On WCOA this morning, Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves talked about his plans for budget carry-forwards in Public Safety and Parks & Recreation.
“My goal is to do what we say we’re going to do, and I’ve talked for a long time about public safety being of the utmost importance,” he said. “We’ve got to invest in that, not just talk about it- from equipment to increases in technology to increases in more feet on the street. There’ll be comprehensive, several different things to really use these carry-forward dollars to reinvest in our ability to feel safe and stay safe in our community.”
Mayor Reeves has taken the philosophical approach of trying to focus on maintaining the city’s parks and recreational facilities. He said, “We have a lot of great things in Pensacola. We’ve got 94 parks, we’ve got good community centers, and sometimes it’s more fun to buy the shiny new thing than it is to take care of the thing we already have. But I’m really prioritizing (what we have), as you’ll see when I’m back next week.”
Reeves continued, “We’re fixing Roger Scott courts, of course, and that looks like that’s trending well. But we’re also going to fix the Roger Scott pool bathrooms. They need to be fixed. I mean, we have a city pool that has no bathrooms and so things like that we’re going to really focus on as well.”
At last week’s presser, I asked the mayor about the status of the stormwater system flowing in Pensacola Bay near Bruce Beach. He gave me an update on water testing this morning. The mayor said more testing is planned for February.