Democratic Commission Candidates Discuss Century’s Economy

August 22, 2008

Century’s economy was a topic of discussion last night on WSRE public television as the two Democratic candidates for Escambia County Commission took part in a political forum.

“To start with, we need more effective police patrols in Century,” candidate Jim Barnett said. “We need to do everything we can to bring jobs to Century.”

Barnett also sees a solution to Century’s economic woes by using public transportation to get Century residents to jobs at places like International Paper, Solutia and the county’s new sewage treatment plant when it opens.

“Possibly we could give priority jobs to people in Century and have them ride the ECAT bus to the new sewage plant being built in Cantonment,”Barnett said. “But people in Century need help right now.”

John Hartman said Century has taken its own steps toward economic development with things like establishing enterprise zones.

“Where we need to help Century is with our expertise on economic development,” Hartman said.

He added that the completion of the four lane widening of  Highway 113 in Alabama will complete the four lane corridor from the interstate to the beach, an improvement that Century can capitalize on.

“That’s a good opportunity for Century to develop something along the roads,” he said.

The two candidates also addressed having one consolidated government for the Century, Pensacola and the county.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in District 5, and they are not for consolidating government with the city,” Jim Barnett said. “They already feel like they have been left out in the cold too long.

“Political consolidation, it kind of  leaves people feeling like they may be lacking in the representation that they receive,” John Hartman said.

But both men agreed that consolidating some services, like vehicle maintenance and human resources, might be a good thing.

Questions for the Rally 2008 forum on WSRE were prepared by League of Women Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area and were submitted from the community. You can watch the Rally 2008 online at wsre.org. Thursday night’s show is expected to be posted in the next few days. The Democratic Primary Election is next Tuesday.

Pictured below: (L-R) Jim Barnett and John Hartmanon WSRE Thursday night. Click to enlarge. Courtesy WSRE.

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Comments

One Response to “Democratic Commission Candidates Discuss Century’s Economy”

  1. Jerry Simmons on August 22nd, 2008 5:23 am

    It sounds to me like the folks in Century might seriously consider voting Democratic for the District 5 candidates. At least these fellas talked about Century and its economic woes.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News