The four Saudi mayors who visited Pensacola came to the country with the following professional objectives:
· To learn about best practices in the training and education of public administrators;
· To review how local administrators promote accountability and transparency in the government;
· To examine the role of local administrators in fostering economic growth; and
· To learn how to ensure the delivery of services to constituents.
To that end, the visitors met first with Councilwoman Maren DeWeese who presented a demographic overview of the area, touched upon her own international background, and introduced the Florida Sunshine Laws to the delegation. The delegates were interested in discussing cases of past city council ethics violations as well as zoning, land use, and the factors that led to the creation of the Port of Pensacola.
The delegation next met with Mayor Mike Wiggins. The Saudis spoke about their impressions of Pensacola and its hospitable citizens. Mayor Wiggins presented some facts about the community and initiated a discussion about contrasts and similarities in administrating cities in the two countries. He then commented on the impact of the current economic recession in Pensacola and the measures taken to ensure no interruptions of services to citizens. Both parties discussed public-private partnerships used to improve city development and hurdles regarding budget constraints. At the end of the appointment, the Saudi mayors presented Mayor Wiggins with a delicacy from their home country, and they received Honorary Citizenship with the City of Pensacola.
The last appointment of the day was with Mr. David Flaherty, Director of Parks and Recreation. Mr. Flaherty presented his staff and the responsibility attributed to each individual. The group was exposed to the range benefits provided to the communities by parks and recreation and also learned about recreation projects and events and the department’s interaction with private partners.
The MLK Day three day weekend was packed with a visit with Megan Pratt at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition during the Science Saturday outreach program, an afternoon of participating in the Escambia County/Florida Department of Environmental Protection geocaching tour of Escambia County, and briefly attending the Pensacola MLK Day parade. Barbara Vititow and her fellow volunteers at Feeding the Homeless Plus at First United Methodist Church allowed the delegation to help serve the homeless, and to round out the rest of their free time, the group went shopping at local stores and malls.
On their final day of appointments, the delegation travelled to Milton where Santa Rosa County Administrator Hunter Walker spoke to the group about the pros and cons of public and private competition in fulfilling the needs of community residents. He also gave an overview of the role of a county administrator and a brief introduction to Santa Rosa County itself.
Carrie Stevenson and Elizabeth Bolles at the Escambia County Extension Service next met with the group to discuss drought tolerant plants. The delegates found the appointment to be extremely pertinent for their planned community beautification efforts.
At the Escambia County Landfill, Bureau Chief Sandra Jennings and her crew discussed landfill techniques and issues with the group before taking the delegates on a site visit of the facility. The Saudis were impressed with their operations and engaged Ms. Jennings in a technical discussion regarding processes and results.
Their final appointment was with Pat Hubbard, Director of Housing for the City of Pensacola. Ms Hubbard and staff discussed their four major programs and took the group to several of their department’s projects. Their enthusiasm for their work was quite apparent and appreciated by their Saudi guests.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this project successful, especially Eddie Cooper and Keith Wilkins of Escambia County and Sean Hamilton of the Florida Department of Environmental Services who gave guidance on our council’s first attempt at geocaching and who created a great experience for the international guests. Thank you also to Carol and Hal Malt and to Jena Melançon for opening their homes to this special group for an evening of home hospitality and to Buddy Gissendanner for providing transportation assistance over the holiday weekend.
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