Headlines on PNJ.com: This is the news from Friday, August 23
Election results cause political earthquake in Escambia Commission Board, and Blake Doyle Skate Park is good for skaters and business
Escambia County experienced a political earthquake in the Republican primary Tuesday night when Steven Stroberger defeated Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh in the race for District 1.
In recent years, Bergosh, along with Republican Commissioner Steven Barry and Democratic Commissioner Lumon May, has been the dominant voting bloc on the five-member panel. Party affiliation is rarely the deciding factor in controversial commission votes.
With Stroberger’s victory, this three-vote majority was broken and the winner of the general election in the fourth district between Republican Ashlee Hofberger and Democrat Ron Helms became the deciding vote of the body.
Stroberger won a clear majority of the 1st District Republicans with 54.17% of the vote in a three-way race between himself, Bergosh and Jesse Casey. Bergosh won 36.84% of the vote, his worst showing in the three primaries he ran in for County Commission. His best showing came in his first attempt in 2016, where he won with 40.79% of the vote, also in a three-way race.
Who is Steve Stroberger? Escambia County Commissioner, District 1 | Questions and Answers for Candidates
It is rare for an incumbent to be unseated from the Escambia County Commission; the last time this happened was in 2014 in the Second District race between Doug Underhill and incumbent Gene Valentino.
In the fourth district, Hofberger defeated her two GOP opponents by a margin of 5 pointsshe had 37.67% of the vote, while Walker Wilson had 32.67% and Buck Mitchel had 29.66%. Helms was unopposed and was therefore automatically the Democratic nominee for the seat when he qualified in June.
There’s a saying about getting something approved by the county commission: “You have to be able to count to three.”
The vast majority of votes on the panel are unanimous, but when controversial issues come before the commission, the vote tends to be 4-1 or 3-2. Since 2020, nearly all 3-2 votes (and with the appointment of Robert Bender as elections supervisor in January, a 3-1 vote) have involved the same three commissioners voting together – Bergosh, Barry and May.
Whether it was rural broadband contracts, beach replenishment funds, $9 million settlements, or the decision to pursue further litigation, all of these were decided by a three-vote majority.
The three-vote majority led to the decision not to compromise with Escambia County Clerk Pam Childers in June 2021 to lower the contribution rates for the local pension program for commissioners. The board rejected the rate reduction by a 3-2 vote. Bergosh voted with the majority despite not being enrolled in the local pension plan, while Bender voted with the minority to lower the rate while he was enrolled in the local pension plan.
That decision led to a legal battle in which a judge ruled that the local pension plan amounted to illegal compensation for commissioners.
The three-vote bloc is a political reality that Bergosh recognized in his attempt to add Perdido to his district in 2021, as he asked Barry and May to see his proposal before their redistricting meeting.
Due to the redistricting in 2021, Stroberger, who had filed for the 2nd constituency, was excluded from that earlier race.
Second District Commissioner Mike Kohler took office in 2022 to work with the majority, but increasingly found himself on the losing side of votes that landed the district in increasing legal trouble.
Storberger helped Kohler’s 2022 campaign, which produced a surprise victory against a much better-funded opponent. Stroberger was working as Kohler’s assistant in his Second District office when the News Journal published an article about Bergosh’s leaked text messages and his machinations behind the redistricting that ended Stroberger’s first run. Stroberger said reading those messages was a big reason he felt he needed to challenge Bergosh for the First District seat.
It can be assumed that Kohler and Stroberger will continue to be political allies in the future.
Kohler told the News Journal he believes the change would give the board some much-needed humility.
“I look forward to working with them and I think they will bring a certain level of poise and professionalism that has unfortunately been lacking a little bit,” Kohler said. “And I think the people deserve that. They deserve more statesmanship and just good governance.”
Kohler said he thought Bergosh was an effective commissioner who accomplished positive things for his district, but he “bullied too many people” during his time as commissioner.
“Jeff did some good things for District 1 in terms of projects and implementation,” Kohler said. “I don’t want to take that away from him. He did, but at the same time he just treated too many people badly and it finally caught up with him.”
Stroberger told the News Journal he believes it is time for the community to move forward and urged his supporters to stop making negative comments about Bergosh on social media.
“Shortly after the polls closed, Mr. Bergosh called me to congratulate me and he was very gracious,” Stroberger said. “And I promise to be the same. I know there are some things being said on social media and in person and I want that to stop because I want our board to go in a different direction and stop the nonsense. That has to stop now. He’s respectful. I’m going to be respectful to him.”
He said he wants to work with all the commissioners on the board to move the county forward.
“We need to get to five votes,” Stroberger said. “We need to have discussions to talk about the issues so we can come to a good decision. And to do that, we need to talk about things (publicly). I find it amazing that we get to the point where we get three votes without discussion. That’s not enough. It’s not enough for the county administrator and the district attorney to talk to all the commissioners to get us to work together. We need to come together to work together, and that’s what I’m going to work on.”
Republicans dominate politics in Escambia County, meaning that a small number of voters typically decide who holds partisan offices at the local level in the August primary election.
In the First District election, 24,565 registered Republican voters cast 8,848 votes, representing a turnout of 36% – higher than the countywide turnout of 23.4%.
In the Fourth District election, 21,256 registered Republican voters cast 8,371 votes, representing a turnout of 39%.
Stroberger won his race with 1,533 votes, while Hofberger won her race with 418 votes.
Kohler said he learned during his 2022 campaign that a candidate’s personal connections with voters matter in local elections.
“In these local elections, expressions of support do not carry much weight,” said Kohler. “It’s about the connection with the people.”
It’s all about knocking on doors and having one-on-one conversations.
“It’s important that they believe you do what you say you’re going to do,” Kohler said.
Stroberger and Kohler called Hofberger on election night to congratulate her on her victory in the Fourth District Republican primary.
Hofberger told the News Journal she believed Stroberger and Kohler shared her priorities, which were improving the county’s support for its first responders, particularly emergency medical services.
“From what they’ve said and just from their backgrounds, I think this is a top priority for them as well,” Hofberger said. “I look forward to making this possible for our community.”
When asked about the litigation the county has faced in recent years, Hofberger said she believes the $9 million spent on legal settlements could have been much better spent on other priorities.
“I think Pam Childers has done a great job protecting taxpayer dollars, and that has to be a difficult position for her to be in,” Hofberger said. “You’re under pressure from the people who elected you, but you’re also under pressure from the people you work with every day as a county commissioner. So I think she did what she thought was best for the community and the taxpayers, and I really respect that.”
Helms told the News Journal that Tuesday’s results made the race for the Fourth District even more important.
“It’s important,” Helms said. “The seat has been vacant since January, and none of the commissioners I know of have done anything to support District 4.”
Helms said if he wins, he will approach the position as a fiscal conservative and focus on restoring ethics to county government.
“Some people are always nervous when there’s change, but change is a good thing,” Helms said. “And I believe the board will be much more balanced in terms of fairness and the decisions made.”
