Round-up, 06.12.09

A few items I wanted to highlight today:

Rick’s Blog:
“Gulf Breeze mayor dies”

Lane Gilchrist, mayor of the City of Gulf Breeze since 1992, has died at the age of 72. Progressive Pensacola extends our condolences to his friends and family.

Mayor pro tem Beverly Zimmern has assumed the mayoralty.

Rick’s Blog:
“County may drop longevity pay”

Rick Outzen is reporting that Amy Lovoy, Escambia County’s budget director, intends to recommend to the County Commission several budget-cutting personnel changes, including the elimination of longevity pay and the reduction of other benefits.

The City, of course, has been struggling with pension and compensation issues, but the City Council didn’t feel comfortable taking the recommendations of City staff or one of its own members. Councilwoman Diane Mack led a successful charge for a money-wasting “professional study” instead. Mr. Outzen has a suggestion: “The County just saved the the City of Pensacola thousands. The council doesn’t have to do a study on whether to keep longevity pay. It can now follow the County’s elimination of this public sector benefit.”

That would just make too much sense!

Mark O’Brien of the News Journal is reporting that Commissioner Wilson Robertson has already come out against eliminating longevity pay. That’s both disappointing and bewildering given that Commissioner Robertson ran his campaign on the premise of “stopping the insanity.”

Jamie Page’s Notebook:
“Final regulatory approval for Maritime Park”

The PNJ’s Jamie Page reports that the Community Maritime Park now has its “final state/federal-level regulatory approval needed to start construction.”

The Florida Department of Health recently gave its approval of the Remedial Action Plan for the 30-acre park site. The plan details how the environmental cleanup will be conducted to protect the health of those who will visit the site in the future.

Neither the developer nor the CMPA has yet announced when construction will begin.

Mark O’Brien’s O’pinions:
“Federal job-seekers”

Mr. O’Brien details the candidates for U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, as well as for U.S. Marshal. Such positions are typically refilled at the beginning of a new administration in Washington, hence the vacancies.