Latest / Palafox Media Network / Meet the Candidate: Glenn Dorsey for Escambia County Commissioner
Transcript
- Greg Fink: Hello folks and welcome to the Political Matrix news ⁓ version. Here we have a ⁓ Meet the Candid issue that we usually have, but n we're actually expanding it now. Glenn Dorsey is ⁓ gonna be doing a regular weekly show here with us and we're gonna be talking about his campaign. So ⁓ Glenn, how you doing today? Glenn Dorsey: I'm doing well, Greg. Thanks for having me on today here. Greg Fink: ⁓ no, it's gonna be awesome. We look forward to having you throughout the campaign, so we're gonna actually keep all your voters updated with everything that's going on. So first of all tell us a little bit about you and why you're running. Glenn Dorsey: Sure, so my name is Glenn Dorsey. I'm running for Scandia County Commissioner District Two. And I am new to politics, but I am not new to Pensacola. I've been here about thirty-five years. I've run a business for the last 30 years, and this is where I raised two kids. so Luke and Lauren are my children. Luke is my oldest, Lauren is my youngest, and Luke to Pensacola Christian Academy, K four, all the way through graduation. And then went over to the University of Southern Alabama then decided he wanted to do something for a living. so has out in Phoenix, Arizona with the United Airlines as a ⁓ certified flight instructor. So my daughter is over at USA as well. She followed in her brother's footsteps, and ⁓ I that one's gone, she's gonna get her degree in social work, but I think she's gonna be full time ministry, is my expectation. So I've got Greg Fink: That's great. Glenn Dorsey: One off the payroll, one that'll probably never leave the payroll. But I I'm happy for what she's doing. She'll she'll make the world a better place for Greg Fink: Exactly. I mean you know, I mean w what she's doing is gonna be very, you know, very good for the community and very good for everybody around her. So I guess today both go to Pentacola Christian. Glenn Dorsey: They did except for my daughter. I put her she wanted to go to a public school and I chose Gulf Breeze High School for her for her sophomore year. So sophomore junior and senior year out at Gulf Breeze High School. Greg Fink: That's great. And so ⁓ how long so you've been in the community here for I guess almost forty years here, a little bit ⁓ thirty five and so Glenn Dorsey: Yeah, don't age me too quick. Greg Fink: Well, hey, you know, I got a little more gray hair than you do, but hey. But but the the whole point here is that you've seen a lot of things as a business owner and so you've seen a lot of changes and everything throughout the your your ⁓ cycle of owning businesses and running businesses and and being involved in selling both sides of the paycheck. And so, ⁓ I what do you see as the biggest needs right now for the ⁓ commission that ⁓ you're doing a lot of door to door, I'm assuming, on the campaign. And so you're hearing a lot of people's comments and you're hearing a lot of things at the local media It's not gonna talk about it unless they ⁓ talk about it on a show like this. And so what what is the biggest driving issue that you're hearing? Glenn Dorsey: Yeah, I guess for me, I I I'll just start off with, you know, why I decided to jump into the race. ⁓ you know, I've been here resident for thirty-five years, run a business for thirty years. last thing I ever wanted to be in this world was a politician. I still consider that somewhat of a a dirty word. but I've watched this town in the last four or five years begin a severe decline ⁓ in terms of its appearances, in terms of ⁓ the roads ⁓ that we travel on. ⁓ but yet our tax bill has just gotten higher and higher and higher. I I took the time to really dive into the budget because I'm I'm a business guy first and foremost. The budget usually establishes our and, you know, lets us know whether we have enough money to spend and if we're spending it correctly. I'm a conservative guy by nature. ⁓ I've had to be as a business person because, you know, I'll be the first one to clean the toilet or, you know, pick up that penny on the ground because every penny matters in this world. So just have not been happy with the appearances overall ⁓ I reached out to the the leadership that's out there in code enforcement ⁓ and public works and you know it's the same old story there that we'll we'll get to it, we'll make it a priority when it really becomes a priority. And it I think it has become a priority. As you said, I have spent a lot of time knocking doors and talking to the folks within this ⁓ here. And they're saying the same exact thing, Greg. everybody is very displeased with the condition of our roads. I mean, the amount of potholes, the the deteriorated edges. our our local governments putting in sidewalks, which I think is a wonderful thing if they were connected. But we're doing random sidewalks here and there. I call them the sidewalks to nowhere. They just make Absolutely. And then I turn around and and investigate into the plan for the roadways. And then I find out that we intend to pull out this brand spank and new sidewalk in the next three to five years, hypothetically, if the project is approved. So we're spending good money only to completely tear it up and and start over again. And I'm not a big guy for waste. I every penny matters to me. It comes out of my pocket, comes out of the people that I work with, comes out of their pocket. So, you know, I think we've got to do a much better job in how we spend and value taxpayer money. Greg Fink: so we're right now, I mean, people always talk about, you know, lowering taxes and doing this and doing that, but they don't think the general public really understands exactly all the different nuances of the budget and the budgetary process. And so right now, I mean, on the ballot in November's gonna be this big issue here to cut property taxes, which is, you know, a good thing for property tax cuts. But how is that going to handle or or I guess work with the county budget, which they always say they're really tight on money, but We've all seen the increases in their budget. And so how are they tight when they're spending more? I mean, is it a spending issue or is it a budgetary control issue? Glenn Dorsey: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of all of that. So as I've looked at the budget, the first thing that I look at is is what is the priority? And the priority is established by, you know, have there been any increases? And I'm just gonna take the public works as an example, which is what fixes our roads within the county. And that budget has seen about a one point two percent increase in this last year. I think it's about less than four or five percent in the last four years. Now let me put that into perspective for you though. So the budget itself has increased thirty-two point six percent in the last four years. We've gone from just under a half a billion dollars, five hundred million, to nearly eight hundred and ninety million dollars. So we're not making roads the priority. That's very clear. Our parks department, those guys are doing a wonderful job with the money that they have. it represents about zero point two percent of our overall budget. Takes care of a hundred and seventeen parks within the county. so I'm as you I'm I'm a dad first and foremost there. I spent nearly every weekend of my younger life ⁓ at ball fields, taking my son to baseball, my daughter to soccer, football, I mean all of that. I visited every park in this entire county and did so usually on a on a regular basis. And as you know, when you've got your kids in sports, you also get a part time job as a volunteer those parks. You do, you do. So it's you know, it's taking care of the bathrooms, taking care of the field, the fences, picking up the trash, so on and so on. and I think it's important. ⁓ you know, I do think that the best thing for our community is to give families and children a place to play. We want to keep folks out of trouble. I I'm a big sports advocate. I find nothing more fulfilling than teaching a kid how to work well with others in terms of team sports. and it also just keeps them very busy in life and and idle minds and idle hands are are usually no good. So the park conditions are completely ⁓ unsatisfactory this town. We've got bathrooms that are remaining closed. And when you've got forty kids out on the ball field, I promise you you're gonna need a bathroom, not only for the parents, but but for the children. So we've got to do much better in terms of taking care of what we already own. I know the leadership in the last four years has been very focused on what is the bright new shiny thing that we can introduce to the taxpayer. and even if we have to borrow money, that's what we want to do. but I want to get us back to the basics here. I told you I'm a fiscal conservative. I take care of the things that I've already bought with my money. And I think the county needs to do the same exact thing. We don't need to build a new park, or maybe we do, but we should take care of the parks that we already own first and foremost. love new roads just as much as the other person does. but fixing the potholes would go a long way to getting the folks to go back and forth to work. If we want them to have a job, we don't need them to lose a rim or an axle going to Greg Fink: I've had a dish on Olive Road for years and it was like that for almost a decade. But I mean I I see what you're saying. I mean, people don't realize how many parks there really are in Scambia County that the county actually controls. It's well in the triple digits. Glenn Dorsey: Yes. Yeah. And that, you know, we've got our boat launches. We're we're a coastal community here. I'm I'm a boat owner myself there. so making sure that we've got adequate parking, adequate conditions on the ramp, trash cans. I mean, you know, I I know that we want to save money as a county, so we tend to pull back on the trash cans because somebody has to empty those trash cans. But if we don't the trash cans, the trash ends up on the ground. And that's what we're seeing throughout district two. Many of the street corners are just littered with debris and illegal dumping. And if we don't do a a good job as a county about making sure that that is kept clean, it ⁓ begins exacerbate in those deteriorated appearance conditions. So y you know, as I I told you earlier, Greg, ⁓ again, I spent a lot of time talking to folks, but I spent even more time driving around because District 2 is not just where I live, it's where I work. every single day I probably put at least 25 to 30 miles on my vehicle in District Two, particularly. so I'm up and down all of the major roadways, you know, ⁓ heading over to Myrtle Grove, Mayfair, Warrington, ⁓ especially ⁓ Navy Point area. in fact, my office was down on South Navy for for quite some time, at 429. So We really have to do a better job of making sure that our community is kept up by picking up the trash. The road conditions, ⁓ you know, there was a big issue and because it's an election year, we're able to get a lot more things done than we might in in other non election periods for our district. but you know, the the orange barrels, I mean it's ⁓ they've always said that that was, you know, a of Florida had to include the orange barrels in ⁓ and as you go to the Greg Fink: It is. Glenn Dorsey: That's right. So as we go down Sorrento Road and and many of the others there, those cones were causing a substantial hazard. law enforcement, fire services, and other emergency services literally could not cross the street to get into the communities in which they had a call. And unfortunately is read by a lot of people, ⁓ and I put that out there. ⁓ And like magic, within two days those cones got moved aside and and emergency services were able to be restored. Greg Fink: Yeah, people don't realize that. I mean, how much of this really trickles down into the EMS side and to the law enforcement side and to the security side? I mean, not just about cleanliness of your neighborhood, it's about blight and then about that's where I mean, people doesn't know if they don't know anything about crime or criminals, they they hide a lot in that blight. They hide in those run down places and those run down buildings and those run down houses. And that's where they do a lot of the drug trading and the human trafficking and the and the and the other things that they are doing, which are nefarious and And not give for the community whatsoever. And so I mean, you know, I mean cleaning it up is a lot more than just cleaning up the appearance, it's about cleaning up the community and the entire, you know, a aesthetics ⁓ thing, but then the emotional aesthetics and the the quality of life is ⁓ another part that gets totally cleaned up. Glenn Dorsey: Yeah. You know, and and Greg, it again, this all goes back to the priorities. You know, we the the the common phrase that you hear from the elected officials is that we just need more money. If the taxpayers would give us more money, we would do wonderful things there. ⁓ I always yes, But I I do think that we need to use the money that we already have on hand and that we're collecting and just make that a priority. all all too often. You know, what's in the in the news journal right now and is all over, you know, social media. is the recent event with my opponent, the the current incumbent and the clerk of the court, Pam Shoulders. and it's all over discretionary funding. For those that don't know, every county commissioner, there's five of them, gets a fifty thousand dollar discretionary fund. And they can use that discretionary fund however they choose to do each year. And you can even save some of that money up so you have a little bit more money next year. And ⁓ Pam Childers' position was is that the commissioner should use that money for the public good, fixing potholes, buying trash cans, replacing street signs. Greg Fink: What about bumper stickers and t shirts and statues? Glenn Dorsey: Well, how about, you know, golf parties you know, other exact events there, which is how the money was used and it was promised. And the county clerk of the court said, you know, hold on, ⁓ let's hit the a little bit. ⁓ That money was for the public benefit and not for somebody to throw a a a gathering or a party or something of that sort there. And ⁓ and now county's in a lawsuit. So seven thousand dollars of promised funds. for those type of events. And some of the the other money went to the food pantry has now resulted in a a lawsuit. And everybody knows you you can't get in or out of a lawsuit for the $7,000 that was promised ⁓ from our commissioner to the taxpayers. So ⁓ I again I think we just showed we've got to be really good stewards of the money that we already have in hand. I am absolutely opposed increasing property taxes on our local residents here, until we get a better grip on reducing some of the fraud and abuse and waste that is going on. Greg Fink: Is that a fraud? I mean my my question here is I mean, that we're all talking about here like seventy five hundred dollars or twenty five hundred dollars, and that seems like a small number when you're talking about a eight hundred million dollar budget. But I think a lot of it has to do with the principle of it because it you know, this is just one little piece of it. And and that's what I think you and I talked about before, that this is just a small baby piece of a very big complicated puzzle of funding that is ⁓ going without any type of oversight or any type of ⁓ Yeah, re restriction whatsoever. I mean, it's discretionary and but the same time the the aspect and the whole outlook that's not pay to play is just hard to avoid. Glenn Dorsey: Yes. And and you know, I I I I saw you kinda wince back at the at the word fraud there, so I want to take a second and kind of kind of clear against that. I don't think that that is happening at the local government side. There have been some accusations as that relates to the children's trust fund. And that was a big item in a about a month and a half ago, with the news journal and again with my opponent, Mike Coller, saying they want to stick it back on the ballot. There have been some allegations within there, but again, a an allegation is just that it's a it's an allegation. but unfortunately I think what happened from this this children's trust fund is that it was put on the referendum. The voters said yes, we wanna have a children's trust fund within the county to help out many of the underprivileged children that that need some some extra help. And then at that point, once the county gets the money, then say, okay, we've all this money. Now we've got to figure out what to do with it. So they start handing out grants and and dedicating money to certain purposes ⁓ without clear articulable guidelines during that. So they say, well, you know, we'll figure it out over the next three or four years, but meanwhile, waste abuse, hopefully not fraud ever happens there, but it's important to make sure that If we're going to collect money that we hold people accountable for the proper use that money. Again, because every tax dollar counts. Greg Fink: It does. And so ⁓ real quick, we're gonna go ahead and talk about how people can reach you on the campaign. How can they get a yard sign? How can they volunteer? How can they do something to help spread the word about Glenn Dorsey? Glenn Dorsey: Yeah, so the biggest thing is just to show up on August the eighteenth. that is a primary in the state of Florida. And what I mean by a primary is is that ⁓ Republican candidates will all I wish to be your county commissioner, and you'll have a chance to vote for one of them, and that will appear on the November third ballot. So the same thing happens on the Democratic side as well. So if there's two Democratic candidates there, That will get reduced to one to appear on the November November third ballot. And then two Republican candidates comes down to one and appears on the November third ballot there. the election ⁓ on August the 18th, and that's where I need your support. well I think we're about 56 days away from that election date. I'd like to get the word that I'm running for office. I'd like folks to get to know me. They can go to glendorsey.com and that is my where I publish positions. And I certainly encourage you to look at not just my website and look at me as a candidate, but to look at my opponent because I do think that there are some noticeable differences between the two of us. My Facebook page is where I probably have the most activity in terms of asserting positions that I might have. and I've taken very strong positions on not only spending, but Out in Perdito Key, common use of the beaches. I want the entire public to be able to walk down the beach. Greg Fink: That only makes sense. I mean, you know, lot of people we've always had this conversation about private beaches and public beaches and whether or not you have beach access or not have beach access and so on and so forth. And the fact that we're still having that conversation here in twenty twenty six and that we haven't gotten over that yet is befuddling to me. Yes. Glenn Dorsey: So ⁓ my pledge is to to really put a lot of priority back on on changing the appearances of our community. so fixing the roads there, doing the basics that your property taxes were intended to do. I do support the the either a rollback of the tax rate, cuts into the budget, and I'm excited. I I do think the taxpayers are going to vote affirmatively to Governor DeSantis's plan to reduce some of the property taxes and and let our seniors enjoy the home that they've worked so hard to to pay for. Greg Fink: Now, whenever that happens, how, you know, do you propose to make up that revenue or is there a reason to make up the revenue or just spend smartly? Yeah. Glenn Dorsey: We'll have to to really dig into that. They're developing or trying to develop right now the the next year's budget. And unfortunately I will not have a voice in that. even though I I I think I have a loud voice already in terms of what the priorities should be. We'll see if they manifest. The governor and the in the Florida legislature are throwing out a multitude of ideas how to recover some of that lost revenue. And one of the things that's being discussed is going to be similar to the penny for progress or the loss funds, the local option sales tax. One of the sales tax generates about seventy-seven million dollars. And they're talking about losing anywhere from forty-five to forty-six million dollars. So you can see that if we just even did a half a cent there, we'll get really close to where we need to be. The advantage to that is that we're not just burdening our local resident, the property owner themselves. We're sharing that amongst every person that comes through our county or stays at our beaches or buys anything in Escambia County. So I'm a big proponent of that, not just because it's shared by others, but more importantly, it's a reflection of how the economy is. So I told you, you know, just in the last four years, thirty-two point six percent increase in the county's budget. I didn't generate thirty-two point six percent more income in my business. I it's unlikely that any of the wage earners generated thirty-two point six percent additional revenue in their take home check. ⁓ our county has exceeded the means by by the individual residents within the community. So I I do think that, you know, when the economy goes down and, you know, sales tax revenue goes down, people need to start tightening their belts. When the economy is doing well, then we can all afford that to pay that extra half cent. Greg Fink: Right. Yeah, because I guess the ⁓ big issue here is since the sales tax is a reflection of the power of spending on a local level or any type of level really, if budget for the county has increased by thirty two percent in just in the last four years, that means their expenses have ⁓ increased ⁓ probably poor choices on their part have increased as well by thirty two percent. So if the ⁓ increases occur and sales tax revenue does not keep up with that increase then Yeah, how does that, you know, work? And so I mean ⁓ th th that's the biggest question is that, you know, ⁓ do we have anybody up there and I'm assuming not, that is looking at how they're spending and how they can curtail what they're spending and make sure they make smarter budgetary choices. Glenn Dorsey: You know, Greg, that might have been strong point why I decided to run. I probably should have never gone to any of the county commissioner meetings and then I could have lived a nice happy life at that point there. But I I watched folks give very little time to major decisions of the county. they essentially I watched them kind of look over and it's like, Are you going to vote yes? Are you going to vote yes? All right, we'll make it unanimous, five to to zero. And I think it's important to one, listen to the public and two, ask questions openly and honestly before we get into the decision making process. We've got a county administrator ⁓ somebody that handles our agenda. They put it on there, but if you do not feel informed enough, I I don't see any harm in just waiting for another meeting or calling for another meeting in order to make the decision there. But We have to start giving the due attention needed to these major decisions and topics ⁓ that are being dealt with by by this leadership. Greg Fink: Right. I mean, I know that in the past they've always said that they do all the the ⁓ grinding and the ⁓ committee meetings. Glenn Dorsey: The committee of the whole meetings. ⁓ I've been to plenty of those. Greg Fink: But but the the point is that the public's not there and and it doesn't really matter in my opinion, since these are public servants, these are not private servants, ⁓ or servants at all actually. are public servants and ⁓ fact that they're making all these decisions, I it's in the sunshine, I know they're doing it in daylight, but hardly anybody even knows what the heck is going on. The fact that they don't, ⁓ I and they're not transparent in an active way, they're transparent passively. And so how how they go you know, how do they justify and go into the next step of spending whenever the people have no idea what they're really spending it on? Glenn Dorsey: Yeah, in and in each of those meetings there, the public meetings here, they'll give the public either two or three minutes, depending on how many have signed up, in order to speak so the commissioners can hear the public sentiment. It's depends on what the event is. I mean, I've been in there with there's probably probably sixty folks were in there. I mean, we spent well over two hours of of public discussion. But, you know, this was a decision that probably should have had Greg Fink: How may you show up? Glenn Dorsey: Two or three meetings of two hours worth the public discussion in order to consider the validity of all the points that were being made. There is very little time spent on the dais where the commissioners are actually talking about not only the needs within their specific district, but what are the long term goals for our county as a collective? So while we might be five individual districts, we're still just one county. We're one big home. And it is important that we understand the the global need, or regional need to need depending on how you wanna look at it. I like, you know I'm a small town guy here, so you know, I consider Pensacola the globe, is part of that process. But we have spend much more time getting to the the crux of the matter there and and really listening to the public all too often. I see these commissioners in their phone working on their laptop and I don't just think it it's very respectful to disregard the public inputs that should be it. There's a lot to be learned by the folks that are just commoners like I am. Greg Fink: We had a we saw a meeting a few years ago, probably almost a decade ago, where they were talking about taking away their cell phones during the meetings. guess it never really stuck. Glenn Dorsey: I d I don't think so. And they'll get up and excuse themselves during the the public input section and I don't know. I it me it just doesn't seem like we're giving the the public the due respect that they deserve. Greg Fink: So that's real and that and that's a big reason to start looking at your campaign then. So I mean, if people need to follow you on Facebook, then you go to Glenndorsey.com and how can they donate? Glenn Dorsey: just simply go to Glen Dorsey dot com or even better, you can call me eight five zero three ⁓ four zero two zero four. That's my my cell number. So you can call me or you can text me eight five zero three ⁓ four zero two zero four and be happy to stop by, meet you, take a check, drop off the sign. ⁓ there's no need that, you know, if you don't feel compelled to give I You know, I'm not trying to strong arm anybody. I am trying to pay for most of this campaign myself, but it is expensive. Anytime you go in against an incumbent, it gets very, very expensive. so you know, I I we've got a lot more to talk about in the upcoming sessions, Greg, because I I want you to hear about some character and value traits that I have and some promises that I'll make. to keep our government honest. I I you know I have uncovered what I consider to be I don't know if it's unethical and certainly not illegal there, but I I will just call it inappropriate relationships between donors and people that are appointed to important government positions here locally. ⁓ we need to all represent the best interests of the public. I'm not using I'm not using this as a stepping stone. Glenn doesn't want to become a congressman or a state representative or a mayor, anything of that nature. Glenn just wants a better district too, a better county. my two kids, I told you one's in in Mobile, Alabama, University of Southern Alabama, the other one's in Phoenix. I want these kids to come back. And ⁓ I I want to make our town better so they'll feel compelled to do that. Greg Fink: That's great. And ⁓ we'll go ahead and close ⁓ this first episode here with that. And you guys go ahead and check us out on the PowerPox Media Network. We're gonna have his ⁓ show on here as a ⁓ Glenn Dorsey show and ⁓ we're also gonna be soon putting ⁓ him on his own channel. And so ⁓ you guys will be checking that out. We'll just stay ⁓ tuned to the description and the notes and ⁓ we'll go from there. Thanks a lot, Glenn. Glenn Dorsey: Bye, Greg. Take care.