At this morning’s Committee of the Whole,Commissioner Lumon May said he supports Mayor Grover Robinson’s initiative that giving local governments control over how they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. He will put it on the agenda of the commission’s regular meeting scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 10.
“I agree with the mayor of Pensacola in asking the governor to give us more local control,” said May. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to vote for mask mandate. It doesn’t mean we’re going to vote for anything, but we fight for home rule.”
In the spring, Commissioner Doug Underhill sent a flyer to county voters that asked for more local control when Gov. Ron DeSantis was issuing restrictive mandates. Over the years. the Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties have fought laws passed by the Florida Legislature that required county funds without any other funding source.
“We fight to stop unfunded mandates,” said May. “I’m going to add to the agenda for us to also join in writing that letter to the Governor to ask for more local control, and let us make the decisions.”