GUEST COLUMN:
Let’s eliminate skullduggery in Walton Co.
Tuesday
Posted at 5:15 AM
A special magistrate is a sham that removes public input from the decision process, and violates the spirit of the Sunshine Law.
By Suzanne Harris | Special to the Daily News
Some Walton County commissioners, and the people who pull their strings, want to replace volunteer boards with a special magistrate.
What’s the big deal? There are about a dozen boards in Walton County, each made up of about 7 to 10 volunteers. Issues such as Design Review, Zoning Adjustments and Code Enforcement depend on people who donate hours doing homework and taking part in hearings or meetings. It’s a great way to involve citizens, something that is healthy for any democracy. And it saves tax dollars. So why dump the volunteers and replace them with a paid special magistrate?
A few years ago, the county, specifically Attorney Mark Davis, didn’t like that Melanie Nipper was operating a skydiving business in North Walton. The Planning Board reviewed a complaint about Nipper’s business and decided it was perfectly legal. You’d think that would be the end of it, right? Not so much.
Davis and Planning Director Wayne Dyess decided they wanted the county to hire a lawyer to sue their own Planning Board. And since the county does not provide insurance for board members, each volunteer could be personally liable. Gus Andrews, who owns property near the Nippers, provided much of the documentation against her and appeared eager to see her business shut down. Nipper, an Army Reserve helicopter pilot, won her case in court, thanks to legal help from a local attorney at the time, now-Congressman Matt Gaetz.
Fortunately, many voters were smart enough to realize the county was trying to put her out of business, and they voted her in as a county commissioner last fall. Davis’ next move is to replace volunteer boards with a paid magistrate before his days are up. If the commissioners approve his plan, a magistrate would be paid to decide planning issues, code enforcement issues, zoning variances, etc.
Can you see where this is going? A developer wants to have the rules changed, or get a variance for a project, or do something the Code doesn’t allow. Instead of a public hearing and having a handful of citizens make a ruling, the case would be slipped under the magistrate’s door. Next thing you know, it’s a done deal, and no one knows what happened.
It gets better. The magistrate would be paid by the county. So what are the chances the magistrate would go against what the commissioners want? It’s called job security.
A special magistrate is a sham that removes public input from the decision process, and violates the spirit of the Sunshine Law.
It’s easy to point fingers at the politicians who have a self-serving agenda. But if anyone deserves fingers pointed at them, it’s the naive taxpayers who choose to ignore the skullduggery that goes on around them.
This guest column is from Suzanne Harris, a resident of Miramar Beach.
