Pensacola City Council

Funeral services are set for 11:00  Thursday morning for Pensacola City Councilman Gerald Wingate, who died August 13 at age 73 after a lengthy fight against cancer. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. Meanwhile, the work to find Wingate’s successor begins next week.

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.

With the August 28 primary looming, candidates for local and statewide offices are ratcheting up their campaigns. In the first of a two-part report, WUWF’s Dave Dunwoody looks at the grassroots races.

Fifty-two candidates are on the ballot for 21 seats in Escambia County government and the judiciary. Much of the attention will be on the higher-profile races – Pensacola Mayor and City Council, along with the Escambia County Commission.

On a 7-0 vote, the Pensacola City Council has approved a contract with Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, for the processing of recyclables.

City Council approval is but the first step. The proposal is scheduled to go before the ECUA Board on June 28. If approved, it would take effect on July 2, ending a nine-month period of no recycling service in Pensacola.

There will be at least one new face on the Pensacola City Council after the November election, following the departure of a long-time member.

In a written statement, Councilman Larry B. Johnson announced he would not seek reelection after a decade in the District-4 seat. That district includes Cordova Park, East Pensacola Heights, and a portion of East Hill.

Two years after the announcement that VT Mobile Aerospace would build a plant in Pensacola, more talks on funding the project are expected this afternoon. 

Construction was announced in September, 2014, with the plant originally scheduled to begin refurbishing large aircraft this summer. But, the site, 19 acres adjacent to Pensacola International Airport, remains idle with no groundbreaking date as yet.  

The Pensacola City Council is expected to continue discussion on Mayor Ashton Hayward’s proposed budget Monday afternoon, which includes $100,000 for a study of the Port of Pensacola. 

At issue is what do with the property originally set aside for construction of the DeepFlex facility to make pipe for offshore oil rigs. That plan has been scrapped, along with its 200 jobs. Councilwoman Sherri Myers proposes the study, in large part because of the DeepFlex failure. 

  The debate over the long-standing practice of opening local government meetings with an invocation has intensified recently after the Pensacola City Council allowed a representative of a local satanic group to offer the prayer.

The issue got national attention. But, locals are also watching closely and candidates for the Santa Rosa County Commission had to deal with it at a recent political forum.

  After weeks of wrangling, a representative of the Satanic Temple of Northwest Florida delivered the invocation at the Pensacola City Council meeting Thursday night. 

Council President Charles Bare gaveled the meeting into session. But as David Suhor, in a black hooded robe, prepared to give the invocation, members of the gallery began drowning him out with Christian prayers.

  The County Commission is expected to revisit debate on handing out revenue from the six-cent-per-gallon levy to the county, Pensacola, and the Town of Century for road paving and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“There’s been a formula between the city and county for a significant amount of time, and that formula every 10 years has to be renewed. We are at the time of that renewal,” said Escambia County Commission Chairman Grover Robinson. 

The Pensacola City Council meets in special session this week, on possible changes to its process of scheduling those wishing to provide an invocation.

At issue is a request, granted earlier this year, for local activist David Suhor to deliver the invocation before the Council’s July 14th meeting, on behalf of the Satanic Temple of West Florida.

The Pensacola City Council held a workshop Monday on the 11 charter amendments, which range from minor tweaks to scrapping the charter altogether and returning to the previous council-manager form of government.

“We had a very interesting discussion, some of it very contentious. What came out of it, I think, is that we have a pretty divided Council on most of these issues,” said Councilman Larry B. Johnson, who represents the city’s 4th District.

While some council members argue strong mayor-council hasn’t succeeded, Johnson says the jury’s still out.

Eight months after first going before the Pensacola City Council, a proposed ordinance to set up a lobbyist registry is close to being resurrected.

Mayor Ashton Hayward floated the idea in October of last year, via his digital newsletter.

“Anyone that’s coming down on behalf of another individual or business that wants to lobby the council or myself, we need to recognize that [and] they need to be transparent about it,” said Hayward last January.

A public workshop has been set by the Pensacola City Council, on a proposed non-discrimination ordinance sponsored by Councilman Brian Spencer.

Pensacola’s current non-discrimination ordinance, passed more than 30 years ago, deals only with fair housing. Spencer’s proposal expands it to include employment and public accommodations.

Tamara Fountain resigned Monday as the City of Pensacola’s Chief Operating Officer, 11 months after accepting the position and after weeks of controversy.

A news release from the city says that Fountain is leaving to “pursue other opportunities.”

“After everything she’s been through, I saw the letter she sent to [the] City Council. You know, I think enough of it has taken its toll on her, and she was ready to move on,” said Mayor Ashton Hayward.