The Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office is seeking public input for possible future amenities and/or projects for Navarre and the Navarre Beach areas. There is a new poll out that you will see promoted in the next few weeks. There are only two questions – the first one being an order of importance.

At a recent Navarre Beach Leaseholder meeting, a “news resource” want-to-be told Navarre Beach residents in attendance that approval of the setback variance the developer of the new Hilton is seeking would allow them to add more rooms/condos to the development. That was incorrect. However, a lie travels around the world before the truth has a chance to put their pants on … someone famous owns that quote.

This is the kind of stuff that TV movies are made of. Our previous county attorney, Roy Andrews, was fired in December 2020. Prior to his being fired, he told developers that it was A-OK to build an RV park on Navarre Beach even though the Navarre Beach Lease Agreement does not allow for an RV park. It wasn’t brought up for a vote – it just happened.

With so much political drama at the recent county commission meetings, we aren’t sure what county business is being tended to. We have an apology from Sam Parker for using a derogatory term against Jews – of which I’m 26.6% Jewish – and I accept his apology.

Thank you to the people that reached out and said they would love to be a contributing writer for Navarre Press. We will be integrating you into our flow very soon. As I tell new team members, we are going 80 miles an hour down the highway and we need you to merge with us…we can’t stop and pick you up. Well, we could, but then we would get run over.

If you are reading Navarre Press, then you care about your community and you are an informed citizen. There may be many reasons you want to know what is happening in your community. Perhaps you don’t want to be the last to know, or maybe you want to be the first to know.

One of the things in life that is certain is change. Time brings about healing, distance from what it was we were fired up about and a willingness to look to a better future. Not all change is good – and change for the sake of change is not good. But last week, Navarre got to experience change for the better. Two chambers – once a source of dividing our community – have come together as one. It was something that required the right people and the right time.

Congratulations to the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce as we celebrate 50 years of service to the business community. We are so proud of all they have accomplished in their history and look forward to the next 50 years.

As I go to meetings and listen to meetings in Santa Rosa County and now Okaloosa County, I realize how valuable it is to know what is going on in two counties, not just one.

Sometimes we focus on what we don’t have, or situations we aren’t in, and we lose sight of what we do have and where we are. I know I have a lot to be thankful for – at all times – even when I’m wrapped up in the day-to-day busy-ness of life.