After experiencing a cyberattack on Dec. 7, 2019 that impacted the City of Pensacola’s network, the city engaged Deloitte & Touche LLP to assess the incident and provide observations and recommendations to…
Tag: dick barker
DROP, Dick Barker: Clarifications and More Questions
If all goes according to Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson’s plan, the Pensacola City Council will soon approve current Chief Financial Officer Dick Barker as assistant city administrator. The acencsion will represent a…
Barker gets second shot at DROP
Inweekly reporter Jeremy Morrison reports the Dick Barker has been promoted from chief financial officer to assistant city administrator.  Barker told reporters at the mayor’s Monday presser that he is in the the…
Few listen to City CFO outside city hall
While Mayor Grover Robinson and City Administrator Chris Holley may see Chief Financial Officer Dick Barker as a seasoned, indispensable financial wizard, others have doubts about Barker’s trustworthiness and ability to work…
City Hall survivors thrive
When Ashton Hayward campaigned for Pensacola mayor in 2010, he talked a great deal about taking on the establishment and the “good old boys.†One of his campaign slogans was: “It’s our…
Five key points of Fire Chiefs’ settlement
Our story Fire Chiefs “Vindicated’ is online and in our news stands. Here are the key points: 1. Big money Though the settlements have no admissions of fault, the $575,000 payoff is…
TT: CRA review
By Jeremy Morrison, Inweekly Pensacola Finance Director Dick Barker said he was going to give mathematical factuals but also sprinkle in some opinion when going over the ins and outs of the…
City Finance budget jumped 29 percent in five years
It’s difficult to ask city departments to be frugal and fiscally conservative when the Chief Financial Officer’s budget has grown more than $1.4 million since FY 2014–a 29.3 percent jump. During Mayor…
Barker may have unintentionally explained budget overruns
When City of Pensacola CFO Dick Barker last week defended why the city didn’t amend Caldwell Associates Architects contract for the proposed Bayview Community Center, he may have unintentionally explained why city…
Barker lost the council when he stretched ‘facts’
Last week, the City of Pensacola’s chief financial officer, Dick Barker, tried to use his 38 years of experience in the city’s finance department and a slide presentation to convince the Pensacola…
Pensacola Recycling Cover-up
The City of Pensacola’s Sanitation Services Department has an annual goal for recycling: “Recycling percentage (by tonnage) of the total garbage & recycling collection – 22 percent.” The goals are in the…
Inaccurate City of Pensacola website hampers accountability
Mayor Ashton Hayward  has proclaimed often that  transparency, and accountability are cornerstones of his administration. Unfortunately, the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric. He declared in his first State of the City address that his…
Port of Pensacola past due receivables have skyrocketed
At the September Agenda Review for the Pensacola City Council, CFO Barker presented a slide that showed that OffShore Inland owed the Port of Pensacola over $700,000, of which $445,647 was more…
How to hide nearly $150K in payouts from the Pensacola City Council and taxpayers
In August and September of 2015, Mayor Ashton Hayward paid his former COO Tamara Fountain $54,002 as part of a mutual termination agreement and another $95,571 to former City Administrator Bill Reynolds…
City manipulates reports to hide Fire OT
The City of Pensacola Finance Department finally uploaded the July 2016 financial reports to the city’s website. Once again, the “current approved budget” line items were manipulated to hide how overtime paid…
Mayor Hayward pays out severance packages, totaling more than $100K
When she announced her resignation in August 2014, City Administrator Colleen Castille made it sound like it was the natural end to a one-year commitment. Through a public request, Inweekly has discovered…
DROP: City General Pension
In reviewing the Individual DROP Account statements for the City of Pensacola’s General Pension, we found several employees who have completed the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) and are still working for…
City of Pensacola Budgeting Voodoo
One of the most objective measurements of how a company or government entity is performing is analyzing how actual expenditures compare with its budget. The budget is the roadmap for the city’s…
Mayor’s office blocks council executive from gas tax meeting
A series of emails given to Inweekly show that when Mayor’s leadership team met with county staff to resolve the issue over the distribution of the local option gas tax the council…
Buzz: Hayward appeals gas tax issue to Gov. Rick Scott
A day after Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May sent his few additions to the city’s ambitious three-year street paving program, Mayor Ashton Hayward notified the Board of County Commissioners that he was…