'Integrity' concerns stop Navarre incorporation referendum before it starts

An effort to launch a straw poll gauging citizens' support for creating an incorporated city of Navarre crashed and burned during a heated Santa Rosa County commission meeting Monday morning.

At the request of pro-incorporation citizen organization Preserve Navarre, State Rep. Joel Rudman asked county commissioners to place a non-binding referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot allowing citizens to vote yes or no to incorporating Navarre. Rudman said if enough citizens supported the measure, he would take the next step of bringing the incorporation proposal to the Florida Legislature.

While two commissioners, Ray Eddington and Kerry Smith, expressed a willingness to move forward with the referendum during a county Committee of the Whole meeting Monday, the idea received pushback from the rest of the board.

Commissioner James Calkins raised concerns about the proposed language of the referendum and Preserve Navarre's failure to seek the involvement of the area's other state representative, Alex Andrade. Commissioners Sam Parker and Colten Wright both questioned the methods and integrity of some of the key players in the incorporation fight - with Wright calling out Rudman specifically.

The resistance from his peers prompted Eddington, who represents the Navarre area, to declare the issue "over" and scrap plans for further consideration of the referendum.

Concerns over Navarre feasibility and ballot language fester

Initially, Wes Siler, the head of Preserve Navarre, opened Monday's incorporation discussion by presenting commissioners with an updated feasibility study, noting Preserve Navarre had hired Cape Coral-based BJM Consulting to review the document. He also said an expert from the consulting firm would drive in from Fort Myers to be available to answer the board's question about the study Thursday.

The original Preserve Navarre feasibility study – a document that lays out the potential revenue, expenses, operational structure and sustainability of a proposed municipality – has drawn criticism from Protect Navarre, another citizen-led organization opposing incorporation, and Wright, who has previously described the study as a "utopian wish list" that was "full of inaccuracies."

Siler responded to criticism of the feasibility study Monday saying, "You wanted to know that the information contained in the study was reasonable for the people to make an informed choice. Florida state statutes lay out the requirements for that study, but simply taking it from me or taking it from our group isn't enough ... you want an expert, and to that end, and in the spirit of meeting your expectations and criteria, we did hire a third party to review this study."

Related: Effort to incorporate Perdido Key area stalls. Here's why

The effort did little to change Wright's mind.

"This is done by the same people who did the Perdido Key study and it wasn't very good," Wright said. "They didn't do a good job of Perdido Key."

In November 2023, Andrade said he found an error in BJM 's feasibility study for Perdido Key that resulted in the document overestimating the proposed city's potential revenue by $3.5 million. Andrade expressed a lack of confidence in the work and refused to bring forward an incorporation bill.

Calkins asked Siler why Preserve Navarre had not sought input from Andrade, who also represents a portion of Navarre, and whose support, per Calkins, would be necessary to move a Navarre incorporation bill through the Legislature. Siler said they would take that step immediately.

Calkins also questioned Siler about the language of the proposed referendum, asking why it did not say incorporating would "raise taxes" and "add another layer of government."

The line of questioning led to a lengthy and testy back and forth, with Siler ultimately saying they were using the same language that had been used in a previous, failed 2014 referendum and that Calkins' proposed additions were one-sided and distorted facts by omitting the benefits of incorporation. He said the purpose of the feasibility study is to give people the facts, and the purpose of the non-binding referendum is to let people make their own choice.

"The purpose of a ballot is to make a decision, not to inform," Siler said. "When you go into a ballot and you see those constitutional amendments, it's not informing you at that point. It's asking you, do you agree or disagree? The time to get educated, to listen all about it, is now so that a decision can be made. So what you are trying to do with the ballot language is inappropriate, it's against historical precedent, and it's not doing service to this issue and the people of our community."

The issue is integrity, Santa Rosa Commissioner says

After the back and forth between Calkins and Siler, Wright called the entire effort around the non-binding referendum a "political stunt."

"I have seen political stunts happen from every which side. I've seen political stunts happen from members of this board. I've seen it happen from people walking into a public forum. I've seen it happen from a state representative that came to the last meeting," Wright said. "The idea that Commissioner Parker, Commissioner Calkins and myself are somehow suppressing the vote is ludicrous, because No. 1, this is not an issue that has to be voted on. The fact that it's even been put at our feet as a county commission, when there's no legal requirement for that, is only being done to put us in a precarious position and make us choose a side."

Previously: Preserve Navarre comes away empty in request to conduct straw poll on incorporation

Wright said Rudman had a history of bad mouthing the commission, breaking his commitments and lying to commissioners and staff, and that his "tactic" of dropping the incorporation issue into their laps was inappropriate and unappreciated when Rudman already has the authority to decide if he wants to present an incorporation bill to the legislature.

"Representative Rudman, if he wants to run the bill, he can put his man pants on and he can run the bill and he can live and die on that, but to put us all in this position is ridiculous," Wright said.

Rudman could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Commissioner Sam Parker didn't name names, but cited a lack "integrity" in some of the players in the incorporation discussions.

"I agree that 100%, people should have the right to vote on how they want their community gauged, however, with the current players in the game, I have zero trust," Parker said. "I have been elected to safeguard the community. I want the community to be able to vote on the issue one day when I think there's some integrity, but there are people involved in this process – that I won't name but they know who they are – that have absolutely lied to my face about this process. And so when I don't trust somebody that's working on this, then I feel like it's my duty to not be part of something that I already know is faulty."

Asked by a Preserve Navarre supporter if his decision was "personal" rather than based on documents and facts, Parker responded, "No sir, it's not personal. It's my duty."

"I think all people expect of elected officials is to gather all the information and make the best decision possible with the information you have," Parker added. "And if I can't trust somebody to move a project forward, then I have an obligation to the citizens to call it for what it is ... if somebody's a liar, a thief, hey, I don't like it, but at the end of the day I'm not gonna allow them to be part of a process that could greatly change people's lives."

Urged by members of Preserve Navarre to take up any concerns or questions he may have about the feasibility study with the BJM consultant, Parker stressed he had already shared his concern.

"I told you that's the issue. The issue's integrity," he said.

With Santa Rosa County commissioners opting not to place the referendum, it presumably falls to Rudman to decide whether to introduce a bill next session requesting permission to create a new city.

The legislation would still have to pass through two state House committees and be voted on by the full House and the full Senate. Only then could it come back to the district to be weighed by voters in a binding referendum.

News Journal reporter Tom McLaughlin contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 'Integrity' concerns stop Navarre incorporation referendum before it starts