Development interests playing a huge role in two Santa Rosa County Commission races

Two-term District 1 Santa Rosa County Commissioner Sam Parker pre-filed to seek yet another four years in office on Jan. 12, and in April reported that in his first quarter of fund raising he'd accumulated a whopping $104,145 in campaign contributions.

That dollar figure has since swelled to over $160,000.

Parker's commission cohort, James Calkins, waited a little while longer to jump into the race to retain his District 3 seat, but by the time he posted his first required campaign finance report in May he'd brought in more than $167,000.

As astounding as those numbers sound, what is really eye-popping is how much of the money has come from development interests and from sources outside of Santa Rosa County.

A major early fund raising event was held on Parker's behalf Feb. 28 at The Homebuilders Association of West Florida headquarters in Pensacola.

A flyer generated ahead of the event said it would be "presented" by the Committee of Responsible Persons. That committee included Edwin Henry, owner of Henry Company Homes in Pace, Blaine Flynn, the owner of Flynn Homes, and Austin Tenpenny a Homebuilders Association board member, owner of ADoor Properties and a Gulf Breeze resident.

Parker's financial disclosure shows he received 11 donations the day of the event totaling $8,250.

Jennifer Mancini, the executive officer at the HBA, said the agency was not tied to the Feb. 28 fund raising event and does not make campaign contributions to candidates.

"The HBA allows members to use meeting room space at our office in Pensacola," she said in an email. "We have also allowed members to host political fundraising events. But these events are not an endorsement of any candidate and HBA staff is not on host committee/Committee of Responsible Persons for any event."

For Parker, nearly 100 donations have come from identified developer interest sources and over $100,000 in campaign contributions were made by people or businesses whose addresses identified them as being outside of Santa Rosa County.

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Parker said many of those who contribute to his campaign are hard working people who appreciate his years of public service and understand the influence local government has on their lives.

"They understand local government has a great effect on their life and livelihood," he said.

He said the funds he raises don't go to him, but to the post office for mailouts, or sign makers, or local media outlets for air time or advertising. He said "it shocks me people even ask" whether all the dollars he brings in from development interests could influence his decision making as an elected official.

For people like Dara Hartigan , the president of the conservation group Save Our Soundside, the evidence of developer influence on the Santa Rosa County Commission is everywhere.

"This is just the status quo for Sam Parker and James Calkins," she said of the backing they've received from development interests. "They always vote for the interests of the developer."

She said there is "a direct correlation" to the development interest spending in local races and the success of the candidates their money funds.

"People not involved in local politics, they vote by name recognition," Hartigan said. "Massive development has impacted not only our infrastructure, but our water quality. You have to know who is advocating for you and who is not."

She said she was hopeful Parker would step away from the commission after eight years on the board.

"I guess he isn't through yet getting everything the HBA wants," she said.

Calkins, whose finance reports indicate he has loaned himself $90,000 and repaid himself $30,000, has obtained nearly 50 direct dollar contributions from development interests. Just over $43,000 of his total has come through 53 donations from out-of-town donors.

At a recent County Commission meeting District 5 board member Colten Wright spoke critically of a resolution put forth by Calkins, and because he was doing so warned those in attendance to expect "attack ads coming at me" from Calkins' camp, and specifically "from his grandmother's PAC."

Calkins' grandmother does chair a political action committee − The America First Alliance PAC, based out of Venice, is headed by Judith Sorensen.

Judith Sorensen is listed in a 2020 obituary that ran in a local weekly newspaper as the ex-spouse and mother of the children of Milton resident Ed Sorensen, who had passed away in March of that year.

The obituary lists the name of the late Mr. Sorensen's only grandchild as James Lee. While the obituary inexplicably fails to note Calkins as the last name of the grandchild, it does list Mariya as the spouse of James Lee. Campaign documents confirm Calkins middle name as Lee and his wife, Mariya, is running for a Santa Rosa County School Board seat.

Calkins did not return phone calls seeking comment.

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America First Alliance PAC has raised $55,000 since March with significant contributions from 19 donors. The largest single contribution of $9,000 came from Jubilee Development Group and was made on May 30, less than a week after the county commission voted 4-1 to grant the rezoning of 34 acres in Calkins' district to allow construction of a mixed use subdivision that will include shops, restaurants, townhomes and a grocery store.

Another $6,000 came from developer Edwin Henry. Donations were made by Henry personally, his business, Henry Company Homes Inc., and two other entities that share an address with Henry Company Homes Inc.

Henry's support for Parker and Calkins is a direct contrast from his involvement in the County Commission race of 2022. In that race, court records obtained through a lawsuit show Henry spent $13,000 to wage a smear campaign against eventual District 2 race winner Kerry Smith .

Smith has sued Henry for defamation.

Nearly all of the funds donated to the America First Alliance PAC have been contributed by entities with Santa Rosa development interests. Other prominent donors include Chris Ferrara , who has been approved to build a luxury RV Park on Navarre Beach, and Harrell Downey, a managing partner of Wallace West LLC and developer of the Buffalo Ridge subdivision north of Pace.

Adams Sanitation, a waste disposal company that contracts with Santa Rosa County and is run by Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles, also contributed $5,000 to the America First Alliance PAC.

The PAC itself has contributed $1,000 to the Calkins' campaign and another $1,000 to the campaign of Michael Priest, a Republican running against Wright.

Priest lives at 3408 Green Briar Circle in Gulf Breeze at an apartment building the Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser's Office lists as being owned by James and Mariya Calkins. Priest is a former Escambia County deputy who was terminated in 2010 after being charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his patrol car after driving her home from a bar. He was acquitted of the charge but stripped of his law enforcement certification.

As if in response to Wright's prediction that attack ads would appear in the wake of his objections to Calkins' failed resolution, which declared undocumented immigrants were not welcome in Santa Rosa County , a "poll" appeared, circulated by the America First Alliance PAC.

It asked leading questions like "Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins sent a strong message through a new resolution that states 'illegal aliens' are not welcome in this county. Do you agree?"

Another asked, "Do you agree with Commissioner Colten Wright's efforts to replace a Republican with a Democrat on the county advisory board ?"

The Democrat in question is a marine biologist nominated by Commissioner Smith for the county's Marine Advisory Board. Wright supported Smith's choice though Calkins objected because the nominee was a registered Democrat.

The poll also calls into question Wright's "luxurious trip to Paris, France to watch an air show." Wright attended the Paris Air Show with the county's economic development director in an effort to drum up interest in the county's Whiting Field Aviation Park, an industrial park adjacent to NAS Whiting Field.

Wright, who along with Parker and Calkins is seeking re-election to office this year, has thus far reported raising just under $17,000 in campaign contributions. While he has not received close to the number of contributions as his fellow commissioners, he said he has accepted donations from people within the development industry, as he would from most other businesses.

"I am not one who has a problem accepting a donation from a business interest," he said. "I've always made it clear to everyone that I am simply accepting a campaign contribution and that it does not buy anything."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Development interests playing a huge role in two Santa Rosa County Commission races