Story & Photos By
LEGION TAYLOR
Reporter

The Wakulla Sun’s final candidate forum for this political season was supposed to be held at the public library on Tuesday evening, but a midafternoon storm caused a tree to fall near the library taking down powerlines and caused the library to close.

The newspaper moved the event to the community center and the event went on, featuring candidates for County Commission District 3, a rematch of the 2020 election: incumbent Mike Kemp and challenger Valerie Russelll.
Kemp is an Army National Guard veteran and retired major at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office. He has served on the county commission since his election in 2020.
Russelll is a local nurse practitioner who works with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital’s Physician Partners practice in Crawfordville and is also a small business owner who prides herself on being a lifelong Republican.
During introductions, Russell brought up something she said Kemp had put on Facebook: “Re-elect the one you can trust,” and she responded by asking why Kemp voted to raise taxes right after entering office and cut taxes before the election, and how his net worth increased significantly during his term in office.
Kemp responded by saying that the vast majority of property tax dollars go to public safety, contributing to hiring new sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, and getting a new fire engine.
The first question asked by the forum’s moderator, Sun Editor William Snowden, was about how the candidates would balance new residential developments with preserving Wakulla’s natural resources.
Kemp said that only around 20% of the county is available for development, as the majority of the county is national forest, wildlife refuge, or wetlands.
“You are not going to stop growth, we just have to embrace it,” Kemp said.
He also mentioned that most of the rules regulating development are set by the state legislature, and the county commissioners have to vote in accordance with those previously established regulations and laws.
Russell said that she believes growth is inevitable, but in the last few years there’s been a significant increase in development. She also said that maybe some of the laws and ordinances controlling development could be changed to slow down the growth of Wakulla County. She wants to balance property rights and environmental preservation so that the continued growth doesn’t hurt the community at large.
The second question was about what steps the candidates would take to develop a long-term growth plan for the county.
Russell said that maybe development approvals should be supermajority votes, so 4 of 5 commissioners need to vote in approval rather than 3 of 5. She also said that a perfect balance needs to be struck between growth and environmental protection, suggesting that impact fee studies might help the problem.
Kemp stated that during his time in office, he’s left his personal feelings about development at home, and voted based on the rules and regulations that control development. He went on to say that anyone in his position would vote the same, because they’d be following the same laws, and if Russell wants to change that she should be running for state legislature.
The third question the candidates were asked was what their primary goal would be for their term in office.
Kemp said that his goals are focused on keeping the people of Wakulla County safe, which he does by improving the quality of emergency services such as the sheriff’s office, fire department, and Emergency Medical Services.
Russell stated that one of her goals would be to create more jobs in Wakulla, as well as introducing impact fee studies to measure the impact of development and cutting taxes as much as possible.
The fourth question was about the candidate’s position on impact fees.
Kemp stated that if the voters wanted impact fees, he would support it, although taxes on people building houses or moving here are already high and these fees would add more on top of that. In response to Russell’s statements about cutting taxes, he said that in order to cut taxes you’d have to fire people or cut programs, and that Wakulla is 58th out of 67 counties for lowest taxes in Florida. Kemp also noted that Russell had not attended any of the commission’s budget workshops.
Russell said that she feels that impact fee studies are important to understand how the developments are affecting the infrastructure and environment of Wakulla, and that while the voters do need to vote on them, she does support them. She also responded to Kemp saying she hadn’t been to any of the budget meetings because they’re too early for many people to attend, and that if they wanted more people to be there, they should be scheduled at a different time. She also denied that there are no ways to cut taxes without getting rid of people’s jobs or cutting programs – contending the budget just needs to be thoroughly examined.
The fifth question for the candidates was about whether it’d be possible to decrease the millage rate for property taxes due to the increasing property values in the county.
Russell claimed that when Kemp was elected, he voted to increase the property taxes to 8.4 mills, and then it stayed at 8.2 until recently, when it was decreased to 7.9. She said that because the revenue was increasing each year, the tax could have been decreased by a similar amount, giving residents relative tax cuts each year. (After the forum, Russell posted a correction on Facebook that read: “Tonight during the Wakulla Sun’s forum I advised that the 21/22 ad valorem rate was increased from 8.0 to 8.4. This rate was derived from posted final budget data. The increase was actually 8.0 to 8.2. A substantial increase to the taxpayers nonetheless and an increase maintained until this year’s election cycle budget. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused.”)
Kemp said that the millage rate has never been 8.4, and that it went from 8.0 to 8.25 where it stayed until it was decreased to 7.9. He reiterated that most of the property tax citizens pay goes toward funding first responders, and a significant amount of the county’s funding is sourced from grants, not taxes.
The next question was about what wellness and recreation facilities the candidates would propose in the coming years.
Kemp wasn’t against a pool and splash pad if the money could be found in a budget or in a grant to build and maintain those facilities, though there are natural waterways for citizens to utilize instead. He also said that he supported expanding the rec park so that it might be able to support soccer and softball tournaments as facilities in places such as Thomasville do.
Russell was in support of the rec park, as well as local civic clubs such as 4-H and Rotary. She went on to say that there isn’t enough for the youth in Wakulla, and that money should be devoted to these programs and into things like the splash pad to enrich the county’s youth.
The candidates were then asked about their position on expanding the offering of youth programs at the Wakulla Community Center.
Russell said that expanding the programs and the facilities at the Community center is a great idea, and that if there’s money for it, it’s something that should be pushed for.
Kemp said that he agrees with Russell, and that programs for sports and activities should be expanded both at the community center and the rec park, once the money can be found.
The candidates next were asked about how they’d balance their careers with their responsibilities as a commissioner.
Kemp explained that he works as a law enforcement liaison for Northwest Florida Health Network and travels around the region, communicating with many different sheriff’s departments around the state, but that he goes to every event he can and he returns every phone call and email that he gets to best serve his community.
Russell said that she’s been a public servant her entire career, and has experience with managing her different responsibilities throughout her career as a health professional. She went on to say she will return phone calls and emails from citizens as a commissioner as she does with her patients currently.
The candidates were also asked about a proposed charter change to preserve certain native trees on residential property.
Russell said that preserving the environment is important, and that native trees should be kept and respected, but that when someone buys a property they can’t be told they can’t cut their trees down.
Kemp said that there Kemp said there was a workshop just over a month ago about a tree ordinance, but that personally he thinks that the more trees that are kept around, the better. He also brought up that currently clear cutting is allowed, and that he doesn’t support property owners having to pull a permit to cut their trees on their property.
The next question was about what specific plans the candidates have to attract new industries and businesses to the county.
Kemp said that if someone owns commercial property on Crawfordville Highway, they can build most anything on those properties and it doesn’t come before the county commission. He also added that because Wakulla isn’t close to a railroad or the interstate, it’s difficult for businesses to come here, especially if the growth of the county is slowed down.
Russell said that she’d want to incentivize businesses to come into the county, so that future generations will have better and more fulfilling jobs. She noted that voters decided against an exemption which might have brought more busibring businesses to the county, and suggested putting the proposal back on the ballot as a part of a solution.
The last question was about how the candidates wanted to address the need for infrastructure, particularly around transportation and utilities.
Russell said that unfortunately many of the county’s roads are owned by the state and managed by the state Department of Transportation, so it might be necessary to push the state government to complete the U.S. Highway 319 improvement project. She also said that the commissioners need to be more willing to advocate for the community and help get these infrastructure issues resolved, such as the roads or utilities such as water.
Kemp said that in the last few years, the county has spent over $300 million on infrastructure in the county, and that he has talked to state legislature and DOT about getting these projects prioritized. He also said that infrastructure isn’t built before the population rises, it’s built after the growth exceeds what the infrastructure can handle.

Four candidates qualified to run for the three seats up this year on the Sopchoppy City Commission: Nathan Lewis, Robert Pilkington, Leonard Tartt and Mary Katherine Westmark.

Lewis is a former longtime city commissioner; Pilkington is a Realtor with Coast and Country Realty; Tartt was a former city commissioner who took over as the city’s Public Works Director and recently retired; Westmark was an educator and one of the owners of the former Bay Leaf Market in Crawfordville.
Voters will select the candidate they’d like to see on the city commission the most, and the top three vote-getters will win the available seats.
The incumbents who are stepping down are Mayor Glenn Rudd, Vice Mayor Roger McKenzie, and Michele Harden.
Seats held by commissioners Lara Edwards and Fred McClendon will be on the ballot in 2026.

Sopchoppy City Commissioners debated whether or not to waive the recently increased water connection fee for a local family, who said the $10,000 rate presented a hardship.

The issue came before city commissioners at their meeting on Monday, July 15.
The family members said they had recently been quoted earlier in the year for the hookup fee being $1,900, which was the price before the rate increase to $10,000.
The family’s pump on a well had recently gone out, so they needed their house to be connected to the water system but felt that because the house had been there for 40 years and they had already been quoted for $1,900, they shouldn’t have to pay the increased rate.
City commissioners generally agreed with the sentiment, but audience members raised the point that if a waiver is given here, there needs to be specific criteria codified so there’s a rule to stick to when more people come to them with similar issues.
After some deliberation, the city commissioners unanimously decided to let the residents pay the original fee they had been quoted, so long as they filled out all the necessary paperwork once criteria had been codified by the city attorney and city commissioners.
In other matters befor the city commission:

• Representatives from Discover Sopchoppy were also present at the meeting to ask the city commissioners if they would like the group to spearhead efforts to put an information kiosk at the trailhead near where Mom’s Restaurant used to be, and the commissioners supported the idea.
• The city commissioners unanimously voted to sponsor the Wakulla Softball Association after some representatives attended the meeting to ask for their support.
• Plans for the new Well 7 are coming along, with a design that allows for much easier repair and inspection by incorporating multiple overflow tanks and booster pumps.

The Wakulla Sun’s second political forum featured candidates for superintendent of schools and two school board seats discussing a variety of issues, including employee retention and the rising cost of health insurance.

The forum was held at the Wakulla County Public Library on Tuesday, July 16. (The final forum, with candidates for the contested county commission seat, incumbent Mike Kemp and challenger Valerie Russell, will be held at the library on July 30.)
The candidates Rick Myhre, Matt Payne, and Ricky Strickland are vying to replace Bobby Pearce, who is retiring, as superintendent of schools.
In his introduction, Myhre expressed that the safety of students is of utmost importance to him, as well as ensuring that the content in the classrooms is as good as it can be. He also mentioned how important it is to take care of teachers and staff so that they can serve the students as best they can. Myhre said he thinks God has given him talents that allow him to give back to the community, and he just wants to put those to work to make the students lives better.
Payne, who is 26, stated that his reason for running despite being so young is teachers are leaving Wakulla County due to inadequate compensation, which has created a teacher shortage. He also said teachers and staff leaving in large numbersis degrading the quality of education in the classroom, and that a culture change is necessary to correct these issues.
“At my young age, I think it’s gonna take my career to get us back to where we need to be.”
Strickland said he wants to make sure the district’s resources are used in the best way possible to support staff and students. He also brought up that teachers aren’t getting all the support that they need, such as a quality benefits package, to make sure they want to stay in Wakulla County. Strickland said that the district needs to be more transparent about what they’re doing, so that trust can be built between the district and the community.
The first question was on the rising healthcare premiums and what the candidates plan to do to decrease the cost of health insurance for teachers.
Payne said his plan was to cut unnecessary administrative positions so that there’d be more money freed up to contribute to the health insurance.
“For me, that means we gotta look at administrators in that district office up there that has become very top-heavy and overstaffed,” Payne said.
He said his plan is based around saving as much money as possible to put toward employee compensation and the contribution that the district makes to employee health insurance.
Strickland said that teacher benefits and educational finance have been an issue in Wakulla for years.
“I could not afford to have full-coverage insurance as a classroom teacher and be able to pay my bills,” Strickland said. “It pushed me out of the classroom, sadly.”
He stressed that collective action was important to getting better funding and better rates, whether that’s bargaining with the insurance companies or lawmakers at the Capitol, and that Wakulla needs a superintendent who will stand with those who are trying to take collective action to help the school district and the community. Strickland also said he wants to make a commitment to increase the contribution the school district makes to employee health insurance to be in line with the other community agencies such as the sheriff’s office.
Myhre said all Americans need to recognize that Obamacare has been a disaster and that the best way to fix it is to vote Republican in the fall. He mentioned that the cost of healthcare has risen across the U.S. and has increased faster for the district than the budget has, making it more expensive on the teachers and staff. He also said the district needs to do more research and find out if other providers might have better plans or better prices, and that money should be allocated from the budget to contribute more to the employee health insurance.
The next question was along those same lines, asking the candidates if they’d commit to hiring new negotiators for the health insurance.
Strickland expressed that it isn’t the negotiators that make health insurance costs so high, as most agencies in surrounding counties have similar insurance prices, it’s that the district doesn’t contribute enough to the cost of insurance and benefits package, and that the budget needs to be examined to put more money towards those contributions.
Myhre said he would want to work with the school board on what they want to see in a negotiator and then collaboratively pick someone who best serves the school district and the teachers.
Payne said he won’t promise anything, but he thinks that finding new negotiators should always be considered, because it’s the job of the superintendent and school board to do what’s best for the staff and the students, and if finding a new negotiator will help reduce costs then it should be done.
The candidates were also asked about teacher raises and how they’d increase veteran teacher salary to better retain experienced teachers.
Myhre said because the starting teacher pay is still not at the state-mandated threshold of $47,500, money cannot be put towards raises for other teachers who might have been there longer.
“Until we get there, our hands are tied,” Myhre said, “But I think our hands are about to be untied very soon.”
Payne made the point that he’s the only candidate currently living on teacher salary, which is $45,500 – some $2,000 below what the state mandates. Payne also mentioned that Gov. DeSantis signed a $1.25 billion allocation to raise teacher salaries, and that he wants to see 100% of Wakulla’s share of that money go to the teachers, including going to veteran teachers once everyone is making the required amount.
Strickland said that once the county meets the required amount, money should absolutely be invested into the salaries of veteran teachers, so they’ll stay here in the county. He also said that the district needs those veteran teachers to both educate the students and help guide the new teachers through the early years of their career, so retaining them is paramount.
The next question was about what initiatives the candidates would introduce to attract and retain qualified teachers in Wakulla County.
Payne said that retaining teachers starts with their pay, their insurance, and having an administration that has their back. He says he wants to start that culture at the top, so that teachers know and trust that the administration in the county is actively supporting them.
Strickland said that pay and benefits are very important, but the support teachers receive is just as important. He addded that when he was an elementary school teacher, he felt like the administration and principal were very supportive of him, but that not every teacher felt the same way, and that needs to change.
Myhre said that Wakulla wasn’t the only county facing a recruitment or retention problem, but that still there was room for improvement. He added Wakulla County has a problem with its image, and that if the district were to highlight the work that the teachers are doing in the classroom it could bring people into the county.
The candidates were then asked about their stance on expanding technical and career programs, and which programs they would add.
Strickland said that the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the district are already training hundreds of students and getting them certifications that they can use later in life. He said that these programs should be expanded in the middle schools as well as the high school, especially through grants like Triumph Gulf Coast which partially funded the new CTE building at Wakulla High.
Myhre spoke about a needs assessment that every district goes through, where the job needs are assessed and grants are awarded to each county based on how well their programs help fill the needs of their community. He mentioned Wakulla High has a variety of different programs which are often hard to find in smaller counties around the state.
Payne said that the CTE building behind the high school is immaculate, and that these programs are often what keeps some students coming to school. He spoke on how he grew up in a “blue-collar world,” and how for many students college isn’t something that interests them, so these CTE programs give them the skills and knowledge necessary to find a place in the workforce after high school. He also mentioned that he wanted to look into adding plumbing and masonry programs to the high school because of all the new construction in the county and the jobs that would open up.
The candidates were also asked about how they’d ensure that parents and community members had a voice in making the decisions that affect education.
Myhre said that while the district and the schools are there for the kids, the parents and community was there for them before they were going to school, so they have to have a voice in the decision, especially the parents of students. He also said that he would like to bring God back into schools, and that he wasn’t forcing it on anyone, but that parents should be able to decide if that’s part of their child’s education or not, without pushing it on anyone.
Payne said that to him, being open and having discussions is incredibly important, and that if anyone had an issue with a policy or some way he was trying to run things, they should come talk to him about it directly. He said that it is vitally important that the community be able to come together and have discussions to decide things, and that he would even be willing to assist efforts to change larger laws such as at the state level if that’s what was deemed best.
Strickland said that we are lucky to live in a state where parents get some control over the content in classrooms, due in part to the parental bill of rights. He also said that he would like to see quarterly workshops with the community to discuss policies that are in place or could be in place, so that lengthy conversations can happen to better work out these issues.
For the last question, each candidate was asked about their long-term plans for the school district.
Payne said that he grew up in Wakulla County, he wants to live here all his life, and he wants to restore the schools back to where they were when he attended, not with inflated graduation rates as he put it, but where students are given a quality education and opportunities to be successful out in the world.
Strickland said that his vision is for qualified teachers who are supported by administrators working to give their students the best education possible. He also talked about how there needs to be more transparency at the district office, particularly around the budget and making it easier to understand, so that everyone can know exactly what their tax dollars are accomplishing.
Myhre said that he sees a future where parents have more choice over where their child goes to school, and because of that he wants to create opportunities to market Wakulla and its school as a place where parents feel their child is best served.

SCHOOL BOARD

The candidates for school board are, for District 4, incumbent Josh Brown and challenger Camden Smit; and for District 2, Angie Nichols and June Davis.
Brown is a Wakulla native and a local business owner. He has two children who are enrolled in Wakulla County Schools.
Smit is running as someone who has an education background, experience working in the school district, and as a parent of students currently attending school in Wakulla County.
Nichols has 22 years of teaching experience both in Wakulla and nearby counties. She said that the extreme insurance rates and stagnant pay drove her from the county, though she wants to return as a school board member.
Davis has been living in Wakulla County since 2009, and has been volunteering and helping out around the county since then. She said her son is going into 11th grade this fall, and she wants to step up from being a volunteer parent to help keep the school district strong and successful.
The first question was about health insurance and plans for reducing health care costs.
Smit said after doing some research, she found the contract that the school system has with Capital Health Plan isn’t the root of the increased costs, it’s the contribution the county makes that’s driving the price up. She specifically stated Florida Virtual School pays for 80% of the cost of employees health insurance, while Wakulla County only pays 40%, and the school board members need to advocate for their employees and allocate more funds in the budget to cover health insurance.
Nichols said that one of her biggest concerns is health insurance, not just for teachers but for all county employees. She went on to say that because the health insurance contributions are so low, employees are leaving to seek employment elsewhere, leading to a worse shortage of teachers and other staff than there would be otherwise. She also brought up that the district budget is very confusing, and makes it incredibly difficult for anyone who isn’t an accountant to understand it. She promised to work on making the budget easier to understand so that finding money to put towards the health insurance might be easier.
Davis admitted that she can’t answer every question about the budget and future plans, but she promised that she will connect with the superintendent and other members of the board, so that she can learn how best to support the students and staff.
Brown explained that the school system is mandated by the governor to increase the base salary for teachers to $47,500, and over the last four years the school board’s main goal has been to get salaries up to that point before any more money is put towards contributions or other raises. Brown also stated he was confident that the salaries would reach the state required level this year, but that the money was still limited and any changes have to be made in steps.
Candidates were then asked about teacher raises, and Nichols said that once the new teachers were making $47,500, veteran teachers need to be given raises in order to retain them. She said that she was one of the veteran teachers who had to leave the county, and that by raising the salary not only could those experienced teachers be incentivized to stay, other teachers could be brought back. She also said that she supports having more workshops and working to find money anywhere possible to put toward making Wakulla a district everyone wants to work in.
Davis stated that it was necessary for the school board and superintendent to come together and discuss the budget, so that teachers can be compensated fairly and future steps up can be planned.
Brown said that either the school district can make more money or spend less in order to find the money to put towards these raises. He mentioned as well that Wakulla is going to get $385,000 from the state this year, 100% of which will go to teachers, and the other money the district had saved is also going to be put towards teachers and staff.
Smit said that the current pay scale needs to be revamped, as it doesn’t adequately compensate veteran teachers. She said that if that doesn’t happen, veteran teachers are going to continue to leave for other jobs.
The candidates were then asked whether they would support a one-mill tax increase to raise additional funds for teacher salaries.
Davis said that she would support that additional millage if it were possible to implement.
Brown stated that he would support such an increase only if it were the only possible option left to raise those salaries. He said he wasn’t sure that everything’s been done to find the needed money, and until taxpayers can be certain that every other option has been exhausted they shouldn’t have to pay any more in taxes.
Smit explained she had done some research and found that Wakulla is comparable to nearby counties in terms of millage rates, and that she would not want to raise that rate unless it was absolutely necessary.
Nichols was staunchly opposed to a tax increase, saying prices and taxes are already high enough. She said she believed that there was more money somewhere, and that it could be found with a little more digging, rather than by simply raising taxes.
The candidates were asked about their top priorities if elected.
Brown said that his biggest goal was getting the base teacher pay to $47,500, but that he also wanted to make sure that teachers are getting the respect they deserve. He further explained that if the money was there, he would like to see a public relations position created, but that wouldn’t happen until the teachers were being paid at least the state required amount.
Smit stated that dealing with the insurance contributions and revamping the pay scale are her biggest concerns, but she also wanted to help make the school district more transparent and help boost public relations.
Nichols said she wanted to keep the school system accountable, make the budget easier to understand, and to make the schools as safe as possible. She explained that this would include things like mental health resources, substance abuse awareness, and partnering with other organizations to meet these goals.
Davis said her biggest priority was supporting the children, staff, and parents, but making sure teachers are being paid well is also very important. She also talked about how she would like the district to focus on communication, especially with the parents in the community.
The final question was about how the candidates plan to involve parents in the educational decision making process.
Smit said that it all goes back to educational choice with parents deciding where to send their children to school, so communication with parents and the community is paramount so that parents are confident that public schools are the best place for their children.
Nichols expressed that the district need to advertise itself as a great place with great programs and teachers, so it draws the public back to the school system, and that more collaborative workshops should be incorporated to make sure parents get a say in what happens.
Davis said communication, transparency, directly talking with parents, and more efficient ways of distributing information are vitally important to the future of the district.
Brown said he’s of the opinion that Wakulla is the best school district in the area, and that marketing is key to ensuring people know everything the district has to offer. He said that while he always was receptive to the community, having someone whose job it is to deal with community outreach would make all of that easier. He further explained that the district does need to make it easier for parents and community members to find relevant information, as currently it can be a struggle to find information online.

By LEGION TAYLOR
Reporter

The first of three political forums was held last week, with candidates for property appraiser and sheriff coming out to answer questions about themselves and their campaigns.

The forum, sponsored by The Wakulla Sun, was held Tuesday, July 9 at the public library.
The candidates for property appraiser are incumbent Ed Brimner and former Property Appraiser Donnie Sparkman.
When asked why he was coming out of retirement, Sparkman listed a few reasons. One of those reasons, he says, was the $300 million error in the tax roll.
“I’ve never seen in my 20-some years (working in the property appraiser’s office) a mistake as large as was made.” Sparkman said.
He also mentioned the letters that the Department of Revenue issued in 2022 and 2023, which found “selective reappraisal” – otherwise known as sales chasing, where properties that have been sold have their values changed significantly, while other unsold properties don’t have the same criteria applied to them.
Sparkman said while he was property appraiser he never had these same issues, and that by getting a few more people to look over the tax rolls these mistakes could be prevented.
Brimner responded, stating that the reason these mistakes happened is because there wasn’t a system in place to check over every single item. He also added that the $300 million error was caught quick enough that the county was able to adjust its budget and didn’t actually cost any money, it was just very inconvenient and embarrassing for him and his office.
“I assure you there are multiple layers of oversight to prevent it from happening again,” Brimner said. “No single person now will be able to make a change without someone else being part of the process.”
Brimner’s statement on the DOR letters is on page 4. (It was released after the Sun’s deadline last week and so was not in the July 11 newspaper.)
Brad Harvey, who embezzled more than $200,000 from the property appraiser’s office and was sent to state prison for 12 1/2 years, was brought up at the forum. Sparkman said that Harvey was already working at the Property Appraiser’s Office before Sparkman was elected, and that the tax roll he was producing was satisfactory both due to his experience and the experience of the staff who worked alongside him in the office.
“What he was doing…He wasn’t doing it while I was property appraiser,” Sparkman said. “I know that.”
Brimner said that while Sparkman didn’t hire Harvey, he did help get him promoted and overlooked issues prior to Harvey’s election to property appraiser that could have shown something was up.
“I think that it was the culture of the office that bred Mr. Harvey… When he became the property appraiser he just continued the same culture,” Brimner said. “The office is more than just putting out tax rolls, the office is protecting the money of the citizens of Wakulla County.”
Brimner was asked about a contract his office had entered into with Vision, a Computer Assessment Mass Appraisal system (CAMA), which had to be abandoned in favor of a contract with GSA, another software company. Brimner said that he wanted field appraisers to be able to take an iPad into the field, but when contractors from Vision were supposed to come in and convert the old system into the new, they were unable to, so that contract had to be abandoned and a new one entered into. Brimner said that the conversion cost the county $50,000, but it was well worth it.
“I think you were advised by qualified employees and personnel not to go to that first system,” Sparkman responded. “Two other counties, I think, in the state tried and were not able to convert… If other counties’ property appraiser’s offices were having problems with them, you don’t want to go there.”
Brimner said he was advised to go with GSA at first, but that at the time GSA didn’t have a field appraiser app that he was looking for.
“There were multiple counties in Florida that had used Vision, they just hadn’t made the transition from the old CAMA system we were using,” Brimner said.
The candidates were also asked about any specific initiatives they had in mind to educate property owners about their rights.
Brimner discussed his efforts to reach out to the public, particularly about his efforts to educate homeowners about their eligibility for homestead exemptions, which reduce the amount that homeowners pay in property taxes. He added that his office was reaching out to homeowners directly as well as holding events to achieve this end.
Sparkman talked about how he used to write articles for local publications, as well as communicating with and educating Realtors associations as well as homeowners.

SHERIFF’S RACE

The candidates for Sheriff are Incumbent Jared Miller and Army Reyes.
Sheriff Miller has been in Law enforcement since 1993, and he listed some accomplishments such as getting Wakulla County accredited before many other rural counties in Florida.
Reyes was a medic in the military, before becoming a neurosurgical physicians assistant for a while, and then transitioned into a career in law enforcement in 2000 in New York state.
After introductions, Reyes was asked about comments he had made at a previous event about having deputies trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), the questions involved things like whether or not deputies would be removed from their positions if they did not pass EMT school, and if a medical director position would be added to supervise the new EMT deputies. Reyes stated that he wouldn’t fire deputies if they could not pass EMT school, but that having deputies trained to render basic life support is a necessity. Reyes also said that he would be giving part of his salary back to pay for the improved training, and it wouldn’t cost the deputies anything.
Sheriff Miller responded that the EMT training would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and asked if the EMT deputies would respond to crime scenes by giving medical aid first or by responding to the crime itself as the deputies do now. Miller also brought up that having deputies trained to render medical aid would disrupt the work of the county’s Fire Rescue department.
“You stated in the last debate that New York does that (train deputies as EMTs), we’ve contacted New York, we’ve got your personnel file, and they do not do that, that’s not true, none of them are EMT certified,” Miller said.
Reyes fired back by saying that he understands the cost of EMT training, but that not everyone would be going through the training and he would be covering the brunt of it by giving his salary back.
“My biggest fear is you’ve got the southern area of Crawfordville, St. Marks, Panacea, Sopchoppy, where you’ve got an aging population,” Reyes said.
Miller was asked about deputies who had been given Giglio memos, which is where the state attorney has determined that a particular officer has a history of lying and is no longer a reliable witness in court. In particular, one deputy had been lying about serving in the military, as well as about other things while under oath, and he was fired from the sheriff’s office. Another deputy, who was the subject of an internal affairs investigation for questionable traffic stops, was let go.
Reyes brought up that another deputy at the sheriff’s office had been fired for “inappropriate dealings with a minor” which caused Miller to immediately fire back.
“Yeah, we put ‘em in jail. What do you want me to do?” Miller says, “He’s arrested and in jail, still.”
“That was under your watch,” Reyes said. “He should have been vetted better.”
Miller brought up that a few donations to Reyes’ campaign were from people who were either charged or convicted of a crime, including a small donation from a man facing murder charges in Wakulla. Reyes responded that he took those donations in good faith, as neither of those people had been convicted with a crime at the time they donated to his campaign. “I am not a judge, I am not a jury,” Reyes said.
Reyes was then asked about the difference between managing sworn-in officers and civilian staff at the sheriff’s office. He commended the current staff at the sheriff’s office, but admitted he didn’t know who works for the sheriff’s office, and he doesn’t know the number of deputies, civilian staff, or administrative staff.
Miller countered that Reyes has been trying to run for sheriff since 2016, and that during the time since then he should have done research to know these details so that he’s better prepared for the job.
Miller was asked about strategies to retain deputies, and he brought up that Wakulla is a fiscally constrained county according to Florida law. What this means is that a 1 mill tax levy brings in less than $5 million in tax revenue. Miller noted that it makes hiring and retaining deputies more difficult.
Reyes said he believed the sheriff’s office was a “mushroom department” – top heavy with overpaid brass – which was the root of some of the financial issues. He also mentioned that Sheriff Miller had previously said the county was “cash-strapped” at the Palaver Tree candidate forums.
Reyes was then asked about initiatives to build trust between the community and the sheriff’s department. He talked about the rate of growth in Wakulla, citing the hundreds of building permits that had been approved in the county over the last couple of years.
“We need to be able to actually talk to the public,” Reyes said. “One person at a time, one problem at a time.”
Miller said when he took office in 2016 there was very little relationship between the sheriff’s office and the community, and that he and his staff have worked to build up that relationship.
“If you look, I’m at every event on every weekend, every night, I’m somewhere at an event,” Miller said. “Community engagement is what keeps us going in Wakulla County.”
Miller was asked about strategies for dealing with the drug epidemic, and he talked about the multijurisdictional drug task force which combines law enforcement agencies from around the region to better handle drug problems both in Wakulla and in other counties.
Reyes said that proactive policing is the best way to fight the drug problems in Wakulla, but that the sheriff’s office doesn’t have the manpower to do that adequately just yet. Reyes also brought up that he has a Drug Enforcement Administration certification from an introductory course.
Miller refuted these claims by stating that he and other officers go through similar training every week.
“That little three-hour certificate you’ve got, I’ve got 200 of them,” Miller countered.
Reyes was asked about the efforts he would take to handle mental health crises that his deputies encounter in the field, and he deferred to Miller, asking what Miller’s deputies do when they respond to an individual in crisis, or if the deputies just Baker Act them, which means taking them to a mental health facility to be assessed to see if they’re a danger to themselves or others.
Miller explained the contract his office has with Northwest Florida Health and with the Apalachee Center, which give the deputies a hotline they can call to get the distressed persons in contact with a trained mental health professional immediately, without needing to Baker Act them.
Miller was also asked about the youth outreach programs that his office participates in, and he discussed the Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence (LEAD) that effectively replaces DARE and SAVE to educate elementary school students about the dangers of drugs, as well as the Citizen’s Academy, the Explorer’s program, and the Teen Driver Challenge.
Reyes commended the sheriff’s office on its outreach programs, and stated that he would add a partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well as continuing existing programs.
When asked about strategies for crime prevention, Reyes said that the most important thing is to get more deputies out on the road.
Miller responded by saying that he’s done his best to get as many deputies on the road as possible, but because Wakulla is fiscally constrained, it’s difficult to find the money to pay for additional deputies.
“We’re doing the best we can with what we have,” Miller said.
Miller was asked about efforts to protect the schools, and he noted the sheriff’s department has provided for more deputies as School Resource Officers and the school board-funded Guardians to be put in every school to better protect students and staff.
Reyes said he liked the Guardian program and that every school has an SRO, and that he wants to work with the schools to get a grant for electronic passes and locks so that the front doors are the only ways into the schools.

Thank you for reaching out to this office concerning post-roll analyses. As you noted, the 2021 analyses showed this office met all standards.

The 2022 analyses showed a larger increase in reported market values of recently sold properties than increases in properties that were not sold in 2022. This was followed in 2023 by an even larger spread in these values. These statistics were correct and correlated with changes this office was aware of and is addressing. For the short-term, there will be statistical anomalies as we transition from chasing statistics and focus on correctly assessing Wakulla County Properties.
A little background is necessary. When I was elected, I found garbage bags full of shredded materials. The prior property appraiser, Mr. Brad Harvey, and other employees spent the weekend prior to his arrest destroying evidence that might have been used by law enforcement. This action deprived me of this office’s historical actions and required me to begin my term from ground zero. In addition, the prior chief appraiser retired, the chief tax roll officer quit, the prior mapping specialist sued to overturn the election, and employees actively challenged every action taken by me. My first year was spent building the infrastructure of an office and few changes were made in 2021 assessments, so statistics indicated everything was good. I began making correct assessments in 2022 and statistical anomalies began to show up.
Artificially low assessments for one property means another citizen must pay more to make up the difference. The practice of giving certain citizens unfair tax advantages hurts our most vulnerable citizens more than those who can afford to pay their fair share of taxes. This office is tasked with determining the market value of all Wakulla County Properties. I will continue to pursue accurate market values in accordance with state statutes. Some unfair assessments I found follows:
In 2012, a property sold for $1,008,400. This sale price is a good indication of market value. Mr. Donnie Sparkman assigned this property a market value of $203,682; or 20% of the purchase price. By 2020, Mr. Sparkman, followed by Mr. Harvey, had increased the market value of this property $220,732, a mere 8% increase despite inflation and increases in overall values throughout Wakulla County. Mr. Sparkman and Mr. Harvey had neglected to update property characteristics and costs over the years, forcing commissioners and school board members to increase the tax rates to raise the funds necessary to operate the county government and schools. By 2023, my office increased the market value to $558,032, a 153% increase from 2020.
In 2013, another much smaller property sold for $370,000. Again, this sale price is a good indication of market value. The property appraiser’s office assigned this property a market value of $195,112; or 53% of the purchase price. In 2020, the reported market value of this property decreased to $187,351—a decrease despite inflation and increases in overall values throughout Wakulla County. Again, Mr. Sparkman and Mr. Harvey had neglected to update the property’s characteristics and costs over the years. By 2023, my office increased the market value to $311,361, a 66% increase from 2020.
Other examples of undervalued properties from prior administrations are:
In 2012, a property sold for $650,000 and Mr. Sparkman assessed it at $259,855. In 2020, the market value was reported as $329,890. By 2023, my office increased the market value to $533,486.
In 2016, a property sold for $1,969,500 and Mr. Sparkman assessed it for $549,001. By 2023, my office increased the market value to $1,411,962.
There have been no Value Adjustment challenges to any of these 2023 values. The lack of Value Adjustment Board challenges indicates our values are correct and these property owners knew they were getting very advantageous assessments.
An recent example from my office on how we access property highlights the difference between Mr. Sparkman and me. A property that sold in 2023 for $2,129,700 was I assessed it at $1,632,834. This value subtracted out tangible personal property (TPP) from the sale as TPP is assessed separately.
The Florida Department of Revenue is well aware of the myriad of changes we are making and that these changes will result in honest and impartial assessments. They know our field evaluators have received updated training and are visiting every property in Wakulla County to update property characteristics. This will take about 3 more years to complete.
I knew this office had many problems when I was elected. I also knew it would take more than a year to implement the changes required to correct errors made over the last couple of decades. We are making progress and this year’s post-roll analysis will reflect these improvements. Correctly assessing all properties allows our commissioners and school board to lower the millage rate on all properties and everyone pays their fair share of taxes required to operate this county. I remain committed to Honest and Impartial Assessments.
Again, thank you for allowing me to address these analyses.
Sincerely,
Ed Brimner, CFA

Ed Brimner is Wakulla County Property Appraiser and a candidate for re-election.

Editor’s Note: Candidate Donnie Sparkman was offered an opportunity to respond but has yet to send a response.

A stained glass window made by local artists Lou and Margy Callaghan was recently installed in the library at Riversink Elementary School.
Margy Callaghan is a retired teacher who worked at Riversink for nine years, starting when the school opened in 2008, and has been making stained glass art alongside her husband Lou for 45 years.
As part of a fundraiser for the school, she had made and donated a small stained glass window, which had been won by the school’s principal at the time, Jackie High. Until Mrs. High retired, that window was displayed in the library.
When Mrs. High retired, she took the window home with her, which sparked plans between Callaghan and Riversink Librarian Katie Hart to get a full sized stained glass window installed.
“Ever since then I wanted something else back up there.” Hart says. “I wanted something like that, the whole window.”
“She bugged me for 10 years to do this window,” says Margy Callaghan. “Finally, we were done with all of our projects, and I said ‘I think it’s time that we get that window done.’”
They eventually landed on the final design, which features an otter, the school’s mascot, reading a book to encourage students to read.
It also incorporates cattails, which commonly grow along bodies of water and are growing out in front of the school. The window was made by the Callaghans in about two weeks, and was installed last week.
The stained glass window is made by cutting pieces of colored glass out of a larger sheet, and then fitting them into a cohesive design and sealing the panels together with lead.
“It’s the traditional leaded stained glass process,” says Lou Callaghan. “Which goes back a thousand years, two thousand years, actually. Every piece is individual.”
Before moving to Wakulla, the Callaghans lived in Tallahassee and St. Augustine, where they did private work, as well as pieces for storefronts, restaurants, and churches.
“We have windows really all over the world,” Margy Callaghan says. “We had a stained glass studio for 22 years in St. Augustine, and then we decided to get real jobs and I started teaching and he started building.”

Clayton Sembler, President of CDS Manufacturing, the company looking into buying the old refinery site in St. Marks, was present at last week’s St. Marks City Commission meeting to discuss the plans for the land they’re in negotiations to buy.

Sembler said that while his company provides a variety of services and supplies dozens of products to different clients at their main site in Gretna, the site in St. Marks would only be producing three of those products.
He stated that the reason St. Marks was selected is so that the company can manufacture products and then sell them to buyers in places such as the Keys, by loading those products on a barge. Their current plant isn’t close enough to the water to do this, and that access would open up a lot more business for his company.
Sembler also wanted to add that if any concerned citizen wants to take a tour of the current facility to see what exactly is coming to St. Marks, they should reach out and contact him or the company vice president, and schedule a tour.
Sembler said that someone had recently trespassed onto CDS’ manufacturing site, and had taken photos and video of the operations, which caused legal trouble due to the company’s nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements that it has with many of its clients.
All city commissioners were present at the meeting on Thursday, June 13, including the newly appointed Tim Lawrence, who was appointed on May 15 to replace former Mayor Paul Sheddan, who resigned from the city commission and filed a lawsuit against his fellow commissioners for defamation. (That lawsuit is still pending.)
In other matters:

• Shadrach Hines of St. Marks Waterfronts gave an update on plans for the Fourth of July celebration, noting that half of the necessary $8,000 for fireworks had been raised.
  Anyone who wishes to make a donation can go to Bo Lynn’s in St. Marks to pick up a donation form.
• A resolution concerning the mutual aid agreement between the city and the state was drafted, due to a change in legislation at the state level which puts pressure on city governments to enter into mutual aid agreements with the state government, as opposed to just the county government.
  This aid primarily would be needed in times of natural disasters, such as in the aftermath of a hurricane.
  City commissioners were unsure of what the mutual side of the aid was, as St. Marks doesn’t have much equipment that could be used in an emergency, meaning the city would likely be receiving much more aid than it could give.
  And city commissioners also expressed concerns about the vague language of the resolution as it didn’t say whether or not the city would need to pay those who aided them back, or how it would change their current agreement with the county government.
  Mayor Steve Remke asked City Manager Zoe Mansfield if she could get the representative who reached out about the agreement to be present at the next regular meeting, and Mansfield said she could.
• Mansfield also brought up that the city had recently run an ad in the paper looking for bids to change some of the water lines in the city, as some of them are old and use materials such as asbestos. She noted that the money to replace the lines is coming from a grant, and the city won’t have to pay for the update.

By LEGION TAYLOR
Reporter

The new Career and Technical Education (CTE) building at Wakulla High School is nearing completion, and is expected to be ready for the start of school in August. Beginning to end, the entire facility took just one year to complete, which is faster than expected.

“We just got a really jam-up guy who’s runnning the show here” says Mike Barwick, Executive Director of Facilities for Wakulla county Schools, “and he got it done in a year.”
The new building, which has been constructed behind the high school, is designed to house most of the existing CTE programs at the high school, such as the Medical Academy, Engineering Academy, the Aerospace program, and Web Development, and will also create room for two new programs, Diesel Mechanics and Agriculture/Forestry. Programs such as Welding and Carpentry are going to stay in their current classrooms for now, until the rest of the planned construction on the front side of the building has been completed.
This construction cost just over $20 million, but the school system didn’t have to fund most of it, as a grant from Triumph Gulf Coast covered most of the construction cost. The School Board had to cover $1 million of the cost up front, and has committed to spending another $18 million on the CTE programs at the high school from now until the grant period ends on Dec. 31, 2033.
Additionally, the grant requires students at Wakulla High to receive a total of 7,450 certificates from the various programs before the end of the grant period.
“We anticipate our students will earn 700-800 certifications per year,” said Priscilla Colvin, executive director of academics for Wakulla County Schools.
The rooms will be outfitted with state of the art equipment through a Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant, to make sure the students have everything they need to succeed.
Most notably, the Phlebotomy program, which teaches students how to effectively draw blood in a medical setting, will be getting a room with partitioned areas that can be used to perform blood draws. The floors in those areas will be the same material that’s used in hospitals to make cleaning up spilled blood much easier, and will allow the students to practice drawing blood in a more professional setting.
As well as being fitted with new furniture and equipment, the classrooms in the new building are much larger than those that many of the programs are housed in now. Programs such as Aerospace and the Engineering Academy are getting much more spacious classrooms and storage areas, so that they aren’t nearly as cramped, and have much more freedom with what the classes can do.
“Each one of these rooms is almost bigger than any other room that exists over there” – referring to the old high school, said Rick Myhre, Director of Instructional Data for Wakulla County Schools. “If we just had one of these over there, it would be a game changer, and there’s so many of them.”
The CTE building is also going to have an outdoor classroom area, which is available for use to any class who needs it.
This is the first new building to be constructed, but the construction won’t stop there.
The oldest wing of the high school, which currently houses the front offices, as well as the English Hallway, ROTC program, Auditorium, and Gym, is planned to be demolished in the next couple of years, to be replaced with a larger building that will better accommodate a growing population of students.