Escambia Children’s Trust Holds Town Hall Meeting In Molino

August 13, 2023

The Escambia County’s Children’s Trust held a series of three town hall meetings last week in Escambia County.

An early Tuesday afternoon meeting at the Molino Community Center was attended by just a couple of people not affiliated with the ECT or one of its partner agencies.

During the Molino meeting, attendees were asked for input on how to make the ECT more effective as they craft a future strategic plan. Additional meetings were held Wednesday evening in Brownsville and Thursday afternoon at the Tryon Library.

In November 2020, 61% of participating voters in Escambia County supported the creation of the Children’s Trust  to be funded by an increase in ad valorem taxes of up to a maximum of 0.5 mil. The Children’s Trust will provide early childhood education, safety, developmental, preventative, health, and well-being services, including after school and summer enrichment programs.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

6 Responses to “Escambia Children’s Trust Holds Town Hall Meeting In Molino”

  1. Destiny on August 16th, 2023 10:34 am

    https://escambiachildrenstrust.org/meetings/

    Meetings that are left which are slim to none but more should be added

  2. Duke of Wawbeek on August 15th, 2023 6:52 am

    VOTE!

  3. CJ Lewis on August 14th, 2023 12:42 pm

    The man who formed the political committee to push for the Escambia Children’s Trust lives in Santa Rosa County. He’s not paying the new property tax. The people who donated to the political committee to pay for the political persuasion campaign are among the richest and most powerful people in this and Santa Rosa County too. Many people who donated stand to benefit because if their group gets money from the trust that almost certainly will lead to a larger staff and a salary increase for them. An interesting study would be to see who made out at the five year mark. The trust is not co-located with Escambia County and refused to be moved into a county community center. The trust leases offices space at Pensacola State College. In truth, voters didn’t know what they were voting for or against. Commissioners are most to blame. They had a choice. They could have continued to fund children’s services using the regular budget process. In fact, they still do so there is now a duplication of effort. State law also would have allowed the BCC to create a “dependent” special district ensuring accountability of elected officials. Instead, the BCC voted to take the “independent” special district route. As a result, the people involved are not accountable to the public. The tax bill for the trust is more than we pay for the library. Commissioner Barry did it to you folks up there in North County. You can thank him at election time. By the way, the BCC can vote to let the public vote to abolish the trust and lower taxes.

  4. Molino on August 14th, 2023 9:08 am

    How would someone know prior to this meeting. Was this open for the public to attend?

  5. Rex Blackburn on August 14th, 2023 8:30 am

    I would like to know how many of the 61%that voted for this tax actually pay property taxes another tax passed on to property owners !

  6. straightshooter on August 13th, 2023 9:46 pm

    I would like know the financials of this bureaucracy and how many actual children they have helped.