Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson last night told Inweekly he was surprised that Drew Buchanan, who is running for mayor against him, had blamed him for the current issues regarding downtown parking.
In a press release yesterday, Buchanan said, “Mr. Robinson has served on the DIB for many years. He’s as much to blame for this parking blunder as anyone else. Frankly, it’s yet another example of his lack of leadership and vision.â€
Robinson told the newspaper that he serves as a liaison between the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) and the county commission. He doesn’t not have a vote. All the voting DIB members are appointed by the mayor of Pensacola. He typically sends his administrative assistant to the meetings to report back on the DIB.
“Since I am there for little more than information, I generally send Becky to the meetings,” he said.
The DIB minutes support the commissioner’s statement. He was not listed as attending any of the DIB meeting regarding the current parking program.
This morning, Bryan McCall, whose agency, Duncan McCall, handles Robinson’s campaign, took to Twitter to challenge Buchanan’s motives for his attack.
He tweeted, “Blaming DIB problems on a non-voting representative from the BCC is dishonest. It either indicates malicious intent or lack of understanding of the process. Either are not good qualities in a potential mayor.”