Reeves Says He Was “Surprised” by Council Pushback on Curfew; Bare Says No One Wants One

Mayor D.C. Reeves says he intends to bring the juvenile curfew ordinance back to city council, but Councilman Charles Bare says his constituents have told him a curfew won’t solve anything.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said Wednesday he was caught off guard when city council members pushed back on his proposed juvenile curfew ordinance, pulling it from the agenda after its first reading rather than moving to a vote.

The council’s hesitation centered on one substantive issue, Reeves said: whether the age of an adult who can legally accompany a minor after curfew hours should be 18 or 21. Reeves said the rest of the ordinance largely mirrors state statute and a state template already used by other Florida cities, and that the administration didn’t change curfew hours.

“There was no pushback from us on that. But I think it just is a symbol of that’s a conversation that could have happened on August 4th, 5th or 6th or 7 th or 8th or 9th, all the way ’til the meeting.”

Reeves said he still supports the ordinance and expects to bring a revised version back to council, though he wouldn’t commit to a timeline. “We got more work to do this week to figure that out.”

A Pointed Exchange Over Councilman Bare

Reeves singled out Councilman Charles Bare, who represents District 2 and read a statement opposing the ordinance before Pensacola Police Chief had a chance to speak at the meeting. Reeves noted that Bare had reached out roughly two weeks earlier asking to help write the ordinance himself. The city sent him the draft on Aug. 3 to redline. The mayor said he never heard back from Bare before the meeting.

• “You have to ask him on how his position changed in a few days,” Reeves said. “I would say… probably took us by surprise, considering the biggest opponent of it was the one asking to write it, not six months ago, but like two weeks before.”

Bare’s Side: A Knee-Jerk Reaction, Then Second Thoughts

Speaking later Wednesday on Rick’s Blog Live, Bare confirmed he initially supported a curfew in the immediate aftermath of the Fourth of July incident downtown that prompted the proposal.

“It was kind of a knee-jerk on my behalf as well, but then I started listening to people. Listened to my family, listened to people in the community, and I’ve not had a single person tell me they want a curfew.”

Bare said he pushed for a workshop instead of a vote at the first reading, arguing a workshop would allow council members and staff to work through concerns without the pressure of taking an up-or-down vote that night.

The councilman laid out several specific objections:

• 18 vs. 21: Bare agrees with Reeves that an 18-year-old is a legal adult and questioned why the ordinance would require someone 21 or older to accompany minors.
• Age cutoff: Bare noted the police chief said the ordinance is meant to protect younger kids, 10 and 12-year-olds, and questioned why it applies to everyone 17 and under rather than a lower cutoff, such as 16.
• Enforcement logistics: Bare raised concerns about how officers would verify whether an adult with a group of minors is actually responsible for them, calling it a recipe for “babysitting kids.”

PODCAST

Besides discussing the curfew, District 2 City Councilman Charles Bare explains his opposition to AI data centers, addresses the TDC funding delays leaving tourism nonprofits like Foo Foo Fest unpaid, and reflects on nearly two decades of Pensacola’s strong mayor system, from early growing pains to today’s improved (if still imperfect) communication between council and the mayor’s office.