Candidate forum held

Four of the five commission candidates attend and share views on issues

Fred Nichols II, John Quinton, Sam McGrew and Quincee Messersmith at The Wakulla Sun County Commissioner Candidate Forum

The Wakulla Sun hosted a political forum and heard from county commission candidates for the District 2 seat, Fred Nichols and John Quinton, and candidates for District 4, incumbent Quincee Messersmith and Sam McGrew.

District 4 write-in candidate Patricia Dyszer was invited but did not attend.

The forum, held at the Community Center on Thursday, Sept. 29, also gave an opportunity for statements from school board candidates Dod Walker and Eddie Hand; and Eddie Evans and Brian Miller running for county judge.

INTRODUCTIONS

Nichols, a Republican, comes from five generations of Wakulla County and is retired from the Wakulla County sheriff’s office. Nichols is married to Angel Nichols with four children and a grandchild. “I just deeply care about Wakulla County,” Nichols said. “I’ve served for the past 20-something years and would appreciate everything that I can do.”

Quinton, a Democrat, started out in life as a farmboy in Tennesee and worked in the automobile business for quite a few years, and even opened a dealership. From there on, he started serving churches in Tennessee. In 2007 he and his wife Gail followed their children to Wakulla County and settled in Sopchoppy while serving the Sopchoppy United Methodist Church and the Ochlockonee Bay UMC in 2014. “We moved down here and have lived in Sopchoppy for the past 8 years, and I was able to retire in June, and apparently I needed a lot more to do so I’m here in front of y’all today and I appreciate the confidence that most people have given me as I go around and talk to you,” he said. “I appreciate the encouragement.”

McGrew, a Democrat and a fifth generation in Wakulla County, born and raised and is raising a sixth generation here in Wakulla. McGrew attended Wakulla High School and received an athletic scholarship to play for the Florida State Seminoles and then did a pre-season for the Miami Dolphins. He then went overseas and lived in Amsterdam and played for NFL Europe. His father had a juke joint here in Wakulla that McGrew transformed into an childcare center and created a non-profit organization for youth that he’s been operating for 4 years now. “It’s a blessing to finally see the fruits of my labor for my own son and three other guys to receive division one athletic scholarships,” McGrew said. “That’s what I do. I love my community and I love the people that are here. The people here are amazing we have strong values, strong family values and I love being a part of the community, thank you.”

Messersmith, a Republican, is the current chair of the Wakulla County Commission. “In 2018, I simply ran on being accessible and involved that’s exactly what I’m running on now. I work tirelessly, and it is with great reward,” she says. Since being elected to the county commission Messersmith stays involved in her civic church and service organizations.

IMPACT FEES

An impact fee is typically a one-time payment imposed by a local government on a property developer. The fee is meant to offset the financial impact a new development places on public infrastructure. Public infrastructure includes roads, schools, parks, recreational facilities, water, and sewerage, among other services.

Quinton was supportive of impact fees and referenced back in 2007-2008 when Wakulla County used to collect impact fees, where we collected $2.6 million worth of impact fees.

Quinton said impact fees, if collected, it could go towards an extension of parks and rec, the library, ems, and the sheriff’s department. “And impact fees are designed by the county to address these issues to keep the pressure off of the property tax to keep the pressure off of the public service tax, to give us opportunities not to have to raise taxes every time it comes around. We might not have to raise it if we had this other bucket of money, so I think it’s very important that we go back to collect it, and I’m really not sure why we’re not, but I think it’s time we went back to that,” he says. Mcgrew agreed with Quinton on impact fees.

Messersmith was against impact fees, “We do have an ordinance on the book for impact fees that is at 0%. I definitely feel like there’s a misconception in regards to what they can be used for, that takes a lot of homework to figure that out, and I also have faith in the county commission that when we need to bring impact fees back, then they will do that,” she says.

Nichols agreed with Messersmith on impact fees and said there is still money on the impact fee account for the county. Nichols referenced the Florida statute regarding the limitations of impact fees are controlled by the percentage of growth which would be the percentage that could be used in an impact fee and can only be used in the area of growth.

NEW INDUSTRY, NEW JOBS

McGrew suggested reaching out to companies at startup that could be “found through startup accelerators and incubators, and we approach these companies before they begin to incorporate and show them what we have to offer here,” he said.

Messersmith referred to Wakulla County’s industrial zone on the other side of the bridge in Medart. “To bring people here, we have an EDC (Economic Development Council) that works day and night tirelessly with regard to beginning businesses to Opportunity Park but also with bringing industry here, there would be growth with industry brought here, and we have somebody working on that every single day with regard to the EDC and the space and the zoning,” she said.

Nichols agreed with Messersmith that the EDC is already working on it. Nichols also mentioned state Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) and Gov. Ron DeSantis “aggressively recruiting people to Florida.”

Quinton spoke that the county’s unemployment rate set at 2% is “quite a problem to have.” Quinton didn’t agree with attracting more growth but instead wanted to work on “the way of life here and taking care of who’s here and doing what we can to continue to make this a place where people want to live and raise families,” he said. For industry to come here, he would prefer it be a “good neighbor industry. Somebody that respects our resources, somebody that respects our people, just a good neighbor. Yes, we want the jobs, we want the money, but first and foremost, we want good neighbors.”

BIGGEST CHALLENGE

Messersmith said the biggest challenge facing the county is ensuring jobs and houses here for the youth. “It’s probably not OK that our kids go through the school system, and they get out of school, and then they go get jobs elsewhere,” she said. Messersmith also mentioned her biggest challenge for this election would be protecting private property rights.

Nichols said the biggest challenge to come will be safety as Wakulla County continues to grow and keep the schools an A+ school system.

Quinton said the biggest challenge for him would be taking care of the people that live here while also protecting the environment, cost of living, and quality of life.

McGrew said the biggest challenge with the growth that’s happening in Wakulla County is to protect the youth.

GOALS IN OFFICE

Nichols’ goal is to see a new rec park and emergency room. “I just want to help Wakulla County, my little motto is ‘Progress with a Purpose,’ and I would like to see everything keep moving.”

Quinton’s goal would be to keep “the rural feel, to keep this county feel that I’ve grown up with. I enjoyed it living in Tennessee, and I enjoyed it living in Sopchoppy, and it’s just that were neighbors and we’re downhome and see if we can preserve as much as that as we can.”

McGrew’s goal is to create infrastructure for the youth and more programs. “I want to see them flourish and give them every possibility there is in order to become a more productive individual in life,” he said. McGrew’s short-term goal would be to have more unity in the community.

Messeersmith’s goals, she said, “are pretty simple: They are to get an agenda, study that agenda, and do what is on that agenda with regards to coming in there on Mondays and making a decision. How I get to where I’m going with regard to any of those things is the same exact way: Remain accessible and involved, know what’s going on in the community, and more importantly, study the agenda.”

SPECIFIC CUTS TO COUNTY BUDGET

Quinton, McGrew, and Nichols all agreed that nothing needed to be cut from the county budget.

Messersmith said after reviewing the budget, she valued public safety as a top priority.

NEW COUNTY FACILITIES

McGrew gave priority to a new rec park and library.

Messersmith prioritized an emergency room and said “It’s being worked on right now.”

Nichols agreed with Messeersmith on the emergency room. Quinton prioritized the rec park and library.

NEW GROWTH

“So dealing with growth here is quite simple,” Messersmith said. “It is up to me to make a legal decision on any growth that is going to be approved in this county,” she said, referring to the county’s planning process.

Nichols said growth is going to continue to come and that managing the growth is what is needed.

“The words ‘no’ and ‘not now’ can be used too,” Quinton said. “So, yes, growth is necessary, but growth, the buck stops at the county commission on these things. They have the ability to say yes, no, maybe, or not now. And I think what I find walking around and talking to people is there’s a lack of that going on, and I have a tendency to agree with.”

McGrew thinks that growth should follow the county’s comprehensive growth plan. “So when it comes to the county commission making comp plan changes, it should always involve the people that made the (Crawfordville) Town Plan, and the comprehensive plan itself. So that’s pretty much it. I think we should grow. And the way that we should grow should be according to the people, not any special interest group or, sure enough, not my interest.”

QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE

Nichols said he is very eager, ready to work, easy to get ahold of, and has served the community in the past 20-something years.

Quinton said, “My whole life has been one of being in management, being a leader, trying to figure out, and problem-solving. But one of the things I learned really late in life, too late in life, but not so late that it didn’t help me, was people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.

And I think that’s what qualifies me more than anything. I care, and I like to listen twice, cut once.”

McGrew said the qualities he brings to the table are leadership skills, integrity, and business skills.

Messersmith says her qualifications include that “I have the knowledge and power to remind people that we are surrounded by almost 70% of local, state and federal (lands). And so where there is a misconception about growth, impact fees, why we aren’t doing what we’re doing, all of those things. I have studied that, and I usually have an answer, and if I don’t have one, I can get one.”

CLOSING

In his closing, McGrew reiterated the importance of the development of youth and infrastructure needs as the county continues to grow. He also added that protecting Wakulla Springs was a priority.

Messersmith reminded everyone of the big things Wakulla County has recently accomplished – including the conversion of septic to sewer in Wakulla and Magnolia Gardens, the expansion of the Otter Creek Sewage Treatment Plant to Advanced Wastewater Treatment standards, the purchase of the golf course both for recreational purposes and for use to spray up to a million gallons a day of the AWT wastewater, and the re-opening of Woolley Park from Hurricane Michael and the re-building of the fishing pier.

Nichols thanked everyone for coming and encouraged everyone to go out and vote. “I care about Wakulla County, I care about our kids. I want to see our county drive as it’s been driving. I wish that you will come out and vote. God bless America and God bless Wakulla County,” he said.

Quinton shared his experience on what campaigning has been like for him and asked everyone to take a moment to envision in their minds what they love about Wakulla County and what they would like to preserve and make better.

“I’ve gotten a ton of support out in the community. People are just excited that folks want to run. They’re excited that maybe there’s a few new ideas out there. And I’m just appreciative of being here and getting this opportunity, and I hope that you’ll see fit to put me in office. Thank you,” he says.

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

Dod Walker addressed rumors about him that he didn't want parents having a voice in education. “Well, nothing could be further from the truth,” he said. “Any school principal or teacher for that matter, but especially school principal, knows that they won’t be in the job long if they don’t have support of the parents. And I always had support of my parents because I did care about what they said,” he said.

Eddie Hand shared a experience he had at a school board meeting where he felt the voice of a parent and teachers was not heard. “So in that moment, I realized why I’m doing what I’m doing. Part of me along this journey has questioned, why are you running for school Board? You’re not from Wakulla, Nobody knows you. Well, the primary has proved different, and I love Wakulla County,” he said.

COUNTY JUDGE CANDIDATES

Eddie Evans, born and raised in Sopchoppy, shared some of his work history dealing with criminal and civil cases with the State Attorney’s Office. Evans was formerly chief prosecutor for Wakulla County and moved to the Tallahassee office under State Attorney Jack Campbell where he is assigned to deal with appeals, death penalty cases and civil cases. “So I have to deal with that.

So I have both a criminal experience in the past 30 years as well as civil experience past 30 years. And I really would like to put that to work as your county judge,” he said.

Brian Miller is currently the chief prosecuter for Wakulla County for the past six years, and was originally from Tallahassee and Leon County. He is married to the former Kelly Langston of Smith Creek, whose family goes back generations in Wakulla. “So I feel like I’m in the best position to represent everybody, the families that have been here for a very long time and the people that have just joined us recently. I can represent both of those as your kind of judge, as I have as your kind of prosecutor,” he said.