Fabrizio Gowdy
Gadsden County News Service
Gadsden County Commissioners met Tuesday for a regularly scheduled board meeting.
The meeting took place less than 48 hours after Florida State University football player Ethan Pritchard was shot in Havana, causing Gadsden County to receive national media attention.
At Chair Eric Hinson’s direction, Vice Chair Ronterious Green prayed for Pritchard during the opening prayer.
“We’re talking about an excellent guy, let’s continue to pray for him,” said Hinson.
Recently hired Interim County Administrator Reginald James was again in the spotlight at times Tuesday.
First, chairperson of the Tourism Development Council Carolyn Ford rose to respond to James’ recommendation at the previous meeting that the board revoke the county’s $450,000 contract with marketing agency MediumFour.
“I was told by someone here that ‘things had changed;’ I’m the chairman, no one even respects me enough to call me and let me know what those changes were,” said Ford.
Her remarks caused an argument between Hinson and commissioner Brenda Holt, who wanted to take time to address Ford’s comments. However, Hinson wanted to stick to the agenda and move on to other speakers, and accused Holt of disrespecting the chair when she would not back down.
Holt was eventually allowed to speak after making a successful motion to overrule Hinson, as was Green, who seemed to take a jab at James by referencing his predecessor.
“The responsibility of the individual that we let go carried a lot of weight and not anybody can come and do this job—some things are a gift; we got rid of the gift and we don’t know why,” said Green, who voted against James’ hiring last month.
Later, it was James’ turn to go on offense when he provided another update on his efforts to shrink Gadsden County’s fleet of county vehicles.
“We have a number of high end vehicles, and when I spoke with the lady at Enterprise, she said it is very unusual for a public entity to buy the kind of vehicles we had,” said James.
James explained the county has four Chevy Tahoes costing the county $1,400 each per month, Ford Expeditions costing $1,200 monthly per vehicle, and 10 Ford Explorers which cost $900 each per month. He noted that those figures do not include gas money, and said he was still formulating a plan of action.
Several projects were moved forward during general business including widening and resurfacing of Providence and Dogtown Roads, rehabilitation and repair of Barineau Bridge, and new sidewalks on South Adams Street in Quincy. However, Quincy resident Derek Elias questioned whether it is wise to put in new sidewalks when South Adams Street is overdue for other road work, including a new water main.
“Why put down those sidewalks now, knowing that in short order you’re going to have to turn around and dig those sidewalks right back up?” asked Elias.
Other agenda items approved included two new members of the planning commission, funding to support Gadsden County Senior Services, and authorization for Life Flight Inc., a planned emergency air medical
transport base at the Florida Public Safety Institute.
The next Gadsden County BOCC meeting is set for Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. The planning commission will meet before then, on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.
