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Century’s Mayor Says Escambia Commissioner Is ‘A Lie’
January 10, 2019
Century’s mayor called Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry “a lie” over the purchase of airline tickets for about $1,600 that Hawkins claimed was to be reimbursed using county economic development funds.
Mayor Henry Hawkins said the tickets were purchased for “economic development” and to bring “some folks” to Century to discuss a potential business in the town.
Hawkins said he received permission from Commissioner Steven Barry to buy the airline tickets for reimbursement by the county. Escambia County committed $105,000 for economic development in the Century area this fiscal year. Proposals for the money are presented to Barry who in turn seeks approval of the entire commission at a regular meeting. So far, the commission has approved only $24,500 to the University of West Florida Haas Center for a market analysis.
“I spoke with Mr. Barry, and he told me it was good,” the mayor said of the ticket purchase at the most recent town council meeting.
Last month, NorthEscambia.com published a story in which Barry said he never even spoke to the mayor about the purchase of airline tickets.
“Unfortunately, I have not had any conversation with anyone related to the use of the Escambia County dollars allocated for economic development in the Town of Century, other than the formal request the town submitted and the county approved for the implementation of the first phase of the Haas Center study,” Barry said in a statement to NorthEscambia.com. “Based on my commitment to our board, I need to bring any additional expenditures of those dollars to one of our board meetings for approval.”
This week, Barry said he was sticking by his statement.
“I read what he said,” Hawkins said of the NorthEscambia.com article, and he provided an affirmative “yes” to a question from Brooks asking again if Barry gave prior approval for the expenditures. “That’s why I did it.”
She replied, “So you are saying that Mr. Barry is not telling the truth?”
“Just like he called me a lie, I’ll call him a lie,” Hawkins responded.
Brooks said that since the mayor’s spending authority is limited to $200 under the town charter, the council should have approved the expenditures.
“We are the ones that are supposed to approve the spending, not Mr. Barry,” she said.
NorthEscambia.com will continue to follow this story.
Pictured: Century Mayor Henry Hawkins listens to Century Council President Ann Brooks. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
29 Responses to “Century’s Mayor Says Escambia Commissioner Is ‘A Lie’”
It’s funny how people pick and choose who can lie to them…..Nancy and Chuck are the least of our problems when the top man is in constant lie mode.
David Huie Green, you are so right! Chuck and Nancy are in the lead with the most lies EVER told!! God bless our country and save it from Democrats like Chuck, Nancy and this mayor (and any other Democrat that believes this way!!)
REGARDING:
“Looks like the Mayor is following Chuck and Nancy’s lead. Tell a lie enough times and you start believing it yourself.”
I’m not sure THEY are in the lead.
you can’t hold an intelligent conversation if you are not intelligent…like Forrest Gump said…Stupid is as stupid does….
Isn’t the correct way to say that statement is that the individual is a LIAR? I’m not sure how anyone can actually BE a LIE. I’m just saying.
The last comment hit the nail on the head. All the reporting of the crazy stuff going on in Century won’t accomplish a thing. One comment stated the mayor is reading water meters “pro bono” . Is he handling gas meters as well in order to save the town money ? Using untrained personnel for the job might account for the missing gas revenue.
Looks like the Mayor is following Chuck and Nancy’s lead. Tell a lie enough times and you start believing it yourself.
this town has been the same since the 70s, you can slap a coat of paint on it but it is still the same. The town is this way because the town wants it this way. You might can paint over rust for it to look good at first but eventually the rust starts coming back through.
How do you know if these “tickets” were actually used and not just bought for a receipt then later canceled with a refund. Without full transparency and disclosure of who traveled and when, it appears the mayor is milking the system for a cash payout.
I can’t wait to move out of Century because every is gone we have nothing here to do owe kids have nothing to because they don’t want nothing in Century
Sooooo…an elected mayor doesn’t understand that a phone conversation isn’t how business is handled? Especially when an expenditure of 2k is involved. IF, IF he were smart he would have had in writing. Hawkins knows better. This is the beginning if the end…….I’ll be praying for you Century.
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!!!
If in fact the mayors response was “…I’ll call him a lie”… He is illiterate and shouldn’t hold ANY public office.
What is “a lie”? (Insert sarcasm) The proper word is LIAR. Let’s act and speak like we have just a little bit of edjumacation lol
Looks like the Mayor is following the President’s lead. Tell a lie enough times and you start believing it yourself.
I want to know where I can purchase 5 round-trip tickets for $2000.00? Keep every receipt and 5 copies of every expenditure Mayor. How hard would that be? It’s a CYA policy and you sure need one in that city.
Gheesh! Does this man actually believe that anybody is buying his story? I’d be careful who you make an enemy of Mayor.
If this is a “black man taking care of business” as stated by Mr Hawkins,when he threw out the race card, then I’d have to apologize to those men taking care of business the right way. This clown needs to be impeached for the good of Century.
Shouldn’t be difficult to provide the information as to who was flown into town, and for what prospective business they possibly could bring. That is, as long as it’s legit. The fact that the mayor has not produced any of this info yet tells me that he is blowing smoke.
This is why I moved from my long time residents in Century. This Mayor or what ever the people want to call him is bad for the town. I caught this guy on my property walking around with no identification visible on his person. He was in a pick up truck and when asked what he was doing on my property he said it was alright he was looking for the water meter. When I told him he parked right beside it, he looked at me and keep walking away from the meter and when I asked him why he didn’t have any signs on his truck he said it was his own truck. Then I asked him who he was and where was his identification and he said he was the MAYOR. I didn’t know what the mayor looked like so, it didn’t sound legit so I watched him go back to the meter and take the cover off and maybe he read the meter. He didn’t even put the cover back on. Once he left I looked him up on the internet and he was the mayor. I then went down the street and found him digging at a abandoned water meter. I told him if he ever come on my property without a city vehicle or some visible identification I’d have him arrested for trespassing and he said he understood.
Whet to city hall to file a complaint about the mayor and was told by the clerk that the town was short on staff and the mayor was reading water meters. I told her I didn’t care about him reading the meters but he must have the proper ID on him at all times when he’s doing a job like that. She quickly told me that he can do anything he wants as long as it for the good of the town.
I’ve lived in Century from 1993 to 2018 but after this me and my wife thought it would be best to move away from this type of leadership. The town is going downhill very fast and I’m so glad we moved away.
Good Luck Century your going to need it with leadership like this
sounds like the same story as the cameras the state wanted.
So how many and what was the destination of the $2000 airline tickets?
Quite easy to deduce who the real lie is in this story. Hint: the same who has been caught fabricating other stories as well. For whom were the tickets purchased? What are the details of the business being sought? Why has this mayor relied on a verbal affirmation when he so adamantly rejected the previous mayor’s agreement written in a note regarding the apartment development?
Mr. Hawkins, it’s time to disclose all the details of how that money was used. If Mr. Barry is “a lie” as you say, please explain to the taxpayers, whose money you used, exactly what was done with it. Who visited, exactly what business they conducted while here, and why. Not just ’some folks came to Century to discuss a potential business’. I’m sure, as the new progressive voice of Century, you believe in transparency, don’t you sir? If the details are sensitive, maybe you’d be more comfortable discussing it with someone from the State Attorney’s office.
Looks like his nose is really growing. Five airline tickets from five locations sounds more like a family reunion than a “business deal”. Come on Mayor, reveal who flew, and for what purpose.
That’s professional. Next time you can say yo momma.Now let’s see how big brother ( County Commissioners) respond when you come back begging for help. I know what I would say after I stopped laughing.
This is ridiculous, how much longer is the people of Century going to have to put up with leadership acting like highschoolers!? This is exactly why the council has already been fined and/or canceled meetings due to the Sunshine Law for non-public talks. This wouldn’t be an issue if these conversations were on the books, course they seem to lose those minutes anyway.
If Century had to buy plane tickets for “some folks” to come to town to discuss business, how sound and secure of a business are they? Seems like a lot of shenanigans going on in the mayors office.
It’s sad to come to this, but if the restroom needed more toilet paper before you could use it, you must complete a purchase order. If it was the good Mayors restroom, I’d require at least two more signatures. Century has got some serious issues and at some point, I think we’ll see some people go to jail. There’s no way to have this much smoke with no fire. It’s really sad for the good employees/citizens of the town that want good things up there and you’ve got people like this just playing games like he’s in Elementary school. He disputed an agreement in regards to a water hookup with the past Mayor written on a napkin but wants everyone to believe he got approval to spend 1800.00 more than what he can w/o the boards approval over the phone. What a circus.
I just don’t understand why people in important positions think it’s so difficult to get ALL business discussions and agreements in writing. At least the former mayor had an written agreement, as ridiculous as it was, on a napkin! (lol)