Mayoral Forum: In Search of a Vision

Pensacola Mayoral Candidates Field WRL Questions
by Jeremy Morrison

A quartet of Pensacola mayoral candidates fielded questions Thursday on a range of topics, from the very specific, such as the issue with sewage contaminating Bruce Beach, to the big-picture, like the candidates’ individual visions for the city. Sponsored by Women for Responsible Legislation and held at Pensacola City Hall, the forum provided an opportunity for the candidates to not only stress their respective campaign themes but also distinguish themselves from each other.

Participating in the May 26 WRL forum were Jewel Cannada-Wynn, Sherri Myers, D.C. Reeves and Steve Sharp. Cannada-Wynn and Myers pointed to their years of experience on the Pensacola City Council. Reeves stressed his entrepreneurial experience. Sharp focused his public service experience working with the school district and as a firefighter.

Two additional mayoral candidates were absent from this event: James Hilburn and Timothy Horton.

Perhaps best illustrative of each candidate’s potential approach to the office was a question regarding their vision for the city in the years to come.

“We must have an inclusive city,” said Cannada-Wynn, stressing the need to take all city residents into account when making decisions. “Even though people may say things in the city area are going great, everybody doesn’t feel that way.”

Myers’ answer also leaned into this territory, though she referenced disparages between various city areas: “What we need in this city is the culture of equity. Equity means fairness.”

Sharp, meanwhile, said he considered public safety to be paramount: “If we don’t have a safe city, nothing else matters.”

Reeves said that whatever direction the city takes in the future needs to be thoughtful and intentional.

“We have to seize opportunity with intentionality,” Reeves said. “We have to have a plan.”

One of the priorities that would figure prominently in each of these candidates’ intentional plan is the issue of affordable housing and the need to create additional units. Moderator Bill Fetke asked them to define affordable housing.

Myers said she would focus on housing for those on fixed incomes, such as senior citizens. Cannada-Wynn explained she traditionally considered something a teacher could afford to be affordable. Reeves similarly listed professionals, such as teachers and firefighters, as being those who need and could afford affordable housing, or rather ‘workforce’ housing. Sharp said he thought the definition of affordable boiled down to “housing that the average person can afford.”

The Port of Pensacola was also placed on the table during the WRL forum. Candidates were asked if they felt the port should pursue a path focused on an industrial waterfront port, or rather be transformed into something different, perhaps with residential development.

“No, never,” Cannada-Wynn balked at the notion of scrapping the city’s working port, suggesting it could perhaps be a multi-use area.

Reeves also pitched blending uses—“here’s the beauty, we can have both”—as did Myers: “I think we can have the port, and we can have appropriate mixed-use there.”

Sharp, however, positioned himself as more of a traditionalist on this subject.

“Keep the port, as it is,” he said. “The port needs to be kept as a revenue generator. There doesn’t need to be any residential development down there.”

As in previous WRL candidate events, this mayoral forum included a question requesting each to explain how their moral view shapes their perspective. Each candidate spoke about their individual moral roots, religious upbringings and lives centered on service. It was Myers, though, herself a member of WRL, who provided the answer perhaps most palatable to forum attendees.

“I am here not by design of me, but by my God and higher power,” Myers said. “I am here for a purpose.”

Another question featured in this forum appeared to wrap up both city planning and the more heated issue of Confederate monument removal. While the question did not mention specifically the city’s Confederate monument—which the city removed in 2020, it rather referenced a preference between “heritage” and modern architecture, though the question did reference statues.

This vagueness led to some interesting answers. Cannada-Wynn appeared to miss the sub-text and simply skimmed the surface— “preserving history is important to me.”

Myers walked a weird line between embracing historical architecture and also heralding her idea of a so-called unity project, which would aim to erect a more diverse array of monuments.

Reeves, meanwhile, seem to fashion a response that could pivot in either direction — it was certainly about the city’s stock of historic buildings and the threat of losing them to new development or parking lots, but perhaps it was a nod toward the monument, too: “We will always be looking forward, but we will not mortgage the beauty and the architectural character we have in our downtown and in our community.”

Sharp was the only candidate that addressed the monument issue head-on: “In regards to monuments, I have a lot of people ask me about that. I don’t think we get rid of old monuments. There are some things that disturb people and I understand that, but we need to use those as a learning process. We don’t just do away with the history of the city. Let’s use that, build on to it, and teach people about the history, the good and the bad.”

As for these candidates’ thoughts on Bruce Beach, a municipal waterfront area slated for major improvements, which testing just indicated is contaminated with human waste due to sewage leaking into the downtown stormwater system, each said they considered the matter urgent, though they also expressed uncertainty about how to best solve the problem, which is hardly isolated the Bruce Beach.

“What we do not have here is the political will to address it,” summed up Myers. “I do not believe that we do not have the money. It is just not a sexy project and sexy projects get the money.”