Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

February 28, 2019 | Sandi Kemp

The professional shark fishermen that fish from the Navarre Beach Pier caught a Great White Shark on Tuesday. They send a drone out from the end of the pier – that is already the longest pier standing in the Gulf of Mexico with fishing line and bait that they drop even further out. Thankfully the crew at Windjammers on the Pier Restaurant and Bar were on it and got some excellent video. This is not something you put in your tourism brochures, but it is a novelty for our area although not unheard of. A 10-foot-long Great White is small. The average Great White is 15 feet. Perhaps this one was a juvenile. Regardless, it is pretty cool that one was caught in our area. It is a sign that they are not as rare as they use to be which means our Gulf is healthy – which is good news for everyone that lives on the Gulf.

Get your calendars out: Today is the last day of February and daylight savings begins March 10. Spring begins March 20 and ends June 21 – when it is officially summer. Time to drag out the summer clothes and put back the winter clothes. Easter is Sunday – April 21. Spring break for Santa Rosa school children is March 18-22, and they have Good Friday off.

We published the college spring break calendar a few weeks ago and we are expecting spring break families as early as next week.

I have heard more than one business say that they are considering putting expansion plans on hold until they hear something definitive on Highway 98 expansion plans. A lot of the businesses that are on notice that they will be affected is not because of the actual road – but because of the retention ponds that they will need to build. There is a much better way to do that – it is called permeable concrete. However, it is very costly. However, if you factor in the land that will have to be purchased and the displaced businesses and the costs involved – it should be looked into.

You will read in this issue that the board of directors of the Holley Navarre Water System has looked at the “iron-clad” contract for the Holley Navarre Water System CEO, Rob Williamson, and decided it was indeed – iron clad. Not only would Rob make $200,000 regardless, he would also get a raise if he was fired – just because he wasn’t the right person for the job, wasn’t interviewed by the entire board and hired without a job posting or any other candidates being considered. Pretty sweet. Rob couldn’t have written a better contract for himself – except to make it a five-year contract. You got to hand it to him – he was defeated handily and didn’t miss a paycheck – making $30,000 more than he did before. It’s almost like the joke is on us – the community. However, I do not personally feel that the board has done what they could have done because they didn’t pay an outside unbiased attorney to look at the contract. That isn’t due diligence. I know the water company is a lot to take on because it has been so dysfunctional and lacking standard business practices for a very long time. However, it isn’t hard to take a contract to an expert and get an outside look. But, in the end, it isn’t up to me. I’m just one member like you are.

Williamson already messed up on the RFP for the restaurant at the Golf Club and the proprietor of his choice was on social media a week before it was announced that he was moving to Navarre to start a new business venture. Sounds like he had some inside information. But, then again, maybe he is just a positive person.

Quote of the Week: When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Maya Angelou
US author & poet (1928 – )

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