Ben Boutwell Elected Century Mayor, Defeating Incumbent Henry Hawkins
November 4, 2020
Former council member Ben Boutwell was elected the new mayor of Century Tuesday, defeating incumbent Henry Hawkins.
Boutwell won by just 19 votes, according to complete but unofficial results. Boutwell had 340 votes (51.44%) while Hawkins received 321 votes (48.56%).
“I know I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. We are going to take it one day at a time and go from there,” Boutwell told NorthEscambia.com. “I really do know what’s inside the office until I can sit down in the chair and go through the books.”
“We have to work on infrastructure and (natural) gas problems; we all know that. We also need to beautify the town and clean it. We need the Blackcat Pride like we had years ago,” he continued. “Blackcat Pride” was a common term used in connection with the former Century High School’s Blackcats and pride in the community.”
“It’s about the community; I need ideas and comments,” Boutwell said. “We need to have a heart to hear and have a come to Jesus meeting. It’s time for us to come together in Century.”
Matt Gaetz Reelected To Congressional Seat
November 4, 2020
Republican Matt Gaetz was reelected to Congress Tuesday.
With about 65% of the vote, Gaetz handily defeated Democratic challenger Phil Ehr and NPA candidate Albert Oram.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the great people of Northwest Florida for the this overwhelming election win tonight,” Gaetz said Tuesday evening. “It’s always special to win an election and receive a positive performance review from my bosses, the voters of this great district.”
“For the last 10 years, it’s just been the honor of my life to serve this community in one capacity or another in representative government,” he continued. “And I am deeply, deeply thankful to everyone for their confidence and support.”
Michelle Salzman Wins Florida House District 1 Seat
November 4, 2020
Republican Michelle Salzman won the Florida House District 1 Tuesday be defeating Democratic challenger Franscine C. Mathis.
Salzman won with 65.4% (56,957) to 34.6% (30,151) for Mathis.
“My goal is to really show District 1 what a representative can do and make the district proud,” Salzman told NorthEsambia.com, saying she intends to rebuild bridges burned by Hill in Tallahassee. Hill failed to get get a single bill that he sponsored passed.
She said she has already been working with leadership across the state, working with state agencies like the Florida Department of Transportation and local entities like the Escambia County Commision to make sure her priorities are aligned.
“I look forward to serving everyone in District 1,” Salzman said.
In the August primary election, Salzman defeated incumbent Mike Hill with about 52.5% of the vote. In her campaign, Salzman highlighted the fact that Hill failed to get any bill that he sponsored passed.
Hill, a local insurance agent, was first elected during a 2013 special election in House District 2. He ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2016. In 2018, he ran for House District 1, defeating Rebecca Bydlak after releasing a video recorded at the Confederate monument in downtown Pensacola claiming that he would bring the Donald Trump Hollywood star to Pensacola. That never happened, and now the monument is being dismantled.
In the August Democratic primary, Mathis won with 68.20% of the vote to Barbara Schott-Shouse’s 31.80%.
Complete Election Results For Escambia County
November 4, 2020
These are complete, but unofficial election results from Escambia County with 80 of 80 precincts reporting.
Florida Voters Approve Minimum Wage Increase To $15 By 2026
November 4, 2020
Florida voters have approved raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.
Amendment 2 received about 61% of the vote, greater than the 60% needed to pass.
The current minimum wage of $8.46 a hour will increase to $10 an hour on September 30, 2021. It will then increase by a dollar per year until reaching $15 an hour in 2026.
About 56% of Escambia County voters for for Amendment 2, while 44% were against.
Voters Approve New Escambia Children’s Children’s Trust And Small Property Tax Increase To Fund It
November 4, 2020
Escambia County voters approved a new Children’s Services Council (CSC).
Complete, but unofficial, totals show 97,625 Escambia County residents (60.90%) voted in favor of creating the Escambia Children’s Trust, while 62,689 (39.10%) voted against
The Escambia Children’s Trust is the proposed name for the CSC in Escambia County. The sole purpose of a CSC is to invest in the well-being of children by maximizing resources and ensuring accountability.
The trust will not deliver service. Instead, it will fund community providers who can demonstrate measurable desired outcomes through a competitive review and accountability process.
The Escambia Children’s Trust will receive a new 0.5 mill county property tax that will cost the average Escambia County homeowner $40 per year. Other property owners will pay an average of $67 per year. The additional half mill will not be collected until 2022.
Of the funds collected, 90% of funds will go into direct programing, 4% will be paid to the Escambia County Tax Collector for collecting the funds, and 6% will be used by the trust for administrative costs.
The trust will have an initial 10 year life before it must go back to the voters.
A 10-member board will govern the Escambia Children’s Trust. Five members will be appointed by the governor. The other five members will be the superintendent of schools, one school board member, the district administrator for the Department of Children and Families; one member of the Escambia County Commission and a a judge assigned to juvenile cases.
The board will be required to submit quarterly and annual reports to the Escambia County Commission.
According to supporters, the Escambia Children’s Trust was needed in Escambia County because:
- The substantial needs in Escambia County, especially now with the negative impacts of COVID-19, dwarf the resources of the service providers working in early childhood education, detection, prevention, and wellness.
- We are 4th in the State in reported child abuse cases and 3rd in the arrest of Black males under 18.
- Escambia County is 47th out of 67 counties in child well-being, an index of 16 areas that look at children’s overall quality of life. Santa Rosa County ranks 8th.
- The Trust would provide additional success-based investments in programs to meet the critical needs of all of our children with evidenced based proven expanded and new programs.
- The Trust would also have trained, experienced staff to help coach existing service providers and their staff in creating systems and processes to set programmatic success metrics and capture the data required to measure and report successes.
- The Trust will have a significant advantage in that it will have a sustainable, recurring revenue stream with a ten (10) year life that is controlled locally.
- Its funding comes directly to the Trust and is not dependent upon fluctuating annual governmental appropriations or the strength of the economy, which is particularly important in unstable times like these when contributions to service providers can drop while demand for services increase.
NorthEscambia.com photo.
Leonard White Elected To Seat On Century Town Council
November 4, 2020
Political newcomer Leonard White has been elected to a seat on the Century Town Council.
White, with 58.37% of the vote, defeated Shelisa D. McCall (41.63%) for the seat formerly held by Ben Boutwell who ran successfully for mayor.
Dynette Lewis Defeats Century Council President Ann Brooks
November 4, 2020
Dynette Lewis has defeated incumbent Century Town Council President Ann Brooks.
Lewis received about 58% of the vote to 42% for Brooks.
Brooks, the current council president, was first elected in 2007. Lewis has 28 years experience in the financial services industry.
In the primary election, Brooks garnered the most votes in the race against two challengers, but Century’s charter requires a candidate to receive one more than 50 percent of the vote in order to be declared the winner. In the primary, Brooks received 148 votes (44.85%), followed by Dynette Lewis with 122 (36.97%) and Calvin Kenneth Cottrell, Jr. with 60 (18.18%) of the vote for the non-partisan seat.
Complete Election Results For Santa Rosa County
November 4, 2020
Here are Santa Rosa County complete but unofficial election results from NorthEscambia.com.
Doug Broxson Reelected To Florida Senate District 1 Seat
November 4, 2020
Incumbent Doug Broxson will win reelection for the Florida Senate District 1 seat.
With most precincts reporting, Broxson had 65% of the vote to 35% for Democratic challenger Karen M. Butler.
NorthEscambia.com photo.