Mayor Grover Robinson

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson is defending his decision to hire Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay as an assistant city attorney.

City Attorney Susan Woolf made the announcement during the Mayor’s news conference a week ago.

“Heather has over 20 years of experience in various areas, predominantly in employment law and in municipal law,” said Woolf. “Her firm previously represented the City of Milton, so she has a wide array of exposure and experience that I was looking for.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson and the City Council are out with a draft of the City's strategic plan, hammered out during a six-hour workshop last week.

The document comes as Robinson finishes his first six months in office.

“I think working toward a mission statement and some values, I thought we did a good job with the Council and citizens to begin that process,” said Robinson during his weekly news conference Monday. He added that the numbers contained in the plan now, may not be the same ones which could emerge later.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson welcomed about 100 students from high schools around the city, to his weekly news conference at City Hall on Monday.

Meeting in the City Council chamber instead of the Hagler Auditorium, Robinson fielded questions from the students on a wide range of issues, from economic development to preserving local historical landmarks to homelessness. On the latter, he told them he’s looking forward to following up on the “Homeless Summit” held earlier this month.

Funding is on the way for 23 water quality projects in the Pensacola area, from Natural Resource Damage Assessment. That includes $2.1 million for Carpenter Creek’s restoration.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson listed Carpenter Creek as his top project to receive funding from BP oil spill funds, when he was a member of the Escambia County Commission.

Fire protection in Pensacola is going up a notch, with the opening of a new fire station on Summit Boulevard. Three years in the planning, the project was funded with $3 million from the local option sales tax.

No ribbons were cut in the opening of the station. Instead, fire hoses were uncoupled at the entrance of the building, that replaces a 50-year-old facility which was closed temporarily because of mold in 2016.

After three months and 14 public input sessions, Mayor Grover Robinson’s transitional team is out with its recommendations for the city’s long-term well-being.

In the 90-page report, the dozen team members are offering 55 recommendations as part of cobbling together a united strategic plan in 11 areas — such as public safety, finance and budget, education, the environment and transparency. During the Mayor’s weekly news conference Chairman Quint Studer said the findings are based on three criteria: mission, vision and values.

Work is ongoing by the City of Pensacola on a program aimed at making the city’s roadways friendlier to all.

Speaking at his weekly news conference, Mayor Grover Robinson announced [Monday] that the city will make an initiative to move forward on “Complete Streets,” by hiring a staff that will evaluate that and finding ways to do a better job.

“Complete Streets” puts the emphasis on pedestrians rather than vehicular traffic, through building and upgrading crosswalks and sidewalks. Other parts of the equation include safe bicycle lanes and medians, and mass transit.

Less than a year after ST Engineering opened next to Pensacola International Airport, a major funding boost has been granted for the planned expansion of the aviation repair facility.

In a letter to Mayor Grover Robinson, the Florida Department of Transportation confirmed $20 million going to “Project Titan” for infrastructure. FDOT is now busy removing the funding from several other projects, which is expected to take about eight weeks.

Movement to the next step of expanding ST Engineering’s presence in Northwest Florida appears to be going forward, according to Mayor Grover Robinson at his weekly media briefing.

At the start of the meeting, the local media treated the Mayor — who turned 49 on Monday — to a not-so-grand version of “Happy Birthday.”

“Clearly this room is not going to become a choir,” joked Robinson. “We’re not going to end up forming a choir.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson’s transition team is expected to wrap up its work by the end of this month.

Robinson formed the 12-member transition panel just after his election in November. They’re charged with studying and making recommendations for advancement by the city in areas such as neighborhoods, crime, walkability, economic development, and transparency.

In his Monday morning news conference, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson delivered an update on efforts to get funding for “Project Titan" –  the expansion of the current ST Engineering facility.

The goal is to raise $25 million as part of the local share of the total price tag of $210 million. That would include five million from the city’s Local Option Sales Tax; five million dollars from the county bringing that total to ten million, and $15 million in BP settlement money from Triumph Gulf Coast. 

Robinson’s also reaching out to the state.

Some residents of Pensacola’s Scenic Heights community are petitioning city leaders to reconsider plans for a land swap that would clear the way for construction of a new soccer complex in their neighborhood.

For those upset by the land deal, the pivotal moment occurred on Nov. 8, 2018.

The partial shutdown of the federal government; Pensacola’s homeless and ST Aerospace were among the topics at Mayor Grover Robinson’s weekly meeting with the media on Monday.

Robinson said at this particular time, they are not expecting any effects on the city by the shutdown, which is now in its fourth week.

“Now, if the shutdown continues further than February, we will have significant impact at that point; we will begin to see impacts,” said the Mayor.

Not so much the city operations, says Robinson, but more in areas such as housing.

Security in downtown Pensacola was one of Mayor Grover Robinson’s topics in his Monday morning briefing at City Hall, along with the Port of Pensacola and the gubernatorial inauguration.

Twenty-nine-year old Kyle Terry faces 10 charges, including aggravated assault, robbery and carjacking, after a number of incidents Friday night in downtown Pensacola. Police say Terry held a woman at gunpoint; demanded her car keys, then fired a pistol in the Palafox Place area. There were no serious injuries reported.

Less than a week after taking office, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson hosted the first “Mondays with the Mayor" gathering for the media.

The 30-minute session covered a wide range of topics, including some that the administration had no real answers yet — having been in office only six days.

“We’ve had a good week on some things that we’re working to go in,” said the Mayor. “I’m going to answer any questions you want answered, but I’m going to talk about things we’re working on.”