(PENSACOLA) --- From a million-dollar sidewalk project to shifting six-figures from one project to another became questionable at the March 26 Pensacola City Council.
At the regularly scheduled meeting, Councilman Charles Bare made it clear to Mayor D.C. Reeves that they would not just breeze through the agenda without his opinion.
"I find myself tonight probably voting no on what would be more than half of the regular agenda items," Bare said midway through the meeting.
The agenda raised a couple of concerns for Bare, who pulled the first matter on the regular agenda: the Legion Field to Global Learning Academy Project, approved for a total of $1,329,696.88, including contingency fees.
(Photo: Sidewalk project sketch costing $1million, which was rejected by Councilman Charles Bare)
"I'm not going to support this," Bare said, adding he brought up concerns on the matter in a CRA meeting.
The sidewalk project was approved before Bare took his seat on the dais, a fact he recalled.
"I did vote," Bare said, adding, "I think there's a lot of needs throughout our city for sidewalks. I don't know if this is a real need."
(Photo: Councilman Charles Bare, who voted no on as many items than approved at Thursday's meeting)
Bare's opinion was noted but made no difference, as the matter passed before another sidewalk project for East Maxwell Street from North Hayne Street to North 12th Avenue, to CPH Consulting, LLC, was approved for an engineering design.
While some million-dollar matters were discussed, others passed without a flinch, as they should, including the nearly $8 million renovation to the Fricker Resource Center, fully funded by grant money.
It was the discussion regarding $5.8 million in Sally relief funds and the transfer of $1 million from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to a home buyout program. This seven-step process involves selling a storm-damaged property to Escambia County.
According to staff documents, "buying out eligible properties that are in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and in high-risk flood areas to help reduce the impact of future disasters," as well as help homeowners relocate.
Of all the people deserving of the prospect, Dr. Gloria Horning is the only one to take to the podium on Thursday. Dr. Horning is a regular at council meetings, standing up for herself and neighbors.
(Photo: Dr. Gloria Horning, who continually confronts the council on Sally relief funds that are not being used for the community)
"Y'all know how long I've been coming here, and I continue to come here for either my home or my community, and the socially disenfranchised communities about our homes," Dr. Horning said.
The mayor is the first to recognize her plight.
"You're the first person I think of when we think about, when there's a voluntary home buyout in a flooding and flooded area, and someone that would be able to meet this qualification," Reeves said.
However, Reeves could not make any promises she would see relief with the disclaimer saying "compared to the previous one that we weren't able to do successfully, this offers new opportunity as well," adding Florida Commerce is, "a great partner."
But Reeves' empathy for Dr. Horning was quickly negated by Bare's opinion.
Before his exact words, I offer OpGov.News AI- platforms take on it.
"Critics, including Council Member Baird and a public commenter, expressed profound disappointment over delays in distributing aid, the reallocation of substantial funds from housing repairs and buyouts to Port infrastructure, and a lack of clear communication and council oversight in these decisions," the platform reports.
That he did.
According to Bare, the four agenda items were unacceptable for many reasons, beginning, as usual, with the way Reeves is maneuvering money, specifically Florida Commerce Community Development Block Grant funds.
(Photo: Four agenda items showing transfer of funds, rejected by Councilman Charles Bare)
Based on a public records request, Bare said there is a "question of whether funding can be shifted between program categories, which we're talking about now, the port, the original amount that was for the repairs, and then this new buyout program, which we've been presented."
According to Bare, "Florida Commerce has advised that shifting funds between categories is not a viable option."
That's a big problem for him, specifically the semantics regarding "viable."
"One definition says having a reasonable chance of succeeding," Bare said, adding that it is not good enough for him. "Because what we've done is we accepted $5.8 million to help the people of this city after a hurricane."
Bare charges Reeves held onto millions for years.
"We sat on it," Bare said. "The mayor and staff knew all about it in 2023, but it was not brought to us until early 2024, and we approved it in May of 2024, and apparently nothing happened."
Bare said the delay, blamed on staff changes, is just a ruse.
"The fact is, somebody fell asleep at the wheel, or worse, they thought this would be a pot for some other purpose," Bare said. "And that is the worst possible thing that could have happened in this, this program."
(Photo: Reallocation of funds to the Port is only made possible due to Mayor Reeves sitting on funds, rather than giving homeowners relief.)
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