Voters to See Time Zone Question

County voters will get their chance to decide if “fast” time or “slow” time suits them.

County commissioners last week charged the county attorney with drafting language for the 2010 ballot that would put to voters as a non-binding referendum the question of whether they would want the county unified under Central Time.

The driving force behind the referendum is a class at Wewahitchka High School, which collected over 1,400 signatures in roughly a month on petitions asking whether folks in Gulf County wanted to go entirely to Central Time.

As noted by Matt Bullard, who teaches government, economics and American history at the high school, Gulf is alone among 67 Florida counties to have a split time zone. There are just eight such counties among the more than 3,100 counties in the country.

Bullard noted that the railroad was the driving force behind the change to Eastern Time for the south end of the county decades ago, but he noted that the mill is closed and demolished and the railroad is no longer much of a factor.

The local economy, Bullard continued, is driven more by Bay County, which is on Central Time, than Apalachicola or Franklin County, which is a smaller county.

More locals shop, have doctor’s appointments and the like in Bay County than anywhere on Eastern Time, Bullard said.

“It really doesn’t matter to me, this is about this county and the opportunities that are here and the opportunities that are lost,” Bullard said, adding that a unified time zone would facilitate economic development and smart growth.

“(The time zone split) does not unify this county,” Bullard said. “This will unify this county. There is no reason to have a split.

“It’s confusing to say the least. I haven’t found one reason not to have a unified time zone in the county. I think it would be a step forward for the county.”

Bullard said the split in time zones only exacerbates simmering polarization in the county.

Commissioner Bill Williams cautioned Bullard and commissioners about what they could be stepping into.

“There is a lot of emotion tied to this,” Williams said, adding much of it was “territorial” in nature. “It’s a more volatile issue than you think.”

Williams, however, had no objection to putting the question to voters, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Billy Traylor.

“Why can’t we find out what the public wants? Why can’t we?” Traylor asked.

Bullard added, “The best move is to at least let the people vote on it.”

Commission chair Nathan Peters, Jr. said he had no problem with the split time zone and disputed that it divided people in the county.

He said a survey conducted by Port St. Joe High School students regarding unifying under Eastern Time would likely have a different outcome than the petition drive undertaken by Bullard’s students.

Bullard countered that if such a time zone change ever came about, those on Eastern Time would not notice a difference after a week or two.

Commissioner Warren Yeager hoped for a ballot language that would provide voters a choice, Eastern Time, Central Time or remaining the same, but was advised by the county attorney that any referendum must provide a clear yes or no question.

Attorney Tim McFarland added that while the board can put the question on the ballot, ultimately the county would have to petition for a congressional act to bring about the time zone change.

“It’s been done before, it can be done again,” said Commissioner Carmen McLemore.

McFarland is expected to bring the ballot language to the board at its Tuesday meeting.

Voters cast ballots on the time zone issue in 1982. Eastern Time took the day 55-45 percent.

In other business conducted at the meeting:

* Commissioners voted 3-2 (Peters and McLemore voting no) to approve the final paperwork transferring the county yard in Wewahitchka to the city of Wewahitchka. The sale of the yard had been approved in a recent commission meeting by an identical vote. Peters objected that the price - $150,000 - was too low, and McLemore objected to the sale of any county property.

 * The board discussed the county's stand on the Port St. Joe Redevelopment Agency's (PSJRA) progress to re-incorporate the North Port St. Joe area into the existing downtown redevelopment boundaries.

The PSJRA was asking the county to accept a motion to proceed "as is" with the inclusion.

Williams pointed out that the base year for the North Port St. Joe area would produce very limited funds for redevelopment and the county would have to "look out for the North Port St. Joe citizens because they won't bring in the same amount of money."

All five commissioners had problems with the new expansion plan being 40 years in duration, as the original area plan is.

McFarland cautioned commissioners that approving the proposed plan from the PSJRA would forfeit the county's control over any actions in the future. He clarified that the motion before the board stated that the county was comfortable with what the city of Port St. Joe planned to do with the boundary expansion without holding the joint city-county meetings the county had already requested.

The board voted 3-2 (Traylor and McLemore voting no) to require the meetings between the county and city before allowing the PSJRA to expand its boundaries.

* Peters told the other commissioners that County Judge Fred Witten had "made it perfectly clear that he [Witten] wanted the courthouse work done at both locations."

Peters said no one would be pulled from courthouse maintenance crews until the courthouse work in Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka was finished. McLemore objected, saying he had a project that needed completing and wanted a specific crew member from maintenance to continue working on his project.

When Peters denied the request, Traylor said he also was waiting for maintenance. "When does my district come into this?” he asked. Peters again stated that the courthouse work was the first priority and the board voted 4-1 to keep courthouse maintenance crews on that work until completed. McLemore voted against the motion.

Commissioner Warren Yeager then made a motion, passed unanimously, that "from now forward, this board doesn't get involved in scheduling, We only put in work orders and don't get requests from individual commissioners unless it's an emergency." Yeager emphasized, "We don't get involved in day-to-day operations."

 * County administrator Don Butler reported that the county consolidation plan was proceeding on schedule. He said the 30-acre site on State 71 at Howard Creek had been surveyed, the county had the foundation and floor plans, application had been made for stormwater permits, clearing of land was about to begin, and a building was about to be purchased.