(PENSACOLA) -- A key point of contention at the Pensacola City Council meeting was the city's failure to disburse $5.8 million in Hurricane Sally disaster relief funds intended for low and moderate-income housing.
Those are not my words; they are the OpGov.ai platform's take on the meeting, noting the “administration proposal to reallocate a portion to port infrastructure drawing intense public and council condemnation.”
The platform’s accuracy is frightening, to say the least, making the local situation even bleaker.
Resident Sarah Brummett’s story will tell you the same.
Resident Sarah Brummett tells officials the stark reality of losing her home after Sally Funds were not used to help her family
The resient recounted her personal experience of losing her home after Hurricane Sally due to extensive damage, displacement, and insufficient insurance coverage, leading to financial hardship for her working-class family, the platform reports, adding Brummett "expressed anger and sadness that $5.8 million in disaster relief funds sat unspent, deeming it a failure of city priorities compared to 'endless' resources for projects like Baptist redevelopment and Palafox Street."
She urged the council not to reallocate the funds but to find ways to distribute them, possibly through the county.
What did she actually say?
“My home near downtown was partially destroyed during Hurricane Sally,” Brummett told Mayor D.C. Reeves and city council members. “We lived with the damage for well over half a year, I think closer to a year, waiting for the insurance company and the contractors to get the ball rolling.”
The resident detailed that, over time, the damage worsened due to it going unaddressed.
“Mold spread, and then when repairs finally began, my family, including my two young children, were temporarily displaced,” Brummett said, adding her family was told it would take about a month.
It was a lie.
After six months, "the damage was revealed to be much more extensive than originally assessed and also much more extensive than insurance would pay for.”
“We quickly ran out of funds for temporary housing, and we were still paying our mortgage,” Brummett said, adding her family had to sell the home to survive.
“It saddens me to learn that there could have been a program here to help me, and families like mine access critical funds for necessary repairs,” Brummett said. “And it angers me that these funds were taken advantage of, which was not a priority to the city.”
Chance Brummett concurs.
Chance Brummett lets Mayor D.C. Reeves know he is an embarrassment to the city, making back-room deals rather than serving citizens
Brummett criticized the city for prioritizing projects like Bayou District and Palafox beautification while failing to disburse $5.8 million in Hurricane Sally relief to low-income families.
“He called the situation embarrassing for the mayor, accusing him of making excuses when it comes to working people's needs,” the platform reports.
What did he actually say?
"Honestly, the mayor shouldn't even be thinking about reallocating money to the poor or to anywhere else for that matter," Brummet said, looking right at the mayor. "That's embarrassing. DC Reeves should not run for reelection if the needs of the people is an oops moment, but making deals with developers is a constant top priority."
There's always an excuse from the mayor when it's something for the working people of the city, Brummett added,
"It's always too hard. It's always, y'all just don't understand this stuff," Brummett said. "We keep hearing how the people are so confused, or how some of the some of us are just telling stories for our own agenda."
Deshawn McKenzie expressed extreme frustration over the millions of dollars in Hurricane Sally relief funds sitting idle for years, especially given past advocacy for housing solutions, and "criticized the idea of reallocating funds to the port for business and profit while working-class residents still grapple with unaddressed damage like water or foundation issues.
McKenzie accused the city of neglecting areas outside downtown and prioritizing the wealthy.
Deshawn McKenzie questions if elected officials even care about any area other than downtown, which continues to be revitalized with Sally Funds
What did he really say?
"It is incredibly frustrating to know that there are millions of dollars that have been sitting still, particularly when we were invited at that time to meet with the current city housing director," McKenzie said. "We were told, well, maybe they can go towards fixing up the poor, more building for business and profit, while regular folks are left behind."
"It makes me wonder if our elected officials are even aware there are places in the city limits that aren't part of downtown," McKenzie added
Harper Cummings, according to the platform, "expressed outrage and demanded transparency regarding the failure to spend the Hurricane Sally grant."
“She linked this failure to a history of distrust between citizens and the city, criticizing council members' previous statements," according to OpGov.ai. “Cummings accused the city of being run for the developers rather than the people, highlighting how the administration prioritized large development projects and grants that put them 'in the room with the big boys' over the urgent need to fix residents' homes,” the platform reports.
Gloria Horning is done being ignored.
She made that known at the podium; it is unacceptable that unaddressed FEMA funds for flooding issues affect her community and property since Hurricane Sally in 2020.
“She expressed frustration that council members claimed ignorance despite her frequent emails and appearances, questioning why they hadn't inquired with Tallahassee officials,” the platform reports.
Needless to say, whether my AI-assistant picked it up or I watched the meeting and heard the exact words, residents here demand the money that was meant for them, not to make Pensacola a great tourist spot, according to this reporter.
Council President Allison Patton fields resident concerns at the regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15, at City Hall
Please leave a comment below or email me regarding this issue at reporterangelaunderwood@gmail.com.
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