Walton County Commissioner Brannon accused of ethics violations

[scooterbug44]

Please note that Alan has said both on Sowal and in the Sun, that he IS pursuing this further through the proper channels and that his beef is not with Brannon, but with the way things are being done on the grand scale.

Major kudos to Alan for taking the time, effort, and heat for sticking up for all of us. A lot of things slide because we aren't willing to put in this kind of time and effort. All he's asking is that the county does what they promised to do in writing. Pretty low standard IMO.

P.S. If anyone is keeping track this would be the 3rd official ethics violation for Brannon. He copped a plea to the first 2.

 

[wrobert]

Please note that Alan has said both on Sowal and in the Sun, that he IS pursuing this further through the proper channels and that his beef is not with Brannon, but with the way things are being done on the grand scale.

Major kudos to Alan for taking the time, effort, and heat for sticking up for all of us. A lot of things slide because we aren't willing to put in this kind of time and effort. All he's asking is that the county does what they promised to do in writing. Pretty low standard IMO.

P.S. If anyone is keeping track this would be the 3rd official ethics violation for Brannon. He copped a plea to the first 2.

Both of those were pleas?

I think the question that keeps being asked is why the publicity and not just the pursuit in official channels, unless someone was trying to play gotcha.

 

[passin thru]

... and in Walton County people are throwing officials under the bus on a whim.

The passion & the details & the perseverence with which Mr Osborne has been pushing this issue hardly qualify this as a "whim." Please.

 

[Lynnie]

Yes, he built Topsail Village over on the West end of 30A. It's a dump that will most likely never be completed. His wife runs it like her very own personal kingdom. Once the owners who got royally screwed buying those dumps get wise she'll probably be getting a visit from the DBPR.

Yep, that's it. He did more than that as well. It could have been an abuse of power and not sure if he ever went before an ethics hearing. I simply looked at it as karma........his thing definitely came full circle on him. I never had to say a word, which is how I prefer my life to unfold. ;-)

 

[idlewind]

I won't belabor the point and turn this into a personal debate between you and I. I know how you feel and you know how I feel. I respect your right to disagree with me.

The Conditions

But give me this. The residents and myself all know that we have a serious problem in Driftwood, we live it every day. We are part of a HIGH Density neighborhood that doesn't conform to county standards, the County uses a State level comp plan (DRI) as the excuse. We are bound to covenents and restrictions put in place as a part of Sandestin, They were written by Sandestin, our roads are bonded at the request of Sandestin by the county. A MSBU we paid for! The residents pay dues for Capital Contributions to maintain common area's. Yet they don't have the right to set foot on them according to Sandestin, and the County seems to think we don't have a right to full compliance with a development order. How do I acheive balance in that?

Solution

I left this part simple, You don't like my Solution, so given the above conditions please fill in the answer under the solution block to the above problem.

Here's my answer

A. Make both Sandestin and the Developers follow the the rules they both wrote and they agreed to with the State and the County. The fullest possible compliance.

I'll await your answer and the people of sowal can put thank you's under the answer they most agree with. Fair enough?

I agree that you and yours seems to be getting the royal ***** job from SanDestin. I think the courts should be the proper venue to force them to keep their word. Most people without an interest in this issue would be on your side.
But, you lose me with this grandstand play on Mr. Brannon. While you probably achieved your goal ( publicity for your cause) many people without an interest in this issue think such tactics are unfair. I am one of them. Thus, while you may gain in the short-term, I believe you damage your cause in the long-term.
As to a "thank you" vote, I really don't care. My sense of right/wrong does not change at the whim of the crowd.
Best of luck to you.

 

[Alan Osborne]

That's the first time I've heard that Alan. What are your quarterly contributions per homeowner?

I think we paid about 14K per lot for the MSBU and about 250 per quarter for the HOA.

 

[totally]

It's not the first time a Co. Commissioner for Walton Co. has been caught in real estate transactions. I had a near miss with one a few years ago......poor guy literally went under.

Nothing wrong with having real estate dealings, but when a Commissioner uses (or, it appears) his/her position on the Board to benefit their real estate development dealings, that's unethical.

The lots had covenants and restrictions that allowed for commercial and the development order expired after the new owners didn't proceed with the project. Check your facts first!

 

[Lynnie]

The lots had covenants and restrictions that allowed for commercial and the development order expired after the new owners didn't proceed with the project. Check your facts first!

No worries. I checked all of my facts while I was dealing with him. And, this about the commercial covenants and restrictions has nothing to do with my experience with him as a developer. At the time he was also Co. Commissioner. He lost the following election, however. There was also an issue with him and the school adjacent to his development. KARMA!

Have a pleasant evening!

 

[Matt J]

I agree that you and yours seems to be getting the royal ***** job from SanDestin. I think the courts should be the proper venue to force them to keep their word. Most people without an interest in this issue would be on your side.
But, you lose me with this grandstand play on Mr. Brannon. While you probably achieved your goal ( publicity for your cause) many people without an interest in this issue think such tactics are unfair. I am one of them. Thus, while you may gain in the short-term, I believe you damage your cause in the long-term.
As to a "thank you" vote, I really don't care. My sense of right/wrong does not change at the whim of the crowd.
Best of luck to you.

Why are you defending a politician who did something illegal or unethical? At this point in my life politicians found guilty of corruption or unethical dealings should be tarred and feathered.

Not in the BCC chambers as that's pretty messy, maybe out in the grass of the roundabout.

 

[Andy A]

I agree that you and yours seems to be getting the royal ***** job from SanDestin. I think the courts should be the proper venue to force them to keep their word. Most people without an interest in this issue would be on your side.
But, you lose me with this grandstand play on Mr. Brannon. While you probably achieved your goal ( publicity for your cause) many people without an interest in this issue think such tactics are unfair. I am one of them. Thus, while you may gain in the short-term, I believe you damage your cause in the long-term.
As to a "thank you" vote, I really don't care. My sense of right/wrong does not change at the whim of the crowd.
Best of luck to you.

I normally agree with most of your positions but for the life of me, I cannot understand how you can call Alan's position on Commissioner Brannon "grandstanding". He has accurately quoted the state statute regarding when you should recuse yourself from a Commission vote. To me, it is very clear, but then maybe I don't interpret the English language correctly. I don't think Alan has hurt his cause at all, is a credit to the county and is more up to speed on this issue that ANYONE in the county. As to the "whim of the crowd" I certainly am not affected by such. However, I do understand "facts" when they are presented to me when, indeed, they are "facts". As I see it, Alan has presented "facts" as what he has presented all come from official and filed sources. Some people need to start realizing just how dedicated and correct this man is. We certainly need more of his kind in Walton County.