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Outtakes
FEARING CHANGE The naysayers are rising up once again to oppose change. As we know in Pensacola, it's more fun to complain about things than actually take any action. People grumble about how dead downtown is and the lack of jobs. Then they nitpick and oppose the Community Maritime Park, which will revitalize downtown Pensacola and will be a catalyst for jobs throughout the region.
NEW BOOGEYMAN The boo-birds are rallying again. This time the boogeyman is not Quint Studer, Judge Lacey Collier or the nefarious and invisible "downtown crowd." It's the new city charter and its provision for a strong mayor–a mayor who actually runs city government and does more than ribbon cuttings.
They fear putting too much power into the hands of one individual. They fear the mayor may be African-American. They fear the mayor may be white. They fear the mayor may be the second-coming of Huey P. Long, Marion Berry, Richard Daley, Ray Nagin or W.D. Childers.
Others fear losing their connections with city staff. They fear losing influence over how requests for proposals are drafted. They fear losing the ability to get their projects on the city council agenda.
WHY ARE THEY AFRAID? They have a reason to be afraid. You don't. After the 2008 city council elections, we saw what happened when certain members of the city staff saw that they were losing their favorite council members, Jack Nobles, Mike DeSorbo and Marty Donovan.
We saw staff push through port lease amendments for frozen poultry and asphalt. We had an airport lease for a hotel and commercial development recommended by staff and eventually passed by the lame-duck city council, while the newly-elected, yet-to-be-sworn-in city council members sat by helplessly, begging for the body to delay the votes.
The only measure that didn't get passed was a last-minute attempt by Councilman Nobles to allow Downing Gray to install more ice houses inside the city limits. At some point, even a lame-duck council knows it has reached its limits.
The manic rush to pass port and airport leases had no repercussions to staff or the city council. No one was responsible. No one was blamed. Getting angry at department heads does little good. Only the city manager can reprimand, demote or fire them. It takes six council members to vote to discharge a city manager. No single council member can be blamed, since the leases were staff recommendations.
This "weak mayor, weak city council" system works well for some, but not for the rest of the citizens.
ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED A strong mayor changes this "no accountability" form of government. The mayor, not a city manager, is the chief executive officer of Pensacola. The mayor has hire/fire power over staff and runs the city based on the platform upon which he is elected.
If you don't like how the city is being run, you can elect a new mayor. Under the current system, you would have to somehow get six new council members elected and hope that they would replace the city manager–a scenario that has yet to happen in the history of Pensacola.
Electing a strong mayor puts control of city government into the hands of the voters, which is where it should be. Please don't buy the hype that all is well in city government and a new charter isn't needed.
No document is perfect, but this city charter being proposed will help us move Pensacola into the 21st century, and a strong mayor is a key component.
