Megan Walters, Candidate Escambia County Commission District 5

August 14, 2020

NorthEscambia.com asked the three candidates for Escambia County Commission District 5 to answer a series of questions. In alphabetical order, here are candidates with a link to their video and written answers.

Steven Barry
John Reading (did not respond)
Megan Walters

Early voting continues through Saturday, and the polls will be open Tuesday, August 18 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Candidate: Megan Walters, Escambia County Commissioner District 5

Occupation:

Sales and Marketing. Community Advocate. Humanitarian. Wife. Mother.

Education:

AA Business Management. Work in progress: Bachelors Organizational Leadership.

Criminal Record (traffic citations excluded):

None.

Top Five Priorities:

Properly fund Infrastructure construction coupled with future maintenance; Improve public safety; Managed growth so as not to destroy the things special about Escambia County while implementing school and road concurrency; Support existing small businesses, especially those in District 5 by working to get adequate sewer and internet capabilities; Restore public trust by better transparency and education on issues that are important to the citizens, as well as representing them in Tallahassee and having quarterly meetings in District 5.

What , if anything, can you do to help ensure access to broadband internet access for residents of District 5, and ensure that the providers maintain an acceptable quality of service?

I will partner with the Florida Association of Counties and the State with their “Broadband for Rural Florida” initiatives, as their goals are to bring gigabit speeds to most rural parts of Florida. I will also lobby the other commissioners for their vote to use some of the nearly 1 Billion of Triumph money sitting in a bank account untouched. This is one of my top priorities as I see it as something achievable and because many in District 5 are now working from home and doing virtual school. The internet is no longer a luxury, but instead a needed utility for everyday life. I believe that by having the broadband available, it will improve the quality of service by the providers. I would also like to foster more competition for internet services in the Northern parts of District 5.

What more can be done by the District 5 commissioner about trains stopped for long time periods across Highway 29 and/or Becks Lake Road in Cantonment?

Our country was founded around the railroads. To halt the 15 minutes a day we are inconvenienced by the train in Cantonment, a domino effect would occur that would hinder the whole country. County and state officials have invested countless hours into this issue, ultimately the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA, which is a part of The US Department of Transportation) is the governing body. In asking the FRA to change the times the trains run through Cantonment, the domino effect previously mentioned would directly affect the railroad commerce in Atlanta and ripple across the country. Between the FRA and our local county officials, who do you think would win that argument? Long term, I believe an overpass would be an asset to the community. However, in building an overpass, many of the small businesses in the area of Muscogee/29 would have to relocate, which I don’t believe is a viable option at this time as there are greater needs in our district and county. I think that continuing to negotiate with commercial property owners in the area around the tracks to allow emergency access for Fire and EMS vehicles to pass through is crucial. CSX has indicated that they are willing to uncouple some of the cars that block all neighborhood accesses if they experience a mechanical failure that will take a long time to resolve.

What will you do, if anything, to improve roads and bridges in District 5? How do you fund improvements?

Stop using Local Option Sales Tax funds to pay for bringing new companies here when we are not treating our existing businesses right if we don’t fund the proper infrastructure for them. I would advocate for fully funding road maintenance and repair budget needs. I will make cuts to outside agency requests unless they specifically perform a government function that the county needs to provide. I will lobby to do away with discretionary funds so that we could use that amount for even the smallest projects that would make a difference to the majority of the county and district 5.

How do we improve public safety in District 5, both fire and EMS? How do you fund any improvements?

I would advocate using one of the salary studies/comparisons done within the past two years to see what comparable public safety agencies are paying their public safety employees and what benefits they give. It makes no sense to go through the costliest and least productive years of training of new recruits, only to lose them and their valuable experience when they leave for better pay and working conditions after they have experience under their belt. I would make hands on training and safety equipment a top priority to protect and show how valued our first responders really are to our community. Talk is cheap and we have had a whole lot of talk the last eight years. I would support appropriate wage increases executed in a timely manner to stop the exodus of our experienced Public Safety workers to other agencies. The BCC needs to find economies within the present budget and remove the ‘nice to have things’ to fund these priorities. Home values have gone up and the County has received more revenue each year but we continue to find other things that supplant what should be our main priorities.

Should any tax or MSBU be raised, and for what purpose?

No. If we cut out the frivolous spending, then we should be able to properly fund all the many things in the county. We should exhaust every possible means we can before we ever approach the subject of raising taxes. I will lobby to have ECAT paratransit assist EMS with non emergency patient transports which would generate revenue for our county.

What will you do, if anything, to continue dirt road paving in District 5? And what dirt road do you believe will be the very last paved in D5?

I would like to see a public road prioritization list made public based on what the majority of citizens utilize and based on what would be needed for school transportation and public safety services. The last dirt road to be paved in District 5 will probably be mine as I do not believe anyone wants it paved nor do they want to make it a public road.

How will you manage growth and development in District 5?

Please address your answer in at least two parts — the more populated areas of the district and the more rural, agricultural areas. We need to have professional and strategic master plans done for all areas of the county that work together in a coordinated way to plan future growth in our county. These plans need to be good for both the residents and the developers by providing consistent and predictable plans on which people can base their business and personal decisions without wondering if they will only be altered for a favored few. In the more populated and developed areas, we need to manage growth so that our roads and other infrastructure, as well as our public safety departments and schools can be ready for development as it hits the ground. In the more rural areas of District 5, we need to preserve some of the uniqueness of Escambia County and keep the special places and attributes that made many of us want to live here. We should incentivize urban infill in the developed areas to get more vacant and blighted properties back on the tax rolls and at the same time prevent costly sprawl. We also should plan to protect the agricultural areas that provide both economic benefit and stormwater conveyance, as well as recreational opportunities and wildlife protection. Good planning doesn’t have to be burdensome, it just has to be well thought out, with much public input, and consistently applied.

How does Escambia County react and prepare for economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Like many household budgets, the county budget will need to be tightened to focus on our essential duties and postponing those things that are non-essential. We need to continue to make sure we have enough reserves to deal with any emergencies as we have seen so many situations happen in the past few years that emphasize the need to be ready for anything. By getting back to the “main thing” of infrastructure and public safety, we will create great places to live and make great places to do business in. I have a boundless amount of hope and optimism for our area and, with a disciplined approach, I will show the citizens of Escambia County that we can get through this present and any future crises by working together and being diligent. I will model the concern and care that I hope to inspire in others and will work for the betterment of my community with service and not self promotion.

What can Escambia County do to ensure the continued success and growth of smaller businesses in D5, especially in light of the pandemic?

Provide small businesses more opportunities to grow and expand their business locally, regionally, and nationally, if they so desire. Escambia County can make sure that their permitting, licensing, policies, and procedures are not confusing and overly burdensome. In relation to Covid 19, we should be helping businesses to provide safe, healthy environments to continue to prosper instead of finding roadblocks to shut them down. The county should make sure that small businesses have the tools to be successful and that starts with good infrastructure, as mentioned earlier, including adequate roads, utilities, including internet access. County procurement should be proactive in putting things out to bid that our area’s small businesses can fairly compete for and on larger projects, Escambia County should facilitate larger contractors using area subcontractors to win public contracts. I think that the County should stop subsidizing large out of state, or even out of country, businesses and think about investing in local small businesses with micro grants as a form of economic development. Escambia County can develop partnering relationships with the Small Business Development Center and UWF’s Entrepreneur programs to foster more local entrepreneurs, especially in our “pockets of poverty” areas.

Do you support or oppose the Escambia Children’s Trust?

No. There’s too many other things that need funding first. Before I would support an additional taxpayer assessment for something like this, I would consider a dedicated fund for public safety. The Escambia Children’s Trust, while noble in mission, would add another layer of unelected bureaucracy to administering funds to nonprofits. Those nonprofits that perform government mandated duties should be annually accountable in the Budget Hearings to the BCC Board. I do not believe that we need another dedicated funding source outside of the general budget because the BCC always uses this as an excuse to spend more of the General Fund dollars on new things, instead of getting back to the priorities that we should have. With the Library and ECAT dedicated funds, we saw no real improvements to infrastructure and public safety, did we?

Century has had their obvious share of economic and infrastructure problems in recent years. How can/should Escambia County assist?

I will establish a relationship with the Century Mayor and Town Council, while also being easily accessible to them. By having a strong working relationship, we will be able to see which resources we can utilize to turn things around in Century.

Your Top 5 favorite spots in D5 to spend time for enjoyment when you are not working:

Northwest Florida Water Management Area along the Perdido River, Escambia River Wildlife Management Area along the Escambia River, Crossroads Thrift Store, Cantonment Mercantile, and Antique Marketplace.

Your Top 5 bingeable shows:

It took me from the summer of 2017 to the shelter in place time this year to watch Criminal Minds from beginning to end, so I’m not really a binge watcher. I typically listen to podcasts from my pastor and youth pastor that I had growing up, Respective Podcast, and I have watched the different meetings on ECTV. If I were to binge watch, the five I’d probably pick would be MASH, I Love Lucy, Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, and Golden Girls.

Your Top 5 favorite songs on your current playlist:

Just Me by Roy Jones Jr; History Makers by Delirious; Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys; Rise Up by Andra Day; One Shot by 2piece featuring Roy Jones Jr

Top 5 favorite foods (and restaurant name, if it’s a restaurant dish):

Smokey’s cole slaw, anything at EL Tapatio (Mexican restaurant on Muscogee Road), fresh subs at Captain Smiley’s (right next to Jimmy’s Grill in Molino), Pork Sandwiches at The Cantonment Mercantile (AKA the feed store at 29/Muscogee), steak cooked by my husband that is Barrineau Park grown beef, and fresh made pork rinds from Kynette’s Place (formerly Watson’s) in McDavid. (yes I know it’s 6, I just couldn’t leave any out!)

Best kept secret of District 5:

Now if I said that, it wouldn’t be the best kept secret anymore! But I do like to rinse the dust off at the “car wash” at the paper mill, and Lava Java is better than Starbucks, and most don’t know that.

Comments

One Response to “Megan Walters, Candidate Escambia County Commission District 5”

  1. John on August 15th, 2020 2:02 am

    Megan has my vote!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under General