Why is Escambia co the poorest county in the state?

We also have a police helicopter, tank and a four star sheriff..

Lurch wrote:We also have a police helicopter, tank and a four star sheriff..

Thanks I forgot.

I think WD Childers tried to fix that and they sent him to prison for it...The people that OWN Pensacola like to control it's growth....It's kind of like the Illuminati but more successful.

TEOTWAWKI wrote:I think WD Childers tried to fix that and they sent him to prison for it...The people that OWN Pensacola like to control it's growth....It's kind of like the Illuminati but more successful.

Garbage, and I hate to say this, but Childers was one of the most corrupt in a sea of corruption. It seems to me, looking back over who has served, that the ones who might make a real difference here are shut out and, if possible, shut down. That, and the fact that Tallahassee barely knows our name. But, without a doubt, Childers was as corrupt as they come. He gave away Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County in exchange for something. We could ask Bo Johnson what that was after his prison sentence, but I doubt many people even remember that, or the collard pot, or the death of another commissioner that appeared to be a suicide. I happened to research some land business around the time that WD was facing charges, and what I found was that he took advantage of presales, which he would have easily been able to do, based on his knowledge of what projects were being approved. That you support this crook comes as no surprise. Real estate investor...oh, my!

[quote="Floridatexan"]

TEOTWAWKI wrote:I think WD Childers tried to fix that and they sent him to prison for it...The people that OWN Pensacola like to control it's growth....It's kind of like the Illuminati but more successful.

TEOTWAWKI wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:

TEOTWAWKI wrote:I think WD Childers tried to fix that and they sent him to prison for it...The people that OWN Pensacola like to control it's growth....It's kind of like the Illuminati but more successful.

Garbage, and I hate to say this, but Childers was one of the most corrupt in a sea of corruption. It seems to me, looking back over who has served, that the ones who might make a real difference here are shut out and, if possible, shut down. That, and the fact that Tallahassee barely knows our name. But, without a doubt, Childers was as corrupt as they come. He gave away Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County in exchange for something. We could ask Bo Johnson what that was after his prison sentence, but I doubt many people even remember that, or the collard pot, or the death of another commissioner that appeared to be a suicide. I happened to research some land business around the time that WD was facing charges, and what I found was that he took advantage of presales, which he would have easily been able to do, based on his knowledge of what projects were being approved. That you support this crook comes as no surprise. Real estate investor...oh, my!

Hey the people that bought the soccer field from the county made a 4 million dollar profit off it..are you sure you are not Escambia Illuminati ?

I am a person who happened to get a very speedy indoctrination in real estate right after I moved to town, and let's just say I learn fast. I doubt that WD Childers ever did anything that didn't benefit him directly. If you doubt that, look at what happened to the County Commission after he entered the picture. I think the only commissioner who survived the inquiry was Tom Banjanin. Obviously Willie Junior took the worst of it. Remember?

WD was up to his eyeballs in collusion with Bo Johnson...who later, you will also recall, went to prison, in the Garcon Point Bridge scandal. Why don't you look at who owned what property around that deal? And what was traded for Navarre Beach? Did Childers just think it was a good idea to give it away? You are so naive.

It's old news and best let lay...This backward county will reap what it's sown....

TEOTWAWKI wrote:It's old news and best let lay...This backward county will reap what it's sown....

On the contrary, I hope for a much better future for this area, but it will never happen as long as there's so much corruption. I agree with Hallmark...Studer's ballpark was pushed through with a bunch of lies and other misleading statements. We'll see how this affects our property taxes, but meanwhile, Studer's got everything he wants at a fraction of the price he'd have to pay if he'd gone the conventional route and not commandeered taxpayer dollars. Please don't try to convince me that everything was on the up and up in the CMP deal, because you and I both know that wasn't the case. Even if we didn't know beforehand that the developer was corrupt. Even if we weren't sure that the advertising was lies.

If people would stop being so gullible and actually look at what's going on around them, this place might have a chance. There have been good people in positions of authority, but the trend is to get rid of them asap.

You are so naive.

[/quote]

Oh you voted for and dearly love a totally unqualified man for president like Barrak Obama that has spent his entire time in the office campaigning and on vacation and you call me naive...get a grip.

It's the fault of those nasty rich counties. They are stealing money from you.

Markle wrote:It's the fault of those nasty rich counties. They are stealing money from you.

Homeland Security should start investigating people who come from this county. They might be possible terrorists...

*****CHUCKLE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY

It is not the Mayor either but how do you explain things like this? This will never make the news. This will never even be questioned. Business as usual for the City and Escambia Co,

From city councils Maren Deweeses blog.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Farnborough...But Wait There's More
The Mayor’s Impactful International Economic Development Efforts In London

London Trip Timeline According to Travel Documents

• Departs Antwerp by train - Sunday July 8, 2012 for Brussels
• Changes trains to the Chunnel Eurostar to London – Departs Brussels 12:56 PM
• Arrives London – Sunday July 8, 2012 at 2:03 pm
• Checks into St. Martins Lane Hotel – Sunday July 8, 2012
• Presumably attends Cocktail Party for Aerospace Alliance
• Checks out of hotel and takes cab to Waterloo Station – Monday July 9, 2012
• Purchases train ticket to Farnborough at 9:10 am – Monday July 9, 2012
• Takes the train to Farnborough arrives shortly after 10:00am

Total Possible time at Air Show on Day 1, Monday July 9, 2012 Opening Day – 3:38 minutes

• Purchases return ticket from Farnborough to London at 1:38 pm – Monday July 9, 2012
• Departs London - Monday July 9, 2012 at 5:04 PM for Brussels
• Arrives Brussels – Monday July 9, 2012 at 8:05 PM
• Changes trains to Antwerp

Total Possible time at Air Show on July 10, 2012 – Impossible, Not there
Total Possible time at Air Show on July 11, 2012 – Impossible, Not there
Total Possible time at Air Show on July 12, 2012 – Impossible, Not there
Total Possible time at Air Show on July 13, 2012 – Impossible, Not there
Total Possible time at Air Show on July 14, 2012 – Impossible, Not there
Total Possible time at Air Show on July 15, 2012 – Impossible, Not there

According to the Press release, who did the Mayor miss meeting with over the week:

• 1506 Exhibitors from 39 countries took part with representation right across the supply chain
• The first five days of the show attracted just over 109,000 trade visitors,
• 80 military delegations from 46 countries attended
• 13 delegations from the civil sector.

Im sure glad we the Citizens paid for a cocktail party and 3 hours of effort!

Hallmark, if you want an analysis, here's a site for you that describes our inefficiencies.

Note: we also pay higher taxes than other "peer" counties.

It made me wonder what happened to the proclaimed "windfall" when they began taxing the leaseholds on the beach. That money went poof.

The report is from 2009, but it doesn't appear anything's been done to make it more efficient.

Current Observations and Recommendations

•
Florida TaxWatch finds that Escambia County taxpayers pay more per resident served than in comparable peer counties. More than half of all county employees and county General Fund expenditures are dedicated to public safety.
•
Florida TaxWatch identifies potential cost reductions for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office between $12.3 and $27.3 million in comparison with the peer counties.
Local Option Sales Tax (LOST)
•
Florida TaxWatch cautions Escambia County against the practice of using nonrecurring funds to fund recurring expenses. Florida TaxWatch finds that several million dollars per year were expended on vehicles, equipment, and certain operating expenses; though the


It goes on.................

http://www.floridataxwatch.org/resources/pdf/07232009EscambiaII.pdf

Thanks...............So I can assume that someone has taken the time and effort to answer the question I just asked. Sadly it looks like nothing has changed and the report languishes in obscurity.

hallmarkgrad wrote:Thanks...............So I can assume that someone has taken the time and effort to answer the question I just asked. Sadly it looks like nothing has changed and the report languishes in obscurity.

While you're correct in that nothing has been done, it is a fairly comprehensive report if you want to read all 32 pages. There was also one done in 2008 with about the same results as I recall.

Not something I enjoy reading and haven't for a few years.

TEOTWAWKI wrote:

You are so naive.

Oh you voted for and dearly love a totally unqualified man for president like Barrak Obama that has spent his entire time in the office campaigning and on vacation and you call me naive...get a grip.[/quote]

I have a grip. I saw the "work" of his predecessor in office. I may not agree with the President on everything, but I feel much better about the direction of our country than I did from 2001-2009. Much better; maybe we have a fighting chance to save it. And I thought he looked very presidential last night.

Markle wrote:It's the fault of those nasty rich counties. They are stealing money from you.

I assume that was tongue-in-cheek, but it's not the case. The situation here has more to do with local leadership or lack thereof and back room deals that it has to do with Tallahassee.

Markle wrote:It's the fault of those nasty rich counties. They are stealing money from you.

You are smart man. I understand your attempt at humor. Where does the money go? Bad Management? Poor financial accountability? No one is stealing from us. We just act like Section 8 housing people with their Income tax refund.....To you it is a joke, you dont live here. Exactly what I was talking about, being the laughing stock of the state.













?

I can not be reading this right. We take in the most tax revenue per person and spend the least? WTF.



Per Capita Municipal Government
Tax Revenue
FY 2009
County Dollars County Dollars
d]. Escambia $ 1,496.-----34 . Suwannee 514.71 $
2 . Martin 1,294.12 ----35 . Gulf 512.45
3 . Collier 1,276.20 36 . Lake 507.82
4 . Monroe 1,061.61 37 . Volusia 506.27
5 . Duval 1,006.91 38 . Madison 505.36
6 . St. Johns 919.31 39 . Bay 494.65
7 . Palm Beach 915.87 40 . Jefferson 491.25
8 . Miami-Dade 858.11 41 . Okaloosa 488.72
9 . Hillsborough 821.00 42 . Osceola 476.38
10 . Sarasota 787.97 43 . Brevard 454.65
11 . Okeechobee 768.85 44 . Sumter 448.35
12 . Orange 756.52 45 . De Soto 436.92
13 . Lee 742.43 46 . Hendry 431.43
State Average 703.74



Per Capita Total County and Municipal
Human Services Expenditures
FY 2009
County Dollars County Dollars
1 . Miami-Dade 921.19 $ 34 . Volusia 41.98 $
2 . Franklin 743.97 35 . Hamilton 41.81
3 . Monroe 376.65 36 . Martin 41.48
4 . Gadsden 276.46 37 . Levy 40.93
5 . Jackson 231.62 38 . Dixie 40.32
6 . Hillsborough 200.26 39 . Lee 40.00
State Average 194.20 40 . Columbia 38.60
7 . Taylor 148.41 41 . Marion 37.94
8 . Duval 133.75 42 . Highlands 37.35
9 . Manatee 124.09 43 . Madison 36.34
10 . Broward 123.52 44 . Flagler 36.07
11 . Gulf 109.09 45 . Collier 35.33
12 . Orange 103.47 46 . Seminole 35.22
13 . Charlotte 101.01 47 . Bay 34.76
14 . Baker 97.02 48 . Putnam 33.61
15 . Jefferson 94.58 49 . Bradford 32.81
16 . Palm Beach 78.01 50 . Clay 32.09
17 . Polk 77.43 51 . Pasco 30.44
18 . Alachua 76.39 52 . Okaloosa 30.43
19 . St. Johns 75.50 53 . Hernando 30.37
20 . Pinellas 68.78 54 . Hendry 29.79
21 . Citrus 65.85 55 . Wakulla 29.78
22 . Indian River 62.52 56 . Lake 29.46
23 . St. Lucie 59.03 57 . Santa Rosa 27.81
24 . Sarasota 58.11 58 . Gilchrist 26.54
25 . Okeechobee 56.50 59 . Glades 23.80
26 . Walton 50.24 60 . Sumter 20.69
27 . Suwannee 47.50 61 . Holmes 20.37
28 . Nassau 46.59 62 . Calhoun 18.24
29 . Osceola 46.21 63 . Lafayette 17.07
30 . Hardee 44.96 64 . Washington 16.15
31 . Brevard 43.16 65 . Union 11.46
32 . De Soto 43.12 66 . Liberty 11.31
33 . Leon 43.11 ed] 67 Escambia 9.97
Human services include hospitals, health, mental health, public assistance, devel

Good question, Hallmark. Thanks Storm, for your information.
It makes me sad to see the decline of Pensacola/Escambia County. It is not the city I grew up in. I love, love, love Pensacola and I don't want to give the impression that I do not love my home town. I will always consider Pensacola "home". But when I visit there now and when I read about all the crime and problems, I have come to the conclusion that it is not a place where I want to live. And that saddens me.

Yup.

Recommendations from Tax Watch in conclusion:

The key to substantial potential savings is found in the consolidation of services and functions of all local governments. This will not be easy. Each “silo” has a staff person who may well be opposed to relinquishing his/her autonomy regardless of the potential savings. In contrast, a private business would have already implemented consolidation of major functions like IT, human resources, and the purchasing and maintenance of vehicles. Escambia County and all of its governments, including the City of Pensacola, should begin this effort now. Finally, a freeze on hiring with the exception of critical job functions and a freeze of all pay increases for FY 2009-10 should be carefully considered. Florida TaxWatch recommends that the County establish a task force of respected citizens from the local business community to ensure the effective implementation of the recommendations contained in this report. Involving community minded business leaders offers additional skill-sets, citizen involvement, and helps ensure that the potential benefits become a reality.


In other words, run it like a business.

I can't see the powers that be ever allowing citizens to oversee their operations, can you?

No...and I see the additional debt service acquired by the city as a large hindrance to any future growth. The numbers prove my point. We are in deep trouble.......

hallmarkgrad wrote:No...and I see the additional debt service acquired by the city as a large hindrance to any future growth. The numbers prove my point. We are in deep trouble.......

We are, and show no evidence of trying to attract business or diversifying.

Many local communities, including Escambia’s direct competitors, actively engage in economic development efforts. Charles Wood, senior vice president at the Pensacola chamber, put it more bluntly to the Pensacola News Journal: “‘Economic development in Alabama is a religion. Even with the incentives Florida does offer, we’re just not competitive for large capital projects with Alabama.’” ........... The inability of the area to attract new business, and therefore new jobs, hinders important economic growth.

The "good ole boys" have been partying too long.