Will Mayor Ashton Hayward veto the Pensacola City Council’s month-to-month extension Varona’s food concessions contract at the Pensacola International Airport? According to the 2010 City Charter, the mayor has five days to veto it. The current contract is set to expire on March 31.
Mayor Hayward had placed on the agenda a recommendation to grant the contract to OHM Group, but he pulled it off the agenda without any explanation. It was his third attempt to get the council to go along with his recommendation. The first time he put it on the agenda was late September, but Councilman Larry Johnson made a motion to table it when it didn’t appear Hayward had the votes for it to pass.
In January, he placed it back on the agenda, putting a full court press on lobbying the city council. He lost the vote, 5-3, Councilman Brian Spencer abstaining.
Because Hayward withdrew last Thursday his recommendation to have another vote on OHM, the council had only one recommendation on the contract to discuss–Councilwoman Megan Pratt’s motion to extend the current contract.
While discussing Pratt’s motion, Airport Director Greg Donovan said the city had identified two temporary vendors who were prepared to begin operating at the airport after Varona contract expired. He refused to tell the council who were the vendors.
If Hayward vetoes, the veto may be overridden by an affirmative vote of at least six council members. This would be only Hayward’s second veto since taking office. His first was to veto amendments to the 2012-13 city budget that would have defunded his marketing budget with The Zimmerman Agency. Four months later, Hayward canceled the Zimmerman contract anyway.