Dear Editor,
Within my first two weeks of being named Santa Rosa County Commissioner for District 1, I held a town hall assembly specifically on the new judicial center. It was a spirited meeting with support and opposition of the one-cent sales tax and different sites around Santa Rosa County. Of course, there were complaints, but what a beautiful country we live in that allows us to publicly express disagreements with our government without persecution. From that town hall, I was able to take valuable information and use it as we continued to discuss how the judicial center ballot language would be written and which site or sites would be selected. There is an old saying, “writing policy is a lot like making sausage, and it’s never a pretty sight.” The same could be said about the process to come up with the ballot language for our judicial center. We have had debates, disagreements, criticism from the general public and we have even criticized each other on how it should be done. When you have five men, with five strong opinions on how things should be, it is bound to happen. However, there is one thing I can say all five commissioners in Santa Rosa County can agree 100 percent – we need a new courthouse. With multiple mechanical and electrical issues on the inside, deteriorating materials on the outside, lack of ADA accessibility and most importantly, security issues for the general public, clerk staff, judges and law enforcement, it is time for Santa Rosa County to invest in a judicial center in which we can all be proud. Coming to the citizens of our county and asking for a raise in sales tax is tough. It goes against the “keep taxes low” and “fiscal conservative” principles instilled in me by my late grandfather, W.L. Butler and father, Jim Williamson. Both men had over 30 years of public service combined, both as Milton city councilmen and district one Santa Rosa County commissioners. Their lessons of leaner and efficient government and mottos of “every penny counts” will never leave my heart, or my head, whether it is in my electrical business or my public service. With that being said, a one cent sales tax is simply the best way to fund major capital expenditures. Steady revenue source, less interest, quicker pay off and help from individuals outside of Santa Rosa County are all reasons to give citizens the opportunity to go to the polls and voice their opinion on a local option sales tax. As for the site, this is up to you as well. After deciding if you will vote for or against the sales tax, you will then have three separate yes or no questions asking if you support a judicial center located at Pea Ridge, Downtown Milton and/or East Milton. You may answer these questions in any combination you want. All sites have their own pockets of support and in my opinion; all three sites have positives and negatives. The way the ballot language is written your voice will be heard on each locations and the location with the most votes will be the site of our new judicial center if the local option sales tax passes.
I humbly ask my fellow four commissioners and the citizens of Santa Rosa County to not look back and dwell on any of our past disagreements but to come together and support a new judicial center. We have a beautiful county with a bright future and we deserve a judicial center that reflects our assets and potential.
District 1 Commissioner Jayer Williamson, Pace
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: One cent tax up to voters