Opinion 5 from Don Caton, former City Attorney
The more I hear from those that advocate a new strong mayor for Pensacola, the better I feel to be a small part of a large group of citizens who strongly oppose turning our city over to what would be an extremely powerful “bossman” who would have most of the power in the city and be in charge of making practically all significant decisions for Pensacola. There are just too many negatives and hardly any positives. What we are hearing from the other side of the issue are things such as, we need to be more “progressive”, we have a “cloudy collective vision”, our “accountability is hazy”, we need to “move the city forward” and other vague terms and phrases.
Rebuttal: Mr. Caton would really be surprised if he moved around this community and actually talked to young people and those with small children. They completely understand the word “progressive.†Many went off to college and have comeback to see the same issues being discussed – CMP, downtown library, lack of jobs, Port of Pensacola, affordable housing, etc. The only change that they see is the new Krispy Kreme. They have lived in other places and seen the vibrancy that is lacking in their hometown.
Accountability is not only hazy, it’s non-existent. We only have to look at the Avalex deal and there is no one to blame for the loss. According to reports, it wasn’t Mr. Cohen or Mr. Coby. It wasn’t the City Council. Must be the Chamber—the scapegoat for all ills, right?
The City has an abysmal record for working with minority-owned businesses. It has had three minority council members, has for 30 years. Shouldn’t they take some responsibility for this record? They don’t.
In 1997, the City proposed to the citizens a new downtown library when it asked them to vote for the Local Option Sales tax. It is not slated to be built in 2013…..2013!
The people definitely understand these terms. Maybe Mr. Caton doesn’t, but the people do.
Unfortunately, hardly anyone (except for maybe a select few) knows what any of this garbledygook means.(possibly it means spending a bunch of taxpayer money on some undisclosed–yet wonderful–new project(s) for the city, but who really knows). All of these wonderful sounding phrases add up to–take your pick– the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, wishful thinking, pie-in-the-sky, or just plain a mirage.
Rebuttal: Another debate tactic is to belittle the opposition. Minimize their arguments without really supporting your own position.
The political committee pushing for a boss mayor for Pensacola promises to send us a Messiah to accomplish all these things ( whatever “these things” may be) and, with the help of the news media, lead us to the Promised Land. They never tell us how we might recognize this Messiah if we saw him or her–just that he/she was too busy to run for mayor in last year’s election
Rebuttal: The proposed charter wasn’t formed by a political committee. It was openly discussed, drafted and approved by a commission established by the City Council. The Charter Review Commission met for 19 months. The League of Women Voters and others had input in the final proposal.
Again the debate tactic is to belittle and exaggerate –which is sad to see coming from a former city attorney. You might expect more of discussion of ideas and concepts that highlight the strength and weaknesses of each form of government.
While their pledges of vision and leadership remain a mirage, people who carefully study the boss mayor committee’s proposed charter for Pensacola can get a pretty clear picture about how serious they are about accountability. For instance, their charter proposes four year terms for the mayor and city council. We currently have two year terms of office. This new charter starts out by cutting accountability to the voters in half. So that must be why the glossy brochure circulated by the “Believe in Pensacola” committee says nothing about four year terms.
Rebuttal: Having served both a two-year and a four-year term as Gulf Breeze city councilman, I found myself no less or more accountable to the citizens. All other political offices in the county are four-year terms. Mr. Caton served as city attorney for over 30 years without ever being evaluated by the council. Was he more or less accountable to the city council? Four year evaluations would have been nice.
More belittling – “mirage, †“glossyâ€
The top headline of their strong mayor shiny brochure talks about term limits instead and glosses over length of terms as though that is nobody’s business. Pensacola voters demonstrated just a year back how they impose term limits. Pensacolians elected a new mayor and four new councilmembers, unseating four incumbents. Pensacola voters know how to re-elect councilmembers who they are satisfied with and how to replace those who they feel have served long enough and should be replaced.
Rebuttal: Mr Caton has real issue with printed materials, although the voters did get a glossy mailer from NBM, too. The debate over term limits is valid. However, it is an issue that has resonated with the voters for some time now. Mr. Caton might be surprised how many people like the idea.
The glossy brochure talks about a proposed charter that empowers voters to call for a referendum to overturn actions taken by the city council. This is nothing new, voters already have that right.
Rebuttal: “glossy†again.
What the supposedly informative document does not tell us is that the proposed charter transfers most powers currently held by city council members to the new strong mayor and that charter fails to contain any provision for a citizen referendum to overturn a decision of that strong mayor.
Rebuttal: This isn’t true. The strong mayor takes on the day-to-day powers of the city manager. He will still need the approval of the council for the same matters that the city manager does today. The voters today can’t overturn city manager’s actions today, only council votes.
The people who pay for the shiny brochure talk about fear mongering by those of us concerned with the would-be concentration of power in a strong mayor. They skip over the reality of cronyism and corruption constantly occurring that exists in strong mayor cities. Take a look at at what is going on in Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Minneapolis and Birmingham which are just a few of the recent examples of cronyism and corruption, We did not invent the phrase, “Power Corrupts.” How about the strong mayor cities where hankey-pankey goes on constantly but they just haven’t been caught yet?
Rebuttal: “Shinyâ€? The current system hasn’t been without issues: A Port director that borrowed money from his staff and the port users, his replacement having DUI issues and 2009 audit report on how the staff overstepped on the recent airport lease.
Corruption can happen anywhere. Elect good people and the chances are good that it won’t be an issue. Will Pensacola become Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Minneapolis and Birmingham? There are huge differences between a city of 53,000 and ones that are 530,000.
Most Pensacolians believe in our wonderful city. We believe in a diverse community of different neighborhoods and people of different ethnicities willing to meet publicly, debate openly and vote democratically, through our collective representatives on our elected city council. We believe in a Pensacola where an elected council with district representatives meets publicly to form a collective view for Pensacola’s future, not a future that is decided behind the closed doors of a boss mayor’s office where only the financial backers and cronies can be assured to have ready access, What Pensacolians do not believe in is empty promises and mythical leaders.
Rebuttal: The problem is the city isn’t run by the collective view of the City Council. Individual council members can’t put items on the agenda. They are only given one recommendation by staff on every issue.
City government operates behind closed doors now. We have little idea what Mr. Caton did in his office for 34 years. We see what he brought to the city council, but we have no idea what he said and who he said it to. Doesn’t it mean that Mr. Caton broke the law or did anything illegal. Of course, not…..although he probably had issues with anything shiny being brought into his office.
Please vote no on the proposed new city charter.
Don Caton,
Chairman, No Boss Mayor PC