Is Bill Fletcher Having Second Thoughts?

The Supervisor of Elections website shows Bill Fletcher has failed to qualify for election to the the County Commission. The qualifying deadline is tomorrow at noon. Only 12 hours away!! Each time I’ve heard Fletcher speak, he mentions he is only running because no one else would get in the race. Has he finally found someone to replace him who really wants to win?

It just seems odd that someone would wait until the very last minute if they were enthusiastic about the race and really wanted to run for the position. Maybe he has decided it’s just not worth it? Or maybe he’s just reluctant to possibly go through another defeat as he did in the 2016 campaign. Maybe he does not want to have to leave his home and relocate into the district?

I guess we will find out tomorrow at noon.

 

LOL, looking at the money he has raised would indicate otherwise. You are correct though we will know at noon.

 

First post troll. What have you done with your life?

 

I am always suspicious of first time posters who come out swinging and your post is no exception however, I have my own thoughts about Bill Fletcher.

I actually voted for Fletcher in 2016 because knowing things Chapman has done with regard to special favors hes given or received, the fudging of his police certifications, the get out of jail free card he secured for his son on a domestic violence charge after he punched his g/f (at the time) in the face, I could not bring myself to vote for Chapman. Fletcher also had a good showing in 2012 when he ran against Chapman (coming in second) albeit he still lost. The money that went missing from the Walton County planning department was a huge factor as well.

I started having second thoughts about Fletcher when he started attending Defuniak Springs Council meetings when Mac Carpenter (a City councilman at the time) was vying for the Walton County Planning Directors job and I realized he was pushing/persuading Melanie Nipper to vote for Carpenter who was employed with the planning department when the 800,000 dollars worth of recreation fees went uncollected or "missing". There has been plenty of talk here about Carpenter and Mayor Bob Campbell's antics on our City Council and the almost 1/2 million dollars (and counting) they have cost the taxpayers so, not point in rehashing the past (do a search on this board with Carpenter and Campbell's names if you want a refresher course) but suffice it to say I was dead set on Carpenter NOT being re-elected to our City Council and he wasn't...thanks in part to the honesty and integrity of our City council and some very astute citizens who saw through Carpenter's bullshit, he did however get the planning directors job.

Fletcher has continued to this day to attend City Council meetings in Defuniak and has aligned himself with our less than stellar Mayor and a group of citizens who have long held the City hostage calling themselves C4 (City Corruption Clean-Up Crew) consisting of 2 old biddies, 1 a former politicians wife and the other a very rich, nasty woman with more money then sense and a few very ill informed citizens, There are ample videos online regarding their antics (check WZEP) but what I just couldn't get past was Fletcher attending those dog and pony shows. I suspect that it's not really out of any real support for the group but the necessity to obtain the signatures needed to get himself on the ballot that Fletcher got behind this group. I suspect the Mayor convinced Fletcher that he had overwhelming support of the citizens in Defuniak and that just isn't the case. I personally believe that Fletcher is towing the party line (practicing partisan politics) and its going to cost him. BIG TIME!

Just got off the phone with Supervisor of elections office and Fletcher will be on the ballot in August.

I won't vote for him but I won't vote Trey Nick either.

 

It is pretty amazing (and disconcerting) to read some of these posts and comments about the nefarious and shady motives of me just because I attended DeFuniak Springs City Council meetings. As a member of the Institute for Senior Professionals (ISP) I sat in with the team doing a study of issues the City was dealing with a few years ago. They asked me to attend some Council meetings, which I did. I have tried since then to attend as many as possible, as I try to be as knowledgeable as possible about what is going on throughout the County (I have not been able to attend many) and certainly tried to get Petitions signed to enable me to run for County Commissioner. Particularly disturbing is someone suggesting that you should not or will not vote for me because you dislike someone supporting me, how juvenile is that? Folks, you are not voting for my supporters, you are voting for me! No individual or special interest group controls or influences decisions I will make for Walton County residents if I am elected and you can take that to the bank!

 

You are wrong about Bill. He is a good guy that sees the best in everyone. So don’t vote that is your choice but let’s all stop and think where you want to be 10 years from now. You want to be owned by the Kabal or have a good honest man who would never talk ugly about anyone . You decide.

 

I hope you're right Suzanne but I have my doubts.

 

Suzanne, Linda Morse is wrong about most everything.

 

Really Mark? I guess you have not seen the City Atty's LEGAL analysis of the Grand Jury findings have ya? I was spot on about all of it! Read more about it on the Defuniak City Council agenda page.

 

P.S. Mark, Suzanne Harris and I have been friends a long time. We don't always agree on political issues but she and I agree to disagree civilly unlike you and a FEW others who constantly attack!

 

You are wrong about Bill. He is a good guy that sees the best in everyone. So don’t vote that is your choice but let’s all stop and think where you want to be 10 years from now. You want to be owned by the Kabal or have a good honest man who would never talk ugly about anyone . You make your choice.

 

Kaydunce, you really have problems staying on the subject. This thread is about Bill Fletcher.

 

Says the KING OF DERAILING topics.

 

I was favoring Bill Fletcher until he became wishy-washy on defending customary use. Trey Nick has put out the most ironclad statement ever regarding customary use and his pledge to defend the public's access to the beach, no matter what. I don't hear that out of Mr. Fletcher, as of yet anyway, and the money he is getting from the usual suspects who own beachfront property makes me nervous.

 

Sorry, missed where he has even had a position, where was it found?

 

What other positions has Mr. Nick laid out? There are a number of Facebook posts asking him to engage and lay out his positions, and I haven’t seen anything more than on Customary Use. Based on his contributors (nearly same as Jones), will he be another rubber stamp to unbridled development like Jones/Anderson that has led to so many infrastructure and traffic issues?

 

Absolutely any politician can declare they are in favor of customary use. Especially since it’s a problem almost above their pay scale. And 4 years later they can they tried. I think Bill Fletcher is wiser than that, and pragmatic. He knows it’s a complicated problem. Exactly how many Commission meetings has Trey Nicks attended lately?

 

Bill has our vote.

 

Now that HB 631 has gone into effect, I'm hopeful the anxiety over Customary Use will prove to be overblown today. I'm also hopeful both sides will show restraint, civility and common courtesy to each other. While I'm absolutely in favor of the public's access to our beaches, I hope everyone realizes my opinion and the opinion of all the candidates will not impact the decision of the courts. I still hold out hope that both sides will consider temporarily halting legal action and try to come to a reasonable compromise and avoid years of very expensive litigation. I have to believe there are those on both sides of this complex issue that would be willing to make that effort.

Bill Fletcher

 

Thank you.