About the City of Pensacola

The City of Pensacola is a city of about 54,283 (2007 est.) situated on Pensacola Bay in northwestern Florida. A formerly bustling port city featuring heavy industry and significant maritime commerce, the City of Pensacola has diminished in regional significance over the past century.  The City is for the most part “built out” to the City limits; the metropolitan area has long since expanded outside of those limits into unincorporated Escambia County and surrounding areas.  The City of Pensacola is now characterised by a declining population, while Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and the State of Florida experience net increases in population.

Government

The City is operated under a council-manager form of government, in which an elected ten-member City Council hires a city manager who in turn is responsible for day-to-day management of City operations. The Council, chaired by an elected but largely ceremonial mayor, has legislative power and weak executive power, in the sense that Council provides direction for the city manager. Under this form of government, the City is characterised by a lack of leadership.

The current City Manager is Al Coby.  The City has 1,027 active employees as of January 2008.

The current Mayor of Pensacola is Mike Wiggins.  The other members of the Pensacola City Council are:

Enterprise Operations

The City of Pensacola operates a number of quasi-commercial enterprises, which it collectively refers to as Enterprise Operations. These include:

• Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport, a regional airport owned and operated by, and located wholly within, the City of Pensacola.
• The Port of Pensacola, a once-prominent seaport which has declined in activity significantly, and whose future is a major point of debate in the City of Pensacola.
• Energy Services of Pensacola (ESP), a City-owned natural gas utility.
• The Saenger Theatre, an historic, City-owned entertainment venue.

For more information about the City of Pensacola, see the City’s web site.