Latest / Palafox Media Network / Meet the Candidate: Glenn Dorsey for Escambia County Commissioner District 2
Transcript
- Greg Fink: Hello folks and welcome to the meet the candidate session here of the political matrix news. And we have tonight at Glenn Dorsey is running for County Commissioner in Escambia County. Hello Glenn district which used to be exactly what she used to be the pretty the key and ⁓ the western side of ⁓ Escambia County, but they've changed it up a little bit here so it's more in the internal ⁓ the ⁓ inner side of Escambia County. Scott Miller: you District 2. Glenn Dorsey: fair. Greg Fink: And so if people who don't know where it's can be Kenny is it's where Pensacola, Florida and and the Naval Air Station is and the Blue Angels. so Glenn, go ahead and and. It is a Western gate to the sunshine, say for sure. Where millions visit and what Vince Williams used to say where thousands live, where millions wish I could. Scott Miller: It's the Western gate to the Sunshine State. He said, exactly, that is exactly it. Greg Fink: Exactly. So Glenn, why are you running for County Commissioner? Tell us a little bit about yourself. Glenn Dorsey: Sure. So I'm a local business guy. I've lived in Pensacola down for about 35 years, been in business for 30 years and raised two kids here, raised my family here. I plan on dying here if the Lord has it that way. And I'm just, I'm a fiscal conservative. I'm not happy with the direction that our county leadership ⁓ taken us and more or less the ⁓ that we all ride upon every single day. ⁓ just did a little bit of research. Scott Miller: Thank Glenn Dorsey: before I decided to announce a candidacy to find out why my property tax bill has increased so much. In the last five years, it has gone up nearly 50%. In the last four years alone, it has gone up 32.6%. So the percentages is one thing, but I looked at what the dollars were and I found out it was 213 or 214 million dollars of additional revenue. Scott Miller: Thanks. Thanks. Glenn Dorsey: I certainly should not have to be driving on dilapidated roads. They're going to ball fields and donating all of my time and energy and money to maintain something that my tax dollars should be appropriated to. And I think all too often we're chasing the new shiny thing in town here instead of just maintaining the basics, which certainly needs to be our roads, our drainage systems, ⁓ the sidewalks to nowhere, to somewhere ⁓ a part of it. ⁓ really trying to keep Pensacola the family community that it's always been and restore the conditions on our ball fields. Scott Miller: Thank Greg Fink: Right. Exactly. I do know there's a ⁓ issue that have always historically been going on over there in that part of the county. ⁓ mean, what has been done or what do you think needs to be done to fix that? Scott Miller: . Glenn Dorsey: there's a group in town, the flood defenders, and I've listened to those gentlemen quite a bit there. And I think they've got some good practical advice for the county to follow ⁓ it comes down to actually installing the construction mechanics ⁓ the drainage systems that are out there. ⁓ that's a widespread issue. And I don't think that we're not getting it fixed because of revenue, because I said earlier, I don't believe that Scambia County has got a revenue problem. I think we've got a priority problem. Last year in our public works division there, we increased our budget 0.85%, less than 1%. And as we look at our road conditions that we drive through each and every day, we can clearly see that's a priority issue. Greg Fink: And so, and so. Glenn Dorsey: Another thing that we've got going on, Greg, there is you've probably seen it in the papers recently. Navy Boulevard, there's a lot of pride surrounding the Navy Boulevard restoration project there, which was intended to ⁓ the blight along Navy Boulevard. ⁓ for those of you that don't know, this project starts at the corner of Brancas. Scott Miller: Thank you. Greg Fink: I... Scott Miller: I'm going to leave it at Okay. Greg Fink: Right? Glenn Dorsey: That's where it converts from North Navy Boulevard to South Navy Boulevard, right there at Brankus and Sorrento, and heads towards the front gate of NAS Pensacola. It's about a 1.1 mile stretch of roadway. It has about 115 lots, if you count all the properties on both sides. And we're going to spend $13 million on that road to enhance the ⁓ of that road. Scott Miller: I'm going to and Glenn Dorsey: for the folks that travel down it. Now, understand that the front gate of NAS Pensacola has been closed for quite some time, we do have a lot of veterans that are buried out there and that is the travel path of sorts in order to get out there. So really just have to question an expenditure of $13 million when we look at the infrastructure conditions that we have around this county. I'm all four billion new ⁓ once taken care of our existing infrastructure and the basics. But we have not been doing that. We need to start putting the people that live in this community first we start doing the new shiny project of the day. And I guess what's probably the most frustrating about that, as I told you, I've been here for 35 years. I've seen a multitude of these projects come about. ⁓ ⁓ dare anybody to show me the well maintained center Island mediums that the county has taken care of over the last few years. Scott Miller: Excellent. Glenn Dorsey: I think it looks wonderful for the first one or two years, but then we start seeing the failed maintenance. And more than that, all we're doing is increasing the taxpayer amount of revenue that is needed to maintain these center islands there. So we end up with some blight because the neglected maintenance that's on it. So it's going to be a county in an effort to fix what it considers blight is likely to be ended up actually catering to the ⁓ blight Scott Miller: They are the author of a lot of their own issues for sure. Glenn Dorsey: Yes. Greg Fink: Yeah, well, I do know there's a big talk about property taxes being cut and everybody talks about property taxes. And so if the property tax referendum actually does make it to the ballot in November, and of course, most people are going to want their property taxes cut. What is the best mechanism to replace those kind of dollars for the county? mean, or is it just more or less in the control of their spending or control their budgeting? mean, how much of a big gap is, you know? I mean, you're not the incumbent, don't have the inside baseball on it. But from your research or anything else, what's the best way to handle that? Glenn Dorsey: Well, I think we're going to have two things that are going to appear on the ballot, certainly from the state standpoint with DeSantis putting forth some taxpayer relief. think is how they're going to frame that there, which is the reduction ⁓ the property taxes. And I think we're going to just choose certain demographies like the retirees and try to phase this in over a long term, whether it be five years or 10 years as part of the process there. Scott Miller: So ⁓ Glenn Dorsey: But we've also got coming up loss. The local option sales tax will be on the referendum again this November. And that money used to come out of your property taxes. The whole reason we've always paid property taxes forever and ever is for schools and libraries and first responders. And at that point for road construction and the city buildings and things of that nature. And we've all seen that offloaded into different tax structures the last five, 10, 15 years as a part of the process. So ⁓ just like to get back down to some of the basics. do support Governor DeSantis and I think it's yet to be determined, but I think the overall goal is because we're such a tourist-centric ⁓ state and certainly a tourist-centric community is passing that back along in some type of additional tax, whether it be a sales tax. a gas tax or some other fee that can be distributed amongst all of the users rather than just burdening the local taxpayer and homeowner obviously. Greg Fink: Yeah, we're good. Scott Miller: Well, you know, I've always thought that the taxes that impacted, you know, ⁓ tourists, a certain amount were important because there's so much of our economy that are devoted to that ⁓ they incur, ⁓ create certain expenses. So it's entirely appropriate to kind of shift a lot of those, that burden over to ⁓ people. Greg Fink: Exactly. Scott Miller: because we have to cover the extra expenses that they're causing. Otherwise, we're paying for it out of our property taxes and that ain't fair. Greg Fink: I mean, because the reality here is the infrastructure you're talking about, the infrastructure needs that you're talking about, being used by these ⁓ who are visiting us through the hotels and the condos and the Airbnbs and all the tours. mean, they're enjoying the roads, they're enjoying the sidewalks, they're enjoying the lighting, they're enjoying all the luxuries and all the amenities that Eskimo County is offering. And so ⁓ they be, you know, ⁓ all property taxor, owners, payers who are like in their 70s and 80s and... Glenn Dorsey: That's right. Greg Fink: who already own their home outright are basically paying for the tourists to have a good time. And so instead of the tourists picking out their part of the bill. And so I do think there needs to be some sort of you air bed tax. mean, we have all kinds of different, you know, ways, here of funding through tourism, manners that will ⁓ actually overcome ⁓ you know, ⁓ the property are being cut. Glenn Dorsey: So we have that now actually, it's called the TDT, the tourism development tax there. Generates about $22 million a year and obviously we've got it only implemented in our beach sectors and our downtown sectors there. We've got quite the opportunity in order to raise that revenue collectively from just as you said, the folks that are enjoying those benefits there. Greg Fink: Exactly. Yeah, we do. Scott Miller: Okay. Greg Fink: Right. Glenn Dorsey: And it would certainly lighten the load on the local homeowners here in town. You know, I represent or want to represent district two. This is where our workforce lives. I've got lots of retirees. I've got young starting families. I've got folks are really just trying to make it here. ⁓ ⁓ to start putting some more money back in their pockets in to be able pay these property taxes. We continue to talk about the blight issues. Greg Fink: Right. Exactly. Right. Glenn Dorsey: But when we've increased their property tax burden by 32.6%, which then relates back to what some of it is being charged in rent. And then we look at our insurance crisis here in Florida, we're just taxing the poor taxpayer too much. Greg Fink: Exactly. I mean, parts of your community are like Navy Point, Warrington, and ⁓ and where have a lot of, you know, middle income and middle to high income, but also a lot of middle to low income individuals who, when they talk about the blight and they talk about those issues, I mean, right now, the cost of living is so high over, I mean, it's increasing rapidly throughout this Canberra County. And so, I mean, the disposable income factor is not really there. then to maintain their property or maintain their amenities with all the property taxes going up and everything else going up. so, mean, the mechanism for the county to help get some relief for this? Glenn Dorsey: Well, so we've got actually we're to have the new Myrtle Grove CRA, the Community Revitalization Act there. And that's where ⁓ CRAs are intended to put the taxpayer dollars collected back into the local marketplace where they're being collected from there. ⁓ I think we do still need to go a step beyond that. Greg Fink: Good. Glenn Dorsey: Our current millage rate for those that are property owners and paying the property taxes is 6.6 mills there. And I would just love to see that the county has the full authority to make a decision to roll back that millage rate at any given time. It's just having the willpower in order to do that. And I don't know about anybody else in the area, but my revenue didn't go up 32.6 % on my paycheck. And I don't think anybody else's has. as well there. So it is time for some taxpayer relief. It is time to start looking about some of the programs that we can actually sunset or reduce or implement technology in order to gain more efficiencies. I, you know, I probably just said the bad word of efficiency and accountability and transparency, but that is certainly what's needed here. Greg Fink: No! No, no, Yeah, I mean, because right now you have you have the downtown part of Pensacola as well. So you got a lot of the city inside your district. So you have the ball field, which is the Blue Wahoos ball field downtown. You got the Port of Pensacola. You have all those really nice amenities inside your district. So you have to share a lot of the love with the city as well. So, I mean, what kind of relationship right now is in the process between the county and the city and how do think you can make that better? Glenn Dorsey: Well, I think there's a lot of collaboration going on here. You know, one of the issues of the day that everybody's seen in the Pensacola News Journal has been with the Civic Center, which is a county-owned piece of property located in the city as a part of it. And everybody's familiar with the Palifox project where we're redoing ⁓ Palifox over there as well. ⁓ still have some drainage issues along Main Street that need to be attended, whether that's going to be through the city dollars or through the county dollars there. Greg Fink: Exactly. Glenn Dorsey: But we have really seen a complete revitalization of the downtown Pensacola area within the city limits. I think some of that is certainly due to the county's decision making. Recently, they passed some ⁓ economic incentives ⁓ using the E-date, which is a discount on property taxes and intangible taxes ⁓ as form of trying to recruit businesses to expand. Scott Miller: you Yes. Glenn Dorsey: I would certainly like to see more of the local businesses take advantage of those programs though. It is not just for those folks that are trying to bring a business from outside of town into town. This is an opportunity for local businesses that need a little bit of incentive to the risk ⁓ expanding their businesses, whether that's through the purchase of equipment or hiring new employees. ⁓ think we can really begin to grow district two. Scott Miller: So you Glenn Dorsey: We've got a lot of available property. I think we've got about 11 % of the district that is in vacant land itself. And I've got a wide variety of planning and zoning out there in order to develop district two. It's our side door ⁓ to community here. mean, everybody that's coming from Alabama, if they're going to take the scenic route, they're going to come through district two. And we really need to prioritize district two. I think county has done a great job of, you know, putting in the money the north part of town here, but it's time to bring it back down south. Scott Miller: Amen. Greg Fink: affordable housing that seems to be affordability right now that seems to be an issue Going around the state ⁓ and seems to be a big hot topic issue Is there any plans for the county to expand any funding for affordable housing or to just more or less just ⁓ to it smarter? Glenn Dorsey: Well, there's a little bit of both there. So I talked about the CRAs earlier there and District 2 has a lot of that CRA, the community revitalization. And that's where they want to work with builders, developers, business owners to expand into the District 2 area. ⁓ But I think the best strategy to getting relief in terms of affordable housing is by reducing the property taxes, making the areas desirable and accessible to live in. Scott Miller: So Glenn Dorsey: We've got some great properties that are owned by the county in terms of the parks within District 2. The problem is if you go to those parks there, you're going to find the streets in disrepair, the equipment in disrepair, and just not well maintained. And those are areas that I really want to focus in on there. My kids ball. ⁓ Every weekend my life, I felt like I was at some different ballpark in Escambia County. ⁓ Scott Miller: So Glenn Dorsey: or if we did some travel ball, we were out of town there. But this is a place where not only wife and I as parents were taking our kids there, but it was the grandparents and the friends. ⁓ was collaborating around these ball fields there. ⁓ if we want our kids to stay out of trouble, we want families to move into our area and have something to do. We need to make the necessary investment in maintaining our parks. And that goes for boat launches as well. I call that a park there. are a coastal community. We should have room for boats to be launched and parked in lots ⁓ in to give a quality of life here in the area. Greg Fink: I agree. Scott Miller: Yeah, what's the point in having these amenities if we're not leveraging them? mean, either for the enjoyment of the people who live here or the people that we want to attract to come spend their dollars here. Glenn Dorsey: That's right. And we have to start maintaining what we already own, Scott. The county owns a tremendous amount of land and infrastructure. I'm just a simple business guy and a simple family man where ⁓ I've been taught you take care of what you own first before you go buy something new. ⁓ And have really got to get back to those basics and make sure that we're caring for the things that we currently own. And I think we can do that smartly as well. As you know, we talked about the Navy Boulevard adding a nice 1.1 mile center median that the taxpayer will get to maintain. I think we need to take a smarter approach to what it is that we build. It's not just can we afford this project right now. It's can we afford to take care of this project now and forever ⁓ we make the decision to spend the dollars building something brand new. Scott Miller: Okay. Glenn Dorsey: And it's no different, somebody gave me a $20 million house today. The fact of the matter is I couldn't pay property taxes on it a year from now. I would appreciate the gift, I should not accept that gift because I couldn't afford it. Scott Miller: You put a thing on the market right away at a discount. Glenn Dorsey: That's right. ⁓ Greg Fink: I have one last question here ⁓ we had worked with a County Commissioner quite a few years ago He was working on four landing us for into road going all the way to the Alabama line and Gulf Beach Highway and that whole part of the corridor there between I guess was it Navy Boulevard and Gulf Beach Highway all the way to the Alabama line and that got uprooted by a Former district to a County Commissioner who we will not name but that was back when district to handled Glenn Dorsey: Yes. Yeah. Greg Fink: all the way to the Alabama line, of which it doesn't now. And so since it doesn't now, is the importance of that road being four lane for safety and concurrency and economic development reasons still a big part of what you want to do whenever you get elected? Or is it more or less a district one's job and it's not really a big deal for district two anymore? Glenn Dorsey: no, so this has to be a county wide priority here of opening up the Sorrento Road area. ⁓ is a multi-phase plan in order to get that four lane the way that it needs to be. So it will need to start with ⁓ acquiring all of the right of way easements there so we can have the land to put the four lanes on ⁓ the sidewalks and the turn lanes and all the other things that are necessary there. So that will become a top priority and it starts with having good relationships with others. It's going to need the entire board of commissioners in Escambia County to support a project of this sort here. And then we're going to need to get our state of Florida representatives into the mix here and help them understand just how important this is as well. don't want to give any false hope that this is just a snap your finger kind of project here and get it done. Greg Fink: I Glenn Dorsey: This is probably going to be a four or five year project, but you're exactly right. Unfortunately, it was killed because somebody didn't want additional development to happen, but additional development has already happened. ⁓ now we need to get busy making sure that that infrastructure is in place. ⁓ know, it's kind of unfortunate. I'm sorry. It's kind of unfortunate. ⁓ County for the longest time in the state of Florida had what's called a concurrency plan. Greg Fink: Yeah, what? Glenn Dorsey: And a concurrency plan was if I was a developer and I wanted to build a 400 unit subdivision, county's responsibility was to make sure that we had adequate school availability, fire services, sheriff law enforcement services, libraries, roadways, utilities, all of those things. ⁓ And did away with that in order to create opportunity for developers to meet the construction demands there. ⁓ And it's now done through a process of mitigation, which means we look in the rear view mirror. Once something's been built, now we have to support it. And I think we have finally caught up with ourselves for those decisions as a part of it. But here's the good news. $213.5 million of additional revenue. We can get something done with $213.5 million of additional revenue each and every year. Scott Miller: It's going to good. So Glenn Dorsey: ⁓ And I think to your point earlier about trying to get some of the tourist traffic to pay some of the liabilities and expenses within the county is certainly a good idea. TDT funds were about 20 ⁓ $22 million and those have been used. We used some TDT funds recently to do some upgrades on the Civic Center. But think we need to really make good use of those TDT funds that are out there. ⁓ Scott Miller: Over here. Or sure. Greg Fink: Exactly. you have anything else? Scott Miller: Oh, I've been chiming in as appropriate, know, but the PDT funds, I think that's a good model, honestly, to attack these, what will probably be a pretty dramatic shift in tax policy. So, you know, how are we going, how's that going to work? Don't know. One step at a time is how it's going to have to happen. it's just, I don't know. mean, you know, be careful what you wish for. You might get it. We'll have to see where that money is going to come from because it's going to have to come from somewhere. Glenn Dorsey: Well, I think it starts with just making good solid decisions. I see everybody so excited to hang their hat on a new project being built that nobody's really taking the time to stop and say, hey, metrics do we want to use to hold this project accountable? Is it truly in the public's best interest ⁓ do this? The Children's Trust Fund that was recently voted on, I guess a year and a half or two years ago. Look at all the fraud and waste and ⁓ Scott Miller: Thank you. Glenn Dorsey: problems that they're having with that. Somebody should have taken the time to sit down and say, look, if we're going to give away funds, here's how we want those funds used. Here's the threshold that you can have for administrative salaries. Here's the amount of money that needs to go directly to the cause that it was intended for. And we just seem to do things backwards. It's give us all your money and we'll find a way to use it. ⁓ that's just a different approach. I'm a business guy there. If I need to go borrow money, raise money. Greg Fink: Yeah. Exactly. Glenn Dorsey: I gotta know what I'm going to use it for, explain it thoroughly to the people that I'm spending it for, and then make those decisions. Greg Fink: Well, not to... Exactly. And this is not us, this is not ringing our own little bell here, but Scott and I, the listener group, we used to do the surveys for the Scambot County that did all the market research. And there are 60 or 70 questions that we asked. And we did all the research that told the county commissioners what the people wanted and how they wanted it and how they wanted it funded and what was built and basically to judge. Scott Miller: Yeah, fraud, yeah fraud, who could have possibly seen that coming? Glenn Dorsey: ⁓ right. Greg Fink: how it was being done. actually has to do with caring about what your voters think. ⁓ a concept. What a weird idea. But you know, the between the county commissioners and the public is not there anymore. ⁓ And that's why these people are hanging their hats on projects that are really good for bottom lines, really good for creating jobs for the construction, are really good for... Glenn Dorsey: It is not. Greg Fink: you know, looking good in a magazine or looking good on TV. However, the whole evaluation process is really good for the community and whole, and is it going to be good for them 10 or 15 years later, and so on and so forth. ⁓ no real research or there's no real, you know, ⁓ to measure that because they're not asking the questions. They're not engaging with the people. This is one thing we've encouraged a lot of people to not just use ⁓ market research firm, but any... polling firm that's legitimate. course, an illegitimate one, that'd be horrible. ⁓ you know, a legitimate idea here of finding out exactly what the people want and need. And that is, you guys public servants. You serve the public. mean, ⁓ the research and polls don't lead your decisions, but they inform you what the people are thinking so you can make better decisions that actually put your citizens first. And that, I don't think is being done. Scott Miller: you Glenn Dorsey: That's right. Yes. Scott Miller: or Glenn Dorsey: Unfortunately, it is not being done and that is something that I am absolutely committed to even just in my campaign process right now. the second and fourth Tuesday of every single month there, ⁓ opening up my doors because I want to hear the problems that the people are having. And you their overall concerns and objectives as well there. ⁓ But dealt with so many folks that were just having an issue with drainage or a road problem or ⁓ Greg Fink: Exactly. Glenn Dorsey: We've talked about Sorrento road a little bit earlier there. They had all of those orange barrels piled up where you could not make a left turn into Navy point. And next thing you know, somebody needed a first responder to come out for a medical concern there and they couldn't cross into sunset straight off of Sorrento. They had to go around and turn and make a U-turn. Well, it's not the easiest thing to do to turn a fire truck around. Greg Fink: Wow. No it's not and it should not even be an option. It shouldn't even be an option. Well we're gonna go ahead. Glenn Dorsey: That's right. That's it. Scott Miller: So, I'm to take a moment to read the Glenn Dorsey: So we need a lot more communication with the constituents and the taxpayers that are out there. There's no reason that somebody that's in an elected office cannot have a regular town hall meeting in order to hear from the constituents there and to make themselves available. get it, some of them may have other jobs. I own a business there, but I am committed into this process here and put in my 40 to 60 hours a week or more for this. ⁓ in order to change the direction that our county is going by restoring the basics of our infrastructure, prioritizing the budget to make sure that the things that we all need to go to work on, which are our roads, are well maintained. Nobody should be in worry of their home flooding. You know, we still got BP money that's in the coffers that that's accessible to the county. And I don't think anybody's even mentioning that nowadays there, but. You know BP did a lot of damage into you know our local area and we ought to take advantage of those funds Greg Fink: 16 years ago. Scott Miller: For sure. Yeah, it has. Glenn Dorsey: Is that what it's been? It's been a moment. Greg Fink: been a while. But we're gonna go ahead and wrap it up here real quick and but go ahead and tell us real fast on how people can find out more about your campaign what your you know what events you have coming up ⁓ chime in your website and how they can donate and help out. Glenn Dorsey: Yep. So the folks that I represent that are supporting my campaign are just your average taxpayer. They're my friends and their families. These are not corporate sponsors here. I am not trying to represent developers in the area and the big money downtown crowd ⁓ things of that nature here. ⁓ am doing this for one reason and that is because I have lived here for 35 years. I'm going to live here Lord willing another 35 or ⁓ years. this is where my friends live ⁓ ⁓ this is where I work. ⁓ I want to make sure that we're changing Pensacola for the better. I am not going to be a career politician. You have my support right now. If you want to reduce the term limits down to ⁓ eight which is two terms ⁓ that my vote. If we want to end retirement packages for county commissioners, that's got my vote. ⁓ I you ought to pay any man for the work that they do. So, reduce the salary if you want, I do think everybody needs to be paid for the work that they do. you can see me ⁓ learn more about my positions. You're going to find that they're very conservative at G-L-E-N-N, and then last name is Dorsey, D-O-R-S-E-Y.com. ⁓ And I'm on Facebook as well, facebook.com forward slash elect Glendorsey. and invite you to stop by. Like I said, we've got our campaign events where anybody can stop in on the second and fourth Tuesday, 9 a.m. at 225 North Pace Boulevard. You will see us out and about. Every Friday I'm committed to trying to meet as many people as I can on the streets, waving a sign and just saying hello and learning more about the needs in the district itself. And then Glen at Glen Dorsey.com. If you want to send me an email. Greg Fink: That's great. That'd be great. Well, thanks a lot for joining us tonight here, Glenn. Scott Miller: See ya. Greg Fink: See you soon.