PARADE SAFETY
The most notable change will be the closure of Main Street’s east-west thoroughfare one hour before parade time. Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said, “I don’t think anybody looking at it with any logic or common sense would say this is completely safe,” Reeves stated, referring to the historically crowded Main and Palafox intersection.
Additional safety measures include extending the secured “parade box” by one block east to Jefferson Street and one block west to DeVilliers Street, providing better access for emergency responders. The city will also enforce stricter towing policies, with no-parking signs posted three days before parades and immediate towing of vehicles found in restricted areas. The Pensacola City Hall parking lot will be the staging area for public safety.
The mayor stressed that while all these changes and discussions may cause some temporary inconvenience, the primary focus remains on ensuring public safety.
“Convenience will lose to safety every time.” – Mayor Reeves
APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT
District 5 School Board Member Tom Harrell wants a referendum that would let Escambia County voters return to an elected school superintendent, claiming his district isn’t happy with the new system. The school board will consider putting a referendum on the 2028 General Election ballot. Read Resolution Elected Superintendent.
- In 2018, Escambia County voters narrowly approved a ballot referendum for an appointed superintendent, with 50.36% voting for it. The school board has hired two superintendents since the change, Dr. Tim Smith (2020-2023) and Keith Leonard (2023-present).
Mayor Reeves reaffirmed his support for maintaining an appointed school superintendent.
“Somehow, we like to turn this political,” he said. “And as I always like to point out, if this is about a Republican issue versus a Democratic issue, 48 states in the country have outlawed elected superintendents, and that’s lots of Republican states, too. If you go down and look at the Florida counties, I believe the county where Mar-a-Lago is located has an appointed superintendent. too, I believe. This isn’t about politics; it should be about results.”
He noted that only about 40% of Escambia County residents knew that Malcolm Thomas was the school superintendent in 2018, and he had served 10 years, facing the voters in three elections. Reeves said, “What it tells you is when someone says, ‘Well man, I really don’t want to give up my vote.’ It’d be nice if the people that wanted to not give up their vote knew who they were voting for. I think at the mayor and the sheriff, those positions, whether it’s me or Chip or someone else, typically in the county, you’re going to have 90%, 95% name id.”
He added, “I look at this as the best technician, which is what we needed for our kids in 2018. I can tell you, at least from the city’s perspective, every voting precinct within the city was in favor of (appointed).”
- Mayor Reeves believes the school district has improved under the appointed system. “We should be continuing to go in the right direction to try to improve our schools and not get back into a political battle about trying to find the best person to lead.”
CHILDREN’S TRUST UPDATE
Mayor Reeves confirmed the city plans to send an invoice for Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) funds to the Escambia Children’s Trust but emphasized a collaborative approach. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has yet to be drafted, but he wants to allow CRA funds to be used for citywide initiatives rather than being restricted to CRA areas, with a particular focus on improving childcare accessibility in Pensacola.
“We’ve been hyperfocused with them on coming up with something collaborative for the children of the city,” he said. “I feel confident about where we are with the Children’s Trust moving forward, and I believe they’ll be expecting a significant financial request from us on initiative and partnership with them in an MOU.”
- Mayor Reeves added, “Yes, we’re going to send ’em an invoice, but we’re going to try to work through details first before. We don’t have to create a deadline for ourselves on something that we don’t need to address yet.”