Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson shared with the IN the entire transcript of his written interview with the PNJ:
PNJ: In regard to your e-mail dated 9/26, sent at 5:38 p.m.:
You state: âWe have fired the one person who had a relationship with BP.â
I assume you are referring to Mr. Schroeder, am I correct? Do you feel Mr. Schroeder should not have been fired? Why?
GROVER: Ed is the only professional contact we had with BP. When he left, we had nothing
PNJ: You state: âWe are acutely aware and responsive to scandal, but we have little concern for truth. The truth is we are totally inept, small and petty. â
To whom do you refer as small, inept and petty? The county as a whole? Certain leaders or organizations?
GROVER: I believe structure, vision and commitment to success should trump personalities. If they are effective and ethical, whether I like them or not is irrelevant.
PNJ: You state: âWe have nobody looking out for the county as a whole, not individual parts. â
Who is looking out for parts of the county, and which parts? Who do you feel should look out for the county? What is the consequence of a failure of a specific person or organization to look out for the county as a whole?
GROVER: All of us in Escambia County, lead by the media, did not want to debate any issues. Rather we wanted to attack personalities for their beliefs. Someone started this by bringing personal emails to the PNJ not to create a better Escambia county but rather to make certain individuals look bad and others good. From there it blossomed not into ideas and debate but rather speculation that someone knew this person so they must be guilty of any crime as well without any facts. This is nothing new to American history. It occurred in Massachusetts in the 1600’s and Washington DC in the 1950’s. However, we in Escambia County are better than that.
PNJ: You state: âWhat is our plan?â
If there is no plan, whose fault is it? Who or what has, in your opinion, impeded the progress of making a plan?
GROVER: The individual parts are the various Chambers that are a part of this discussion. At the end of the day, each is responsible to its own organization over the citizens of Escambia County. This is what got Ed in trouble as soon as he no longer echoed the company line, he was gone. The question is was Ed responsible to the Chamber or the citizens of Escambia County. While he worked for the Chamber, I believe he has a higher purpose than protecting the vested interest of the Chamber.
More importantly there are counties in NW Florida, Bay, Okaloosa and Walton that organize there tourism directly to the citizens. These counties can speak with one voice and are much more effective with communication and promotion than we are as witnessed by Bay County’s ability to secure additional advertising for themselves from BP.
PNJ: In regard to your e-mail dated 9/27, sent at 10:05 a.m.:
You state: âThe biggest problem with Escambia County tourism is that no one person or entity has the right to speak or make decisions for the county. â
Who do you feel should have the right to make decisions for the county? Why do existing entities or councils not have the right to speak or make decisions? What is blocking them from making decisions?
GROVER: Ultimately, the BCC who approved the current structure. However, when BCC members spoke against the current structure they immediately found themselves challenged for having different opinions with rumor and innuendo.
Progress is impeded by the Chambers who use a portion of the advertising dollars to support their operations. Look at Terry Scrugg’s email. He has been there weeks and he knows we need a long term strategy. Where Terry will have issues is when he tries to determine who gets the administrative money. If he says Pensacola Chamber, other will have issue with this. If he says independent organization, he will be doing the same thing as Ed and undermining the Chamber’s administrative
PNJ: You state: âI with Ed Ës effort got Pensacola Beach to see that and make the leap of faith that has paid off for them. Now they are very skeptical and I do not blame them. From their perspective, people in a closed room (no sunshine) on Garden Street are making decisions about their livelihood.â
Am I correct that you are referring to the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, not subject to Florida Sunshine Laws requiring open meetings between officials?
What exactly is the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce skeptical about? Working with the Visitor Information Center instead of securing funds on its own?
GROVER: Money is all that is blocking Escambia County from pursuing the correct action. That it what has been so comical about this discussion. Volunteers who gain nothing have been attacked by people who have a vested interest in receiving administrative money. Every attacker, George Hawthorne, and Alison Davenport, represented an organization that either received or was requesting money, while the victims Denis and myself get nothing from this.
GROVER: (pensacola Beach Chamber question) The paper has accused and editorialize on open meetings. Great, I agree. However, the Pensacola Beach Chamber was not invited to attend the Chamber meeting with the TDC. Just because the PNJ attended do not confuse that with an open meeting. It would not meet our BCC standards.
Yes they are concerned. They trusted Ed to work with them which he did. (Shelly Johnson can confirm this relationship with you.) I am sure Terry can patch that relationship and work together. The problem is the Pensacola Chamber did not communicate with the Pensacola Beach Chamber on their decision before making it. You may say they are an independent organization and can do whatever they want. I say not if you are designated as the county entity. You owe your partners accountability and transparency and Pensacola Beach should have been included in this decision. This is the problem with being a county organization with responsibility to the taxpayers; you can’t may arbitrary decisions based on solely your own best interest.
PNJ: In general: You mention how many groups have a message for BP, which likely will be skipped because of inefficient communication with them. Which group do you think should be the only group communicating with BP on behalf of Escambia County? Should a new, separate group with decision-making authority be created to send a single message to BP on behalf of Escambia County, or is that just one more organization we don Ët need?
How strong an influence does the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce wield over Escambia County tourism and allocation of funds? How would you characterize that influence?
Grover: The people of Escambia County and the entities engaged in tourism should make that decision. That was scheduled to happen before all this took place. The should not happen at the Chamber or even the TDC. This should happen at the BCC. These are the only citizens elected by the people of Escambia County to make decisions for Escambia County.
The only organization that should speak for Escambia County is an organization designated by Escambia County, similar to Bay, Okaloosa and Walton. That organization could coordinate with the various Chambers just as Bay, Okaloosa and Walton, but be independent of any specific Chamber. The point is no matter how good the Chamber is or intends to be this fiasco illustrates that at the end of the day it is responsible to itself and its MEMBERS. Sometimes there is a conflict of interest.
All three Chambers have an influence as do the hoteliers and other recipients of TDC monies. The issue is not the influence but rather when a conflict of interest arises. Ultimately, every time we meet the affected people are the ones who show up and are therefore, the ones with influence. This is not a bad thing because they have good knowledge and experience and can be helpful in understanding an issue. Better said, the problem is when they interest conflict’s with the interest of a better county.
PNJ: Have any recipients of the e-mails you sent responded to you with any ideas?
GROVER: Terry’s was the only real response. Ellis responded to everyone with the marketing plan. However, my intent was not to attack the marketing plan but rather the lack of strategic plan.