Pensacola Independent News

OUTTAKES |
(Left Behind Part 2: Housing)
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Outtakes

REFORM CANDIDATE In the Coen brothers film “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” incumbent Mississippi Gov. Pappy O’Daniel is running against the reform challenger and vowed segregationist Homer Stokes, who has pledged to sweep the state government clean of corruption.

What few may realize is that the Coens based Stokes on a real-life Mississippi politician that rivaled the likes of Huey P. Long, George Wallace and Lester Maddox. “The Man,” as he was nicknamed, was Theodore G. Bilbo.

Bilbo served two terms as the governor of Mississippi (1916-1920, 1928-1932) and later was elected to the U.S. Senate (1935-1947). He won a third term to the Senate but his fellow lawmakers refused to seat him and wouldn’t let him be sworn into office.

Before he was elected governor, Bilbo served in the state Senate and was nearly impeached from that legislative body—surviving by just one vote. However, the Mississippi legislature did pass a resolution declaring Bilbo “unfit to sit with honest, upright men.”

None of this hampered Bilbo’s political career. He was the master of pitting one part of the state against another—poor vs. rich, Delta farmers vs. hill folks, city vs. country, educated vs. unschooled and black vs. white.

When Republican Herbert Hoover ran for president, Bilbo helped a Catholic, Al Smith, carry Mississippi by claiming that Hoover had danced with a black woman. Later, while campaigning against Mississippi farmer William Percy, Bilbo would rally his supporters by declaring his opponent was a “Homo sapien.”

When he was governor, Bilbo refused to sign any tax bills passed by the Legislature, and the Legislature refused to pass any of his bills. By the time he left the state house, Bilbo’s demagoguery left both him and the state of Mississippi flat broke.

During the Bilbo era, many newspapers were reluctant to challenge him and his political machine. One strong voice for reason was Hodding Carter, the publisher-editor of my hometown newspaper, Delta Democrat Times, in Greenville, Miss. Carter refused to let Bilbo’s venom go unchallenged. Negative letter writing campaigns and radio broadcasts didn’t deter Carter from writing the truth.

Finally, the Bilbo era ended. Carter won a Pulitzer. However, it has taken decades for Mississippi to recover—some may argue that the state is stilling recovering.

DONNO SPEAKS Listening to Pensacola city councilman Marty Donovan and broadcaster Luke McCoy on WCOA’s “Pensacola’s Speaks” on Monday, Aug. 7 reminded me of listening to Theodore Bilbo. For 90 minutes, listeners were subjected to an extremely one-sided dialogue on the Community Maritime Park.

Unchallenged, Donovan masterfully used his time—only interrupted by kudos from McCoy and favorable callers—to cast aspirations toward park proponents and doubts on nearly every aspect of the proposal. No facts were offered to dispute the plan...just innuendo that it’s a dirty deal.

Donovan went so far as to make up a conversation between himself and Pensacola Pelican owner Quint Studer where he “begged” Studer to not proceed with the waterfront proposal. Donovan did meet with Studer, but no such conversation ever occurred. It was small-town, Bilbo-esque demagoguery at its finest.

The councilman has found his niche among that 20 percent of Pensacola that opposes everything and sees conspiracies around every corner. He plays on their fears of tax increases and whispers that others are getting rich at their expense. He pits the residential neighborhoods against downtown, the elderly against the young professionals and city residents against county residents.

Donovan has helped finance and foster the Save Our City political action group, which gives him a free weekly TV show on BLAB every Sunday afternoon to promote his agenda and play to his audience. It has worked well enough to frighten off any competition for his council seat.

Should the waterfront park be voted down on Sept. 5, Donovan becomes the de facto political boss of Pensacola. It becomes no longer necessary to win six council votes to pass anything. All you will need is to have Donovan’s blessing.

The threat of another referendum will always be there.

READ THE FACTS In a few weeks, the Community Maritime Park issue will be settled. I suspect most people have made up their minds on the waterfront park. However, for those who are still undecided I suggest you research the issue.

First, visit Pensacola’s website, www.ci.pensacola.fl.us. Under “Quick Links,” click on “Maritime Park” and read the master development agreement, master lease agreement and the final reports of Owen Beitsch and Barry Abramson. The facts of the proposal are all spelled out.

Then, visit the Save Our City website, www.saveourcitypac.org, and the Community Maritime Park website, www.propensacola.com. Check out the tone of each site and determine which has the better vision for this area.

I’m confident you will be able to see through the circular logic and ad hominem arguments of Save Our City. But to help you wade through the many half-truths, I suggest you read the “Save Our City Misrepresentation of the Week”on our website, www.inweekly.net. Click on the “search” feature at the top of the homepage, and enter “misrepresentation” in the “search terms” field.

You might not be crazy about every aspect of the proposed waterfront park, but after you read the facts, you will agree that this plan is a good start for revitalizing this dying community.

Rick Outzen is Independent News publisher. rick@inweekly.net

InWeekly

Outtakes