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CHRISTOPHER MARTIN The University of West Florida has appointed the retired U.S. Navy captain as its assistant vice president of facilities management. Martin will oversee all aspects of UWF's facilities and grounds operations, including building construction and maintenance, utility services, energy and environmental sustainability, and management of the department's staff. He will also maintain, develop and implement the 2022-2032 Campus Master Plan, including short and longterm planned capital improvement projects. Martin has more than 30 years of operational and personnel leadership experience and served as commanding officer at NAS Pensacola from 2016-2019.
CHARLES CARLAN The past president and founder of Hatch Mott MacDonald of Florida and Alabama passed away last month. Carlan served the community in several roles, including Pensacola Chamber chairman, Pensacola Junior College Foundation president, UWF Foundation treasurer, West Florida Regional Council chairman and First United Methodist Church capital campaign chairman. He was inducted as a fellow into the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Florida Engineering Society and was the first Chairman of the UWF Engineering Advisory Council. He played a significant role in building Northwest Florida.
CENTRAL CHURCH PENSACOLA BEACH
Teens living in two Lakeview Center foster care group homes will soon have new furniture to make their stays more comfortable, thanks to a $15,000 donation from Central Church Pensacola Beach. Lakeview Center's Arcadia Place and Cabot Heights serve teens in the foster care system who have experienced abuse or neglect and are struggling with mental health issues. The Central Church Pensacola Beach community has rallied around the group homes, starting with their "Hope for Kids Christmas Campaign."
PENSACOLA STATE COLLEGE Capping off Black History Month, the "100 for 100" campaign celebrated recently over $43,000 raised since 2021. The campaign began as an "out-of-the-box" idea to help fund the African American Memorial Endowed Scholarship and the Garrett T. Wiggins "Live Your Dream" Scholarship. The success and growth of this campaign are due to its avid supporters and dedicated volunteers.
MICHELLE SALZMAN The Republican state representative is so upset with Escambia County School Superintendent Tim Smith that she wrote a letter on her official letterhead requesting he should resign, warning, "every day that we prolong this transition to new leadership, there is a child who is bullied, a child who drops out, a child who attempts suicide, a child who loses hope." While we've seen more interference from state lawmakers in public education than ever before, the school board, not Rep. Salzman, was elected to appoint the school superintendent. Using her position in the Florida Legislature to force someone to resign is an abuse of power.
PENSACOLA HUMANE SOCIETY The nonprofit paid Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund to review aspects of its finances and tried to pass off the final report as being "fully open and honest with the public about the financial well-being of PHS and reassure the community of PHS's financial position moving forward." However, the report did not include a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and accompanying financial notes. We still don't have a full picture of its operations. The nonprofit doesn't list its board members or post its board minutes on its website. It doesn't appear to have followed the best practices of such groups as the National Council of Nonprofits. To rebuild the public's trust, PHS must quit playing games and be fully transparent.
ANDY OGLES
The freshman Republican congressman stated in his official bio that he graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, "where he studied policy and economics." According to his official college transcript, Ogles never took a MTSU economics class and graduated with 2.4 GPA with a degree in international relations and a major in liberal studies. The congressman took 17 years to attain his degree, Nashville's NewsChannel 5 reported. Olges did confess to a local paper—"When I pulled my transcript to verify, I realized I was mistaken." The TV show "Poker Face" could have an entire episode focused on GOP lawmakers.
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES Groups wanting space at the Florida Capitol to inform lawmakers on issues must get an official sponsor "to demonstrate"and must align with a state agency's mission, according to a new DMS policy.
