Senator Gainer Town Hall Meeting

As most of you know, traffic, our roads, and transportation issues in general are the top topics that we, your Councilmen, hear the most. We are aggressively tackling these issues through many avenues; one of which, is keeping our new State Senator, George Gainer, informed about all these issues. Senator Gainer is not only an experienced businessman and former Bay County Commissioner, but he is also the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. During the last Legislative session, he inserted a request from your City Council for $1.75 million to help us build a connector road that will alleviate some of the congestion off State Road 85. Unfortunately, that item was removed from the budget by Gov. Scott. Well, we want to retain Senator Gainer's support, so on the 7th of August, he will spend a day with us from 09:30 AM until about 4 PM so that we can demonstrate our needs. He will meet with me as the President of the City Council, the Mayor, and a representative of the City Public Services Department to again discuss transportation issues. We will then take him around the north part of the city, ending up at the Chamber building where a small group of business leaders will have a working lunch with him. Then this is where you all come in; from 1 PM until 3 PM, there will be a Town Hall Meeting with Senator Gainer at Warriors' Hall. Although this is not an ideal time to have this, it is what we have and we need to use it as wisely as possible. All those who are available should show up to voice your opinions and/or ask questions. If you cannot make it, find someone who is off that time of day and have them represent you. By you, I do not mean just Crestview residents; those who live in unincorporated sections of the city and those individuals in Baker, Laurel Hill, and points beyond who are impacted by what happens is Crestview and therefore are also welcome to attend. Finally, we will tour the south part of the city and show the Senator the joint city/county road projects.