At the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners meeting this morning, the board reorganized to appoint a new chairman and vice chairman, with District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh serving as the new chairman and District 2 Commissioner Doug Underhill as the vice chairman for the coming year.
Bergosh  praised Commissioner Robert Bender has served as chair for the past year.
“From hurricane rebuilding to the difficulties of COVID-19 on our community, to beach traffic reduction to profound economic development victories at OLF 8 and the Pensacola Airport with ST Engineering—it was a challenging yet still productive year for Escambia County,” said the new chair.
He also outlined his  goals for the upcoming year.
“I want to keep the positive momentum of the last six months moving forward, continue to foster better working relationships with our employees, bargaining groups and community partners, and work toward streamlining our budgeting process for 2022 and beyond,” said Bergosh.
“Additionally, I look forward to working with my peers on the board to provide our constituents, the taxpayers of Escambia County, maximum transparency and efficiency in all of our county operations as we work toward recruiting, training and deploying a dynamic and talented workforce to take our county into the future with competence and confidence.”
This meeting can be viewed on the Escambia County YouTube channel.
I turned on the You tube of the third town hall and heard one logical fallacy from the daily to do list. False Equivalency. That you can either do it wrong in 21 or right in 23.
Then turned it off.
I’m sure the board can handle him 12/2.
I do indeed Anonymous 1:28 :)
Drove me crazy to be down at his Disinformation Tour in Innerarity last night while my heart was up with the folks in City Hall saving those trees. YEAH!!!!!
It’s so sad to see him fool a bunch of people once again with one lie after the other. Dollar General 2.0. He sent them away on a mission to raise hell with the commission for no other purpose than to have another unsuccessful round of blowing up the Board. He slipped up last night under pressure, though, and admitted the redistricting needed to happen because of deviation after saying a half dozen times that it didn’t. When I called him out on it, he addressed me as “hon.” Love it when his true colors show through, as they are on his inherent racism with talking about trading black voters like “chattel.” He actually threw his father under the bus last night claiming he had distanced himself from the racism he grew up with on the chicken farm. Riiiiiiight.
Think we’ll hold it to two on the fake town halls. Somebody else can deal with him up in Beulah tonight. Or not.
Melissa
You didn’t look like you blew a gasket. You just have a lot of stamina and staying power fighting the energizer bunny of deceit. Perhaps you will make the next two town halls.
I just hung my Christmas decoration from Jimmie on the tree. You know the one.
“Pino may blow a gasket, but rest assured, she isn’t the only one who sees the games Perdido DD2 has been running all along. She is probably watching the town halls in exasperation. ”
Actually I was so pleased that all four projects up in D2 had the exact reasonable outcome they should have had: drop by administrator until it’s ready; sent back for a procurement; pass the infrastructure; hold off on a conceptual vote on conservation acquisition until the negotiations are over.
We were white knuckling it on the Beach Haven item, but in the end it couldn’t have resolved any better, with each commissioner present for the discussion bending from their original position on a compromise. Commissioner Bender and Commissioner Barry in particular showed what productive professionalism and not sticking to a stance on principle looks like, in contrast with Doug digging his heels in and threatening to hold his breath until they did what he wanted. Thank you so much to Commissioner May for breaking away from the Children’s Trust interviews to get back for the 4-1. Everybody in our area will benefit from this project finally moving forward, and staff must be so relieved they don’t have to continue with the grant dance.
Sorry it looked like blowing a gasket on the Perdido Conservation acquisition–I was actually relieved and somewhat jubilant that staff is apparently working independently to get the right thing done now. Tim Day has been working on that acquisition a long time. I do share Chairman Bergosh’s concern that the bird in the hand parking not slip through the fingers, or at least not get explored. Yes, of course ECW disinformationed it as if he was angling for the parcel to be developed. They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do, as there desperate for any angle to try to blow up the redistricting lines that are going to happen anyway. It was good to have the opportunity to lay out what Doug has been strategizing on his own property for years. That path in front of his house is indeed a multiuse, which was done under Gene Valentino. Doug intended to connect it to the new multiuse from Day 1, and has been telling people recently that he’s going to have it repaved and widened. It’s up for work so that’s great. But make no mistake, just as he has been running a jet ski school illegally off that property, he will continue to try to transform it into a destination for the industry while he damages the environment all around him. That’s why he excavated his front yard illegally with no land disturbance or rock permit so he could make a parking lot. And with him getting nowhere on the fishing camp he cobbled onto illegally to fashion into a bigger house, they’ll be homesteading up in the north county soon enough.
I found it telling that Kevin Brown took the opportunity to pass out cards and campaign outside the front doors at 221 Palafox while we were fighting for a key infrastructure project in the district he claims to have deep interest in, when one of his key talking points is the ability to pull infrastructure due to his time in bureaucracy. Come on into the local swimming hole, Kevin. The water’s fine. :)
Underhill was a four to one and wouldn’t even support having a project go forward. Par for the course and the epitome of what is is like to try to work with this jerk.
Note it took the other four to bring this forward for a project in D2, he tries to blame it on Candidate Pino then goes to his propaganda Facebook page Escambia Citizen watch with the help of a cohort liar typing meeting minutes. People need to watch for themselves. Bergosh handed the gavel over to vice so he could make the motion. Give it to Bender he did try to compromise but Doug wouldn’t budge. He is the nemesis of the country government and is a scourge. He has posted, “he stands alone fighting discretionary” then wouldn’t use it to get a project with numerous grants already in place. He purposefully is causing problems. And always has. He has the fecal touch, it all turns to crap. Go away.
Bergosh knows how to handle him, fortunately.
Interesting first meeting for this chairmanship.
He did a good job especially with blowhard Underhill and the Beach Haven project getting over the line. May has to leave when the controvesy gets hot for some reason — came back in when Bender kept going for a compromise. Barry finally has Doug figured out and has decided he does not care what the “Unprecedented Narrative” Doug the Con tries to put out. For Doug exclaiming loudly he “stands alone fighting discretionary spending” — so unsuspecting marks throw kisses and roses at his feet, he sure held to the funds he has been letting pile up. One more 4 to 1 for the record of Underhill screw ups. Now he is probably at a town hall bragging about how he is going to buy beach access after getting to Tim and Chips. As the world turns.
Bergosh certainly has the current board figured out — yet remains positive.
Pino may blow a gasket, but rest assured, she isn’t the only one who sees the games Perdido DD2 has been running all along. She is probably watching the town halls in exasperation. The board already voted on the Inlet management plan though. And I think Perdido will be in D1 soon enough.
I’m a fan of Chairman Bergosh and Commissioner Barry especially.