Opinion Archive

Tourists visit Navarre Beach to enjoy the beautiful white sand and clear Gulf of Mexico waters. And, why wouldn’t they? Navarre Beach in consecutive months was named one of Florida’s top 5 white sand beaches by Conde’ Nast Traveler and the No. 25 beach in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.

Easter is Sunday, April 20. Next week we will have a listing of all of the Easter activities that are “happening” around town.

I’ve got one question. Who is responsible for the timing of the traffic lights? Whoever it is needs to be fired or find another company that is able to adjust the timing. It took me 30 minutes to travel 1 mile through Navarre the last 2 nights.

There is never a dull moment in Navarre or Navarre Beach. Our paper is full of courthouse drama – which is different from courtroom drama. Included is information on your water rates as compared to our neighbors, the Blue Angels, incorporation information, the Highway 87 project delay, sentencing, fatal crash, military voters, fire department, traffic lights and a land purchase at Hidden Creek Golf Course. Not to mention all the news you can use on the ramifications of Santa Rosa County winning the lawsuit versus the Navarre Beach Leaseholders on whether or not the land and improvements is taxable. We have an entire editorial on that subject.

I wholeheartedly support repairing and/or replacing the Navarre Park boardwalk. I also strongly support building a lighted multi-use path that would connect the area from the intersection of 98 and Alpine Drive all the way to the Best Western. Imagine how much increased sales tax would be collected if folks staying at St. Rosa Sound RV Park or either of the two hotels could safely walk or bicycle to any of the more than 30 businesses in that area.

The Florida Supreme Court voted unanimously last week to uphold a lower court’s ruling that Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown was within his powers to levy taxes against leased property and improvements on Navarre Beach, something Brown had been doing since 2001.

Navarre Beach is finally getting some of the recognition it deserves. We received the TripAdvisor® press release on press day that Navarre Beach was named the No. 25 beach in the Travelers’ Choice™ Awards for Beaches in the U.S. We barely made the list – but we made the list which is an accomplishment. Last Thursday my daughter called me to say that the water at Navarre Beach was especially beautiful. She told me it looked like what magazines always depict for Caribbean resorts. I called the office because I was traveling and sent one of our photographers out to get pictures and three hours later I received a call he hadn’t returned. I forgot all about it until Monday afternoon when I remembered to look at the pictures. I have lived here for more than 20 years and I was blown away by the pristine beauty of Navarre Beach all over again. I was gasping at every picture because the water was crystal clear and was a beautiful emerald green and turquoise opalescent color. And then there was the sea turtle that popped up out of the water, schools of fish that swam by, the jellyfish that appeared, and the heron that landed on the pier railing by our photographer. It was almost as if nature was showing off. We definitely got a “snapshot” so to speak – of our beautiful area.

This week is Sunshine Week, which makes it an ideal time to reiterate the importance of open government and why my office is diligently working to improve government transparency and accountability. Since taking office, I have been committed to building upon Florida’s Sunshine Law and seeking new ways to promote openness.

The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Navarre Press are reviving a popular workshop series called “Jump Start Your Business.” It will be held Tuesday, March 18 at 11:30 a.m. at the chamber. The ad in this week’s paper has all the great information you need to RSVP. The Marine Sanctuary, The Sea Turtle Conservation Center, The Marine Science Station, The Butterfly House and the Navarre Chamber Foundation are all groups of volunteers that make ecological tourism happen in and around Navarre. They fund and facilitate children’s camps, artificial reefs, educational programs and fundraising for many nonprofits including their own. If you have read other news accounts, you would think that our ecotourism theme just happened by accident, but that is not the case. It has been the vision of many leaders including Brenda Stokes of Holley Hill Pottery fame. She isn’t as active with all of the groups but her vision and leadership has been carried with us. The artificial reefs are growing faster than our neighbor’s reefs and have been the theme of many articles in Navarre Press. If you have an “All Access” subscription – you can go back and read about how all of our ecotourism came into being. We have beautiful beaches and beautiful sunrises and sunsets and it draws people of all walks of life to our area. Please help our tourists and locals alike remember that it is bad form to leave cans, plastic bottles and trash on the beach when they are heading back to their cars. I had pictures sent to me Tuesday of a terrible disgrace of trash left on the beach from Monday. If you think it is none of your business that someone else left trash – you are wrong. If you come across it, please pick it up. There is a Great American Cleanup next month – but we shouldn’t need a date on the calendar to clean up after ourselves or remind others to do the same.

The Navarre Krewe of Jesters would like to thank everyone who worked with us to make the 28th annual Navarre Beach Mardi Gras Parade a huge success. This was the largest parade we have ever presented, and it promises to be even bigger – and earlier – next year.  We have been contacted by additional krewes in the area who have expressed interest in entering floats in the 2015 parade already.