go back and look at what ivan did. Then ask your self DO YOU TRUST THEM? By the way if it run’s over the 40 million , then there will be a tax leived to get the rest. to city residents , well that could be us.CONSOLIDATION IS SUPPORTED BY THE FOLLOWING The pensacola news journal , inweelky , wear-tv & the pensacola young professionals.
Type in your search box “Tale of two mergers: Jacksonville” its a very good recent article on the pros and cons of their consolidation. Jacksonville is boasting of lowering the millage rate for ad valorum taxes every year for the past 13 years. It also has info on Escambia county’s visit earlier this year.
Ok, I looked at it from the stand point of two counties (that is former counties) Jacksonville and Miami-Dade and I don’t like it. The taxes in both of these consolidated governments far exceed ours and they increased significantly after the so called “consolidation.” So the promise of lower taxes for us is a ruse, so don’t let the super government supporters of a greater Pensacola try to convince you otherwise. Educate yourselves before you get taken to the cleaners. By the way, the town of Century could do away with its government and let the county run the show because the county already provides the main services: police, fire, and EMS.
Great news on Century’s resolution! It’s important that we approach this subject with an open mind and with strategic vision. We owe it to ourselves and to the generations of Penscolans who follow in our footsteps. Let’s all become educated on the opportunities that unified gov’t affords our area for the long-term. Return on investment is one consideration, i.e., services for taxes paid. Another is economies of scale that drives profitability, i.e., prosperity. Yet another is pooling of resources, better coordination of efforts and accountability to attract new investments to our area. Want change? Progress? A new source of monies to augment our tax dollars for the good of the region for the long-term? Consider the possibilities of unified gov’t with an open mind. Century, Pensacola and Escambia County governments have done just that with their respective resolutions. As citizens let’s each of us do the same with objectivity and an inquisitive mind. R-E-A-C…how can unified gov’t help us to (R)etain local residents, (E)xpand services, (A)ttract new business and new residents, (C)ost manage efficiently and effectively? Think about it. Then let’s move forward.
This is not an annexation push to increase the City of Pensacola city limits. It is , in essence, a disolution of the city, town and county and reforming into one government body. You will still live in North Escambia you just might have better services and less taxes due to the non- duplication of services. Please educate yourselves on this issue , it is’nt going away.
If I wanted to live in Pensacola, I would move there. Charter government has been on the ballot before and it failed. I don’t know anyone that lives in the county who wants to be included in the “city limits” and having to pay the extra taxes that comes with.
Permitting the citizens to make the call on this is the right approach. Examining issues from the standpoint of what can we do that helps us all rather than what’s in it for me is a far better mentallity! Congratulations to the City of Century for being a team player!!!
This is a very good article from last night’s meeting. It has been nice to meet so many good people from Century through this process. I grew up 15 miles outside of Franklinton, LA, a town of 4,000. We lived on 5 acres and I was the second kid to get on the bus at 5:45 every morning. So, I can relate to country life. This is going to be a 2 year process and I’m excited to see the north end interesed in learning about whats possible and objectively seeing if there is a “Better Way” to run our governments. One thing to remember is that the citizens of Century will have a seperate vote on whether or not to include Century in the new structure. Over the next 6 months we will try to organize a few informational meetings in the north end to allow the citizens to discuss the benefits and their concerns. I hope that each tax payer would research this topic to learn about what’s possible. Thanks again. http://www.escambiaallforone.com
It could also all become Century.
I am sure the majority of the people in Century realizes that ths would disssolve the town.That might not be the worse thing in the world that could happen to us.
We might vote to become part of Alabama ! Becoming part of Pensacola could provide a lot more for us than what we currently have,but it would also take away the small town atmosphere that we love and enjoy (most of the time).$1.00 won’t buy much,but put everyone’s dollars together and that changes the picture entirely.
Do these people in Century not realize that this will get rid of the town of Century? It will all become Pensacola.