At this week’s Walton County Commission meeting on Tuesday, District 3 Commissioner Brad Drake asked his fellow
commissioners to approve a resolution to voluntarily work with Governor Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order regarding
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams for internal state audits and efficiencies.
Commissioner Drake said he had heard from many people who are familiar with the activities of the federal DOGE department wondering
“why aren’t we doing that in Walton County.”
Commissioner Drake went on to explain
that DOGE, as an agency, aims to place
governmental expenditures, processes and
overall existence under the microscope for review.
“It has now landed as a priority
at the highest level of government within our state and Governor DeSantis has
tasked every political subdivision within the state of Florida to utilize the time to
make evaluations of itself to see if cost-savings exist or to see if fraud is rampant,”
he said.
Commissioner Drake asked the BCC to adopt a resolution supporting Gov.
DeSantis’ intention at the local level and to apply specifically to Walton County.
District 1 Commissioner Dan Curry also challenged municipalities within the
county to get on board with the measure and make it a countywide effort.
The Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) task force
plans to examine local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available
county and municipal spending records to “expose bloat within local governance.”
The resolution was unanimously approved with Chief Financial Officer Melissa
Thomason being named as the point of contact, since this will be a budgetary
exercise.
It was stated at the meeting that Walton may be the first Florida county to
formally take this action.
commissioners to approve a resolution to voluntarily work with Governor Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order regarding
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) teams for internal state audits and efficiencies.
Commissioner Drake said he had heard from many people who are familiar with the activities of the federal DOGE department wondering
“why aren’t we doing that in Walton County.”
Commissioner Drake went on to explain
that DOGE, as an agency, aims to place
governmental expenditures, processes and
overall existence under the microscope for review.
“It has now landed as a priority
at the highest level of government within our state and Governor DeSantis has
tasked every political subdivision within the state of Florida to utilize the time to
make evaluations of itself to see if cost-savings exist or to see if fraud is rampant,”
he said.
Commissioner Drake asked the BCC to adopt a resolution supporting Gov.
DeSantis’ intention at the local level and to apply specifically to Walton County.
District 1 Commissioner Dan Curry also challenged municipalities within the
county to get on board with the measure and make it a countywide effort.
The Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) task force
plans to examine local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available
county and municipal spending records to “expose bloat within local governance.”
The resolution was unanimously approved with Chief Financial Officer Melissa
Thomason being named as the point of contact, since this will be a budgetary
exercise.
It was stated at the meeting that Walton may be the first Florida county to
formally take this action.
