Mayor Blames Century’s Problems On Race, Council Spending; Audit Shows Deficit Of Millions
August 8, 2018
As the State Attorney’s Office conducts a review of financial matters and possible Sunshine Law violations in Century, Mayor Henry Hawkins is blaming problems on the fact that he is black and poor spending by the town council.
“Bottom line now is, you can put on record or off the record I don’t care, bottom line now is that’s a black man taking care of business. A lot of folks don’t like it,” Hawkins told our news partner WEAR 3. Three of the five Century Town Council members are African-American.
“There’s never been a financial situation from time I took office. We are $150,000 to the good,” he said.
At the end of the previous fiscal year on September 30, 2017, there were deficits of $3 million in the town’s general fund, a net deficit of $6 thousand in the sanitation fund and a $1.4 million deficit in the natural gas fund, according to a draft audit released Tuesday.
Hawkins took office in January 2017. Notably, some of the overall deficits included balances carried forward from previous administrations; however, the audit reflects an overall deficit of $580,125 during fiscal year 2017 — an increase of $20,753 in the general fund, a loss of $326,675 in the natural gas fund and a loss of $274,203 in the water and sewer fund.
“The town’s overall financial condition demonstrates signs of deterioration which, if not corrected, could result in a future financial emergency,” the auditor’s report states. The town’s general fund borrowed $306 thousand from its special revenue fund in 2017 to cover general operations.
In addition, the town’s general fund owes the special revenue fund about $2.7 million that must be repaid. In June 2018, the town approved a repayment plan of $300 per month. Simple math indicates that at $300 per month, it will take 750 years to repay $2.7 million.
As NorthEscambia.com first reported on Tuesday [click here], Hawkins presented a signed “Mayor’s Report” indicating fund balances to the town council.
The report showed $1,054,367 in reserve funds on July 7, 2018, and the exact same figure, $1,054,367, in unreserved fund accounts on the same day. He confirmed that the two separate funds had the exact same balance on the same day as presented in his report. He said $172,000 was transferred in May 2017 from a water department reserve fund for sewage lift stations.
“If you don’t spend the money, it’s still going to be there. We took some out of reserve to go here to do something that we needed to get done,” he said Tuesday to explain the identical fund balances..
The second page of his report shows an actual balance of $616,240 in unreserved funds on July 31.
The mayor blamed the overall financial condition of town on poor spending decisions by the town council, and the “good old boy system”.
“The good ole boy system, you never get anywhere. Where the good old boy system where those that got, get , those that don’t have, won’t have. That’s the mold we got to break,” he said.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to review the Town of Century’s preliminary audit and present additional reports.
Pictured: A Century Town Council audit review meeting Tuesday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Planning Board Rejects New Subdivision On Highway 97 In Molino
August 8, 2018
The Escambia County Planning Board voted Tuesday to recommend the denial of a plan for 210 acres in Molino to allow the construction of a new subdivision.
Blue Water Creek Estates, Inc, applied to change the future land use of the acreage in the 900 block of Highway 97 just northeast of Sunshine Hill Road. The request would have ultimately allowed a zoning change from agricultural allowing one housing unit per 20 acres to rural residential to allow a density of one housing until per four acres.
The company wants to divide the 210 acres into 38 lots ranging from four to 12 acres to accommodate a single-family residential subdivision, according to county documents.
The planning board found the land use request was not consistent with the Escambia County Land Development Code (LDC) and does not fit the character of development on Highway 97 where parcels are larger is size, creating a less dense development pattern. The LDC says all new or expanded land uses should avoid the loss of prime farmland. The parcel’s current primary use, according to the county, is timber production, and forestland is defined as prime farmland.
The development is compatible with existing uses, but a change would create spot zoning different from all adjacent land.
The planning board’s denial recommendation will go to the Escambia County Commission for a final decision.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Hot, A Few Showers
August 8, 2018
Here is our official North Escambia area forecast:
Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind around 5 mph.
Friday: Showers and thunderstorms. High near 90. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Friday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 91.
Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.
Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92.
Deidra’s Gift: School Supplies Donated To Area Elementary
August 8, 2018
The group Dedria’s Gift donated school supplies Tuesday to Flomaton Elementary School. The supplies were distributed in memory of Dedria Robinson, who was killed in 2005 in an automobile accident at age 11. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Police Arrest Downtown Rape, Kidnapping Suspect
August 8, 2018
Police have arrested a man searching for a man that kidnapped a woman in downtown Pensacola and raped her.
Corey Hill, 32, has been charged with kidnapping and rape. According to Pensacola Police, the unidentified victim was downtown at a bar with a male friend and she passed out around 2 a.m. on Monday morning.
Hill was arrested about 1:30 a.m., just hours after police released surveillance images.
The victim and a male friend were out drinking when she began to pass out. The friend told police he left for two minutes to get his vehicle, but when he turned the woman was gone, police.
“The suspect picked up the female and carried her to his car. She woke up the next morning and knew she was sexually assaulted,” said Pensacola Police Department spokesman Mike Wood.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Pensacola Police Department at (850) 435-1901 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.
Chewing Gum Heir Sinks Money Into Medical Marijuana
August 8, 2018
The Wrigley fortune was built on its domination of the chewing gum market, but an heir to the confectionery dynasty is investing millions in an industry that not so long ago had a far less wholesome reputation.
In a transaction some construe as the normalization of the medical cannabis industry, William “Beau” Wrigley Jr. led a $65 million round of funding in Surterra Wellness, one of Florida’s 14 licensed medical marijuana operators.
“I haven’t been this excited about a business in a very long time. We have an incredible and incredibly professional team that is approaching this industry with a great deal of discipline,” Wrigley, who also became chairman of Surterra’s board, said in a statement.
The Wrigley funding, which took place last month, is the latest in a number of recent transactions in the state’s budding medical-marijuana industry.
In an agreement announced last month, the Canadian firm Scythian Biosciences Inc. said it intends to spend $93 million to purchase a majority of 3 Boys Farms — a Florida medical-marijuana operator that has yet to begin selling products to patients — and an unnamed “health care organization.” In June, California-based MedMen announced it was paying $53 million to acquire Eustis-based Treadwell Nursery, another of the state-licensed “medical marijuana treatment centers.”
Surterra also has a license to sell medical marijuana in Texas and has an application pending in Virginia, CEO Jake Bergmann said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The Wrigley stamp of approval could signify a shift in what is quickly becoming one of the state’s hottest commodities, following the passage of a 2016 constitutional amendment broadly legalizing medical marijuana in Florida.
“This is something that is really validation for what the team at Surterra has been building. We set ourselves apart by having the highest quality and consistency with organically produced products. And having someone who is a well-known American CEO who’s built and sold brands, to not just invest in us but join us as chairman is really a testament to what the whole team has built here,” Bergmann said.
The Wrigley company, established in 1891, was sold to Mars, Inc., a decade ago. But prior to that, with Beau Wrigley at the helm, Wrigley acquired Altoids and LifeSavers.
The Wrigley-led investment in Surterra is “good for the entire industry,” Bergmann said.
“It lets patients, investors, essentially everyone know that the business has evolved and is maturing to be a professional staple of American industry,” he said.
The latest equity round brings the funds pumped into Surterra by investors to $100 million, according to Bergmann.
The money will be used to expand Surterra’s Florida operations, double the number of employees to 750 by the end of the year, and invest in clinical trials, according to Bergmann.
Since lawmakers in Florida first legalized non-euphoric medical marijuana in 2014, the state’s cannabis industry has been plagued by legal and administrative challenges, delays in implementing the constitutional amendment and drawn-out rulemaking processes that have created frustration for legislators, patients, operators and investors.
A Tallahassee judge last week ruled that a state law capping the number of medical marijuana operators “directly contradicts” the 2016 constitutional amendment, which was approved by more than 71 percent of voters. But it’s unclear what, if any, impact Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson’s decision will have since he did not stop health officials from continuing their current processes.
Still, marrying Wrigley — whose namesake brands have been found in checkout lanes around the world for more than a century — with one of the state’s leading marijuana purveyors can be seen as another step toward putting cannabis, which requires a doctor’s approval, in a category with other household-name products.
“This is about helping people. It can give people a normal life, let them go to school and be a normal member of society. It is incredible to craft that opportunity in an industry that is starting from scratch,” Wrigley said in the statement.
The candy heir pointed out that three-dozen states have some sort of authorization for cannabis.
“Once people can get over the perception curve, they see the many benefits of this,” Wrigley said.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Charges Dropped Against Walnut Hill Man Accused Of Pulling Gun On His Wife
August 8, 2018
Charges have been dropped against a Walnut Hill man that was accused of pulling a gun on his wife and threatening to kill her.
Cody Helton Burroughs, 29, was charged in March with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill. The State Attorney’s Office filed paperwork last week dismissing the charge.
The alleged victim reported that Burroughs pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her, but prosecutors determined that they could not prove the claim.
“After reviewing all evidence in this case and speaking with all the witnesses, it was determined that the State cannot prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt,” Assistant State Attorney Blake Adams wrote.
Escambia County Makes Drainage Improvements On West Kingsfield Road
August 8, 2018
Escambia County Road Department crews recently installed a new drainage structure on West Kingsfield Road to divert stormwater drainage off approximately three-fourths of a mile of the thoroughfare between Cantonment and Beulah.
The project, located about a mile west of Highway 97, stops pooling and flooding around a dangerous blind curve. Removing the stormwater in that location helps correct one of many traffic hazards on the aging road, according to Escambia County.
Engineering and design for the project were done internally by county Public Works Department engineers Jim Hagon and James Duncan. The work was accomplished entirely by county personnel based at the road camp in Cantonment, using county equipment. And it works perfectly as demonstrated by recent heavy rains.
The new drainage structure is 30 feet wide and approximately 700 feet long, channeling stormwater into a receiving wetland that ultimately drains into the Perdido River through Rock Creek, which flows under Beulah Road north of the Perdido Landfill.
Property for the project was donated to the county by Frank and Elizabeth Westmark and Devine Farms, LLC.
Pictured top: Escambia County Public Works Roads Division: Henry Langford, equipment operator; Nathan Cobb, road Corrections Officer; Johnny Lyons, equipment operator; Matt Avery, field supervisor; Ralph Wilson, road construction specialist; Barron Ikner, equipment operator; Matt Giffin, road construction specialist; and Justin Knight, equipment operator. (Not pictured: Ronnie Lambert, field supervisor, paving crew.) Pictured below: The drainage system in operation. Photos for NorthEscambia.com
State Attorney’s Office Reviewing ‘Several Matters’ Involving Town Of Century
August 7, 2018
The State Attorney’s Office is reviewing unspecified items involving the Town of Century.
“We are doing a preliminary review regarding several matters regarding the Town of Century,” Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille told NorthEscambia.com Monday evening. “A decision as to whether it will become a more complete investigation will be made at a later date.”
Marcille did not provide any further details.
Last week, three council members reportedly attended at least some portion of a closed door meeting with CPA Robert Hudson, Town Clerk Kim Godwin and the town’s auditors. The meeting was not advertised as a public meeting, which would forbid more than one council member from taking part under Florida’s Sunshine Laws.
Reports from town officials indicated that Sunshine Law violation allegations regarding the meeting were made to the State Attorney’s Office. However, Marcille did not confirm those reports.
Century Council Member Says Cut Employee Insurance Costs, Mayor Presents Financial Report
August 7, 2018
A Century council member called for major cuts in health insurance contributions for some town employees due to budget constraints, as Mayor Henry Hawkins presented a financial report showing fund balances of a couple of million dollars Monday night.
The town currently pays 99-percent of the cost of each employee’s insurance, and 78-percent of the dependent cost. Council President Ann Brooks called Monday night for the town to slash all town payments for dependent insurance in order to save money.
“How is that going to effect the lowest paid man with a family?” council member Sandra McMurray Jackson responded.
Brooks said the council needed to make a decision Monday night in order for the accountant to continue work to create next fiscal year’s budget.
“You are giving me 10 minutes to decide one someone’s life,” councilman Ben Boutwell said.
There are currently 16 employees on the town’s health insurance plan. Nine have employee only coverage, while seven have a dependent plan.
The council voted to continue employee coverage with United Healthcare, but took no action on employee insurance costs and employer contributions. Those details will be worked out at a future budget workshop.
Later in Monday night’s meeting, Mayor Henry Hawkins presented an unrelated two-page “Mayor’s Report” indicating fund balances. “I would like to let all of you know of the financial condition of the Town of Century,” the signed report stated.
The report showed $1,054,367 in reserve funds on July 7 and the exact same figure, $1,054,367 in unreserved funds, down about $137,381 from December 31, 2016. He said $172,000 was transferred in May 2017 from a water department reserve fund for lift stations. Hawkins confirmed verbally that the reserve fund and unreserved fund balances were exactly the same on July 7 as presented in his written report.
The second page of the report showed a reserve fund balance of $616,240. The report does not list any liabilities.
To read the mayor’s report, click here (pdf).
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.