Round-up, 10.03.09

A few items we wanted to highlight today:

DeWeese weighs in on charter vote. Pensacola City Councilwoman Maren DeWeese has weighed in on the charter referendum via a lengthy blog post in which she lays out her case in favour of the proposed charter. Councilwoman DeWeese argues that the mayor-council government will create an executive who is accountable to the voters, as compared to the current city manager, who is not accountable to voters.

Council to hold special meeting. The Pensacola City Council discussed the Community Maritime Park financing plan for three and a half hours yesterday, but did not make a decision, instead opting to hold a special meeting Thursday night at 5:00 PM, prior to its regular meeting at 7:00 PM.

Masonic Building work underway. The News Journal has a nice peice today on the work underway to transform the Masonic Building at Garden & Palafox into the Vinyl Music Hall. The venue is a joint venture between Corey Fogarty and Joe Abston, owners of the adjacent Hopjack’s Pizza Kitchen and Taproom, and the Levin Group, which owns the building. The Masonic Building is a beautiful building that has been unoccupied for far too long. Progressive Pensacola thanks Messrs. Fogarty and Abston for their investment in Pensacola. The project looks like it will be a great addition tothe downtown area. For more construction photos, see Vinyl Music Hall’s Facebook page.

Dogan pro-charter column. The News Journal’s Reggie Dogan dedicates his column today to making a case for the proposed charter, saying that “the [current] system is broken” and “our system of government stifles progress.”

Bailey’s Market is back. Bailey’s Farmer’s Market on Davis Highway has reopened as simply Bailey’s Market! It was missed, and we appreciate those members of the Bailey family who worked to get it open again.

Dockery to enter governor’s race. State Senator Paula Dockery has announced she will challenge Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum for the GOP nomination for Governor. Mr. McCollum will now have to busy himself with a primary campaign while Democratic candidate Alex Sink, Florida’s CFO, is essentially unopposed.