I interviewed Jason Crawford, co-chair of Escambia All-For-One:
“Scott Remington and I, on behalf of Escambia All-for-One, have been working closely and extensively with Rep. Evers who chairs our local legislative delegation. Since Jan 7, Rep. Evers has helped us revise our local bill request in a way that we feel will be best for the citizens of our county.
I am not aware of any reason that he will not support our request and, in fact, he has told us that he will work on our behalf in Tallahassee to see that this bill is passed early in the session so that the study commission can begin its work as soon as possible. He has gone so far as to agree to go on our behalf to Speaker Sansom to help us expedite the bill’s early passage.”
“Our experiences working with him over the last few weeks have made us confident that he is helping us and that he will continue to help us as we move forward,” says Crawford.
When asked about Senator Peaden:
“We met with him yesterday morning,” says Crawford. “He expressed concern that another senator outside of our area could have problems with our request. We asked for his leadership to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Crawford says that the Senator Peaden, who is a physician, mentioned the importance of addressing healthcare as it relates to this new form of government.
“He seemed like he would support our request on Friday and in Tallahassee.”
Crawford ended the interview with: “At this point we are hopeful and confident that both Evers & Peaden, as well as Murzin, Ford, & Gaetz, will use their individual and collective influences in Tallahassee to establish a process where the citizens of Escambia County will be able to study consolidated government, develop a consolidation plan for Escambia County, and allow the voters of Escambia County decide if they would like to consolidate their local governments.”