Commissioner says he doesn’t lie, then misstates facts

During the discussion of public access to beaches on Perdido Key at the board’s March 26 meeting, Escambia County Commissioner Steve Stroberger said that Commissioner Mike Kohler shouldn’t be allowed to vote on customary use because of accepting campaign donations from people in the audience who want it.

• He added, “You said that I’m basically in their (condo owners) pocket. It’s not true. I am not. You guys have no idea. I’m self-funded. I’m an independent up here. I don’t even think Mike Kohler should be able to vote on customary use because I think you (Melissa Pino) were at his fundraiser, and so was Kevin (Wade).”

Fact Check: Stroberger did not completely self-fund his campaign. Nearly three-fourths of his campaign monetary contributions came from others, including Clerk Pam Childers, former commissioner Gene Valentino, Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske, Commissioner Kohler’s wife and several developers and contractors, according to the Supervisor of Elections website.

• Even if you include his loan to the campaign and his in-kind contributions, Stroberger only contributed $35K of the $62.6K spent to get elected in 2024—56%. Yes, it’s a significant amount, but he had financial help from others to win.

Here is my report on the meeting:

Commission Directs Staff to Begin Collecting Customary Use Evidence

The Escambia County Commission voted 3-2 Thursday to direct county staff and the county attorney’s office to begin gathering evidence from the public on customary use of Perdido Key’s dry sand beaches—a small but significant step toward a potential ordinance that has been debated at the commission table for months with nothing to show for it.

• Background: Florida’s doctrine of customary use recognizes the public’s historic and uninterrupted enjoyment of a beach over time as the basis for continued access rights.

Where Things Stood

Commissioner Steven Barry opened by acknowledging that the board had never actually given staff clear direction on the issue despite repeated discussion. Commissioner Mike Kohler agreed, saying that while he had been meeting informally with County Attorney Alison Rogers about the legal landscape, the board as a body had given no marching orders.

• Kohler said he’s hearing from passionate constituents on both sides and wants to move carefully. He noted that the board should read the Reddington case—currently before the 11th Circuit—and flagged uncertainty about how Escambia County would meet all four legal prongs of customary use. “I think we need the testimonial piece to build the case,” he said.

Commissioner Lumon May said, “This has probably been discussed 15, 16 times.” He was ready to vote—and had been ready for months.

Rogers Lays Out the Legal Framework

County Attorney Alison Rogers told the board that any customary use ordinance will require more than good intentions. The board will need to designate the specific geography it intends to cover, and at the time of any vote on an ordinance, make formal legislative findings explaining exactly why and how that area meets the four prongs of customary use.

• “What I do not think is going to be defensible is to simply just say customary use is imposed on whatever area,” Rogers said.

She said that recommendation—on how much of the beach might support a defensible case—will depend entirely on what the evidence actually shows: deeds, historical records, easements, photographs, personal accounts. Looking at things parcel by parcel, she noted, is not something the county has been directed to do.

• Rogers also raised the possibility of compromise—voluntary access agreements with HOAs or Gulf-front property owners, or additional property acquisition. “Obviously, the best way to defend against lawsuits is that people voluntarily provide that access,” she said.

Stroberger Drops a Bombshell—and Then Reads His Statement

Commissioner Steve Stroberger told the board he had just learned that the county had lost a customary use case on Perdido Key in 1978. “Isn’t that a precedent? Isn’t that pretty damn important to know?” he asked.

• Rogers said any prior ruling would be highly fact-specific—dependent on the geography involved and how far up the beach the decision extended. Barry acknowledged he knew nothing about the 1978 case but recalled that in the 1980s and ‘90s, the area had generally been treated as public. Stroberger countered that one of the legal criteria for customary use is that it be uninterrupted—and that it had been interrupted.

Stroberger then told the board he had written out his full remarks so he wouldn’t miss anything.

• “At its core, this debate is not about beach towels, umbrellas or access points,” he read. “It’s about the right of exclusion—the most fundamental attribute of private property ownership. Without the right to exclude, ownership is hollow.”

He argued that customary use flips America’s constitutional framework on its head by forcing local government to act as the instrument through which the public claims privately owned land.

• “In America, property rights are presumed to belong to the owner unless lawfully conveyed, purchased, or taken with just compensation under the Fifth and 14th Amendments,” Stroberger said. “They are not subject to popular demand or retroactive interpretation.”

He also went after the legal doctrine itself, noting that customary use requires proof that public use has been ancient, reasonable, uninterrupted and free from dispute—and that the very fact the matter is being actively litigated undermines the claim.

“If the right truly existed, we would not be here debating this,” he said.

Stroberger warned that the precedent doesn’t stop at the shoreline. Once government declares that longstanding public presence overrides a deed, where does it end? He pointed out that the public cannot independently sue private property owners to force customary use—the pressure falls on local government to act as that instrument, and that should concern every property owner, not just those on the beach.

He argued Perdido Key already has miles of publicly owned beach and existing access points, and that the county can pursue additional property acquisition if expansion is needed. “What we cannot do, at least not constitutionally, is redefine private land as public simply because it’s desirable,” he said.

Stroberger closed with a Clint Eastwood reference, invoking Gran Torino and its famous line about getting off someone’s lawn. “Ownership carries with it the authority to say no. So where is Clint Eastwood when we need him now?”

• Dig Deeper: The commissioner failed to mention. Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowalski, delivered the line as he leveled a rifle at people on his front lawn.

He stated his position wasn’t driven by politics or campaign finance. “I’m not counting votes, I’m not counting donations. I’m looking at the Constitution and property rights. I’m thinking about my own property and how I would feel if it was happening to me.”

Barry and Kohler Push to Move Forward

Barry acknowledged Stroberger’s concerns but argued that even setting aside whether one agrees with the customary use conceptually, it’s a legitimate enough issue to at least allow the county to receive information from citizens who feel strongly about it.

• “I would almost expect us to do that even without board action,” Barry said. “But if we need to give board direction to say we think it’s an important enough issue that it’s worth the staff’s time to allow them to receive information from citizens—maybe we don’t get a lot of substantial, competent evidence, but maybe we do.”

Kohler echoed the point that the board isn’t adopting an ordinance—it’s doing due diligence. He also noted his own personal connection to the issue: “I can tell you as a sailor that came here—it was customary use out there. Everyone walked around out there. That’s where you went when you didn’t have money.”

• Stroberger remained opposed, arguing that directing staff to gather evidence would be a waste of time given the 1978 precedent and the legal hurdles involved.

The Vote and the Plan

May seconded Barry’s motion, and the board voted 3-2 to direct the county attorney’s office and relevant staff to begin serving as a passive repository for public information related to customary use. Stroberger and Chair Ashlee Hofberger voted no.

Hofberger suggested creating a dedicated email address—something along the lines of customaryuse@myescambia.com—and issuing a press release Monday explaining how the public can submit materials, including photographs and documents. A 90-day window for public submissions was discussed, followed by an additional 3 months for the county attorney’s office to evaluate the submissions and report back to the board.

Advocates in the audience said they already have dozens of testimonials lined up and have prepared a draft affidavit template. Rogers made clear that any formal affidavit language will need to come from her office, not outside attorneys.

The six-month timeline—90 days to collect, 90 days to evaluate—takes the issue off the commission’s active agenda for now. Whether the evidence will be enough to support an ordinance, Rogers said, remains an open question.

• “We’ll bring you back something,” she told the board, “and see what you guys want to do.”

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