Quint Studer’s new company Healthcare Plus Solutions Group has become an exclusive partner with Aramark Healthcare+. Quint shares some of the details.
Hear how Commissioner Jeff Bergosh broke the story on WCOA.
The Pensacola City Council held a special meeting to discuss short-term rentals. Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier has the details.
Learn about The Jetty IOT from Karen McLouth.
Crime & Terrorism analyst Brad Garrett talks about how difficult it is to prevent mass shootings.
UWF ceramist student Sara Chaimowitz discusses her Skullz Around project, which is featured in Inweekly.
And the full show:
Short-term rentals: The most effective way to deal with short-term rentals is to do so within the broader context of all residential rental properties and do so at the county level so the proposed ordinance is not subject to mayoral veto. In 2022, Mayor Reeves told a neighbor that he would oppose regulation of short-term rentals in the city because he operates one. A good approach would be for Commissioner Bender to take the lead working with Councilman Bare and someone from Century. Make the proposed ordinance acceptable to all three governing bodies. The enforcement mechanisms should be at the county level to bypass the ongoing problem of Pensacola’s mayors refusing to enforce city laws. [I picked up several dozen cigarette butts in Eastgate Park today because the city will not enforce its new law that prohibits smoking.] Within its Code of Ordinances, Escambia County could create a new “Article V Rental Housing” within Chapter 58 Housing. The Sheriff has countywide authority and can and already does operate inside Pensacola as it does in Century all the time so Sheriff Simmons would be involved too. The regulations could run the gamut from requiring all rental property owners to obtain a Business Tax Receipt (a “tax” not a license, a “very” important legal distinction); require owners to provide multiple forms of “local” contact in the county so they could be contacted about law enforcement responses to their property, fire department responses, trash, etc.; require regular inspections to ensure habitability, more often with short-term rentals and before executing all new long-term leases (this would help deal with the slum lord problem that we have even in Scenic Heights); require property owners to identify to a county office all people staying at their properties to include providing a copy of the IDs of all adults; require all properties to include a firearms safe so that people who bring firearms don’t leave them sitting around for their kids to shoot someone, etc., etc. Property owners should also be required to have insurance and provide copies of their tax returns showing where they declared their rental incomes. Some rent “under the table.” Some tax cheats claim that they live in their short-term rentals and take homestead exemptions they do not rate. There should be a limit on the number of rental properties at a single-family residence. People are now renting trailers and tents in their backyards in addition to people staying in their houses. It’s already out of control. Florida Attorney General Advisory Legal Opinion AGO 2022-01 Vacation Rental: Municipal Regulation by Zoning Overlay is a good starting point mindful that AGOs are not law and courts don’t always agree. Just as local governments have great discretion to regulate how far apart places that serve alcoholic beverages may be from each other or from certain types of places, a rental property ordinance “might” be able to do the same. The first step is to get our arms around the rental issue in Escambia County. In August 2016, I spoke with city Housing Director Marcie Whitaker and told her that the day would come when someone in city hall will ask to see near-real-time data on the entire city housing inventory. At least on a weekly basis, the city should know the status of every property to include those vacant and why. The city has too long been fixated on downtown and that’s why we have so many problems north of Cervantes Street that have been ignored for so long.