The bill that passed by the Florida Legislature gives the Escambia County Consolidation Commission this charge:
To study and develop a proposed consolidation plan for local governments or unification of administrative services in the City of Pensacola, the Town of Century, and Escambia County, in whole or in part, and specify how such a consolidated government or unification of services might operate.
The plan must be submitted to the Pensacola City Council, Escambia County Commission and Century Town Council before its presented to the local legislative delegation:
If a consolidation plan is proposed by the commission, it shall be submitted to the Escambia County Commission, the City of Pensacola, and the Town of Century before submission to the Escambia County Legislative Delegation by January 15, 2010, for introduction in the next regular session of the Legislature.
The consolidation plan that has been presented to these governmental bodies isn’t the final plan. Even so, the legislation doesn’t require that they approve the plan before it is given to the lawmakers.
But what was the intent of requiring submission to the Escambia County Commission, the City of Pensacola, and the Town of Century—-input both from commissioners and council members and from the public. That isn’t happening.
There is a rush, a series of study commission workshops, to complete the plan. We are left with several questions – do we allow a plan, on which the ink may still be wet when its given to the lawmakers on Friday, to go ahead to state legislature without having a public forum on the final draft? The City Charter Commission had several public forums without and with the City Council to review its charter. We aren’t getting that with consolidation.
If we delay this until 2012, are we effectively killing consolidation without ever letting the voters get a say?
Is there a chance to modify the plan after it’s given to the lawmakers and the public has time to review the final draft? When will we be given the report that supports the consolidation plan?