Although this race maybe about infrastructure , customary use is the key. It is the 10 second talking point that everyone remembers and in my opinion will be the deciding factor in this election.
Although this race maybe about infrastructure , customary use is the key. It is the 10 second talking point that everyone remembers and in my opinion will be the deciding factor in this election.
Bob, unfortunately, I think you may be right. Anyone that has attended any of the Candidates Forums (and not many did) knows that
all of the candidates are for Customary Use and both Chapman and Imfeld know that. It has been expressed in the Forums and in print. A few of us have suggested that the BCC needs to do a better job of guiding and regulating Code Enforcement and Beach Vendors activities. Unfortunately, the BCC has created a situation that will cost the taxpayers and beachfront homeowners a fortune in legal battles that will go on for a long time.
More troubling is the claim by Mr Imfeld in articles in The Herald and WZEP Radio ads that he brought Love's Travel Stops to Mossy Head. Mr. Imfeld has a bad memory. Here are the facts: on March 6, 2013, Art Miller and I, as members of a the Institute for Senior Professionals doing a study of the Walton County EDA at the request of Commissioner Ken Pridgen, interviewed Commissioner Imfeld. He constantly interrupted us by leaning over his desk with his hands clasped in prayer mode and said, "Bring me something for Mossy Head." I remember laughing as we left and asking Art, "Do you think he wants us to bring something to Mossy Head?" Art and I then drove to the site, over 350 acres of undeveloped land the County had owned for 11 years. We knew it was a perfect location for a truck stop. Art had done some research and learned there was no truck stop between Cottondale on I-10, exit 131, and the Alabama line. He asked me to contact the major truck stop companies to convince them to locate to Mossy Head. I called Love's Vice President of Real Estate and Development in Oklahoma. He was courteous and told me he appreciated the call, but was not interested. I convinced him to hear me out and gave him some demographics of the area. He finally said, "You've got my interest, send me some more information." I immediately sent contact information to Mr. Imfeld, but he wanted to wait until the EDA hired a new director. Art Miller then presented the idea to the EDA and asked Mac Work, then a DeFuniak Springs Councilman and a member of the EDA, to follow up with Love's. That contact that took place on March 15, 2013, more than a week after I sent Mr. Imfeld the contact information. The facts are Bill Imfeld did nothing to facilitate Love's moving to Mossy Head, yet he wants to take all the credit. The only County officials that have thanked me or Art Miller for bringing Love's to Mossy Head are Larry Jones our County Administrator and Comissioner Cindy Meadows.