(PENSACOLA) --- You would never know Sherri Myers does not sit on the Pensacola City Council anymore.
I covered Myers for WEAR, Channel 3, ABC four years ago, when she demanded to know why she was duped into believing in a project that was not in fact American with Disability's Act (ADA) compliant.
Again, she stands before officials rather than sitting next to them, demanding that children be protected once more by eliminating the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA)as far as its connection to the Escambia Children's Trust.
All she is asking is that the resolution and ballot measure be respected as it was originally created in 2020, rather than have funds hijacked for city purposes.
At the regularly scheduled meeting, Thursday night, January 15, the OpGov.ai platform picked up Myer's disdain for dirty politics and "shared personal anecdotes from her childhood growing up in a housing project with a single working mother, recounting traumatic experiences at a nursery school."
"She emphasized that these experiences motivated her to ensure funds are raised for children to prevent similar suffering, strongly opposing any 'hijacking' of these funds for other purposes," the platform reports.
Mayor D.C. Reeves listens closely to Sherri Myer's personal testimony of childhood trauma
This reporter picked up the same, but with much more graphic truth, Myers shared in order to make her point.
“I was a sponsor of this resolution having to do with the creation of the Escambia Children's Trust, which needed to be done in order to get this issue on the ballot,” Myers said. “And so, I'm glad to say that I was a sponsor of it and that it got on the ballot and it passed.”
That’s when Myers shared her personal life, which was hard to hear at times.
“I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, in a housing project, and I was raised by a single mom, and I hardly ever saw my mother because she had to work, and we did not own a car,” Myers said, noting she walked to catch a bus to Gunter Air Force Base.”
Little did Myer’s mother know when she went to work what the nursery school employees would do to Myers, her brother, and other children.
“The things that happened to us when we were this young still haunt me to this day,” Myers said. “They punished us by taking our little breasts and squeezing our nipples.”
The abuse got worse.
“They put me in a room by myself, and I jumped out and landed on a lot of glass under the window and ran home,” Myers said, adding she hid under a bed, but was found. “I got dragged out, and they took me back to the nursery school and tied me with ropes to a tree.”
Rather than play the victim, Myers turned the tragedy into a turning point for other children, by writing up the resolution.
“Those are the kinds of things that I remember, and that had a lot to do with who I am today,” Myers said. “So the reason I wanted to sponsor this is to raise money to make sure that other children do not suffer the kinds of things that my brother and I had to endure because we did not have anybody around who cared for us.”
Instagram annhillformayor post of Sherri Myers at the regularly scheduled Pensacola City Council meeting
Directly after the meeting, Ann Hill posted that Myers put herself out there for the sake of the children, and the post immediately garnered likes and comments.
What does Myers want?
“The CRA has to go away, period, give us our money back and leave the money alone,” Myers said. “Leave that for the kids that need it.”
She wants what she orginally authored to stand including that “the Escambia Children’s Trust will increase efficiency of the delivery of services with accountable oversight and invest in developmental, preventative, and supportive services to children ages zero to eighteen based on the needs in our community.”
She is not the only one who questions the CRA.
The matter has been in the media with a local New York Times featured reporter, noting “the proposed interlocal agreement closely mirrors the one that the Trust previously negotiated with Escambia County over similar CRA tax issues.”
Rick’s Blog reports “County Commissioner Lumon May pressed for details about the proposed centers, asking whether they would represent new programs or expansions of existing services.”
Rick's Blog Website Story of Escambia Children's Trust posted four days ago
“Board attorney Megan Fry told trustees that the city has agreed to remove all penalties and interest from the disputed Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) tax payments and will offset any settlement amount by funds the city already receives through its current Parks and Recreation grant with the trust,” Rick’s Blog reports.
Bottom line, the CRA is taking from the children, and Myers wants it to stop as it should.
"The CRA used the funds for the Maritime Park to refinance the bond debt to get us further in debt for the Main Street master plan that has been used to expand projects along Main Street," Myers said. "The CRA needs to be abolished, and the city takes over the debt."
If you feel strongly about the issue, please comment below or email me at reporterangelaunderwood@gmaili.com
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