John Willoughby: Greene Publishing, Inc.
On Tuesday evening, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m., Senator Bill Montford, of District 3, and State Representative Halsey Beshears, of District 7, joined together to sit down and hear what the citizens and elected officials of Madison County had to say and request of them. The yearly Legislative Delegation meeting was originally going to be held at the Courthouse Annex but because of the anticipated size of the crowd, the meeting was moved to the Courtroom at the Madison County Courthouse.
Before the meeting began, Rep. Halsey Beshears led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance. Sen. Montford expressed his gratitude for the people who came out. Sen. Montford reassured those who came to speak, “We didn't come to talk, we came to listen,” said Montford.
The first order of business was hearing from the concerned citizens of Madison County. Topics ranged from Schools Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) to fracking, of which one person said that “everyone has the right to clean water.” Other interesting topics about funding for school materials and unfair treatment of formally incarcerated citizens, asking for the Senator to “restore the rights” to these people.
One citizen approached the podium about a highly-discussed topic recently in the community of Madison. Due to the fact that Madison County Central School (MCCS) is a failing school, one citizen believes it can be saved by the proper funding and support of social workers in the school.
Wayne Vickers, County Commissioner for District Two, took to the stand as the first Elected Official to speak. Vickers expressed the need for repairs to the Madison County Jail as it was built in 1992. Vickers stated that the jail was “starting to show it's age.” Vickers also requested funding to properly update and repair (as needed) to the Ag Arena, which will soon become the new office for Chamber of Commerce. Ronnie Moore, County Commissioner for District Three, stressed the need for more stricter gun control; calling for a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons. “Those are war weapons,” said Moore.
Sheriff Ben Stewart was the first Constitutional Officer to stand before Sen. Montford and Rep. Beshears. In his ninth year as Sheriff, he requested the continuation of support to the Florida Sheriff's Association. Sheriff Stewart also touched on the county-wide and nationwide drug epidemic. “No intervention concept,” said Stewart. “Unless they break the law,” which is what Sheriff Stewart is trying to prevent. Sheriff Stewart stated that his jail is not a hospital or a mental institute and they are not equipped to handle those type of situations.
“Dealers (of drugs) should be in jail, users have a problem,” said Stewart. Senator Montford said that the topic of the drug epidemic “will be a high priority” as the Legislative convenes in January.
Supervisor of Elections, Tommy Hardee spoke about his concern of voter registration information and who can, for now, legally obtain that information. Hardee told Senator Montford and Representative Beshears that nobody, not even the cell phone companies should be able to access the voter registration information; not even the information of the 16 and 17 year-old's who have pre-registered to vote. Hardee made the comment to “keep fighting for small counties.”
Dr. Karen Pickles, Superintendent of Schools for Madison County was the last present Constitutional Officer to speak. Pickles spoke about the issue of the MCCS and the lack of effective leadership. Pickles asked for proper funding to help find and recruit effective teachers to help the failing school turn around. Pickles expressed that the $2500 recruitment bonus the school district was offering teachers to join was not a successful approach. Tax Collector, Lisa Tuten and Property Appraiser, Leigh Barfield were not present.
Madison County School Board Chairman, Bart Alford voiced his opinion on hiring a highly-qualified principal for the MCCS. Alford also asked for the legislative to crack down on children who are not coming to school, missing more than 20 days and making the parents more accountable for that action. “Children not coming to school are not succeeding,” said Alford. One School board member approached Sen. Montford and Rep. Beshears claiming that the problematic schools are the large schools and there should be more “homegrown” teachers in more smaller community schools. Sen. Montford told the board member that finding “homegrown” teachers was an issue in every county. “Money cannot solve that problem,” said Montford.
City Manager, Tim Bennett spoke on behalf of the City Mayor Rayne Cooks. Bennett came to the Senator asking for funds to dedicate inmate work crews from the Madison Correctional Institute to work in both the city and county. Funding these crews is a budget issue among the city and the funds requested would help pay for a Correctional Officer with six to eight inmates in a designated work vehicle.
Greenville Mayor Calvin Malone took the stand to express his gratitude for Sen. Montford and Rep. Beshears for showing up and listening to the community's concerns. Town of Lee Mayor James Bell was not present.
Coming to the end of the session, Rep. Beshears recapped what was discussed among the citizens and officials in the Courtroom. Beshears reassured that all issues were held and will be brought forth during the 2018 Legislative Session.
The 2018 Legislative Session is slated to begin Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee.