Century Voters Approve Two Charter Amendments, Reject Third
November 6, 2024
At the polls Tuesday, Century voters approved two amendments to the town’s charter while rejecting a third.
Maylor Luis Gomez, Jr. had encouraged residents to approve all three questions for “securing a strong future for Century” and for “shaping what is next for our town”.
Question 1 PASS
Yes – 299 (57.83%)
No – 218 (42.17%)
What it says: Amends the charter to remove specific bidding, contracting, purchasing, and expenditure requirements and procedures from the charter, and provide that town bidding, contracting, purchasing, and expenditures will be governed by town ordinances, policies, and procedures adopted by the town council.
The issue: One of the big problems for the town has been a hard spending limit in the charter of $200 for the mayor without council approval. The mayor has often been forced to wait weeks for council approval before making purchases deemed necessary.
What happens next: The town council will develop policies and procedures for purchasing, bidding, contracts and related practices. That will include new spending limits for the mayor. The policies and spending limit can be changed in the future by a council vote. A date for the change has not been set but the council is expected to begin the process soon.
Question 2 FAIL
Yes – 196 (37.91%)
No – 321 (62.09%)
What it says: Amends the charter to expand the Mayor’s powers to select, appoint, suspend, and remove town employees and appointive administrative officers, by limiting the requirement for council approval of such actions solely to the selection, appointment, suspension, or removal of the town clerk, town attorney, and town manager.
The issue: The town charter requires the mayor to hire, and fire, employees only after getting approval from the town council. And over recent years, there has been a lot of tension and even a stalemate between the mayor and council over hiring employees. The mayor can’t hire employees without council approval, even down the lowest level employee.
What happens next: Nothing changes since voters rejected the chance. Without council oversight and approval, the mayor cannot hire, terminate, or suspend any employee.
Question 3 PASS
Yes – 372 (72.09%)
No – 144 (27.91%)
What it says: Amends the charter to correct scrivener’s and codification errors, and to conform charter provisions to the requirements of the Florida Election Code.
The issue: Scrivener’s errors, by common definitions, are typographical errors, misspellings, omitted words or other common errors–essentially typos. There are multiple errors in the old charter, including some that don’t agree with current Florida law.
What happens next: The town will go to work to correct the errors in the charter, presumably with guidance of their attorney and approval of the town council.
What’s a charter?
The Century town charter is the document that establishes the town, outlines its powers, and spells out how it should operate. The charter has not been updated in over 40 years, and that often creates problems in the operation of the town.
One of the big problems for the town has been a spending limit for the mayor of under $200 without council approval. And over recent years, there has been a lot of tension and even a stalemate between the mayor and council over hiring employees. The mayor can’t hire employees without council approval, even down the lowest level employee.
The charter has other issues with outdated provisions not following changes in current state law.
How did the recommended changes come about?
In recent years, the town sat a charter review committee to create a new draft charter, and the town council set about reviewing those changes. There were several snafus along the way, from the pandemic to wrong documents, which delayed the process.
The volunteer charter review committee spent about three years creating a draft of a completely new charter from beginning to end. The town attorney submitted another draft build around a town manager and no mayor, but the council later shelved that version.
The town council tossed out the full charter review committee recommendations made by the local citizens’ committee, instead opting for three changes of their own, but not a complete re-write.
Vote totals in this story are complete, but unofficial results.
NorthEscambia.com photo and images, click to enlarge.
Don Gaetz Elected To Florida Senate District 1
November 6, 2024
Don Gaetz, father of Republican U.S. Rep Matt Gaetz, was elected to the Florida District 1 seat during Tuesday’s general election.
Gaetz garnered 64.57% of the vote to 35.43% from Democratic candidate Lisa Newell
Gaetz previously served in the state Senate from 2006 to 2016, including leading as president from 2012 to 2014. He also served on the Okaloosa County School Board, and as Okaloosa County school superintendent
Newell, a political newcomer, has been publisher of the Gulf Breeze for over two decades.
The seat was previously held by Rep. Doug Broxson.
Incumbent Republican Michelle Salzman Reelected To Florida House Seat
November 6, 2024
Incumbent Republican Michelle Salzman easily defeated Democratic challenger Franscine Mathis for the Florida House District 1 seat by a 2-to-1 margin Tuesday.
- Salzman 58,566 (65.81%)
- Mathis 30,420 (34.19%%)
“I am grateful that we had a huge win for this community,” Salzman said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my constituents for another term and focus on public safety and infrastructure, also homeowners insurance and care insurance.”
Salzman was first elected to the Florida House in 2020.
Matt Gaetz Reelected To U.S. House
November 6, 2024
Congressman Matt Gaetz was reelected Tuesday to represent Florida’s First Congressional District.
Republican Gaetz received 66.05% of the vote to Democratic Challenger Gay Valimont’s 33.95%
Pictured: Rep. Matt Gaetz during an appearance in Jay. NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Century Library Closed Saturday For Town’s Parking Lot Work
November 6, 2024
The Century Branch Library will be closed Saturday for parking lot work.
The Century Council recently approved a low bid of $11,265 from Gulf Coast Asphalt Maintenance for parking lot sealant, striping and sign replacement.
The library, which is adjacent to the town hall and shares a parking lot, will be closed all day Saturday for the planned work. All programs and events for Saturday have been canceled.
Other West Florida Public Libraries will be open as usual on Saturday.
The Century Library will reopen with regular hours on Tuesday, November 12. All WFPL locations will be closed for Veterans Day Monday, November 11.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Fiery I-10 Crash Claims Life Of Cantonment Man
November 5, 2024
A fiery crash on I-10 in Santa Rosa County claimed in life of a Cantonment man early Tuesday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the 62-year-old was eastbound in his SUV on I-10 about 3:50 a.m. when his SUV left the roadway and struck several trees. After impact, the vehicle burst into flames.
Troopers said the man succumbed to the fire. His name has not been released.
New Convenience Store Planned For Highway 29 At Highway 97 In Molino
November 5, 2024
Plans are in the works once again for a new convenience store at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97 in Molino.
Fikes Wholesale of Texas submitted the plans to the Escambia County Development Review Committee for a Casey’s Convenience Store.
“This is associated with Casey’s, the third largest convenience store and fifth largest pizza chain in the US,” Casey’s Director of Communications Katie Petru told Northescambia.com. She said a timetable for opening is not yet known since the project is in the very early stages.
Casey’s is a Fortune 500 company operating over 2,600 convenience stores. According to a July press release, Casey’s announced the acquisition of Files Wholesale, owner of CEFCO Convenience Stores, in an all-cash transaction for $1.145 billion for 198 stores.
Plans show the Casey’s in Molino to be 4,360 square feet with parking lot access from both Highway 29 southbound and Highway 97 north of the Crabtree Church Road intersection. The plans, which contain just one small low-quality image, appear to show six pumps in front of the store.
The Development Review Committee will hold a pre-application meeting on the project on Wednesday, November 6.
Plans were filed for a convenience store in the same location back in 2017 and 2019 by an Atmore company, but those projects were never finalized. The new store will be across Highway 97 from an existing Cumberland Farms store that is still operating under Tom Thumb branding.
NorthEscambia.com graphics, click to enlarge.
Century Cancels Council Meetings Due To General Election
November 5, 2024
The Century Town council has canceled their meetings for the first week of November due to council chambers being used as a general election voting precinct today.
The town had their first meeting for November set for November 5, but that is election day, and they won’t have access to use their council chambers since town hall is a precinct. The meeting was first rescheduled for November 6, but council members voted to move it to November 4. The council then canceled the November 4 meeting because the room will be closed after the delivery of voting equipment.
The council normally meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month. Their next regular meeting is set for November 19.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Bratt Elementary Students Learn About Fire Safety
November 5, 2024
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS recently spent a morning teaching Bratt Elementary School students about fire safety.
During the event, Bratt Elementary students wear able to see a fire truck, ambulance and other tools used by first responders.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Tate, Jim Allen, Ernest Ward, Century Inviting Veterans To Ceremonies
November 5, 2024
Several schools and organizations are inviting veterans and community members to ceremonies over the next week.
Tate High School – Nov. 5
Tate High School will hold two ceremonies on Tuesday, November 5 to honor veterans. The ceremonies will be held in the Fryman Gym at 12:45 p.m. and 1:40 p.m.
Jim Allen Elementary School – Nov 5
Jim Allen Elementary School is inviting veterans to join the school for a parade through the halls and a special presentation in the cafeteria on Tuesday, November 5 at 8:15 a.m.
Ernest Ward Middle School – Nov. 7
Ernest Ward Middle School invites veterans, parents, and community members to attend a special Veterans Day assembly in the school’s gymnasium on Thursday, November 7, at 10:30 a.m. Parking for attendees will be available in front of the gym, and a reception will follow the assembly in the gym lobby.
Century Area Chamber of Commerce – Nov. 11
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce will host a Veterans Day Celebration Cookout on Monday, November 11 from 2-5 p.m. at Nadine McCaw Park on North Century Boulevard at Bradley Street.
Veterans Memorial Park – Nov. 11
The Veterans Memorial Park Foundation invites active duty military personnel, veterans, families, and all community members to attend a Veterans Day ceremony on Monday, November 11 at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, 200 S. 10th Avenue in Pensacola.