Independent News‘Politics’ Archives
Hayward’s Common $ense
city press release: Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward announced this afternoon that Navy Federal Credit Union and Pen Air Federal Credit Union have signed on to join Common $ense Pensacola, his financial literacy initiative. The two credit unions join Wells Fargo, Regions Bank, Hancock Bank, [...]
County tries to block Jail Study from being released
There is a budget battle about to break out between interim County Administrator George Touart and Sheriff David Morgan. The fight is inevitable. This first volley has been over the Escambia County Jail—which is severely understaffed according to the county’s consultants National Center for [...]
Viewpoint: At-Large Council Seats Do Not Equal Minority Representation
By: George Hawthorne, C.E.O., Diversity Program Advisors, Inc. The two types of City Council representation in Pensacola are at-large councilpersons, where the majority at the city level elects the representatives on the city council, and district councilpersons, where representatives are [...]
NRA gives Nobles A rating
Press Release—Jack Nobles, former small business owner and community leader, today received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and was hailed as “pro-gun” by the United Sportsmen of Florida. An “A” rating is the highest rating a candidate can receive from the NRA [...]
Does your child have an abusive high school coach? Tell us about it
Last month a video shown on ESPN led to the firing of the Rutgers men’s basketball coach, Mike Rice. In the video Rice is seen yelling homophobic slurs at his players, kicking them, grabbing them and shoving them. He also throws basketballs at their legs, their heads and their bodies from [...]
Why does Pat Bainter care about House District 2?
Pat Bainter is a powerful political consultant that has pumped over the years millions into the campaigns of Republican lawmakers in the state through a host of Electioneering Communications Organization. Organizations tied to Bainter are behind the negative mailers, which slam Ed Gray and Jack [...]
CMPA problem is process, not size
I wrote last month about the lack of a set process for the CMPA/City Council/Mayor to lease the parcels at Maritime Park. During the debate over the YMCA leasing parcel 8, the mayor announced that he had hired CBRE to help the city develop a plan for the park leases and other city [...]
Gunther says city and state ethics codes don’t apply to CMPA
Fred Gunther visited the Independent News and said that he believes that he did nothing wrong when he presented a competitive lease proposal for Parcel 1 at the Maritime Park. He said that he shouldn't have used the word "client" and that he would not have accepted a commission unless the CMPA [...]
More support to reduce Pensacola City Council
I was copied on this email to the Pensacola City Council: Dear Members of City Council, Due to scheduling conflicts, I will be unable to attend both the Committee of the Whole meeting tomorrow and Thursday’s City Council meeting. You will be considering a very important issue regarding [...]
New Poll: Gray continues to lead, Hill closing
The latest poll by SaintPetersblog.com on the Florida House District 2 race shows that the Republican primary has tightened up with still a significant percentage of the votes undecided. Ed Gray, the former mayor of Gulf Breeze, has 23 percent of respondents’ support, followed by Tea Party [...]
Terhaar backs down
Pensacola City Councilman Andy Terhaar has written on his blog that he will not make a motion for Fred Gunther to be removed from CMPA board until a decision is made by the Florida Ethics Commission on Gunther's actions. According to Terhaar, Gunther said: "If anyone believes I have violated [...]
Gunther clearly states it’s his client
Here is the video from yesterday's CMPA board meeting. Board member Fred Gunther at the 36:00 minute mark presents his proposal for parcel 1. He clearly and unequivocally says "my client" repeatedly and indicates that he helped craft the offer. There is no grey area here. He is acting as the [...]