(PENSACOLA) --- American Idol, a donated statue, a million-dollar bathroom, Flock, and more came out of the regular scheduled city council meeting.
On April 9, a city official rejected a donated statue of the man who made Bellview Park possible, ultimately rejecting the Parks & Recreation proposal.
This media outlet picked up the meeting on the unique AI platform, which always astounds me with its accuracy, noting the contentious public comments and internal council disagreements, primarily revolving around the controversial Flock Safety surveillance system and the city's operational transparency, and consumed the public forum for almost an hour.
And that's just what AI picked up.
What it did not pick up was the Flock Rally outside before the meeting. Instead of having officials cut them off mid-sentence, protestors spoke as long as they wanted with a microphone, proving you can't shut them down.
(Photo: Flock protestors gather at meeting hall Thursday, April 9)
What was shut down was the Alexander Stoddart Statue proposal discussed at the April 6 Agenda Conference. The 3-3 vote left elected officials equally divided, beginning with Councilman Charles Bare's opposition, which he raised at the Agenda Conference.
After researching Stoddart, Bare said that between having African American servants and making the area "his little empire," Stoddart does not deserve the park honor; however, Pensacola Heritage Foundation Historian Norm Haines reminded Bare, "Pensacola was decimated during the Civil War, and we were one of the first southern cities to come back quickly and make money."
(Photo: Pensacola Heritage Foundation Historian Norm Haines discussing Alexander Stoddart)
"He was the first insurance company to come south and help rebuild insurance," Haines said.
Councilman Jared Moore, who also read up on Stoddart, agrees with Haines. Noting Stoddart's philanthropic investments in Pensacola, Moore said he is taking "the other side of that argument."
(Photo: Councilman Jared Moore votes yes to statue donation, which failed to pass)
"He could have sold that land, and the fact he donated it indicates concern for the community," Moore said. "I don't have an issue with it, and I think his role is significant there, and I think the statue is interesting."
Although Council President Allison Patton and Councilwoman Jennifer Brahier agree with Moore, Councilwoman Tenaide' Broughton and Councilman Delarian Wiggins did not, canceling out the approval.
The next agenda items regarding the Bill Bond Baseball group also crossed over from a Parks & Recreation recommendation. Despite concerns about financial oversight and cost allocation, the 30-minute discussion on the lease agreement between the city and Bill Bond League of Pensacola for the use of the Roger Scott baseball field was approved 5-1, with Councilman Bare recording the only no.
After passing the rest of the agenda, the City Attorney formally announced why Mayor Reeves was absent.
(Photo: Pensacola City Attorney David Stafford says the mayor is out of town for American Idol)
"We, like the rest of Pensacola and a big part of the country, are going to be rooting on Keela," City Attorney David Stafford said during the mayor's communications report. "On Monday, she was part of the top 11 on American Idol. As you may have seen, the mayor's been asked by the family to go out and represent the city of Pensacola."
Council Communications & Civic Announcements, again, beginning with Jennifer Brahier, noting a card of support was available for the public to sign. Next Councilman Bare, who made it clear that he is still waiting on his request for the Opioid Abatement Funds.
"The administration won't tell me where the Flock cameras are," Bare said. "They said that's secret because we don't want the bad guys to know that."
He found two at the Lowes parking lot.
"I don't know who those belong to, whether they're Lowe's or whether they're ours," Bare said, encouraging others to look around. "I know people have been putting together a list; I'd love to see that."
As for healthy communication between the council and the police, there is none, according to Bare.
"We used to get crime reports; we'd have the chief come, and he would give us a report on what crime was happening across the city by district," Bare said, adding, "I don't even know what crime is happening until a citizen tells me."
Councilwoman Brahier brought up "a hard-to-stomach matter" for her regarding a new Roger Scott bathroom at $1 million.
(Photo: Councilwoman Jennifer Braheir upset over lack of financial information regarding the million-dollar bathroom)
"When we voted on the 2025 park projects, we gave the ability for everything in there to move how they see fit, with none of it coming back to us and moving everything around on line items how they see fit," Brahier said.
Brahier admits, "I honestly had no idea that we had done such a bold move."
"We've been out of the loop, so we were not able to track this financially," Brahier said.
(Photo: Key Takeaways from the regularly scheduled city council meeting)
The Other Key Takeaways below cover all the city business conducted on April 9, including the declaration of real property at 801 West Avery Street and its removal from the City Community Redevelopment Agency area, and an ordinance repealing the term "corrugated cardboard" from the city code.
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