Editorial Archive

Eight words and at least two months of argument that revealed political fissures, real or imagined, between the north and south ends of Santa Rosa County and pitted science against business might have come to an end.

It is anticipated that the county commission will vote 5-0 during a Feb. 25, 2021 meeting to drop a proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan that would have allowed more or new borrow pit mining above a protected drinking water reservoir that serves tens of thousands of people.

If you have not seen the news, the East Milton Wellfield Protection issue is about how three commissioners (Bob Cole, Sam Parker and James Calkins) voted to remove “existing” water protection rights for the citizens of South Santa Rosa and East Milton.

Let me repeat that, remove an “existing” water protection right.

Clock-watching may prove counterproductive.

Unlike the Santa Rosa Board of County Commission meetings – one of which recently ran over six hours – the local legislators run on a tight schedule. When they call a meeting from 5:30 to 7, they mean it as more than a dozen constituents discovered last week.

Over the past several months, Santa Rosa’s politics have been inflamed by heated debates concerning the county’s water supply.

The arguments largely concern local developers and their practice of digging sand. The practice leaves large holes or “borrow pits” that many experts say are hazardous to our underlying water sources.

There are clearly two halves to Santa Rosa County, with a lot of open land in between along with a few homes and businesses.

There is south Santa Rosa County, known for its beautiful beaches and vibrant tourism, as well as being a “bedroom community” for about 70,000 residents. North Santa Rosa has more agriculture, history and a beautiful tannin-stained, spring fed river winding through it.

We hope Holley Navarre Water System will get their act together and behave like a professional board that controls one of the largest budgets in the county. We wish successful business owners, or at least people with board experience, would seek to become part of the board for no other reason than to serve their community and make Holley Navarre Water System the best water provider in the area. They have top-notch employees who deserve top-notch leadership. Up to now, they have only known leadership that is an embarrassment to the community by people who make money off the system.

Today Time Magazine named four journalists and a newspaper as its 2018 Person of the Year for what the magazine said was standing up for the truth in the face of persecution and violence.

What blessings Bush 43 and British Brian Mulroney’s eulogies of Pres. Bush 41. The latter ended with “There are wooden ships, There are sailing ships, There are ships that sail the sea, But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be”

The District 4 Master Plan has been revealed, and it is full of some great ideas: a plan for phasing in more walkability, new downtown friendly land development codes and lots of green space. 

Hurricane Michael had eyes on the northern Gulf Coast before it even entered the Gulf of Mexico. And for a while, Navarre was in the cross-hairs of the impending landfall. We watched and waited. Then we nervously watched and waited. All the while the forecasters were predicting what seemed like an impossible turn to the east. Navarre didn’t let its guard down.