Time for White to grow up

Escambia County Commissioner Kevin White showed his lack of maturity once again over the Pensacola Children’s Chorus’s request for a reduction in rent for its performances at the Pensacola Civic Center. White is still upset that the citizens would question his stewardship of county monies and hire Taxwatch to review county spending.

White was the board chairman when the county failed to collect over $1 million from Allied Waste. He was the chairman when BOCC refused to consider a gas tax to secure funding for ECAT and that service almost went under. Yet he attacks a nationally recognized children’s program that has produced TV,film, music, opera and Broadway stars.

If he didn’t want to help the non-profit, then so be it, but don’t attack it simply because someone has questioned your leadership on other issues. Will the BOCC ever move beyond such pettiness? Probably not until after the 2008 elections.

It’s time White grows up.

From the News Journal’s Sunday article on the chorus:

“It’s OK they accuse us of wasting money,” Commissioner Kevin White said at a Nov. 1 work session after Commissioner Grover Robinson brought up Appleyard’s request. “But it’s OK for their little pet project. It’d be OK on this one?”

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Author: Rick Outzen

Rick Outzen is the publisher/owner of Pensacola Inweekly. He has been profiled in The New York Times and featured in several True Crime documentaries. Rick also is the author of the award-winning Walker Holmes thrillers. His latest nonfiction book is “Right Idea, Right Time: The Fight for Pensacola’s Maritime Park.”