Complete text of Sheriff David Morgan’s letter to Escambia Commissioners:
March 24, 2009
20 March 09
Honorable Chairperson Marie Young
Escambia County Board of County Commissioners
217 North Palafox Street
Pensacola, FL 32501
Dear Chairperson Young,
I am writing you and fellow Commissioners to advise of a change in the staffing policy at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Although I have been in office less than three months, a disturbing pattern has shown itself to be the normal operating procedure for the current Escambia County Administrator, Mr. Bob McLaughlin. Therefore, effective this date, all issues requiring the coordination of my office with the county government will be sent directly to you with informational copies to each commissioner.
The following is offered to substantiate this position;
-The ECSO proposed acquisition of the property located at Fairfield and Mobile Hwy. This project is a direct result of requests from citizens due to the rising crime in Warrington and Brownsville. My staff, Chief Deputy Bill Chavers and Captain Gary Montee, worked directly with the Escambia County Facilities Manager, Mr. Dave Wheeler. This package was staffed prior to its submission before the BOCC. The asking price of this structure is $350K, with an estimate interior restructure of $100K, utilizing prisoner labor as we are and have done in the past. As you may recall, this was not the fact set portrayed to you and the BOCC which was subsequently reported in the local media. It was reported as not having been coordinated, not being a “master plan,” and costing $700K. This is a complete misrepresentation.
-The ECSO (Sheriff) is not going to reduce their budget. Prior to the meeting on 03/13/09 at the County Extension Service on Stefani Road, my staff (I, Commander Aiken, and Mr. Dias) met with Mr. McLaughlin in his office. The subject of the ECSO budget was one of the topics. I advised Mr. McLaughlin that the ECSO had already identified $1.7M in reductions and we were pursuing several other areas, but at that time we did not feel comfortable with giving specific data (numbers) that had yet to be verified. However, we were comfortable in saying that it was currently down in the $76-77M range. As you may recall, Mr. McLaughlin began the meeting with “the Sheriff is not reducing his budget.” (?) As I articulated during the meeting, we are looking at every aspect of our operations and will be presenting a detailed line-item budget to the BOCC. This is another complete misrepresentation.
-The “Leadership Workshop” of 03/13/09. This meeting, as you are aware was not as portrayed (advertised). In point of fact, it was a Budget meeting. Neither I nor any representative of the Sheriff’s Office would have been in attendance had the meeting not been referenced in a separate conversation.
Why? We were not invited nor advised of the actual agenda for the meeting. Can you imagine our surprise to learn that “the Sheriff’s Office budget is one of the agenda items?” What could possibly be the motive of dissecting a constitutional officer’s budget without the courtesy of advising them? So yet again I observe a complete misrepresentation.
This is an unacceptable management style. One of which I will not tolerate nor participate.
Therefore, to ensure that the misrepresentations cease, I will communicate directly with the other duly elected officials in the Escambia County Government, working of course, within the applicable legal parameters.
Respectfully,
David Morgan
Sheriff, Escambia County
March 20, 2009
Ad Sponsored By NorthEscambia.com
NorthEscambia.com Hiring Reporter, Sports Reporter, Sales Person
February 20, 2009
NorthEscambia.com is seeking a talented individual or individuals or join our small staff. Our innovative approach to news in North Escambia is setting the standard for online media on the Gulf Coast with over two million page views last month.
We are looking for a reporter/photographer, a sports reporter/photographer and a sales person. Or, we are looking for that talented person with a drive to succeed that might be able to fill all three positions. These positions are ideal for that person wishing to join NorthEscambia.com will become a vital part of our team and capitalize on our success and join us in a very bright future.
Descriptions for all three positions are below. If you are interested in a position, forward a basic resume and a short note explaining why you would succeed in any or all of these positions to news@northescambia.com. Have questions? Feel free to ask them at news@northescambia.com. No phone calls, please.
All positions are likely part-time, with the possibility of full-time in the future. Benefits are not currently offered. A college degree is not required.
Reporter/Photographer
The person we choose for this position will likely live in or near North Escambia. The person will cover scheduled and breaking news in communities like Century, Molino and Walnut Hill for daily publication.
Skills required:
- A positive attitude, with a love of people and community
- The drive and desire to succeed in a fast paced environment
- Easy access to a computer with high-speed internet
- Access to a camera, with basic photography skills (we like people to have heads in our photos!)
- Good writing skills
- Good usage of the English language
- The ability to spell, or at least fake it well with “spell check”
- A flexible schedule — news does not happen just 9-5
- A valid driver’s license with proof of insurance
Additional skills (desirable, but not required):
- Access to a video camera, and the ability to use it
- Video editing skills (Can you post to Youtube?)
- The ability to sell ads for additional income
Sports Reporter/Photographer
The person we choose for this position will likely live in or near North Escambia. The person will cover sporting events from high school to little league and assist with breaking news in communities like Century, Molino and Walnut Hill for daily publication.
Skills required:
- A positive attitude, with a love of people and community
- The drive and desire to succeed in a fast paced environment
- Easy access to a computer with high-speed internet
- Access to a camera, with basic photography skills (we like people to have heads in our photos!)
- Good writing skills
- Good usage of the English language
- The ability to spell, or at least fake it well with “spell check”
- A flexible schedule — news does not happen just 9-5
- A valid driver’s license with proof of insurance
- A love of sports, from football to baseball to whatever people are playing
- The ability to attend sporting events as area teams travel, such as Northview football
Additional skills (desirable, but not required):
- Access to a video camera, and the ability to use it
- Video editing skills (Can you post to Youtube?)
- The ability to sell ads for additional income
Sales Person
The person we choose for this position will likely live in or near North Escambia. The person will both cold call and follow established leads, selling from a rate sheet. NorthEscambia.com is a powerful medium that can provide powerful advertising results. With over two million pages views last month, NorthEscambia.com can provide a unique adveritising opportunity to a variety of businesses.
Skills required:
- A positive attitude, with a love of people and community
- The drive and desire to succeed in a fast paced environment
- Easy access to a computer with high-speed internet
- Access to a camera, with basic photography skills (we like people to have heads in our photos!)
- Good writing skills
- Good usage of the English language
- The ability to spell, or at least fake it well with “spell check”
- A valid driver’s license with proof of insurance
Molino Recreation Association
January 25, 2009
Registration will be held each Saturday for the Molino Recreation Association at Don Sutton park in Molino. Registration will continue each Saturday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. through February 23. The annual draft will be February 28.Registration fees have been reduced this year due to the economy. This year, registration fees are $50 for the first child, $45 for the second, $40 for the third and free for additional players from the same family. A birth certificate copy is required to be on file for each child.
Teams for the Molino Recreation Association will include:
- Wee Ball –ages 3 & 4
- Tee Ball — ages 5, 6 & 7
- Baseball — ages 8 to 15
- Girls Softball — ages 8 to 16
If you would like to coach or just help out on your child’s team, you can sign up on the day your child is registered. For more information, call 587-4090.
Century Little League
January 25, 2009
Century Little League will hold a board meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, January 31 at Showalter Park. The meeting is open to the public.
Ball registration will held again on Saturday, January 31 and Saturday, February 7 from noon until at Showalter Park.
Registration fees have been lowered this year for $30 for the first child and $20 for each additional child. A copy of each child’s birth certificate is requested. The following teams will be formed:
- Pre-T — 3 & 4
- Tee Ball — 5 to 7 boys and 5 to 8 girls
- Minor League Baseball — 8 to 10 y
- Machine-Pitch Minor League — 8 to 10
- Girls Minor League Softball — 9 to 10
- Boys Major League Baseball — 11 to 12
- Girls Major League Softball — 11 to 12
Ages are determined according to the child’s age on May 1, 2009.
NWE Ball Registration
January 25, 2009
Registration for Northwest Escambia Little League baseball begins Saturday, February 7 and continues each Saturday until February 21 from 10 a.m. until noon at Bradberry Park in Walnut Hill.
The cost is $35 for the first child from a family, $25 for the second child and free for each additional child. A copy of each child’s birth certificate is required for registration.
This year, NWE will offer Wee Ball for children ages 3 and 4 on the brand new “Drew’s Field”
For more information, call 327-6722 or 327-6155 after five p.m.
Deputy’s Cruiser Hits Cow Photos
December 24, 2008
Pictured above and below: An Escambia County deputy and a prisoner he was transporting suffered minor injuries when the deputy’s cruiser struck this cow in front of Aldersgate Methodist Church in Molino Tuesday night. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
For the story and pictures of the deputy’s cruiser, click here.
Second Public Hearing Notice
September 23, 2008
SECOND PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
The Town of Century is applying to the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for a Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) under the Housing Revitalization category in the amount of $650,000.00. For each activity that is proposed, at least 70% of the funds must benefit low and moderate income persons. The activities, dollar amount and estimated percentage benefit to low and moderate income persons for which the Town is applying are:
Housing Rehabilitation and Construction Costs: $ 552,500.00 100 % low and moderate income
Project Administration: $ 97,500.00 70 % low and moderate income
The Town of Century plans to minimize displacement of persons as a result of planned CDBG activities in the following manner: No displacement is anticipated because all construction will occur within established rights-of-way. If any persons are displaced as a result of the planned activities, the Town will assist such persons to obtain suitable replacement housing.
The public hearing to receive citizen views concerning the proposed project will be held at the Town Council Meeting Room on Friday, September 26, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. A draft copy of the application will be available for review at that time. The applications will be submitted to the state on September 29, 2008. A final copy of the application will be made available at Century City Hall on Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. within five days after September 29, 2008. To obtain additional information concerning the public hearing, contact Karen Hughes at (850) 256-3208. The Public Hearing is being conducted in a handicapped accessible location. Any handicapped person requiring an interpreter for the hearing impaired or visually impaired should contact Ms. Hughes by September 22, 2008 and an interpreter will be provided. Any non-English speaking person wishing to attend the public hearing should contact Ms. Hughes by September 22, 2008, and a language interpreter will be provided. To access a Telecommunications Device for Deaf Persons (TDD) please call 1-800-955-8770.
Pursuant to Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act of 1989, the following disclosures will be submitted to DCA with the application. The disclosures will be made available by the Town of Century and DCA for public inspection upon request. These disclosures will be made available on or after the date of submission of the application and shall continue to be available for a minimum period of five years.
1. Other Government (federal, state, and local) assistance to the project in the form of a gift, grant, loan, guarantee, insurance payment, rebate, subsidy, credit, tax benefit, or any other form of direct or indirect benefit by source and amount;
2. The identities and pecuniary interests of all developers, contractors, or consultants involved in the application for assistance or in the planning or development of the project or activity.
3. The identities and pecuniary interests of any other persons with a pecuniary interest in the project that can reasonably be expected to exceed $50,000 or 10% of the grant request (whichever is lower);
4. For those developers, contractors, consultants, property owners, or others listed in two (2) or three (3) above which are corporations, or other entities, the identification or pecuniary interests by corporations or entity of each officer, director, principal stockholders, or other official of the entity.
5. The expected sources of all funds to be provided to the project by each of the providers of those funds and the amount provided; and
6. The expected uses of all funds by activity and amount.
District 5 Commission, Republican: Kevin White
August 25, 2008
NAME: Kevin White
PARTY: Republican
OCCUPATION: County Commissioner/Auto Repair Shop Owner
BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR EXPERIENCE AS IT RELATES TO THE DISTRICT 5 COMMISSION SEAT YOU ARE SEEKING:
I have had 4 years experience as a commissioner. I have completed commissioner certification, served as chair of the FLA/AL TPO, chaired on the Escambia BOCC, and I am current chair of the Value Adjustment Board. I have been able to bring an additional 18 million dollars to District 5 in my first term.
WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING ESCAMBIA COUNTY (THE ENTIRE COUNTY) IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS:
The three most important issues facing the entire county is economic development, transportation, and maintaining a quality level of service for the citizen. We need to get our state leaders to realize that tourism is not going to pay the bills. Our state leaders need to provide local government with the tools to recruit businesses. Companies want cash incentives to locate in your area. Mobile gave Northrup Gruman 70 million dollars up front in cash and incentives to locate there. We also need the state to start taking care of the state roadways instead of trying to put it on the backs of local government with no funding. With shrinking revenues, we are going to have to get very creative to maintain a quality level of service for the service that we provide.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING NORTH ESCAMBIA (MOLINO NORTH), AND HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES?
The biggest issues facing North Escambia County is going to be provide the infrastructure needed for the growth that will eventually be coming our way. We need to have the infrastructure in place to handle it before it comes so we won’t have to deal with correcting the problem that we now have on the south end because there was a lack of planning. We as a board have already taken many steps to do this. We have the Sector Plan going on right now which takes an area that is undeveloped then put in the infrastructure, roads, schools, fire stations and then develop it out. Only five of these have been done on the state. If ours is successful then we will use it as a template and carry it further north. And the best thing about the sector plan is that the developers pay the majority of all costs associated with the new infrastructures.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD NORTH ESCAMBIA VOTERS KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PLANS FOR DISTRICT 5?
I would like the citizens of District 5 to know that I have worked very hard for them. When I took office four years ago, there was only 6 million dollars allocated to District 5 projects. That number today is 23 million. I am still committed to lowering the cost of government so in turn that puts more money back in the taxpayers’ pockets. In 2004 when I took office, the total county budget was 540 million dollars. If we approve the current budget it will be 402 million. That is almost a 140 million dollar reduction in four years.
Also, I am a husband, father, and small business owner. I deal with the same issues as every citizen does. Just because I am an elected official I still deal with the same issues that you do. Have I got it right every time since I have been in office? No I haven’t, but no one except the Lord will get it right every time. But I have worked hard and I did bring back honesty and integrity to the District 5 office. There have been no grand jury investigations or indictments during my term in office, and I feel that is great progress considering what happened in the four years previous to my term. I would appreciate a chance for a second term to continue to make progress in our district and the county as a whole.
YOUR WEB ADDRESS: www.VoteKevinWhite.com
PHONE NUMBER(S): (850) 587-4095 (home)
EMAIL: kevinwhitefor2008@yahoo.com
District 5 Commission, Republican: Packy Mitchell
August 25, 2008
NAME: Packy Mitchell
PARTY: Republican
OCCUPATION: Project Engineer/ Layne Central
BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR EXPERIENCE AS IT RELATES TO THE DISTRICT 5 COMMISSION SEAT YOU ARE SEEKING:
I have lived here since 1969. Self employed contractor for about 15 years and worked in corporate America for 3 years. This gives me the experience to plan, enact and execute multi million dollar contracts and deal with budget requirements. Strong community ties for 40 years, helping in ballparks, church groups, and any other situations where children needed assistance. The most rewarding is being a founding member as well as a current Director of Facilities for the Miracle League of Pensacola, an organization allowing children with any type of challenge to be able to play baseball.
WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING ESCAMBIA COUNTY (THE ENTIRE COUNTY) IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS:
I feel like most , that continuing to reduce our budget and still furnishing the quality of service that our people expect. Locating, finding and convincing new high paying business and clean industry to our community. Work with our state agencies to pursue grants and other tax savings for this plan to happen. And finally I have really become aware, after waving on the road sides near our schools, that we must utilize an existing grant setup to install sidewalks to our public schools. This will become a top priority under my time in office.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING NORTH ESCAMBIA (MOLINO NORTH), AND HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES?
The same holds true for our north end, particularly in the plans of new business and industry. We must also take a close look at the zoning issues, and work with homeowners and landowners, so they can see the most benefits from their property. I promise to find out where the dirt road paving plans have seemingly been lost , and will re-start a major push to restore this as a major priority. Also, I will find out why the few roads that have been repaved lately have NOT been striped. This is so UNSAFE and will be corrected.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD NORTH ESCAMBIA VOTERS KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PLANS FOR DISTRICT 5?
My platform is built on Availability, Believability, and Credibility. I will be available to each and every one of my constituents 24/7. You will have my cell phone number and my office number. I will call you and set up a meeting if necessary. I WILL WORK FOR YOU !!! Also in a recent meeting a question came up about people in Molino and to the north can not get information about on going events and projects. I will set up MONTHLY MEETINGS ( not quarterly) at the North end office on hwy. 97 and will have printed reports of items you deem important. You will not be left in the dark. You feel assured to know that when we discuss an issue, and I tell you how I plan to vote, this decision will NOT change at the last minute and I will NOT walk out of the boardroom when an important issue is brought to vote. I promise to bring credibility to our office, something very lacking for many years. I PROMISE if given the opportunity by you, the GOOD PEOPLE OF DISTRICT 5, that I will start working immediately, and will work for YOU for 4 years, Not 4 months prior to election. IT is YOUR CHOICE for YOUR VOICE. Please vote for Packy Mitchell for County Commissioner District 5.. Thank You and God Bless…
YOUR WEB ADDRESS: www.votepacky.com
PHONE NUMBER(S): Home 968-1007 Work 777-7190
EMAIL: pacmit@msn.com (I do work out of town some and can not check every night. Do update as soon as possible.)