Escambia County, FL v. McMillan Joint Appendix Vol. V

    No. 82-1295

IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States

OCTOBER TERM, 1982

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, et al.,
Appellants,

v.
HENRY T. McMILLAN, et al.,

Appellees.

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

JOINT APPENDIX 
VOL. V -  Pages 1155-1304

CHARLES S. RHYNE 
Counsel o f  Record 

J. LEE RANKIN 
THOMAS D. SILVERSTEIN 

Rhyne & Rankin 
1000 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 
Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036 
(202) 466-5420

THOMAS R. SANTURRI 
Escambia County Attorney 
28 West Government Street 
Pensacola, Florida 32501 
(904) 436-5450

Attorneys fo r Appellants

EDWARD STILL 
Counsel o f  Record 
Reeves and Still 
Suite 400 
Commerce Center 
2027 1st Avenue North 
Birmingham, Alabama 35203

JAMES U. BLACKSHER 
LARRY T. MENEFEE 

Blacksher, Menefee & Stein, 
P.A.

4051 Van Antwerp Bldg.
P. O. Box 1051 
Mobile, Alabama

JACK GREENBERG 
NAPOLEON B. WILLIAMS 

Legal Defense Fund 
10 Columbus Circle 
New York, New York 10019

KENT SPRIGGS 
Spriggs & Henderson 
117 South Martin Luther 
King, Jr. Bldg.

Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Attorneys fo r Appellees

Appeal Docketed February 2, 1983 
Probable Jurisdiction Noted April 18, 1983



TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME I

Page

Docket Entries............................................................................................1
District Court....................................................................................... 1
Court of Appeals................................................................................. 30

Complaint ................  45

Answer and Affirmative Defenses — Escambia County.................... 52

Consolidation O rder............................................................................... 59

Arnow, C, J. Letter to Counsel of Record.......................................... 61

Pretrial Stipulation ................................................................................. 64

Pretrial Order........................................................................................... 77

Notice of Proposed County Charter .....................................................82

Excerpts of Trial Transcript.............................................................. -146
Testimony of Dr. Jerrell H. Shofner...........................................146
Testimony of Dr. Glenn David Curry........................................ 229
Testimony of Charlie L. Taite .................... - ............................255
Testimony of Otha Leverette .......................................................271
Testimony of Dr. Donald Spence ............................   280
Testimony of Billy Tennant .........................................................310

VOLUME II

Testimony of Julian Banfell........ ................................................325
Testimony of Orellia Benjamin Marshall .................................. 334
Testimony of F. L. Henderson.....................................................338
Testimony of Elmer Jenkins.........................................................341
Testimony of Nathaniel Dedmond............................................... 348
Testimony of James L. Brewer ...................................................357
Testimony of Cleveland McWilliams ........................................ 361
Testimony of Earl J. Crosswright .............................................. 363



Testimony of William H. Marshall ...........................................374
Testimony of Dr. Charles L. Cottrell .......................................398
Testimony of James J. Reeves ...................................................436
Testimony of HolliceT. Williams ...............................................438
Testimony of Governor Reubin Askew.....................................452
Testimony of Marvin G. Beck ...................................................470
Testimony of Kenneth J. Kelson ...............................................495
Testimony of Charles Deese, Jr...................................................507
Testimony of Jack Keeney ...........................................................532
Testimony of A. J. Boland......................................................... 549
Testimony of Laurence Green ................................................... 560
Testimony of Dr. Manning J. Dauer.........................................578
Colloquy Between the Court and Counsel ...............................598

VOLUME III

Plaintiffs’ Exhibits............................................................................... 603

Exhibit 6 Demographic Tables — Pensacola Florida...........603

Exhibit 8 Voter Registration, City of Pensacola...................731

Exhibit 14 Excerpts — Computer Printouts Analyzing
Voting Patterns for Selected Elections...................733

Exhibit 16 Statistical Analysis of Racial Element in
Escambia County, Pensacola City Elections . . . .  771

Exhibit 17 Neighborhood Analysis, Pensacola SMSA .......... 799

VOLUME IV

Exhibit 21 United Way of Escambia County, Inc. — 
Community Planning Division Composite 
Socio-Economic Index for the 40 Census 
Tracts .......................................................................... 919

Exhibit 23 Excerpt — Statistical Profile of Pensacola
and the SMSA.........................................................  1006

Exhibit 25 Escambia County and Pensacola SMSA — 
Population Trends; Racial Composition; 
Population by Tract; Age Distribution..................1016

(ii)



(iii)

Exhibit 32 Selected Deeds Conveying Property Located
in Escambia County ............................................. 1036

Exhibit 33 Votes Cast for all Candidates in Selected
Precincts — September 1976 Primary .................. 1047

Exhibit 55 Materials Relating to the City of Pensacola:
Adoption of At-large Election System in 1959 ..  1052

Exhibit 66 County Boards and Committees ............................ 1106

Exhibit 70 Excerpt — 1976-77 Annual Budget of
Escambia................................................................... 1108

Exhibit 71 Summary Analysis (County Recreation) ...........  1111

Exhibit 73 Transcript of Proceedings of Escambia Coun­
ty Board of County Commission at August 
31, 1977 Public Hearing ..........................................1131

Exhibit 80 1973-77 Escambia County, City of Pensacola 
EEO-4 Summary Job Classification and 
Salary Analysis ..................................................... 1142

Exhibit 92 Letter Appearing in the Pensacola News Jour­
nal, August 23, 1959 ....................................... • • • H52

Exhibit 95 Editorial Appearing in the Pensacola Journal,
August 13,1959 ............................       1153

VOLUME V

Exhibit 98 Proposal of Charter Commission Appointed
in 1975 .................................................................... 1155

Exhibit 99 Recommendations by Minority of Charter
Commission Appointed in 1975 ......................... 1225

Exhibit 100 Proposal of Charter Commission Appointed
in 1977 ...................................................................  1228



(iv)

District Court Order Denying Stay of December 3, 1979
Remedial O rder.......................................................................   1261

Excerpts of Trial of Testimony of Dr. Glenn David
Curry........ ..................................................................     1267

Excerpts of Trial Testimony of Dr. Manning F.
Dauer ..................................     1284

NOTE

The following opinions, decisions, judgments, and orders have been 
omitted in printing the Joint Appendix because they appear in the 
Appendices to the Jurisdictional Statement as follows:

Page

Decision on Rehearing of the Fifth Circuit in 
McMillan v. Escambia County, Florida, 688 
F.2d 960 (5th Cir. 1982) ................................................................. A-la

Decision of the Fifth Circuit in McMillan v.
Escambia County, Florida, 638 F.2d 1239
(5th Cir. 1981) ..........................................  B-30a

Decision of the Fifth Circuit in McMillan v.
Escambia County, Florida, 638 F.2d 1249
(5th Cir. 1981) ................................................................................B-52a

Memorandum Decision and Order of the United 
States District Court for the Northern District 
of Florida in McMillan v. Escambia County,
Florida, PCA No. 77-0432 (N.D. Fla. Dec. 3, 1979) . . . . . . . .  B-54a

Memorandum Decision of the United States District 
Court of the Northern District of Florida in 
McMillan v. Escambia County, Florida
PCA No. 77-0432 (N.D. Fla., Sept. 24, 1979) .........................B-66a

Memorandum Decision and Judgment of the United 
States District Court of the Northern District 
of Florida in McMillan v. Escambia County,
Florida, PCA No. 77-0432 (N.D. Fla. July 10, 1978) ............ B-71a



(V)

Judgment in McMillan v. Escambia County, 
Florida, 688 F.2d 960 (5th Cir. 1982)............ C-l 16a



1155

EXHIBIT 98

Proposal of Charter Commission Appointed in 1975

CHARTER GOVERNMENT 
STUDY COMMITTEE 

REPORT

AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL 
1776-1976

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA 

1975-1976



1156

ESCAMBIA COUNTY 

PROPOSED CHARTER 

BY

CHARTER GOVERNMENT STUDY COMMITTEE

FOR

BOARD OF COUNT Y COMMISSIONERS

MEMBERS

B. G. Tennant, Chairman

Adrian Blanton Ms. Jacquelyne Simmons
Ashton Brosnaham, Jr. Frank Westmark

MAJORITY REPORT BY:

B. G. Tennant, Chairman
Frank Westmark
Ms. Jacquelynne Simmons

Escambia County, Florida

1975-76



1157

FOREWORD

Anyone who has tried to sell a complex product such as 
governmental structure knows the difficulties involved in 
getting the message to the people. Without knowledge, the 
public is apt to accept only what they know — “status 
quo.” As our changing society requires counties to provide 
new and improved services and perform new functions, 
they must have more flexibility of operation and financ­
ing.

It is a fundamental principle that home rule, or the right 
of local self-determination is a corner stone of our 
American democracy. Counties must have the freedom to 
act, to participate, and to be responsible in matters of 
purely local interest.

Reorganization of County government should not be 
undertaken lightly, but with full recognition of the need 
for change. To the people heavily involved in government, 
the need is so obvious that they never establish a case for 
change. The average citizen feels no impelling need, no 
urgency for any major restructure of the governmental 
pattern. Perhaps the most basic reason is the lack of 
awareness of the need for change and the lack of 
knowledge of the present structure.

Few citizens are aware of the County’s ties to state and 
federal government and the limitations of County powers. 
These ties have a direct relationship to the cost of local 
government and the inability of County government to 
respond to local problems. Restrictions on County govern­
ment have accumulated to the point of stifling local in­
itiative in the very areas most susceptible to local interest 
and control, and priorities are often neglected because 
federal programs overshadow locally defined needs. Dur­



1158

ing the past ten years, expectations of citizens have been 
raised that every economic and social problem would be 
solved with funds provided by some new federal program, 
and federal programs continue to fund private agencies 
within the County. This does not mean, however, that the 
County should not obtain the maximum federal funds 
available in providing necessary or desirable needs and ob­
jectives of the County.

We must find some way to revitalize local government 
and roll back increasing concentration of power of the 
state and federal governments. We must also find some 
method to allow County government more flexibility of 
form, function, and finance; therefore, modernizing 
County government is perhaps the most pressing need for 
action. County governmental machinery of the Twenties 
and Thirties is simply not capable of meeting the demands 
of the Seventies and Eighties.

B. G. Tennant, R.S., Chairman
Charter Government Study Committee



1159

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. PROPOSED ESCAMBIA COUNTY CHARTER ...................1161

Preamble........................................................................................ 1161
Art, I - Powers of Government  .....................................1161
Art. II - Legislative Branch: County Commission ................ 1165
Art. Ill - Administrative Branch:

County Executive Director ............................................. .. 1172
Art. IV - Administrative Branch:

Administrative Organization ...............................................1177
Art. V - Elected County Officers Continued.......................... 1185
Art. VI - Judicial System ................................. .................. 1187
Art. VII - Financial Procedures ............................... 1187
Art. VIII - Elections............................................. ......................1189
Art. IX - Miscellaneous Provisions .........................................1190
Art. X - Transition Provisions ...................... .................. 1192

II. BRIEF ANNOTATION OF CHARTER PROVSIIONS . . . .  1194

Plan of County Government....................................   1194
Powers of the County Commission .........................................1195
Limitation of Terms — County Commissioners.......................1196
Residency Requirements of Members

of Board of County Commissioners .....................................1196
Initiative and Referendum Provisions ....................................... 1196
Executive Director — Authority................................................. 1197
County Executive Director — Qualifications ...........................1197
Department Heads — Selection ................................................. 1198
Non-Interference Language ....................................................... 1199
Administrative Code ........................     1199
Chairperson of Commission.......... ..................................  1199
Separation of Powers....................................................................1200
County and Municipal Ordinances ..............  1200
Representation ............................   1201
Budget Preparation ..................................................................... 1202
Audits ..........................        1203
Department of Personnel and Civil Service B oard................  1203

III. OPTIONAL METHODS OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT . 1204

County Administrative Law of 19744,
Chapter 125, FS, Part III ....................................................... 1205

Optional County Charters,
Chapter 125, FS, Part I V ......................................................... 1210



1160

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS .............1218

Legislative - Administrative Functions .....................................1218
Budgets .......................................................................................... 1220
Auditing ........................................................................................ 1220
Non-Profit Public Agencies ....................................................... 1221
County-State-Federal Connections ........................................... 1222
Government Cost Stabilization ................................................. 1222
Revitalization of County Government.......................................1223
Intergovernmental Agreements ..............................................   1224
Personnel - Civil Service ..............................................   1224
Charter Government ...................   1224

*****



1161

PROPOSED

ESCAMBIA COUNTY CHARTER 

PREAMBLE

We, the people o f  Escambia County, Florida, join 
together, under God, in the belief that County government 
shall be responsive to the people o f the County and shall 
serve the people in a manner o f  efficiency and accoun­
tability, with equal benefits fo r  all citizens; do in accor­
dance with the Constitution and Laws o f the State o f  
Florida, ordain and establish as our Charter and form o f  
government this Charter o f Escambia County, Florida.

ARTICLE I

POWERS OF GOVERNMENT

SECTION 101. BODY CORPORATE AND 
POLITIC.

Escambia County shall be a Body Corporate and 
Politic, and as such shall have all rights and powers of 
local self-government, which are now, or hereinafter may 
be, provided by the Constitution and Laws of Florida, and 
this Charter.

SECTION 102. NAME AND BOUNDARIES.

The Corporate name of this County government shall 
be “Escambia County,” hereinafter referred to as the 
“County,” and shall be so designated in all actions and 
proceedings touching, its rights, powers, properties, and 
duties. Its seat shall be within Pensacola, Florida, and 
boundaries of the County shall be those presently 
designated by law.



1162

SECTION 103. GENERAL POWERS OF THE 
COUNTY

The County, under this Charter, shall have all powers 
and duties described by the Constitution, Laws of Florida, 
and this Charter, and shall have all powers of local self- 
government, provided however, the County shall have no 
power to promulgate, adopt or enforce any rule, regula­
tion, resolution or ordinance or to assume or exercise 
jurisdiction with respect to any matter or thing with 
respect to which, the state of federal government or any 
department, division, commission or authority thereof is 
or may be authorized or empowered to exercise jurisdic­
tion.

SECTION 104. SPECIAL POWERS.

The County shall have all special powers and duties 
which are not inconsistent with this Charter, heretofore 
granted by law to the Board of County Commissioners, 
except as limited by Section 103. The County shall have 
the power to provide County or municipal purposes, ex­
cept as otherwise provided by the Constitution or general 
law of Florida.

SECTION 105. TRANSFER OF POWERS.

The County shall have the authority to assume and per­
form all functions and obligations now or hereinafter per­
formed by any municipality, special district or agency 
whenever such municipality, special district or agency 
shall request the performance of transfer of the functions 
to the County.

SECTION 106. DIVISION OF POWERS.

This Charter hereby establishes separation between the 
legislative, administrative, and judicial functions of this



1163

government; the establishment and adoption of policy 
shall be the responsibility of the Legislative Branch and 
the execution of that policy shall be the responsibility of 
the Administrative Branch.

SECTION 107. EXERCISE OF POWERS.

All powers of the County shall be executed as provided 
by this Charter or, if the Charter makes no provisions, as 
provided by ordinance or resolution of the Board of 
County Commission.

SECTION 108. SECURITY OF THE CITIZENS’ 
RIGHTS.

In order to secure to the citizens of the County protec­
tion against abuses and encroachments, the County shall 
use its powers to prevent by ordinance or by civil or 
criminal action, whenever appropriate, in securing for all 
citizens:

A. Just and Equitable Taxation: The County shall 
prevent the imposition of any tax within the County in ex­
cess of the limitation imposed by Article VII, Section 9, of 
the Florida Constitution, or by the Laws of Florida;

B. Proper Use of Public Property: The County shall 
prevent the use of public property, taxes, or taxing power 
for the benefit of private individuals, partnerships, or cor­
porations in violation of the restrictions imposed by Arti­
cle VII, Section 10, of the Florida Constitution, or by the 
Laws of Florida;

C. Full Disclosure of Public Records and Proceedings: 
All meetings and proceedings established by the County 
shall be open to the public in compliance with the Laws of 
Florida. All official acts, documents, and financial 
reports, except those which have been specifically



1164

prepared for use in court proceedings, criminal and law 
enforcement files, those which would invade a person’s 
right of privacy, shall be open for public inspection, and 
the agency having custody and control of public records 
shall, upon request supply certified copies of the records 
requested for a reasonable fee as established by ordinance;

D. Protection of Human Rights: The County shall 
establish provisions, pursuant to state and federal law, for 
protection of citizen human rights from discrimination 
based upon religion, political affiliation, race, color, age, 
sex, or national origin by providing and insuring equal 
rights and opportunities for all citizens of Escambia Coun­
ty.

SECTION 109. ORDINANCE SUPERIORITY.

Where a municipal ordinance conflicts with a County 
Ordinance, the municipal ordinance shall prevail to the ex­
tent of such conflict, otherwise, County ordinance shall be 
effective county wide including within municipality.

SECTION 110. CONSTRUCTION.

The powers granted by this Charter shall be construed 
liberally in favor of the County government. The specified 
powers in this Charter shall not be construed as limiting, 
in any way, the general or specific power of the County, as 
stated in this Charter and the Constitution and Laws of 
the State of Florida.

SECTION 111. SEVERABILITY.

If any article, section, subsection, sentence, clause or 
provision of this Charter or the application thereof shall 
be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of the 
Charter and of any ordinances, regulations or resolutions 
made thereunder shall remain in full force and effect.



1165

ARTICLE II

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: COUNTY COMMISSION

SECTION 201. COMPOSITION.
The legislative power of the County shall be vested in 

the Escambia County Board of County Commission, 
hereinafter referred to as the “Commission.” As of the ef­
fective date of this Charter, the Commission shall be com­
posed of seven (7) members. There shall be five (5) Com­
mission districts and one (1) Commission member shall be 
elected from each district by voters of that district. There 
shall be two (2) Commission members elected at large by 
voters of the entire County. The Commission members 
elected at large shall represent the County at large.

SECTION 202. TERMS OF OFFICE.

All County Commissioners shall be elected on a partisan 
basis for staggered terms of four (4) years, except as pro­
vided for in this section. The Commission members 
elected from a district shall be elected for a term of four
(4) years, and be limited to two (3) consecutive terms as a 
district Commissioner. Upon adoption of this Charter, the 
two (2) additional at-large seats created by this Charter 
shall be filled at the next general election by electing one
(1) Commissioner for two (2) years and one (1) Commis­
sioner for four (4) years, and each term shall be four (4) 
years thereafter. Commission members elected at large 
shall be limited to two (2) consecutive terms.

SECTION 203. CONTINUANCE OF 
COMMISSIONERS.

The Commission members in office on the effective date 
of this Charter shall continue in office until the normal ex­
piration of their term or until the election of their suc­
cessors.



1166

SECTION 204. APPORTIONMENT.

The Commission shall divide the County into five (5) 
districts of contiguous territory as nearly equal in popula­
tion as practicable after each decennial census. If the 
Commission is unable to complete the reapportionment of 
the Commission districts within six (6) months after the 
official publication of the census, the Director of Law, 
upon authorization of the Commission or upon petition of 
twenty-five (25) electors of the County, shall petition the 
Circuit Court having jurisdiction in the County to make 
such reapportionment.

SECTION 205. COMPENSATION.

Commission members’ salaries shall be as established by 
general law. Commission members shall not be reimburs­
ed for expenses other than those specifically approved by 
the Commission. Members of the Commission shall 
receive reimbursement for their actual and necessary ex­
penses incurred in the performance of their official duties 
as provided by general law.

SECTION 206. QUALIFICATION.

Members of the Commission shall be qualified electors 
of the County and shall have been a resident of the County 
for one (1) year immediately preceding the date on which 
they qualify to run for office. Members elected from 
districts shall have resided within the district from which 
they are elected for at least six (6) months prior to the date 
on which they qualify to run for office. Any Commission 
member who changes residency from the County, and any 
Commission member elected by district who changes 
residency from the district from which the member was 
elected, shall be deemed to have vacated his office.



1167

If a member ceases to be a qualified elector of the Coun­
ty or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, he 
shall immediately forfeit his office. The Commission shall 
be judge of the qualifications of its members, and with 
that purpose, shall have power to subpoena witnesses, 
take testimony, and require the production of records. 
Decisions made by the Commission in the exercise of 
powers granted by this section shall be subject to review by 
the courts.

SECTION 207. VACANCIES.

A vacancy in any Commission member’s office or other 
elected County official under this Charter government 
shall be filled in accordance with the Constitution and 
Laws of Florida.

SECTION 208. SUSPENSIONS.

Suspensions from office of any elected official shall be 
for cause and shall be in accordance with the Constitution 
and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 209. POWERS AND DUTIES OF 
OF THE COMMISSION.

The Commission shall have all jurisdiction and powers 
granted to it by the Constitution, Laws of Florida, and 
this Charter. The Commission, in addition to other 
powers and duties provided in this Charter, shall have the 
specific powers and duty to:

(1) Confirm appointment by a majority vote of the 
full Commission and to remove by a majority vote of the 
full Commission the Executive Director; department 
heads of the County; members of appointed County 
Boards, commissions, and advisory groups, except as 
otherwise provided for in this Charter.



1168

(2) Elect from among its members a Chairperson and 
a Chairperson Pro Tern. The Chairperson shall preside at 
Commission meetings. If at any meeting the Chairperson 
is not present or is unable to act, the Chairperson Pro Tem 
shall preside. The Chairperson and the Chairperson Pro 
Tem shall be elected annually prior to December 1, and 
shall take office on the first Thursday of January of each 
year.

(3) Adopt a seal for the County.

(4) Adopt, amend, and repeal ordinances and resolu­
tions

(5) Adopt and amend the Administrative Code.

(6) Provide for an independent audit of County 
finances.

(7) Fix and amend Commission districts so as to be 
nearly equal in population as practicable.

(8) Levy taxes and special assessments and to borrow 
money subject to the limitations as provided by the Con­
stitution and Laws of Florida.

(9) Review budgetary requests, and make the final 
determination of appropriations for all operations of 
County government, except as provided by law.

(10) Enter into bilateral and multilateral contracts 
with adjoining Counties and with governmental units 
within or contiguous to the boundaries of the County for 
joint performance, or for performance by one governmen­
tal unit in behalf of the other or others of any function or 
activities which the County is authorized to perform.



1169

(11) Make investigations of the affairs of the County 
and to make inquiries into the conduct of any County 
employee, department, office, or agency.

(12) Make appropriations for County purposes.

(13) Adopt rules and procedures as shall be necessary 
for the orderly transactions of the business of the Com­
mission.

(14) Designate which officers and employees shall be 
bonded and fix the amount in form of such bonds.

(15) Require periodic and special reports concerning 
functions of any County department, office, or agency 
receiving County funds. Such reports, in the case of 
departments, offices, or agencies, subject to the direction 
and supervision of the County Executive Director, shall be 
submitted through the County Executive Director.

SECTION 210. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE 
CHAIRPERSON OF THE 
COMMISSION.

The Chairperson shall serve as the chief officer of the 
legislative branch of County government and shall devote 
such time as is necessary to perform the duties of the of­
fice. The Chairperson, in addition to the powers and 
duties provided elsewhere in this Charter, shall have the 
specific powers and duties to:

(1) Serve as the legislative leader and presiding officer 
of the Commission.

(2) Appoint the Executive Director, subject to confir­
mation by a majority vote of all members of the Commis­
sion.



1170

(3) Present annually in January of each year a “State 
of the County” message, setting forth programs and 
recommendations to the Commission.

(4) Nominate, subject to the confirmation by a ma­
jority vote of all members of the Commission, members of 
all appointed County boards, commissions, and advisory 
groups.

(5) Call all regular and special meetings of the Com­
mission.

(6) Promote the welfare and best interest of the 
citizens of Escambia County by presenting from time to 
time policy recommendations to the Commission.

(7) Serve as the official representative and ceremonial 
dignitary for the government of Escambia County.

SECTION 211. PROCEDURE: MEETINGS;
RULES AND JOURNAL; VOTING.

A. The Commission shall meet regularly, at least twice 
in every month, at such times, and places as the Commis­
sion may prescribe by rule. Special meetings may be held 
on the call of the Chairperson or of two (2) or more 
members and, whenever practicable, upon no less than 
twelve (12) hours effective notice to each member. All 
meetings of the Commission shall be public.

B. The Commission shall determine its own rules and 
order of business and shall provide for keeping a journal 
of its proceedings. This journal shall be a public record.

C. Voting, except on procedural motions, shall be by 
roll call and the ayes and nays shall be recorded in the 
journal. A majority of the members of the Commission



1171

shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may ad­
journ from time to time and may compel the attendance of 
absent members in the manner and subject to the penalties 
prescribed by the rules of the Commission.

SECTION 212. COUNTY ORDINANCES AND 
RESOLUTIONS.

Every County ordinance and resolution shall be in­
troduced and approved in accordance with the Constitu­
tion and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 213. RECORDING, PRINTING, AND 
CODIFICATION.

The Commission shall provide for the authentication 
and recording in full, in a properly indexed book kept for 
the purpose, of all minutes of meetings, ordinances and 
resolutions adopted by the Commission and the same 
shall, at all times, be a public record. The Commission, 
with the advice and assistance of the Director of Law, 
shall cause each ordinance and resolution having the 
force and effect of law and each amendment to this 
Charter to be printed as promptly as possible following its 
adoption; and the printed ordinance, resolutions and 
Charter amendments shall be sold to the public at 
reasonable prices to be fixed by the Commission. The 
Commission shall further maintain a codification of all or­
dinances. Such codification shall be published and made 
available for distribution on a continuing basis at a 
reasonable price fixed by the Commission.

SECTION 214. RESTRICTIONS ON ELECTED 
OFFICIALS AND COMMISSION.

Neither the Commission nor any of its members, except 
the Chairperson, shall in any manner dictate the appoint­



1172

ment or removal of any County employee. Except for the 
purpose of inquiries under Section 209 of this Article, the 
Commission or members, in dealing with County 
employees who are subject to the direction and supervision 
of the Executive Director, shall deal solely through the Ex­
ecutive Director, and neither the Commission nor its 
members shall give orders to any such employee, either 
publicly or privately, any willful violation of the provi­
sions of this subsection by a member of the Commission 
shall be sufficient grounds for an action for his removal 
from office, brought in a court of competent jurisdiction. 
No person elected or member of the Commission shall be 
appointed to any paid County administrative office of the 
County or paid county position during the period begin­
ning on the date of his election and ending not less than one
(1) year after the expiration of term for which he was 
elected.

ARTICLE III

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH:
COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

SECTION 301. COUNTY EXECUTIVE 
DIRECTOR.

There shall be a County Executive Director, hereinafter 
referred to as the “Executive Director,” who shall be ap­
pointed by the Chairperson of the Commission, subject to 
confirmation by a majority vote of all members of the 
Commission, for an indefinite term. The Executive Direc­
tor shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission, and he 
may be removed at any time by a majority vote of all of its 
members. At least thirty (30) days before such removal is 
to become effective, the Commission shall furnish the Ex­



1173

ecutive Director with a written statement setting forth its 
intention to remove him. In the event such a removal for 
any reason other than a conviction of a felony or 
malfeasance in office, he shall be granted two (2) months’ 
termination pay.

SECTION 302. QUALIFICATIONS.

The Executive Director shall be chosen solely on the 
basis of his executive and administrative abilities, with 
special reference to the duties of his office, as herein 
outlined. The Executive Director need not be a resident of 
Escambia County or of the State of Florida at the time of 
his appointment, but during the tenure of his office, he 
shall, within sixty (60) days, establish residence within 
Escambia County.

SECTION 303. VACANCY.

When a vacancy occurs in the office of the Executive 
Director, the Commission may designate one (1) qualified 
staff member to perform the duties of the Executive Direc­
tor for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days.

SECTION 304. BOND: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

Before entering upon his duties, the Executive Director 
shall give a bond to the Commission with a bonding com­
pany as surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance 
of his duties, to be approved by the Commission. The 
premium for said bond shall be paid by the County.

SECTION 305. SALARY: EXECUTIVE 
DIRECTOR.

The salary of the Executive Director shall be fixed from 
time to time by resolution, but shall not be decreased while 
he holds office.



1174

SECTION 306. POWERS AND DUTIES OF 
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Executive Director shall be clerk of the Commission 
and chief administrative officer of the County, and he 
shall be responsible to the Commission as a whole for the 
proper administration of the affairs of the County, except 
as otherwise provided by the Constitution and the Laws of 
Florida, or by this Charter.

The Executive Director shall have custody of the seal of 
the Board of County Commissioners and shall affix the 
same to any paper or linstrument to which it shall be pro­
per or necessary that the same be affixed. The Executive 
Director, as clerk of the Commission, shall give copies of 
instruments in his custody, to all persons requesting such 
instruments, attested by his signature and authenticated by 
said seal.

The powers and duties of the Executive Director shall 
include the following:

(1) He shall supervise and be responsible for the 
operation of all County departments, except as may be 
provided by this Charter.

(2) He shall be clerk and administrative officer to the 
Commission.

(3) He shall employ, in accordance with the Civil Serv­
ice System, and, when necessary for the good of the Coun­
ty, shall suspend, discipline, or discharge any employee 
under his supervision, provided that the Executive Direc­
tor shall report, at the next meeting hereafter of the Com­
mission, any action taken by authority of this subsection.

(4) He shall submit annually to the Commission, a 
budget for the next fiscal year. The Executive Director



1175

shall be responsible for the administration of the budget 
after its adoption by the Commission.

(4) He shall, in conjunction with the preparation of 
the annual budget, develop long-range fiscal plans for the 
County, such plans to be presented, as necessary, to the 
Commission for its review and adoption.

(5) He shall, in conjunction with the preparation of 
the annual budget, develop long-range fiscal plans for the 
County, such plans to be presented, as necessary, to the 
Commission for its review and adoption.

(6) He shall hold such other County offices and head 
such other County departments as the Commission may 
from time to time direct.

(7) He shall attend all meetings of the Commission, 
with a right to take part in the discussions.

(8) He shall prepare the agenda for each regular or 
special meeting and committee meetings of the Commis­
sion and shall supply facts pertinent thereto.

(9) He shall review, analyze, and forecast trends of 
County services, finances, and programs of all County 
departments and agencies receiving County funds; keep 
the Commission informed as to the conduct of County af­
fairs and submit such other reports as the Commission re­
quests.

(10) He shall see that the provisions of all franchises, 
leases, permits, and privileges granted by the County are 
observed.

(11) He shall coordinate all funding programs of all 
other governmental units or agencies with the County 
government.



1176

(12) He shall see that all ordinances, resolutions, and 
orders of the Commission, and all laws of the State which 
are subject to enforcement by the Executive Director or by 
officers who are subject under this Charter to the Ex­
ecutive Director’s direction and supervision, are faithfully 
executed.

(13) The Executive Director shall submit to the Com­
mission at the end of the fiscal year a complete report on 
the finances and administrative activities of the County 
for the preceding year and prepare and make available for 
distribution to the public, within three (3) months after the 
end of the fiscal year, an annual report on County affairs 
during that fiscal year.

(13) The Executive Director shall submit to the Com­
mission at the end of the fiscal year a complete report on 
the finances and administrative activities of the County 
for the preceding year and prepare and make available for 
distribution to the public, within three (3) months after 
the end of the fiscal year, an annual report on County af­
fairs during that fiscal year.

SECTION 307. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: 
INITIAL.

The Executive Director shall prepare an initial Ad­
ministrative Code which shall set forth departmental 
organization of County government and the nature and 
scope of each department, together with all required rules 
and procedures for the operation of said departments, and 
a comprehensive budget procedure. Such Administrative 
Code shall, within nine (9) months after adoption of this 
Charter, be submitted to the Commission for review, 
amendment, and adoption. The Commission shall adopt 
the Administrative Code as submitted or amended within



1177

three (3) months of the date submitted. If not adopted 
within three (3) months, the Administrative Code, as 
originally prepared by the Executive Director, shall be 
considered approved and shall remain in force until such 
time as it may be formally amended by the Commission. 
The Executive Director may, from time to time, submit 
any changes in any or all department organizations, in­
cluding combinations, deletions, and creations of depart­
ments or divisions, and transfer of responsibilities between 
departments or divisions to the Commission for review, 
amendment, or adoption.

SECTION 308. TEMPORARY ABSENCE.

Should the Executive Director become ill or need to be 
absent from the County, he may designate one (1) 
qualified member of his staff to temporarily perform the 
duties of the Executive Director during his absence or 
disability. However, the person so designated shall not 
perform those duties for a period longer than fifteen (15) 
days without the approval of the Commission.

ARTICLE IV

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH: 
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION

SECTION 401. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

A. Except as provided by this Charter, the activities 
under the direction and supervision of the Executive 
Director shall be distributed among such departments, of­
fices and agencies as are established by this Charter, or 
may be established, merged, or abolished thereunder by 
the Administrative Code.



1178

B. Except as provided by this Charter, each depart­
ment shall be administered by an individual appointed by 
and subject under this Charter to the direction and super­
vision of the Executive Director. With the consent of the 
Commission, the Executive Director may serve as the head 
of one or more such departments, and with Commission 
approval, may appoint one person as head of two or more 
such departments.

C. The Department heads shall be appointed or 
removed by the Executive Director, subject to the ap­
proval by a majority of the Commission, except as other­
wise provided for in this Charter.

D. The department heads shall be chosen solely on the 
basis of their qualifications, executive and administrative 
abilities, with special reference to the duties of the office. 
Department heads and County employees shall not be 
employed or receive compensation from more than one 
appointing authority.

SECTION 402. DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURE.

The departmental organization of County government 
and the nature and scope of each department, together 
with all the required rules and procedures for the opera­
tion of said department, shall be set forth in the Ad­
ministrative Code. The Administrative Code shall be 
adopted by and may be amended by the Commission. The 
Executive Director shall, from time to time make recom­
mendations as to the promulgation, adoption, and amend­
ment of the Administrative Code.



1179

SECTION 403. INITIAL DEPARTMENTS AND 
OFFICES.

The following initial departments and offices are hereby 
established under this Charter:

(1) Department of Finance.

(2) Director of Law.

(3) Department of Personnel.

(4) Department of Utilities.

(5) Department of Community Services.

(6) Department of Transportation.

(7) Department of Parks and Recreation.

(8) Department of Public Works.

SECTION 404. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE.

There shall be a Department of Finance headed by a 
Director of Finance. The Director of Finance shall be 
responsible for the preliminary preparation of the County 
budget as provided by the Laws of Florida, and shall be 
responsible for the administration of such duties as may be 
assigned under the Administrative Code and this Charter. 
The following duties are hereby specifically imposed under 
the Director of Finance:

(1) Maintaining the budget records of the Commission 
and County departments established under this Charter.

(2) Maintaining inventories and records of County 
property and equipment as required by laws.

(3) Supervision of central purchasing for the County.



1180

(4) Devise a records system, including cost accounting, 
for any agency or institution which handles funds of the 
County.

(5) Devise a records system for maintaining inven­
tories of fuels, equipment, supplies, and the distribution 
thereof.

SECTION 405. DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL.

There shall be a Department of Personnel, headed by a 
Director of Personnel. The Director of Personnel shall be 
responsible for preparing and recommending County per­
sonnel policy for all County departments, officers, and 
agencies, including classification of positions, pay and 
benefit plans, and the maintenance of a roster of all 
employees, their classification and pay scale.

SECTION 406. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVIL 
SERVICE SYSTEM.

There is hereby created a Civil Service Board for all 
classified employees of Escambia County, as defined 
herein, to which system all employees of the County who 
are now members of any of the present existing Civil Serv­
ice System of the County, established under the Laws of 
Florida, shall be and are hereby declared to be 
automatically members of the Civil Service System of the 
County upon the effective date of this Charter.

SECTION 407. CIVIL SERVICE BOARD.

A. The Civil Service Board shall consist of five (5) 
members: one (1) shall be elected by the legislative body of 
the County, being the Commission of the County, and one 
(1) shall be elected by the School Board; one (1) shall be 
elected by the elected constitutional County officers, and



1181

one (1) shall be elected by the employees of the County 
who are members of the classified service. The fifth 
member shall be named by the other four members. In the 
event said members cannot agree upon the fifth member 
within fifteen (15) days after said members take office, the 
chief judge of the circuit Court shall designate such 
member; the Board shall elect one of their members to be 
Chairperson, and one member to be Vice-Chairperson. 
Member shall receive no salary but shall be reimbursed for 
expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties in 
accordance with Chapter 112.061, Florida Statutes.

B. The Civil Service Board of Escambia County is 
authorized to employ a competent secretary, legal counsel, 
and other additional help to carry out their duties under 
this Charter.

C. Each member of the Civil Service Board shall hold 
office for a period of four (4) years, and until his successor 
is elected and qualified.

D. Each appointing authority shall be authorized, em­
powered, and required to elect an alternate to the Civil 
Service Board who shall serve in the event the member so 
elected shall not be able to serve.

SECTION 408. QUALIFICATIONS AND
ELECTIONS: CIVIL SERVICE 
BOARD.

A. Any qualified voter residing in Escambia County is 
eligible to be a member of the Civil Service Board, provid­
ed, however, that no person convicted of a crime involving 
moral turpitude, or who is an officer or employee of the 
County shall be eligible to hold office as a member of the 
Civil Service Board.



1182

B. Any member of the Civil Service Board may be dis­
qualified to hear and determine any cause if there exists 
any ground which under the Laws of the State of Florida 
would disqualify the judge of any court or which is ground 
of challenge for cause to any juror.

C. The first election of the Civil Service Board 
members under this Charter shall be held not less than 
ninety (90) days after the approval date of this Charter. 
The Civil Service Board members elected herein provided 
shall take office within ten (10) days after their election or 
appointment. The oath of office shall be administered to 
each of the Civil Service Board members by the Chairper­
son of the Commission.

SECTION 409. MEETINGS OF CIVIL SERVICE 
BOARD.

The Civil Service Board shall hold not less than one (1) 
regular meeting each month, and may hold special 
meetings when required for the transaction of business by 
the Board. Such meetings may be called by any two 
members of the Board or Secretary to the Board. Three (3) 
members shall constitute a quorum

SECTION 410. CLASSIFIED AND
UNCLASSIFIED SERVICES.

A. County personnel is hereby divided into “classified 
service” and “unclassified service” as provided for in 
Chapter 74-480, Laws of Florida, as amended.

B. The Civil Service Board shall adopt, amend, and 
enforce a code of rules and regulations providing for ex­
amination, appointment, employment, promotion, stan­
dards of conduct, and efficiency of employees in the 
classified service.



1183

C. The Civil Service Board shall be the sole authority 
vested with the power to approve and confirm or deny 
disciplinary action against any employee within the 
classified service.

SECTION 411. TRANSFER OF POWER.

Except where inconsistent with this Charter, the func­
tions, responsibilities, duties and obligations of the ex­
isting Civil Service Board, established under Chapter 
74-480, Laws of Florida, as amended, are hereby transfer­
red and vested in the Civil Service Board as established 
under this Charter, and except where inconsistent with this 
Charter, the requirements under Chapter 74-480, Laws of 
Florida, as amended, shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 412. EXISTING BOARD 
CONTINUANCE.

Civil Service Board members existing at the time this 
Charter takes effect shall continue in office until their suc­
cessors are elected and qualified as provided by this 
Charter, at which time the Board shall cease to exist.

SECTION 413. INDEPENDENT NATURE OF 
BOARD.

The Civil Service Board shall be independent of all 
members of administrative service of the County and shall 
conduct all hearings, trials, and proceedings of every 
character in an impartial, just manner, designed to pro­
mote justice and efficiency.

SECTION 414. EMPLOYEES UNDER ECONOMIC 
OPPORTUNITY ACT 1964.

No person shall hereafter become a member of the 
classified service of the County, notwithstanding any pro­



1184

visions of this Article to the contrary, who is employed by 
the County solely for the purpose of participating in the 
federally sponsored Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, 
as amended; provided further that such employees waive 
any and all rights to participate in any pension system 
maintained for employees of the County, except Social 
Security benefits; provided, however, this Section may be 
waived in its entirety by ordinance enacted by the Com­
mission.

SECTION 415. APPOINTMENT:
DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL.

The Director of the Department of Personnel shall be 
appointed by the Chairperson of the Commission, subject 
to confirmation by a majority vote of all members of the 
Commission.

SECTION 416. ANNUAL REPORT.

The Director of Personnel shall report annually, in writ­
ten form, to each appointing authority concerning the ad­
ministrative needs of the Service, the personnel and posi­
tions in the Service, and the Compensation provided 
therefor, the examinations held by the Board, the appoint­
ments made, service ratings and removals in the Civil Serv­
ice, the operation of the rules of the Civil Service Board, 
and recommendations for promoting efficiency and 
economy in the Service, with details of expenditure and 
progress of work.

SECTION 417. DIRECTOR OF LAW:
QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES.

The Director of Law shall be an attorney at law who 
shall have practied in the State of Florida for at least five
(5) years. He shall be appointed by the Commission and be



1185

the chief legal advisor of and attorney for the Commission 
and all departments and offices thereof in matters relating 
to their official powers and duties, except as otherwise 
provided by this Charter. It shall be his duty, either per­
sonally or by such assistance as he may designate, to per­
form all services incident to the Department of Law; to at­
tend all meetings of the Commission; to give advice in 
writing, when so requested, to the Commission, the Ex­
ecutive Director, or the director of any department; to 
prosecute or defend, as the case may be, all cases to which 
the County may be a party; to prosecute all offenses 
against the ordinances of the County and for such offenses 
against the laws of the State that may be required by him 
by law; to prepare all contracts, bonds and other in­
struments in writing in which the County is concerned, 
and to endorse on each his approval of the form and the 
correctness thereof; and to perform such other duties of a 
legal nature as the Commission may by ordinance or 
resolution require. In addition to the duties imposed upon 
the Director of Law by this Charter or required of him by 
ordinance or resolution of the Commission, he shall per­
form any duties imposed upon the chief legal officers of 
counties by law.

ARTICLE V

ELECTED COUNTY OFFICERS CONTINUED

SECTION 501. COMPTROLLER.

The office of Comptroller, as provided by law, shall 
continue, and all laws applicable thereto shall continue at 
full force and effect, except where inconsistent with this 
Charter. The Comptroller shall qualify, be nominated,



1186

elected, and serve as provided by the Constitution and 
Laws of Florida.

SECTION 502. PROPERTY APPRAISER.

The office of Property Appraiser shall continue, and all 
laws applicable thereto shall continue at full force and ef­
fect. The Property Appraiser shall qualify, be nominated, 
elected, and serve as provided by the Constitution and 
Laws of Florida.

SECTION 503. SHERIFF.

The constitutional office of Sheriff shall continue, and 
all laws applicable thereto shall continue at full force and 
effect. The Sheriff shall qualify, be nominated, elected, 
and serve as provided by the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida.

SECTION 504. SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS.

The constitutional office of Supervisor of Elections 
shall continue, and laws applicable thereto shall qualify, 
be nominated, elected, and serve as provided by the Con­
stitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 505. TAX COLLECTOR.

The constitutional office of Tax Collector shall con­
tinue, and all laws applicable thereto shall continue at full 
force and effect. The Tax Collector shall qualify, be 
nominated, elected, and serve as provided by the Constitu­
tion and Laws of Florida.



1187
ARTICLE VI 

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

SECTION 601. JUDICIAL SYSTEM.

The judicial system of the Charter government shall be 
as provided by the Constitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 602. JUDICIAL OFFICES.

The office of the Clerk of Circuit Court, judges of the 
County Court, and all other offices of the various courts 
of the County shall continue, and all laws applicable 
thereto shall continue at full force and effect. The Clerk of 
Circuit Court shall qualify, be nominated, elected, and 
serve as is provided by the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida.

ARTICLE VII

FINANCIAL PROCEDURES

SECTION 701. FISCAL YEAR.

The fiscal year of the Charter government shall begin on 
the first day of October of each year and shall end on the 
following thirtieth day of September.

SECTION 702. UNIFORM BUDGETARY SYSTEM.

All County operations shall utilize a unified and uniform 
budget system. All fees collected by officers and employees 
of the County shall be deposited in the appropriate County 
fund as provided by law. The head of each County depart­
ment, elected County official office or agency receiving 
County monies, shall furnish the Executive Director a 
detailed budget as may be required for the ensuing year s



1188

operation, a capital program, and such additional informa­
tion as may be required by the Executive Director or the 
Commission prior to July 1 of each year. On or before the 
first day of August of each year, the Director of the Depart­
ment of Finance shall determine the estimated revenues of 
the County and, under the supervision of the County Ex­
ecutive Director, shall prepare a tentative budget with com­
parative anlysis from past years.

SECTION 703. BUDGET REVIEW.

Prior to September 15 of each year, the County Commis­
sion shall review the tentative budget and capital program 
as submitted by the Executive Director, together with the 
Executive Director’s recommendations and the original 
budget request of any elected County official, and shall 
make such additions, deletions, or changes as may be 
necessary to insure the proper funding of operations of 
County government. The County Commission shall take 
action to insure that the total budget provides sufficient 
funds on an annual basis for all agencies and departments 
to carry out their duties and functions, as provided by this 
Charter, the Constitution, and the Laws of Florida.

SECTION 704. PUBLIC HEARING.

Prior to October 1 of each year, a public hearing shall be 
held on the County budget and capital program. After the 
public hearing, the Commission may adopt the budget and 
capital program with or without amendment. A notice of 
such public hearing and a summary of the budget of each 
elected official, department, and agency shall be published 
in a newspaper of general circulation in the County at least 
ten (10) days before the date of such hearing. Final adop­
tion of the budget by the Commission shall be made prior 
to October 1 of each year.



1189

Any agency or County officer receiving County ap­
propriated funds, shall make a complete and full disclosure 
of all financial operations annually, including all sources of 
funds, disbursements, and budget of the agency or county 
officer. Each agency and County officer shall file such 
financial records with the Commission, and copies of such 
records shall be available to any members of the public at a 
reasonable cost.

SECTION 706. REQUIRED AUDIT.

The County Comptroller shall, within twelve (12) months 
of the next fiscal year, complete an audit of the ac­
counts and other evidence of financial transactions of the 
County and of every County department and office. If the 
State makes such an audit, the Comptroller may accept it as 
satisfying the requirements of this Section.

ARTICLE VIII 

ELECTIONS

SECTION 801. ELECTION PROCEDURES.

All elections shall be held and conducted pursuant to the 
provisions of Article VI of the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida, except as otherwise provided in this Charter.

SECTION 802. CANVASSING BOARD.

There shall be a Canvassing Board composed of the 
Supervisor of Elections, the Chairperson of the Commis­
sion, and the presiding judge of the judicial circuit in which 
Escambia County is situated, or any circuit judge in such 
judicial circuit appointed by the presiding judge.

SECTION 705. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.



1190

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SECTION 901. LAWS CONTINUED.

All laws, ordinances, regulations and resolutions of the 
County shall remain operative except where inconsistent 
with this Charter.

SECTION 902. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.

Any Administrative Code adopted and amended shall 
not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter.

SECTION 903. RIGHTS RESERVED.

All actions, rights of action, claims, contracts and 
obligations of persons, corporations, public bodies or agen­
cies existing on the date this Charter becomes effective shall 
continue to be valid as if this Charter had not been 
adopted.

SECTION 904. PUBLIC DEBT AND BOND
OBLIGATIONS CONTINUED AND 
RECOGNIZED.

All public debts, bonds, revenue certificates, revenue 
bonds and tax anticipation certificates heretofore incurred 
or issued by Escambia County shall remain valid and in full 
force and effect and shall be secured by the same sources of 
revenue as before the adoption of this Charter and to the 
extent necessary all ordinances, resolutions or other actions 
pertaining to same shall remain in full force and effect until 
payment in full of such public debts and securities.

SECTION 905. PROCEEDINGS CONTINUED.

All petitions, hearings and other proceedings pending 
before the former government shall remain in full force and 
effect as established under this Charter.

ARTICLE IX



1191

All advisory boards existing at the date of the adoption 
of this Charter shall continue unless abolished by a majori­
ty vote of the full Commission. The Commission may 
create by resolution, specifying the duties and membership 
thereof, such advisory boards as it deems necessary. 
Members of such advisory boards shall be nominated by 
the Chairperson of the Commission, subject to confirma­
tion by a majority vote of the full Commission.

SECTION 907. BOARD OF TAX ADJUSTMENT.

The Board of Tax Adjustment, as provided by the Laws 
of Florida, shall continue under this Charter.

SECTION 908. PETITION AND ORDINANCE.

Changes in this Charter or an ordinance may be propos­
ed by: (1) a petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) 
of the number of registered voters in Escambia County. 
When such change is filed with the Supervisor of Elections, 
it shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held in 
accordance with the requirements of the Constitution and 
Laws of Florida, and if approved at the election, the change 
shall become a part of this Charter.

SECTION 909. NOTICE OF CHARTER
AMENDMENT REFERENDUM.

In addition to any other notice requirements provided by 
this Charter or general law, whenever a Charter amend­
ment is submitted to referendum, the exact language of the 
proposed Charter amendment or amendments, shall be 
published at least twice in a newspaper of general circula­
tion in the County. One notice shall be published not more 
than forty-five (45) days nor less than thirty (30) days prior 
to the referendum election, and another notice shall be

SECTION 906. CITIZENS’ ADVISORY BOARDS.



1192

published not more than ten (10) days nor less than five (5) 
days prior to the referendum election.

SECTION 910. CODE OF ETHICS.

The Code of Ethics shall be the Standards of Conduct 
for Public Officers and employees as provided by general 
law, and shall have full effect on all employees and office 
holders under the Charter government. Penalty for viola­
tion shall be provided by ordinance, or as otherwise provid­
ed by general law.

SECTION 911. PROHIBITIONS.

No person shall be appointed to or removed from or in 
any way favored or discriminated against with respect to, 
any County position or appointive County administrative 
office because of sex, race, political or religious opinions or 
affiliations.

ARTICLE X

TRANSITION PROVISIONS

SECTION 1001. REFERENDUM AND BALLOT.

The election on this Charter shall be held in accordance 
with the requirements of the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida. The question on the ballot shall be as follows:

“SHALL THERE BE A HOME RULE CHAR­
TER FOR ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, 
PROVIDING FOR THE RESTRUCTURING 
OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT, WHICH
SHALL TAKE EFFECT___ , AS PROPOSED
BY C H A R T E R  DATED ___ .”

FOR CHARTER:



1193

AGAINST CHARTER:

SECTION 1002. FORM OF NOTICE.

The form of notice of the election by which this Charter 
shall be submitted to referendum shall contain the com­
plete text for this Charter.

SECTION 1003. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Charter shall become law when approved by a ma­
jority of those electors voting on the matter in an election 
to be held in the County under the provisions of the Con­
stitution and the Laws of Florida. The Charter govern­
ment shall assume all powers and duties provided by this
Charter on the first day o f___ , the effective date of this
Charter.

SECTION 1004. INITIAL CHARTER COUNTY 
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

Upon the election of the additional two (2) County 
Commissioners, the seven (7) member Commission, im­
mediately upon the assumptibn of their duties, shall in­
itiate the necessary procedures for employing the initial 
Executive Director as established by this Charter. It shall 
be the obligation of the Commission to employ the initial 
Executive Director within three (3) months of the date on 
which they take office. Pending the selection of the Ex­
ecutive Director, the Chairperson of the Commission shall 
be empowered to appoint an interim Executive Director 
with powers as may be established by the Commission.



1194

The initial Commission districts shall be constituted as 
the constitutional Commission districts would have been 
constituted if this Charter had not been adopted.

SECTION 1006. DEPARTMENTS CONTINUED.

Except as provided by this Charter, all County depart­
ments and agencies shall continue until reorganized in ac­
cordance with the provisions of this Charter and the Ad­
ministrative Code.

SECTION 1007. EMPLOYEES’ CONTINUATION.

All employees of the former County government shall, 
on the effective date of this Charter, become employees of 
the Charter government without loss of benefits. Salaries 
of all employees shall be continued at no less than the 
same level as on the date of the referendum approving this 
Charter, unless at such time as the Commission shall pro­
vide for overall adjustment for all County employees.

SECTION 1005. DISTRICTS.

b r ie f  a n n o t a t io n  o f  c h a r t e r  p r o v is io n s

Plan of County Government

If any structure of government is unsophisticated and 
provincial, it is certainly the Commission form of govern­
ment established in 1885 for Florida counties, which were 
then primarily rural and agrarian.

The 1968 Constitution provides for home rule powers, 
and it is now possible for the people to adopt a Charter 
and thus modernize and restructure the outdated form of 
local County government. The Charter will provide a 
more efficient and responsive form of government for



1195

Escambia County. The plan of representation and the pat­
tern of administration will go a long way towards fostering 
responsible and accountable County government.

The Charter provides the County with a written plan of 
government which may be modified and amended at the 
local level rather than having to look to the provisions of 
the general or special laws for determination of how 
County government is to be operated. If any disruption 
occurs, it will be due to the personalities involved and not 
the system developed.

The Charter maintains all constitutional elective officers 
which insures accessibility and effectively pinpoints ac­
countability to the voter.

Powers of the County Commission

The language of the Charter in no way detracts from or 
restricts the legislative powers of the County Commis­
sioners granted under the constitution and laws of Florida. 
The Commission has the specific powers and duties to 
adopt rules of procedure as shall be necessary for the 
orderly transaction of business of the Commission.

The County Commission, under the Charter, must act 
within the general framework of the duties enumerated 
under the Charter, the constitution, and the provisions of 
general law which prevails with or without the County 
Charter.

The procedure for adopting and repealing County Or­
dinances is clearly outlined in Florida General Law, 
Chapter 125.66-125.69. However, the Charter expands the 
legislative powers of the County Commission, which is not 
prohibited by the constitution and general laws.



1196

Limitation of Terms — County Commissioners

The limitation of terms is restricted to two consecutive 
terms for any County Commissioner. The Charter does 
not provide a limitation on the number of years of public 
service at the County level. The limitation on County 
Commissioners was included only to insure that no office 
of the governing (legislative) body be indefinitely reserved 
for any particular individual. The limitation also insures 
that a meaningful check is placed on district representa­
tion to effectively eliminate the possibility of ward 
politics.

Residency Requirements of Members of Board of County 
Commissioners

It is important to establish residency requirements for 
all Commission offices. The Charter establishes a 
minimum of one-year residency in the County for all 
Commission officers, and six months’ district residency 
within the respective district. Currently, there is no re­
quirement other than residing in the district at the time of 
qualifying. This would allow someone totally unfamiliar 
with the County or district to run for office.

Initiative and Referendum Provisions

The initiative and referendum provisions of the propos­
ed Charter are additional measures which insure greater 
citizen involvement and participation in the County 
government legislative process. There are no provisions 
for initiative and referendum under the present form of 
government. This provision guarantees the citizen the 
right to change the form of County government. While it 
may be possible for a special interest group to obtain suffi­
cient signatures to meet the petition requirements, it 
should be noted that this would only insure that the ques­



1197

tion be placed on the ballot. A majority of the electors in 
the County, in a referendum, must approve any petition 
proposal. A ten percent of the electors’ signature require­
ment is high enough to eliminate abuses and low enough to 
allow the petition process to be meaningful.

Executive Director — Authority

The current position of the County Executive Director 
was established by the weakest possible method -  by a 
simple Commission resolution which could be abolished 
by the vote of three of the County Commissioners.

The line of authority and chain of administrative com­
mand under the current structure of County government is 
unclear and its legality questionable. The basic authority 
of the County Executive Director, as established in the 
Charter, separates the administrative and legislative func­
tions of County government and clearly provides that the 
County Executive Director shall be the Chief Ad­
ministrative Officer of the County.

The Charter has clearly established, on a sound legal 
basis, the position of County Executive Director which 
can only be changed or abolished by a vote of the County 
electors. The Charter does not give any tenure to the 
County Executive Director, and the Commissioners 
should not be bound by the requirements imposed by 
tenure. The Commissioners must be able to dismiss the 
Executive Director, otherwise, this plan of government 
would not work.

County Executive Director — Qualifications

The Charter establishes guidelines for the qualifications 
of the County Executive Director. The only specific re­
quirements are that he maintain residence in the County



1198

during his tenure of office and not engage in any other 
business or occupation. To include stringent requirements 
as to education and experience, might meet the test today 
but fall short in the future. The Charter Government 
Study Committee felt that the County Commission should 
be given the flexibility of establishing prerequisites at the 
time the job is to be filled. Numerous educational degrees 
do not insure that an individual will be a capable ad­
ministrator. By the same token, extensive work experience 
does not guarantee competency. In a representative form 
of government, certain responsibility and faith must be 
placed in elected representatives to employ the best 
qualified person.

Department Heads — Selection

This Charter clearly gives the County Executive Direc­
tor the authority to select the department heads that will 
be responsible to the County Executive Director (with ap­
proval of the County Commissioners). A County Ex­
ecutive Director that does not have the support of the 
County Commission will not remain in office, and 
therefore the approval of the County Commission of such 
appointments should be routine. It will, however, provide 
a very necessary check and balance system that is so vital 
in any form of government.

The requirement that the County Commission must ap­
prove all dismissals of department heads will grant to 
those persons taking the job as department heads in Coun­
ty government that there will be some appeal process if 
they should temporarily be at cross purposes with the 
County Executive Director or have a personality conflict.



1199

Non-Interference Language

The non-interference language in the Charter is for 
good reasons — to keep individual members of the Com­
mission from trying to exert their individual opinions and 
personal prejudices on the County department heads and 
employees. They must be free to carry out the ad­
ministrative functions of County government through the 
Executive Director, and in accordance with the policies 
established by the Board of County Commissioners. 
Without this proper chain of command, the department 
heads and the employees may be caught between in­
dividual Commissioners or the Commission and the Ex­
ecutive Director.

Administrative Code

The provisions for an Administrative Code provides the 
procedure for establishing the initial Administrative Code. 
The Charter requirement for an Administrative Code is 
significant in that the nature and scope of each department 
and all rules and responsibilities and procedures for Coun­
ty departments must be established in written form and 
approved by the Commission. The line authority structure 
of current County government is “fuzzy” at best. The Ad­
ministrative Code provides a way for the department 
heads, the employees, the citizens, and the elected officials 
to know who is suppose to be doing what. The Ad­
ministrative Code clearly pinpoints responsibility and ac­
countability according to the established policy of the 
Commission.

Chairperson of Commission

Under the proposed Charter, the Chairperson of the 
County Commission is considered the legislative leader of 
the County and, as such, is responsible for the various



1200

legislative programs considered by the County, and is a 
person that the Commissioners and the citizens will look 
to for leadership.

The Chairperson will be more responsive to the people 
and will give people, for the first time, the opportunity to 
pinpoint responsibility. With this responsibility, it follows 
that the Chairperson should have a greater voice in the 
selection of the County Executive Director and the 
Department of Personnel, the two most important posi­
tions in the County government. Obviously, the Chairper­
son is not going to be able to appoint someone for these 
positions that is not acceptable to the majority of the 
Commission, and as a practical matter, the selection of 
these persons will be a joint effort of the entire Commis­
sion.

Separation of Powers

The proposed Charter clearly establishes a separation of 
responsibilities and functions and legally divides legislative 
and administrative duties. The division of powers has been 
clearly implemented throughout the Charter as a careful 
reading will indicate. The Charter permits the use by the 
Commission of all powers granted by the Charter, or 
General Law, and provides for an orderly pattern of ac­
tion of which the County Commission can transact its of­
ficial business.

County and Municipal Ordinances

In order to meet the requirements of the Florida Con­
stitution, Article VIII, Section 1(g), which states: “The 
Charter shall provide which shall prevail in the event of 
conflict between County and municipal ordinances.” 
Therefore, the Charter provides that County ordinances



1201

shall prevail Countywide, except where a County or­
dinance is in conflict with a municipal ordinance. In those 
cases, the municipal ordinance within the municipality will 
prevail.

Representation

The plan of representation in the proposed Charter 
establishes a seven (7) member County Commission whose 
duties are legislative in nature. The plan will provide a 
combination of district and at-large representation. Five 
(5) Commissioners will be elected from districts averaging 
approximately 50,000 persons, and two (2) Commissioners 
will be elected at large.

District representation will cut the mounting cost of 
running for Countywide election, and the increasing 
reliance on special interest for financing. The districts will 
also insure meaningful representation and allow close 
identification and scrutiny of the district Commissioners. 
The district Commissioners will be closer to the people 
who elected them and more responsive to district problems 
and needs. The district Commissioners will have a ready 
and in-hand knowledge of their districts. The two (2) 
Commissioners elected at large will provide balanced 
representation; therefore, the Charter provides for a com­
bination of district and at-large representation.

There may be an argument that district Commissioners 
may be responsive to district pressures first and consider 
vital County wide matters second. It is based upon the 
assumption and not fact and does not take into considera­
tion the fact that the County Commission can only act as a 
unit in passing County laws or establishing policy or issu­
ing administrative directives.



1202

With five of the seven County Commissioners elected by 
districts, there will be a better opportunity for voter iden­
tification. In a republican form of government, represen­
tation must be meaningful to be responsive and effective. 
There is no magic number for a representative body to in­
sure smooth, efficient, and representative government. 
The present five-member Commission was originally 
established in 1885 when Escambia County had a popula­
tion of approximately fifteen hundred persons.

The Charter Government Study Committee felt that the 
Commission should be enlarged to insure that the plan of 
representation would be equitable, representative, and 
responsive. The language of the Charter was drafted to in­
sure compliance with the Constitutional one-man, one- 
vote principle, and the provisions of Article VIII, Subsec­
tion (1) and (3) of the Florida Constitution.

Budget Preparation

Currently, under special law, the Comptroller (elected 
official) is required to prepare the County budget for sub­
mission to the Board of County Commissioners. Since a 
budget is clearly an administrative and management tool, 
it was felt that the budget preparation should be in the 
hands of the administrative and legislative branch of 
County government; therefore, the Charter clearly places 
the responsibility of the preparation of the budget, which 
is essentially a management tool, with the County Ex­
ecutive Director. The mechanics of putting the budget in 
order logically falls under the responsibility of the Direc­
tor of Finance of the Department of Finance.

The Committee sees no conflict in having the Executive 
Director and the Director of Finance working together to 
prepare the budget since both positions are administrative



1203

in nature, but felt that it was essential that the Charter 
clearly establish who has the responsibility for final 
preparation and submission of the budget to the County 
Commission for approval.

Audits

The County expenditures are now approaching $40 
million a year. Most of which is being expended without 
the control of regular audits. State law requires that there 
be post audits of County governments and their depart­
ments by the Auditor General of the State. However, there 
is no specific requirement that there be annual post audits, 
and no such audits are being performed on an annual basis 
by the State.

Considering the size and scope of the operation of 
Escambia County’s government, the committee felt that it 
was advisable to require annual audits. However, if the 
State makes an audit of the County or any of its agencies 
within one year after the fiscal year, then it will not be 
necessary for the Comptroller to make an audit. This pro­
vision merely provides a check to insure good business 
practices in the event the State does not perform its 
statutory duty. All major businesses in the country follow 
this good business practice.

Department of Personnel and Civil Service Board

Personnel policy and pay is an administrative function 
and, as such, should be under the legislative and ad­
ministrative body of the County. The present Civil Service 
Board has broad powers of personnel policies and pro­
vides that the Civil Service Board determine and establish 
pay scales for all classified positions.

The Charter provides that all County departments, of­



1204

ficers, and agencies utilize administrative services of the 
County Personnel Department. The Charter does not 
outline each and every duty required of the Personnel 
Department but does require that they be outlined in the 
Administrative Code. The Charter permits reorganization 
of this department as needed. However, the Charter does 
provide for a Civil Service Board that has the responsibili­
ty to enforce a code of rules and regulations providing for 
examination, appointment, employment, promotion, 
standards of conduct, and efficiency of employees in the 
classified service. It also provides for job protection of 
classified positions and the elimination of arbitrary 
capricious action against employees by the administrative 
staff or legislative body. The Charter also provides protec­
tion for all existing employees under the present Civil 
Service System.

OPTIONAL METHODS OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

The “County Administration Law of 1974,” which is 
Part III of Chapter 125 of the Florida Statutes, authorizes 
the Board of County Commissioners to pass a County or­
dinance adopting the “County Administration Law of 
1974,” which would accomplish the separation of ad­
ministrative and legislative powers of County government 
and would provide some of the changes outlined in the 
proposed Charter (See pages 28-30).

Part IV of Chapter 125 of the Florida Statutes is known 
as the “Option County Charter Law” and provides an 
alternate way to Charter government; therefore, the Board 
of County Commissioners may propose by ordinance a 
Charter consistent with the provisions of this part and pro­
vide for a special election pursuant to the procedures 
established in Section 125.64, Florida Statutes, without



1205

regard to the time limitation contained in Section 
125.645(e). This part gives to the Board of County Com­
missioners the following optional forms of County 
government:

(1) County Executive Form (See pages 1210-17);
(2) County Manager Form (See proposed Charter, 

pages 1161-94); and
(3) County Chairman/Administrator Plan (See pages 

1210-17).

CHAPTER 125, FLORIDA STATUTES
COUNTY GOVERNMENT 

PART III
COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

125.70 Short title.
125.71 Purpose.
125.72 Application of the part.
125.73 County administrator; appointment,

qualifications, compensation.
125.74 County administrator; powers and

duties.

125.70 SHORT T IT L E .- This part shall be known 
and may be cited as the “County Administration Law of 
1974.”

125.71 PURPOSE. -  It is the legislative intent that it 
is necessary to authorize a form of county administration 
that best assures an adequate and efficient provision of 
services to the citizens in this state, that provides for coor­
dinated administration of county departments to better



1206

protect the health, welfare, safety, and quality of life of 
the residents in each of the more urbanized counties, and 
that places in the hands of a county administrator the 
multitude of details which must necessarily arise from the 
operation of a county as a unit of local government and, 
thus, enables the board of county commissioners to per­
form freely, without unnecessary interruption, its fun­
damental intended purpose of making policies within the 
framework of law applicable to county government in this 
state. It is the further legislative intent to provide a formula 
and structure for the economic and efficient conduct of 
county affairs by making the county administrator 
established by this act responsible for handling of all 
things necessary to accomplish and bring to fruition the 
policies established by the board of county commissioners.

125.72 APPLICATION OF THE PART. -  The pro­
visions of this part may apply to any county in this state 
which has not adopted a charter form of county govern­
ment upon passage of a county ordinance by the governing 
body of such county expressly adopting this part.

125.73. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR; APPOINT­
MENT, QUALIFICATIONS, COMPENSATION.-

(1) Each county to which this part applies shall ap­
point a county administrator, who shall be the ad­
ministrative head of the county and shall be responsible 
for the administration of all departments of the county 
government which the board of county commissioners has 
authority to control pursuant to this act, the general laws 
of Florida, or other applicable legislation.

(2) The county administrator shall be qualified by ad­
ministrative and executive experience and ability to serve 
as the chief administrator of the county. He shall be ap­



1207

pointed by an affirmative vote of not less than three 
members of the board of county commissioners and may 
be removed at any time by an affirmative vote, upon 
notice, of not less than three members of the board, after a 
hearing if such be requested by the county administrator. 
The administrator need not be a resident of the county at 
the time of his appointment, but during his tenure in office 
he shall reside within the county.

(3) The compensation of the administrator shall be 
fixed by the board of county commissioners unless other­
wise provided by law.

(4) The office of county administrator shall be deemed 
vacant if the incumbent moves his residence from the 
county or is, by death, illness, or other casualty, unable to 
continue in office. A vacancy in the office shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment. The board 
of county commissioners may appoint an acting ad­
ministrator in the case of vacancy or temporary absence or 
disability until a succesor has been appointed and 
qualified or the administrator returns.

125.74. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR: POWERS 
AND DUTIES. -

(1) The administrator may be responsible for the ad­
ministration of all departments responsible to the board of 
county commissioners and for the proper administration 
of all affairs under the jurisdiction of the board. To that 
end, the administrator may, by way of enumeration and 
not by way of limitation, have the following specific 
powers and duties to:

(a) Administer and carry out the directives and 
policies of the board of county commissioners and enforce 
all orders, resolutions, ordinances, and regulations of the 
board to assure that they are faithfully executed.



1208

(b) Report to the board on action taken pursuant 
to any directive or policy within the time set by the board 
and provide an annual report to the board on the state of 
the county, the work of the previous year, and any recom­
mendations as to actions or programs he deems necessary 
for the improvement of the county and the welfare of its 
residents.

(c) Provide the board, or individual members 
thereof, upon request, with data or information concern­
ing county government and to provide advice and recom­
mendations on county government operations to the 
board.

(d) Prepare and submit to the board of county 
commissioners for its consideration and adoption an an­
nual operating budget, a capital budget, and a capital pro­
gram.

(e) Establish the schedules and procedures to be 
followed by all county departments, offices, and agencies 
in connection with the budget and supervise and ad­
minister all phases of the budgetary process.

(f) Prepare and submit to the board after the end 
of each fiscal year a complete report on the finances and 
administrative activities of the county for the preceding 
year and submit his recommendations.

(g) Supervise the care and custody of all county 
property.

(h) Recommend to the board a current position 
classification and pay plan for all positions in county serv­
ice.

(i) Develop, install, and maintain centralized 
budgeting, personnel, legal, and purchasing procedures.



1209

(j) Organize the work of county departments, 
subject to an administrator and adopted by the board, and 
review the departments, administration, and operation of 
the county and make recommendations pertaining thereto 
for reorganization by the board.

(k) Select, employ, and supervise all personnel 
and fill all vacancies, positions, or employment under the 
jurisdiction of the board. However, the employment of all 
department heads shall require confirmation by the board 
of county commissioners.

(l) Suspend, discharge, or remove any employee 
under the jurisdiction of the board pursuant to procedures 
adopted by the board.

(m) Negotiate leases, contracts, and other 
agreements, including consultant services, for the county, 
subject to approval of the board, and make recommenda­
tions concerning the nature and location of county im­
provements.

(n) See that all terms and conditions in all leases, 
contracts, and agreements are performed and notify the 
board of any noted violation thereof.

(o) Order, upon advising the board, any agency 
under his jurisdiction as specified in the administrative 
code to undertake any task for any other agency on a tem­
porary basis if he deems it necessary for the proper and ef­
ficient administration of the county government to do so.

(p) Attend all meetings of the board with authori­
ty to participate in the discussion of any matter.

(q) Perform such other duties as may be required 
of him by the board of county commissioners.



1210

(2) It is the intent of the Legislature to grant to the 
county administrator only those powers and duties which 
are administrative or ministerial in nature and not to 
delegate any governmental power imbued in the board of 
county commissioners as the governing body of the county 
pursuant to Section 1(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitu­
tion. To that end, the above specifically enumerated 
powers are to be construed as administrative in nature, 
and in any exercise of governmental power the ad­
ministrator shall only be performing the duty of advising 
the board of county commissioners in its role as the 
policy-setting governing body of the county.

CHAPTER 125, FLORIDA STATUTES 
COUNTY GOVERNMENT 

PART IV
OPTIONAL COUNTY CHARTERS

125.80 Short title.
125.81 Definitions.
125.82 Charter adoption by ordinance.
125.83 County charters; general provisions.
125.84 County charters; optional forms,
125.85 County charters; executive 

responsibilities.
125.86 County charters; legislative 

responsibilities.
125.87 Administrative code; adoption and 

amendment.
125.88 Civil service.

125.80 SHORT TITLE.— This part shall be known 
and may be cited as the “Optional County Charter Law.”



1211

125.81 DEFINITIONS.— As used in this part, the 
following words and terms shall have the meanings ascrib­
ed to them in this section except when the context clearly 
indicates otherwise:

(1) “County charter” means the charter by which 
county government in this state may exercise all powers of 
local self-government not inconsistent with general law 
and as adopted by a vote of the electors of the county.

(2) “Form of county government” is that form 
adopted by the electors providing for the operation of a 
county government operating under a charter which shall 
be provided in the charter.

(3) “Officer” means all officials of county government 
operating under a charter which shall be provided in the 
charter.

125.82 CHARTER ADOPTION BY ORDINANCE. -  
As a supplemental and alternative way to the provisions of 
ss. 125.60-125.64, inclusive, the board of county commis­
sioners may propose by ordinance a charter consistent 
with the provisions of this part and provide for a special 
election pursuant to the procedures established in s. 125.64 
without regard to the time limitation contained in subsec­
tion 125.64(3).

125.83 COUNTY CHARTERS: GENERAL 
PROVISIONS.-

(1) A county charter may prescribe one of the optional 
forms of government herein authorized, and shall clearly 
define the responsibility for legislative and executive func­
tions in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(2) The county charter shall require all elective offices 
to be filled only by qualified voters of the county. All ap­



1212

pointed offices may be filled by nonresidents of the coun­
ty; however, the charter may require that, upon appoint­
ment, such officers shall reside in the county during their 
tenure in office.

(3) The county charter shall define “vacancy in office” 
and provide methods for filling such vacancy.

(4) The county charter shall provide that the salaries 
of all county officers shall be provided by ordinance and 
shall not be lowered during an officer’s term in office.

(5) The county charter shall provide a schedule for the 
transfer of governmental functions into the charter form 
of government as adopted.

125.84 COUNTY CHARTERS: OPTIONAL
FORMS. — Any county desiring to adopt a county charter 
shall provide for one of the following optional forms of 
government:

(1) COUNTY EXECUTIVE FO R M .- The county 
executive form shall provide for governance by an elected 
board of commissioners and an elected county executive 
and such other officers as may be duly elected or ap­
pointed pursuant to the charter. The elected county ex­
ecutive shall exercise the executive responsibilities assigned 
by the charter and shall, in addition, approve each or­
dinance by signing it or allowing it to become approved 
without signature by failing to veto it or may veto any or­
dinance by returning it to the clerk of the board within 10 
days of passage with a written statement of his objections. 
If two-thirds of the members of the board present and 
voting and constituting a quorum shall, upon reconsidera­
tion, vote for the ordinance, the executive’s veto shall be 
overridden and the ordinance shall become law in 10 days 
or at such other time as may be provided in the ordinance



1213

or by resolution of the board, without the executive’s 
signature.

(2) COUNTY MANAGER FORM. — The county 
manager form shall provide for governance by an elected 
board of commissioners and an appointed county 
manager and such other officers as may be duly elected or 
appointed pursuant to the charter. The county manager 
shall be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the 
board and shall exercise the executive responsibilities 
assigned by the charter.

(3) COUNTY CHAIRMAN/ADMINISTRATOR 
PLAN. — The county chairman/administrator plan shall 
provide for governance by an elected board of commi- 
sioners, presided over by an elected chairman who shall 
vote only in case of tie, and an appointed county ad­
ministrator and such other officers as may be duly elected 
or appointed pursuant to the charter. The county ad­
ministrator shall be appointed by, and serve at the 
pleasure of, the chairman. The chairman shall exercise, in 
conjunction with the administrator, the executive respon­
sibilities assigned by the charter.

125.85 COUNTY CHARTERS; EXECUTIVE RE­
SPONSIBILITIES.— The executive responsibilities and 
power of the county shall be assigned to, and vested in, the 
appropriate executive officer, pursuant to the optional 
form adopted under s. 125.83, and shall consist of the 
following powers and duties:

(1) Report annually, or more often if necessary, to the 
board of commissioners and to the citizens *(on) the state

*NOTE. — “O n” substituted for “o f ’ by the editors.



1214

of the county, the work of the previous year, recommen­
dations for action or programs for improvement of the 
county, and the welfare of its residents;

(2) Prepare and submit to the board for its con­
sider aton and adoption an annual operating budget, a 
capital budget, and a capital program; establish the 
schedules and procedures to be followed by all county 
departments, offices, and agencies in connection 
therewith; and supervise and administer all phases of the 
budgetary process;

(3) Administer and carry out the directives and 
policies of the board of county commissioners and enforce 
all orders, resolutions, ordinances, and regulations of the 
board, the county charter, and all applicable general law, 
to assure that they are faithfully executed;

(4) Supervise the care and custody of all county pro­
perty, institutions, and agencies;

(5) Supervise the collection of revenues, audit and 
control all disbursements and expenditures, and prepare a 
complete account of all expenditures;

(6) Review, analyze, and forecast trends of county 
services and finances and programs of all boards, commis­
sions, agencies, and other county bodies and report and 
recommend thereon to the board;

(7) Develop, install, and maintain centralized 
budgeting, personnel, legal, and purchasing procedures as 
may be authorized by the administrative code;

(8) Negotiate contracts, bonds, or other instruments 
for the county, subject to board approval; make recom­
mendations concerning the nature and location of county



1215

improvements; and execute services determined by the 
board;

(9) Assure that all terms and conditions imposed in 
favor of the county or its inhabitants in any statute, fran­
chise, or other contract are faithfully kept and performed;

(10) Supervise, direct, and control all county ad­
ministrative departments;

(11) Apppoint, with the advice and consent of the 
board, all appointed departmental heads, who shall serve 
at his pleasure, and employ pursuant to appropriation and 
the administrative code, such personnel as necessary to ad­
minister county functions and services;

(12) Order, at his discretion, any agency under his 
jurisdiction as specified in the administrative code to 
undertake any task for any other agency on a temporary 
basis if he deems it necessary for the proper and efficient 
administration of the county government to do so; and

(13) Any other power or duty which may be assigned 
by county charter or by ordinance or resolution of the 
board.

125.86. COUNTY CHARTERS: LEGISLATIVE RE­
SPONSIBILITIES. — The legislative responsibilities and 
power of the county shall be assigned to, and vested in, the 
board of county commissioners and shall consist of the 
following powers and duties:

(1) Advise and consent to all appointments by the ex­
ecutive for which board confirmation is specified;

(2) Adopt or enact, in accordance with the procedures 
provided by general law, ordinances and resolutions it 
deems necessary and proper for the good governance of 
the county;



1216

(3) Appoint a clerk to the board who shall serve at its 
pleasure and keep the records and minutes of the board;

(4) Approve the annual operating and capital budgets 
and any long-term capital or financial program;

(5) Conduct continuing studies in the operation of 
county programs and services and take action on pro­
grams for improvement of the county and the welfare of 
its residents;

(6) Adopt, and amend as necessary, a county ad­
ministrative code to govern the operation of the county;

(7) Adopt, pursuant to the provisions of the charter, 
such ordinances of county-wide force and effect as are 
necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of the 
residents. It is the specific legislative intent to recognize 
that a county charter may properly determine that certain 
governmental areas are more conducive to uniform 
county-wide enforcement and may provide the county 
government powers in relation to those areas as recognized 
and as may be amended from time to time by the people of 
that county; and

(8) All other powers of local self-government not in­
consistent with general law as recognized by the Constitu­
tion and laws of the state and which have not been limited 
by the county charter.

125.87. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE; ADOPTION 
AND AMENDMENT. -

(1) Following the organization of the first board of 
county commissioners elected pursuant to a charter, the 
board of commissioners shall adopt an administrative 
code organizing the administration of the county govern­
ment and setting forth the duties and responsibilities and



1217

powers of all county officials and agencies pursuant to the 
provisions of the charter.

(2) The administrative code shall be effective upon 
adoption or as otherwise provided therein, and all existing 
agencies shall assume the form, perform the duties, and 
exercise the power granted them under the administrative 
code and shall do so in the manner prescribed.

125.88 CIVIL SERVICE.-

(1) Upon adoption of an administrative code and also 
upon the adoption of a charter, all officers and employees 
in the classified service of the county shall be transferred 
to the department, division, or agency to which the func­
tions, powers, and duties in which they were engaged are 
allocated under the administrative code. Such transfer 
shall be without examination or diminution of existing 
compensation, pension or retirement rights, privileges, or 
obligations of any such officer or employee existing im­
mediately prior to the referendum at which the charter was 
adopted. It is the intent of the Legislature that the adop­
tion of any plan required by the charter shall not adversely 
affect the civil service tenure, pension, seniority, or pro­
motional rights of any county officer or employee in the 
classified service.

(2) The board of county commissioners of any county 
adopting a charter may, by ordinance, administer the 
merit system through a county department of civil service 
unless otherwise provided by the charter. Such administra­
tion shall include classification, recruitment, examination, 
establishment of eligibility lists, grievances, compensa­
tion, and other conditions of employment pursuant to 
law.



1218

RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS 

Legislative—Administrative Functions

The chief role of the County Commission should be to 
adopt policy. It should be a legislative body rather than an 
administrative body. There are two principles which 
should be observed in maintaining a distinction between 
legislative and administrative functions: (1) the legislative 
body cannot delegate its powers of a legislative character, 
and (2) the administrative details and the responsibility for 
implementation of policies should be delegated to the Ex­
ecutive Director.

Although there have been some significant im­
provements over the last few years, the Board of County 
Commissioners still spends a great deal of its time in exer­
cising administrative functions which can be more proper­
ly delegated to the Executive Director of the County. It is a 
cardinal rule of public administrative practice that 
authority is increased through delegation. The time that is 
spent on handling routine administrative matters can be 
much better utilized in the development, formulation, and 
evaluation of policies by the Board of County Commis­
sioners. Specific attention should be given to relieving the 
County Commission of the necessity to concern itself with 
routine matters which can be handled administratively.

Presently, it would appear that adherence to Commis­
sion policy is a rather haphazard occurrence. The chief 
problem would appear to be effective communication 
which guarantees employee awareness of County policy. 
In order to resolve this problem, steps should be taken to 
compile and distribute an Administrative Procedures 
Manual to all County department heads or supervisors. 
This manual should be updated on a periodic basis, and its



1219

distribution should be combined with in-service training 
for supervisory personnel.

The establishment of an Executive Director’s office with 
assigned administrative functions will make the office of 
County Commissioner more attractive to a broader seg­
ment of population interested in government service who 
are willing and able to serve but are unable to give the 
necessary time for administrative and legislative respon­
sibilities.

The principle of “unity of command” is not observed in 
County operations. It is a common occurrence that Coun­
ty department heads and subordinates are subject to 
orders from both the County Executive Director and in­
dividual members of the Board of County Commissioners. 
It is not unusual that subordinates are subject to conflict­
ing orders which play havoc with work schedules and sub­
ject County personnel to unreasonable and unnecessary 
pressures.

There is an old saying. “A man cannot serve two 
masters,” which is known in public administration as the 
principle of “unity of command.” A subordinate who is 
subject to orders from several superiors will be inefficient, 
confused, and, ultimately, irresponsible.

A vast majority of local governments operate with 
governing bodies whose responsibilities are legislative in 
nature, i.e., enacting laws and establishing administrative 
policies.

The functions and responsibilities of the County 
Department of Human Resources and the Community Ac­
tion Program provides various social services with em­
phasis on meeting the needs of disadvantaged residents. 
The services provided by these two agencies should be con­



1220

solidated in a single county department so as to eliminate 
the overlapping responsibilities.

Budgets

The annual budget is first and foremost a planning and 
policy statement. An appropriations process is one of the 
most basic and important functions of a legislative body 
and, therefore, deserves special attention to insure that the 
legislative body retains control of that process. Respon­
sibility fo r  budget formulation and implementation should 
be delegated to the Executive Director’s office, who has the 
responsibility o f  providing the Commission with informa­
tion regarding the fiscal impact o f  the continuation o f ex­
isting programs and initiation o f  new programs.

Currently, in Escambia County, responsibility for 
budget formulation, adoption and implementation is 
shared between the Board of County Commissioners, the 
elected County Comptroller, and the State. As a result, the 
Board of County Commissioners does not have full con­
trol of one of its most important functions. Additionally, 
there are other elected officials who have the statutory 
right to seek amendment of the annual budget through 
direct appeal to the State. Therefore, the County Commis­
sion, which has the legal responsibility and the political 
liability for raising taxes, does not exercise control over ac­
tivities which generate demands for local revenues.

Auditing

In order to maintain the fiscal integrity of the system and 
the confidence of the people who ultimately support local 
government through their taxes, responsibility for pre­
audit and post-audit of expenditures should remain under 
an independent elected official who is isolated from 
political pressures by the Board of County Commis­



1221

sioners. It is important that the people of the community 
have confidence in the financial integrity of the system. 
This principle is consistent with sound government finan­
cial practices and is utilized by a majority of state govern­
ments, large municipalities, and urban counties.

Non-Profit Public Agencies

Require all non-profit public agencies supported by any 
form of local tax monies or fees for service to file with the 
Board of County Commissioners a monthly activity 
report, and on or before September 30 of each year, file 
with the Board of County Commissioners a balance sheet 
and statement of operations for the ensuing year, showing 
all assets, liabilities, and equities’ income and expenditures 
of the respective agency. They should also be required to 
file a list of employee complement and their salaries, and 
should any agency fail to comply with these provisions, 
the Board of County Commissioners should withhold 
releases of appropriations until such time as the ageny is in 
compliance.

Very often private non-profit public agencies are in a 
position to administer programs more efficiently than a 
local unit of government. When the Board of County 
Commissioners assumes direct responsibility for the 
operation of a given program, there occurs substantial 
overhead cost in the form of fringe benefits, Civil Service, 
and other requirements imposed by law. Additionally, 
agencies receive support from both the City of Pensacola 
and the Board of County Commissioners. If the County 
were to assume direct responsibility for the operation, it is 
doubtful that the City would continue to fund the opera­
tions of a County department. Through joint funding, the 
City and the County have been able to initiate and support 
many health and social service programs at a minimal 
cost.



1222

Few citizens are aware of the County’s ties to the state 
and federal government, the limitations of County 
powers, and the connection between these and the inability 
of the County to respond to local problems. The demand 
for additional public services by the people, politics, infla­
tion, and legislative acts (federal and state) have played a 
substantial part in local governmental growth and the in­
creased expenditure of tax monies. However, due to the 
mandated nature of many of the programs by state and 
federal government, efforts to control this expansion at 
the County level have not been satisfactory.

Federal and state aid is another means of federal and 
state influence over counties. To receive this aid, in most 
instances, counties must meet certain standards or comply 
with certain regulations. While many of these re­
quirements have helped raise standards in County ad­
ministration, others have unduly restricted County discre­
tion.

State and federal aid has been invaluable to counties in 
meeting rising cost; however, it can distort expenditure 
patterns by encouraging counties to expend funds in one 
administrative area to match grant monies, while reducing 
expenditures for other needed functions which do not 
receive grant funds.

Government Cost Stabilization

Escambia County has just about exhausted all of their 
immediate options in trying to cope with the flood tide of 
local problems. The reason is simple — we have run out of 
tax dollars. There is little or no potentially new revenue 
available to us in the foreseeable future; therefore, the 
need to stabilize cost and improve productivity in local

C ou nty-S tate-F edera l C o n n ectio n s.



1223

government is an issue of concern to all citizens. Perhaps 
one of the first places to start is the identification of 
priorities in clear, precise terms so that the citizens may 
understand their need to respond, and so that we may 
allocate our inadequate resources better.

Revitalization of County Government

Our changing society requires counties to provide new 
and improved services and perform new functions; 
therefore, we must find some way to revitalize local self- 
government, and we must also find some method to allow 
County government more flexibility of form, function, 
and finance. Modernizing County government is perhaps 
the most pressing need for action.

The average citizen feels no impelling need, no urgency 
for any major restructure of the governmental pattern. 
Perhaps the basic reason is their lack of awareness for the 
need for change and the lack of knowledge of the present 
structure.

There has been a substantial growth in the expenditure 
of monies and employees in the past few years; therefore, 
the public is showing a renewed interest in taxes, govern­
mental cost, and productivity levels of state and local 
governments.

Regardless of the future, we need priorities so as to 
allocate our inadequate resources better. Perhaps most im­
portant of all, extension of the principle of home rule 
should lead to the revitalization of local self-government 
that would help roll back the increasing concentration of 
power in the state and federal government.



1224

Intergovernmental Agreements

We recommend that the Board of County Commis­
sioners utilize corporate intergovernmental agreements, 
where appropriate, to attain economical performance of 
needed services.

Personnel — Civil Service

The authority of the Civil Service Board to set salaries 
for classified positions should be removed and placed in a 
Department of Personnel with responsibility for all per­
sonnel policies.

The Civil Service Board should have the authority to 
adopt, amend, and enforce a code of regulations pro­
viding for examination, appointment, employment, pro­
motion, standards, of conduct, and efficiency of 
employees in the classified service, and they should be the 
sole authority vested with the power to approve, confirm 
or deny disciplinary action against an employee within the 
classified service.

Charter Government

Charter provisions should maintain all constitutional 
elective County officers so as to insure accessibility and ef­
fectively pinpoint accountability to the voter.

A Charter is nothing more and nothing less than a con­
stitution or contract between the people and their govern­
ment. A charter delineates the duties and responsibilities 
of government, and it delineates the rights and privileges 
of the people. We therefore recommend that the people be 
given an opportunity to vote on Charter government in ac­
cordance with the constitution and state statutes.

N O T E S



1225

EXHIBIT 99
Recommendations by Minority of 

Charter Commission Appointed in 1975

Mr. Kenneth Kelson, Chairman
Mr. Zearl Lancaster, Vice Chairman
Mr. Jack Kenney
Mr. Marvin G. Beck
Mr. Charles Deese, Jr.
County Courthouse 
Pensacola, Florida 32501

Gentlemen:
We the undersigned, have studied carefully all of the 

material presented to us during the past year and a half, 
including a very careful study and restudy of the proposed 
charter. We have raised objections from time to time to 
various sections and, while some of the most inap­
propriate parts of the proposed charter might be changed, 
we believe that to submit a Charter Government to the 
people by referendum at this time would be a grave 
mistake.

In the first place, a Charter Government, as considered 
and discussed by us in the last year and a half, would 
materially increase the cost of our County Government 
and would tend to complicate its operation and most im­
portant of all, it would remove the checks and balances 
which now prevail.

The County Seal, and with it the authority which now 
rests with the County Comptroller, an elected official, 
would be passed on to the County Administrator, who 
would be hired by the Board of County Commissioners, 
who in turn could be fired by the Board of County Com­
missioners. This would obviously place in the hands of the 
Board of County Commissioners the power of Legisla­
tion, Administration and Judiciary.

Section 105 of the proposed charter provides that the



1226

County shall have the authority to assume and perform all 
functions:

“The County shall have the authority to assume and per­
form all functions and obligations now or hereinafter per­
formed by any muncipality, special district or agency 
whenever such municipality, special district or agency 
shall request the performance of transfer of the functions 
to the County”.

We feel that this would be a means of obtaining con­
solidated Government without a referendum.

In lieu of recommending a charter to you, we respectful­
ly recommend your careful consideration of the following 
changes which we believe will improve our Government 
and bring your offices closer to the people whom you 
serve.

1. Election of County Commissioners (a total of five) 
shall be by districts and on a non-partisan basis.

2. The Commissioners, in order to justify their cost to 
the tax-payers, shall remain on a full-time basis.

3 . The salaries of the Commissioners shall remain set by 
Legislation.

4. The question of whom shall be bonded and the 
amounts of bonds shall be provided by Legislation.

5. Your special consideration is respectfully recom­
mended to the organizational chart. We believe that 
this chart can be improved and should be completely 
revamped.

6. We recommend that your Honorable Board should 
interview the heads of all departments of the County 
and the heads of all agencies, both State and Federal 
(whether contributed to by County funds or not), to 
determine where overlapping and unnecessary opera­



1227

tion occurs. This should enable you to reduce costs 
and eliminate waste.

7. We understand that the Board of Trustees has a Task 
Force Committee which has been appointed to study 
the operation of the University Hospital. We are con­
fident that this well qualified Committee will discover 
any economies which can be effected and that the 
high caliber people on the present Board of Trustees 
and Administration will be eager to reduce cost 
wherever possible without reducing necessary service.

We have tried to cover these recommendations as briefly 
as possible; However, we would be pleased to discuss this 
matter with your Honorable Board. If we have omitted 
anything about which you have questions, we will be hap­
py to discuss this matter with your Honorable Board at 
your convenience.

Respectfully yours,

/s/ H. A. Brosnaham, Jr.

/s/ Adrian Blanton

>CC: Mr. Billy Tenant
County Health Department



1228

EXHIBIT 100

Proposal of Charter Commission Appointed in 1977

CHARTER GOVERNMENT 
STUDY COMMITTEE 

REPORT

AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL 
1776-1976

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA 
1975-1976



1229

PROPOSED
ESCAMBIA COUNTY CHARTER 

PREAMBLE
We, the people o f  Escambia County, Florida, join 

together, under God, in the belief that County government 
shall be responsive to the people o f the County and shall 
serve the people in a manner o f efficiency and account­
ability, with equal benefits fo r  all cities; do in accordance 
with the Constitution and Laws o f  State o f  Florida, ordain 
and establish as our Charter and form o f  government this 
Charter o f  Escambia County, Florida.

ARTICLE I
POWERS OF GOVERNMENT

SECTION 101. BODY CORPORATE AND
POLITIC.
Escambia County shall be a Body Corporate and 

Politic, and as such shall have all rights and powers of 
local self-government, which are now, or hereinafter may 
be, provided by the Constitution and Laws of Florida, and 
this Charter.

SECTION 102. NAME AND BOUNDARIES.

The corporate name of this County government shall be 
“Escambia County,” hereinafter referred to as the “Coun­
ty,” and shall be so designated in all actions and pro­
ceedings concerning its rights, powers, properties, and 
duties. Its seat shall be within Pensacola, Florida, and 
boundaries of the County shall be those designated by law.

SECTION 103. GENERAL POWERS OF THE
COUNTY.
The County, shall have all powers and duties of local 

self-government not inconsistent with general law, or with 
special law approved by vote of the electors.



1230

The County shall have all special powers and duties 
which are not inconsistent with this Charter, heretofore 
granted by law to the Board of County Commissioners.

SECTION 105. CONSOLIDATION OF GOVERN­
MENTS.

Notwithstanding any provision herein, this Charter 
shall not be deemed to authorize or permit (1) the con­
solidation of the government of Escambia County and any 
municipality therein and the County shall not consolidate 
its government with any municipality therein, except pur­
suant to an election held under a special law specifically 
providing for such an election, which shall provide that no 
consolidation shall be effected unless (a) the qualified elec­
tors residing within any municipality concerned par­
ticipate in the election and a majority of the participants 
vote in favor of consolidation; and (b) unless the qualified 
electors residing without the corporate limits of the city 
concerned participate in the election and unless a majority 
of such participants in both areas shall vote in favor of 
consolidation.

SECTION 106. DIVISION OF POWERS.

This Charter hereby establishes separation between the 
legislative, administrative, and judicial functions of this 
government; the establishment and adoption of policy 
shall be the responsibility of the Legislative Branch and 
the execution of that policy shall be the responsibility of 
the Administrative Branch.

SECTION 107. EXERCISE OF POWERS.

All powers of the County shall be executed as provided 
by this Charter or, if the Charter makes no provisions, as

SECTION 104. SPECIAL POWERS.



1231

provided by ordinance or resolution of the Board of 
County Commission.

SECTION 108. SECURITY OF THE CITIZENS’
RIGHTS.
In order to secure to the citizens of the County protec­

tion against abuses and encroachments, the County shall 
use its powers to prevent by ordinance or by legal process, 
whenever appropriate, in securing for all citizens:

A. Just and Equitable Taxation: The County shall pre­
vent the imposition of any tax within the County in excess 
of the limitation imposed by Article VII, Section 9, of the 
Florida Constitution, or by the Laws of Florida;

B. Proper Use of Public Property: The County shall 
prevent the use of public property, taxes, or taxing power 
for the benefit of private individuals, partnerships, or cor­
porations in violation of the restrictions imposed by Arti­
cle VII, Section 10, of the Florida Constitution, or by the 
Laws of Florida;

C. Full Disclosure of Public Record and Proceedings: 
All meetings and proceedings established by the County 
shall be open to the public in compliance with the Laws of 
Florida. All official acts, documents, and financial 
reports, except those which have been specifically 
prepared for use in court proceedings, criminal and law 
enforcement files, those which would invade a person’s 
right of privacy, shall be open for public inspection, and 
the agency having custody and control of public records 
shall, upon request, supply certified copies of the records 
requested for a reasonable fee as established by ordinance; 
and

D. Protection of Human Rights: The County shall 
establish provisions, pursuant to state and federal law, for



1232

protection of citizen human rights from discrimination 
based upon religion, poiitical affiliation, race, color, age, 
sex, or national origin by providing and insuring equal 
rights and opportunities for all citizens of Escambia Coun­
ty.

SECTION 109. ORDINANCE SUPERIORITY.

Where a municipal ordinance conflicts with a County 
ordinance, the municipal ordinance shall prevail within 
the municipality to the extent of such conflict, otherwise a 
County ordinance shall be effective Countywide.

SECTION 110. CONSTRUCTION.

Escambia County shall have all power possible for a 
County to have under the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida. These powers shall include, but shall not be 
restricted to or by, the following: all powers now or 
hereafter given by the Constitution or other laws, and all 
other powers not prohibited by such Constitution or by 
this Charter to Escambia County or its departments, of­
fices, or agencies, or to counties or County departments, 
offices or agencies; and all powers necessary and proper to 
carry into execution other powers of Escambia County. 
The County shall have all such powers as fully and com­
pletely as though they were specifically enumerated in this 
Charter, and no enumeration of powers in this Charter 
shall be deemed exclusive or restrictive.

SECTION 111. SEVERABILITY.

If any article, section, subsection, sentence, clause of 
provision of this Charter or the application thereof shall 
be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of the 
Charter and of any ordinances, regulations or resolutions 
made thereunder shall remain in full force and effect.



1233

ARTICLE II
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: COUNTY COMMISSION

SECTION 201. COMPOSITION.

The legislative power of the County shall be vested in 
the Escambia County Commission, hereinafter referred to 
as the “Commission.” There shall be five (5) Commission 
districts and one (1) Commission member shall be elected 
from each district by voters of that district.

SECTION 202. TERMS OF OFFICE.

All County Commissioners shall be elected on a nonpar­
tisan basis for staggered terms of four (4) years, except as 
provided for in this section. The Commission members 
elected from a district shall be elected for a term of four
(4) years, and be limited to three (3) consecutive terms.

SECTION 203. CONTINUANCE OF COMMIS­
SIONERS.
The Commission members in office on the effective date 

of this Charter shall continue in office as the Commis­
sioner from the district from which he qualified until the 
normal expiration of their term, or until the election and 
qualification of their successors.

SECTION 204. APPORTIONMENT.

The Commission shall divide the County into five (5) 
districts of contiguous territory as nearly equal in popula­
tion as practicable after each decennial census.

SECTION 205. COMPENSATION.

Commissioners’ salaries shall be as established by 
general law. Commissioners shall not be reimbursed for



1234

expenses other than those specifically approved by the 
Commission. Commissioners shall receive reimbursement 
for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the per­
formance of their official duties as provided by general 
law.

SECTION 206. QUALIFICATIONS.

Commissioners shall be qualified electors of the County 
and shall have been a resident of the County for one (1) 
year immediately preceding the date on which they 
qualify to run for office and shall have resided within the 
district from which they are elected for at least six (6) 
months prior to the date on which they qualify to run for 
office. Any Commissioner who changes residence from 
the County, and any Commissioner elected within a dis­
trict who changes residence from the district from which 
the Commissioner was elected, shall be deemed to have 
vacated his office.

If a Commissioner ceases to be a qualified elector of the 
County or is convicted of a crime involving moral tur­
pitude, he shall be deemed to have vacated his office. The 
Commission shall have power to subpoena witnesses, take 
testimony, and require the production of records. Deci­
sions made by the Commission in the exercise of powers 
granted by this section shall be subject to review by the 
courts.

SECTION 207. VACANCIES.

A vacancy in any Commissioner’s office or other elected 
County official shall be filled in accordance with general 
law.



1235

SECTION 208. SUSPENSIONS.
Suspensions from office of any County elected ofiicial 

shall be for cause and shall be in accordance with the Con­
stitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 209. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE
COMMISSION.
The Commission shall be the legislative and policy- 

determining body of the County. Except as otherwise pro­
vided by the Constitution of the State of Florida, or by 
this Charter, the Commission shall have ail powers of the- 
County. Without limitation to the foregoing grant and 
without limitation to the other powers given it by this 
Charter, the Commission shall have the power to:

(1) Appoint by a majority vote of the full Commis­
sion and to remove by a majority vote of the full Commis­
sion the County Manager; members of appointed County 
boards, commissions and advisory groups, except as 
otherwise provided for in this Charter;

(2) Elect from among its members a Chairperson and 
a Chairperson Pro Tern. The Chairperson shall preside at 
Commission meetings. If at any meeting the Chairperson 
is not present or is unable to act, the Chairperson Pro Tern 
shall preside. The Chairperson and the Chairperson Pro 
Tem shall be elected annually prior to December 1, and 
shall take office on the first Thursday of January of each 
year;

(3) Advise and consent to all appointments by the 
County Manager for which Commission confirmation is 
specified under this Charter;

(4) Adopt or enact, in accordance with the pro­
cedures provided by general law, ordinances and resolu­



1236

tions it deems necessary and proper for the good gover­
nance of the County;

(5) Appoint a clerk to the Commission who shall 
serve at its pleasure and keep the records and minutes of 
the Commission;

(6) Adopt and amend the Administrative Code to 
govern the operation of the County;

(7) Provide for an independent audit of County 
finances;

(8) Fix and amend Commission districts so as to be 
nearly equal in population as practicable;

(9) Levy taxes and special assessments and to borrow 
money subject to the limitations as provided by the Con­
stitution and Laws of Florida;

(10) Review budgetary requests, and make the final 
determination and approve appropriations for all opera­
tions of County government, except as provided by law;

(11) Enter into bilateral and multilateral contracts 
with the State, other Counties and with governmental 
units within or contiguous to the boundaries of the County 
for joint performance, or for performance by one govern­
mental unit in behalf of the other or others of any function 
or activities which the County is authorized to perform;

(12) Make the investigations of the affairs of the 
County and to make inquiries into the conduct of any 
County employee, department, office, or agency;

(13) Make appropriations for County purposes;

(14) Adopt rules and procedures as shall be necessary 
for the orderly transactions of the business of the Com­
mission;



1237

(15) It shall be the duty of the Commission to directly 
accept or reject all loans and grants of the State and 
federal government, or modifications thereto.

(16) Designate which department heads and em­
ployees shall be bonded and fix the amount and form of 
such bonds; and

(17) Require periodic and special reports concerning 
functions of any County department, office, or agency 
receiving County funds. Such reports, in the case of 
departments, offices, or agencies, subject to the direction 
and supervision of the County Manager, shall be submit­
ted through the County Manager.

SECTION 210. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE
CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION.

The Chairperson shall serve as the chief officer of the 
legislative branch of the County government and shall 
devote such time as is necessary to perform the duties of 
the office. The Chairperson, in addition to the powers and 
duties provided elsewhere in this Charter, shall have the 
specific powers and duties to:

(1) Serve as the legislative leader and presiding of­
ficer of the Commission;

(2) Present annually in January of each year a “State 
of the County” message, setting forth programs and 
recommendations to the Commission;

(3) Nominate, subject to the confirmation by a ma­
jority vote of all members of the Commission, members of 
all appointed County boards, commissions, and advisory 
groups;

(4) Call all regular and special meetings of the Com­
mission;



1238

(5) Promote the welfare and best interest of the 
citizens of Escambia County by presenting from time to 
time policy recommendations to the Commission; and

(6) Serve as the official representative and ceremonial 
dignitary for the government of Escambia County.

SECTION 211. PROCEDURE: MEETINGS; RULES
AND JOURNAL; VOTING.

A. The Commission shall meet regularly, at least twice 
in every month, at such times and places as the Commis­
sion may prescribe by rule. Special meetings may be held 
on the call of the Chairperson, or in his absence, the 
Chairperson Pro Tem, or of two (2) or more members 
and, whenever practicable, upon no less than twelve (12) 
hours effective notice to each member. All meetings of the 
Commission shall be public, as required by general law; 
and

B. Voting, except on procedural motions, shall be by 
roll call and the ayes and nays shall be recorded in the 
journal. A majority of the members of the Commission 
shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may ad­
journ from time to time and may compel the attendance of 
absent members in the manner and subject to the penalties 
prescribed by the rules of the Commission.

SECTION 212. COUNTY ORDINANCES AND 
RESOLUTIONS.

Every County ordinance and resolution shall be intro­
duced and approved in accordance with the Constitution 
and Laws of Florida.



1239

SECTION 213. RECORDING, PRINTING AND
CODIFICATION
The Commission shall provide for the authentication 

and recording in full, in a properly indexed book kept for 
the purpose, of all minutes of meetings, ordinances and 
resolutions adopted by the Commission and the same 
shall, at all times, be a public record. The Commission, 
with the advice and assistance of the Director of Law, 
shall cause each ordinance and resolution have the force 
and effect of law and each amendment to this Charter to 
be printed as promptly as possible following its adoption; 
and the printed ordinance, resolutions and Charter 
amendments shall be sold to the public at prices consistent 
with general law. The Commission shall further maintain 
a codification of all ordinances. Such codification shall be 
published and made available for distribution on a conti­
nuing basis at prices consistent with general law.

SECTION 214. RESTRICTIONS ON ELECTED
OFFICIALS AND COMMISSION.

Neither the Commission nor any of its members shall in 
any manner direct the appointment or removal of any 
County employee. Except for the purpose of inquiries 
under Section 209 of this Article, the Commission or 
members, in dealing with County employees who are sub­
ject to the direction and supervision of the County 
Manager, shall deal solely through the County Manager, 
and neither the Commission nor its members shall give 
orders to any such employee, either publicly or private. No 
person elected or member of the Commission shall be ap­
pointed to any paid County administrative office or paid 
County position during the period beginning on the date 
of his election and ending not less than one (1) year after 
the expiration of term for which he was elected.



1240

ARTICLE III

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH: COUNTY MANAGER

SECTION 301. COUNTY MANAGER.

There shall be a County Manager, hereinafter referred 
to as the “County Manager,” who shall be appointed by a 
majority vote of ail members of the Commission, for an 
indefinite term. The County Manager shall serve at the 
pleasure of the Commission, and he may be removed at 
any time by a majority vote of all of its members. At least 
thirty (30) days before such removal is to become effec­
tive, the Commission shall furnish the County Manager 
with a written statement setting forth its intention to 
remove him. In the event such a removal for any reason 
other than a conviction of a felony or malfeasance in of­
fice, he shall be granted two (2) months’ termination pay.

SECTION 302. QUALIFICATIONS.

The County Manager shall be chosen solely on the basis 
of his executive and administrative abilities, with special 
reference to the duties of his office, as herein outlined. 
The County Manager need not be a resident of Escambia 
County or of the State of Florida at the time of his ap­
pointment, but during the tenure of his office, he shall, 
within sixty (60) days, establish residence within Escambia 
County.

SECTION 303. VACANCY.

When a vacancy occurs in the office of the County 
Manager, the Commission may designate one (1) qualified 
staff member to perform the duties of the County 
Manager for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days.



1241

SECTION 304. BOND: COUNTY MANAGER.

Before entering upon his duties, the County Manager 
shall give a bond to the Commission with a bonding com­
pany as surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance 
of his duties, to be approved by the Commission. The 
premium for said bond shall be paid by the County.

SECTION 305. SALARY: COUNTY MANAGER.

The salary of the County Manager shall be fixed annual­
ly by contract.

SECTION 306. POWERS AND DUTIES OF
COUNTY MANAGER.
The County Manager shall be chief administrative of­

ficer of the County, and he shall be responsible to the 
Commission as a whole for the proper administration of 
the affairs of the County, except as otherwise provided by 
the Constitution and the Laws of Florida, or by this 
Charter.

The powers and duties of the County Manager shall in­
clude the following:

(1) Administer and carry out the directives and 
policies of the Board of County Commissioners and en­
force all orders, resolutions, ordinances and regulations of 
the Board, the County Charter, and all applicable general 
law, to assure that they are faithfully executed;

(2) Supervise the care and custody of all County pro­
perty, institutions and agencies;

(3) He shall employ, and when necessary for the good 
of the County, shall suspend, discipline or discharge, in 
accordance wit the Civil Service System, any employee 
under his supervision, provided that the County Manager



1242

shall report, at the next meeting hereafter of the Commis­
sion, any action taken by authority of this subsection;

(4) He shall submit annually to the Commission, a 
budget for the next fiscal year. The County Manager shall 
be responsible for the administration of the budget after 
its adoption by the Commission;

(5) He shall, in conjunction with the preparation of 
the annual budget, develop long-range fiscal plans for the 
County, such plans to be presented, as necessary, to the 
Commission for its review and adoption;

(6) Negotiate contracts, bonds or other instruments 
for the County, subject to Board approval; make recom­
mendations concerning the nature and location of County 
improvements; and executive services determined by the 
Board;

(7) He shall hold such other County offices and head 
such other County departments as the Commission may 
from time to time direct;

(8) He shall attend all meetings of the Commission, 
with a right to take part in the discussions;

(9) He shall prepare the agenda for each regular or 
special meeting and committee meetings of the Commis­
sion and shall supply facts pertinent thereto;

(10) He shall review, analyze and forecast trends of 
County services, finances and programs of all County 
departments and agencies receiving County funds; keep 
the Commission informed as to the conduct of County af­
fairs and submit such other reports as the Commission re­
quests;

(11) Assure that all terms and conditions imposed in 
favor of the County or its inhabitants in any statute, fran­
chise, or other contract are faithfully kept and performed;



1243

(12) He shall coordinate all funding programs of all 
other governmental units or agencies with the County gov­
ernment; and

(13) The County Manager shall submit to the Com­
mission at the end of the fiscal year a complete report on 
the finances and administrative activities of the County 
for the preceding year and prepare and make available for 
distribution to the public, within three (3) months after the 
end of the fiscal year, an annual report on County affairs 
during that fiscal year.

SECTION 307. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE:
INITIAL.
The County Manager shall prepare an initial Ad­

ministrative Code which shall set forth departmental 
organization of County government and the nature and 
scope of each department, together with all required rules 
and procedures for the operation of said departments, and 
a comprehensive budget procedure. Such Administrative 
Code shall, within nine (9) months after adoption of this 
Charter, be submitted to the Commission for review, 
amendment and adoption. The Commission shall adopt 
the Administrative Code as submitted or amended within 
three (3) months of the date submitted. If not adopted 
within three (3) months, the Administrative Code, as 
originally prepared by the County Manager, shall be con­
sidered approved and shall remain in force until such time 
as it may be formally amended by the Commission, The 
County Manager may, from time to time, submit any 
changes in any or all department organizations, including 
combinations, deletions and creations of departments or 
divisions, and transfer of responsibilities between depart­
ments or divisions to the Commission for review, amend­
ment or adoption.



1244

SECTION 308. TEMPORARY ABSENCE.

Should the County Manager become ill or need to be ab­
sent from the County, he may designate one (1) qualified 
member of his staff to temporarily perform the duties of 
the County Manager during his absence or disability. 
However, the person so designated shall not perform those 
duties for a period longer than fifteen (15) calendar days 
without the approval of the Commission.

ARTICLE IV

ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH: ADMINISTRATIVE 
ORGANIZATION.

SECTION 401. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

A. Except as provided by this Charter, the activities 
under the direction and supervision of the County Man­
ager shall be distributed among such departments, offices 
and agencies as are established by this Charter, or may be 
established, merged or abolished thereunder by the Ad­
ministrative Code.

B. Except as provided by this Charter, each department 
shall be administered by an individual appointed by and 
subject under this Charter to the direction and supervision 
of the County Manager. With the consent of the Commis­
sion, the County Manager may serve as the head of one or 
more such departments, and with Commission approval, 
may appoint one person as head of two or more such 
departments.

C. The department heads shall be appointed with the 
advice and consent of the Commission and shall serve at 
the pleasure of the County Manager, except as otherwise 
provided for in this Charter.

D. The department heads shall be chosen solely on the



1245

basis of their qualifications, executive and administrative 
abilities, with special reference to the duties of the office. 
Department heads and County employees shall not be em­
ployed or receive compensation from more than one 
appointing authority.

SECTION 402. DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURE.

The departmental organization of County government 
and the nature and scope of each department, together 
with all the required rules and procedures for the opera­
tion of said department, shall be set forth in the Ad­
ministrative Code. The Administrative Code shall be 
adopted by and may be amended by the Commission. The 
County Manager shall, from time to time make recom­
mendations as to the promulgation, adoption and amend­
ment of the Administrative Code.

SECTION 403. INITIAL DEPARTMENTS
AND OFFICES.
The following initial departments and offices are hereby 

established under this Charter until amended or abolish­
ed under the Administrative Code:

(1) Department of Finance.

(2) Department of Personnel.

(3) Department of Public Works.

(4) Department of Public Safety.

(5) Deparmtnet of Community Services.

(6) Department of General Services.

SECTION 404. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE.

There shall be a Department of Finance headed by a 
Director of Finance. The Director of Finance shall, sub­



1246

ject to the direction of the County Manager, be responsi­
ble for the preliminary preparation of the County budget 
as provided by the Laws of Florida, and shall be responsi­
ble for the Administration of such duties as may be assign­
ed under the Administrative Code and this Charter. The 
following duties are hereby specifically imposed under the 
Director of Finance:

(1) Maintaining the budget records of the Commission 
and County departments established under this Charter.

, ,(2) Maintaining inventories and records of County
property and equipment as required by laws.

(3) Supervision of central purchasing for the County.

(4) Devise a records system for maintaining inven­
tories of fuels, equipment, supplies and the distribution 
thereof.

SECTION 405. DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL.

There shall be a Department of Personnel, headed by a 
Director of Personnel. The Director of Personnel shall be 
responsible for preparing and recommending County per­
sonnel policy for all County departments, officers and 
agencies, including classification of positions, pay and 
benefit plans, and the maintenance of a roster of all 
employees, their classification and pay scale.

SECTION 406. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVIL
SERVICE SYSTEM.

There is hereby created a Civil Service System for all 
classified employees of Escambia County to which system 
all employees of the County who are now members of any 
or the present existing Civil Service System of the County, 
established under the Laws of Florida, shall be and are 
hereby declared to be automatically members of the Civil



1247

Service System of the County upon the effective date of 
this Charter.

SECTION 407. CIVIL SERVICE BOARD.

A. There is hereby created a Civil Service Board which 
shall consist of five (5) members; one (1) shall be elected 
by the legislative body of the County, being the Commis­
sion of the County, and one (1) shall be elected by the 
School Board; one (1) shall be elected by the elected con­
stitutional County officers, and one (1) shall be elected by 
the employees of the County who are members of the clas­
sified service. The fifth member shall be named by the 
other four members. In the event said members cannot 
agree upon the fifth member within fifteen (15) days after 
said members take office, the chief judge of the Circuit 
Court shall designate such member; the Board shall elect 
one of their members to be Chairperson, and one member 
to be Vice-Chairperson. Members shall receive no salary 
but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the 
discharge of their official duties in accordance with 
Chapter 112.061, Florida Statutes.

B. The Civil Service Board of Escambia County is 
authorized to employ a competent secretary, legal counsel, 
and other additional help to carry out their duties under 
this Charter.

C. The initial appointments to the Civil Service Board 
by the County employees, School Board and Constitu­
tional Officers shall be for a period of four (4) years; in­
itial appointments by the Commission and the member 
elected by the other four members shall be for a period of 
two (2) years. Thereafter, the members of the Civil Service 
Board shall be selected for staggered terms of four (4)
years.



1248

D. Each appointing authority shall be authorized, em­
powered, and required to elect an alternate to the Civil 
Service Board who shall serve in the event the member so 
elected shall not be able to serve.

SECTION 408. QUALIFICATIONS AND
ELECTIONS: CIVIL SERVICE BOARD.

A. Any qualified voter residing in Escambia County is 
eligible to be a member of the Civil Service Board, provid­
ed, however, that no person convicted of a crime involving 
moral turpitude, or who is an officer or employee of the 
County shall be eligible to hold office as a member of the 
Civil Service Board.

B. Any member of the Civil Service Board may be dis­
qualified to hear and determine any cause if there exists 
any ground which under the Laws of the State of Florida 
would disqualify the judge of any court or which is ground 
of challenge for cause to any juror.

C. The first election of the Civil Service Board 
members under this Charter shall be held not more than 
ninety (90) days after the effective date of this Charter. 
The Civil Service Board elected herein provided shall take 
office within ten (10) days after election or appointment. 
The oath of office shall be administered to each of the 
Civil Service Board members by the Chairperson of the 
Commission.

SECTION 409. MEETINGS OF THE CIVIL
SERVICE BOARD.

The Civil Service Board shall hold not less than one (1) 
regular meeting each month, and may hold special meet­
ings when required for the transaction of business by the 
Board. Such meetings may be called by any two members



1249

of the Board of Secretary to the Board. Three (3) members 
shall constitute a quorum.

SECTION 410. CLASSIFIED AND UNCLASSIFIED
SERVICES.
A. County personnel is hereby divided into “classified 

service” and “unclassified service” as provided by the 
Escambia County Civil Service Act of 1977.

B. All heads of departments created under Section 403 
of this Charter or subsequently created by the Adminis­
trative Code shall be within the unclassified services.

C. The Civil Service Board shall adopt, amend and en­
force a code of rules and regulations providing for ex­
amination, appointment, employment, promotion, stan­
dards of conduct and efficiency of employees in the 
classified service.

D. The Civil Service Board shall be the sole authority 
vested with the power to approve and confirm or deny dis­
ciplinary action against any employee within the classified 
service.

SECTION 411. TRANSFER OF POWER.

Upon the effective date of this Charter, the Civil Service 
Board of Escambia county, as created by the Escambia 
County Civil Service Act of 1977, shall cease to exist.

SECTION 412. EXISTING CIVIL SERVICE BOARD
MEMBERS.
The members of the Escambia County Civil Service 

Board created by the Escambia County Civil Service Act 
of 1977 and existing on the effective date of this act shall 
serve as temporary members of the Civil Service Board as



1250

created under Section 407 of this Charter until the regular 
members of said board are selected and qualified as pro­
vided herein. Except where inconsistent with this Charter 
the provisions of the Escambia County Civil Service Act 
of 1977, and rules dopted thereunder, shall remain in full 
force and effect.

SECTION 413. INDEPENDENT NATURE OF
BOARD.

The Civil Service Board shall be independent of all 
members of administrative service of the County and shall 
conduct all hearings, trials, and proceedings of every 
character in an impartial, just manner, designed to pro­
mote justice and efficiency.

SECTION 414. APPOINTMENT: DIRECTOR OF
PERSONNEL.

The Director of the Department of Personnel shall be 
appointed by the County Manager with the advice and 
consent of a majority of the Commission.

SECTION 415. ANNUAL REPORT.

The County Manager shall report annually in written 
form to the Commission concerning the administrative 
needs of the Service, the personnel and positions in the 
County, and the compensation provided therefor, the ex­
aminations held by the Board, the appointments made, 
service ratings and removals in the Civil Service, the 
operation of the rules of the Civil Service Board, and rec­
ommendations for promoting efficiency and economy in 
the Service, with details of expenditure and progress of 
work.



1251

SECTION 416. DIRECTOR OF LAW: 
QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES.
The Director of Law shall he an attorney at law who 

shall have practiced in the State of Florida for at least two 
(2) years or who has had an equivalent combination of 
education and experience concentrated in municipal or 
county government law. He shall be appointed by and 
serve at the pleasure of the Commission. The Director of 
Law shall be the chief legal advisor of and attorney for the 
Commission and all departments and offices thereof in 
matters relating to their official powers and duties, except 
as otherwise provided by this Charter. It shall be his duty, 
either personally or by such assistants as he may designate, 
to perform all services incident to the Department of Law; 
to attend all meetings of the Commission; to give advice in 
writing, when so requested, to the Commission, the Coun­
ty Manager, or the director of any department; to pro­
secute or defend, as the case may be, all cases to which the 
County may be a party; to prepare or review all contracts, 
bonds and other instruments in writing in which the Coun­
ty is concerned, and to endorse on each his approval of the 
form and the correctness thereof; and to perform such 
other duties of a legal nature as the Commission may by 
ordinance or resolution require. In addition to the duties 
imposed upon the Director of Law by this Charter or re­
quired of him by ordinance or resolution of the Commis­
sion, he shall perform any duties imposed upon the chief 
legal officers of counties by law.

ARTICLE V
ELECTED COUNTY OFFICERS CONTINUED

SECTION 501. COMPTROLLER.
The Comptroller shall perform all duties of the office of 

Comptroller, as provided by law, except to the extent in­



1252

consistent with this Charter. The Comptroller shall qual­
ify, be nominated, elected and serve as provided by the 
Constitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 502. PROPERTY APPRAISER.

The office of Property Appraiser shall continue, and all 
laws applicable thereto shall continue at full force and ef­
fect. The Property Appraiser shall qualify, be nominated, 
elected and serve as provided by the Constitution and 
Laws of Florida.

SECTION 503. SHERIFF.

The constitutional office of Sheriff shall continue, and 
all laws applicable thereto shall continue at full force and 
effect. The Sheriff shall qualify, be nominated, elected 
and serve as provided by the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida.

SECTION 504. SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS.
The constitutional office of Supervisor of Elections shall 

continue, and all laws applicable thereto shall continue at 
full force and effect. The Supervisor of Elections shall 
qualify, be nominated, elected and serve as provided by 
the Constitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 505. TAX COLLECTOR.

The constitutional office of Tax Collector shall con­
tinue, and all laws applicable thereto shall continue at full 
force and effect. The Tax Collector shall qualify, be 
nominated, elected and serve as provided by the Constitu­
tion and Laws of Florida.



1253

ARTICLE VI 

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

SECTION 601. JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The judicial system of the Charter government shall be 
as provided by the Constitution and Laws of Florida.

SECTION 602. JUDICIAL OFFICES.

The office of the Clerk of Circuit Court, judges of the 
County Court, and all other offices of the various courts 
of the County shall continue, and all laws applicable 
thereto shall continue at full force and effect. The Clerk of 
Circuit Court shall qualify, be nominated, elected and 
serve as is provided by the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida.

ARTICLE VII

FINANCIAL PROCEDURES

SECTION 701. FISCAL YEAR.
The fiscal year of the Charter government shall be in ac­

cordance with general law.

SECTION 702. UNIFORM BUDGETARY SYSTEM.

All County operations shall utilize a unified and 
uniform budget system as provided by the State Comp­
troller. All fees collected by officers and employees of the 
County shall be deposited in the appropriate County fund 
as provided by law. The head of each County department, 
elected County official, office or agency receiving County 
monies, shall furnish the County Manager a detailed 
budget as may be required for the ensuing year’s opera­



1254

tion, a capital program, and such additional information 
as may be required by the County Manager or the Com­
mission prior to June 1 of each year. On or before the first 
day of July of each year, the Director of the Department 
of Finance shall determine the estimated revenues of the- 
County and, under the supervision of the County Mana­
ger, shall prepare a tentative budget with the comparative 
analysis from past years.

SECTION 703. BUDGET REVIEW.

Prior to August 15 of each year, the County Commis­
sion shall review the tentative budget and capital program 
as submitted by the County Manager, together with the 
County Manager’s recommendations and the original 
budget request of any elected County official, and shall 
make such additions, deletions or changes as may be 
necessary to insure the proper funding of operations of 
County government. The County Commission shall take 
action to insure that the total budget provides sufficient 
funds on an annual basis for all agencies and departments 
to carry out their duties and functions, as provided by this 
Charter, the Constitution, and the Laws of Florida.

SECTION 704. PUBLIC HEARING.

Prior to September 15 of each year, a public hearing 
shall be held on the County budget and capital program. 
After the public hearing, the Commission may adopt the 
budget and capital program with or without amendment. 
A notice of such public hearing and a summary of the 
budget of each elected official, department and agency 
shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in 
the County at least ten (10) days before the date of such 
hearing. Final adoption of the budget by the Commission 
shall be made prior to October 1 of each year.



1255

SECTION 705. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

Any agency or elected County officer receiving County 
appropriated funds shall make a complete and full 
disclosure of all financial operations annually, including 
all sources of funds, disbursements, and budget of the 
agency or County officer, on forms prescribed by the 
County Comptroller. Such financial records shall be filed 
with the Commission and copies of such records shall be 
available to any members of the public at a public location 
or locations designated by the Commission, or at a 
reasonable cost.

SECTION 706. REQUIRED AUDIT.

The County Comptroller shall, within six (6) months of 
the end of the fiscal year, complete an audit of the ac­
counts and other evidence of financial transactions of the 
County and of every County department and office.

ARTICLE VIII 

ELECTIONS

SECTION 801. ELECTION PROCEDURES.

All elections shall be held and conducted pursuant to the 
provisions of Article VI of the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida, except as otherwise provided in this Charter.

SECTION 802. CANVASSING BOARD.

There shall be a Canvassing Board as prescribed and 
designated by the Commission.



1256

ARTICLE IX

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SECTION 901. LAWS CONTINUED.

All laws, ordinances, regulations and resolutions of the 
County shall remain operative except where inconsistent 
with this Charter.

SECTION 902. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.

Any Administrative Code adopted and amended shall 
not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter.

SECTION 903. RIGHTS RESERVED.

All actions, rights of action, claims, contracts and 
obligations of persons, corporations, public bodies or 
agencies existing on the date this Charter becomes effec­
tive shall continue to be valid as if this Charter had not 
been adopted.

SECTION 904. PUBLIC DEBT AND BOND
OBLIGATIONS CONTINUED AND RECOGNIZED.

All public debts, bonds, revenue certificates, revenue 
bonds and tax anticipation certificates heretofore incurred 
or issued by Escambia County shall remain valid and in 
full force and effect and shall be secured by the same 
sources of revenue as before the adoption of this Charter 
and to the extent necessary all ordinances, resolutions or 
other actions pertaining to same shall remain in full force 
and effect until payment in full of such public debts and 
securities.



1257

SECTION 905. PROCEEDINGS CONTINUED.
All petitions, hearings and other proceedings pending 

before the former government shall remain in full force 
and effect as established under this Charter.

SECTION 906. CITIZENS’ ADVISORY BOARDS.

All advisory boards existing at the date of the adoption 
of this Charter are hereby abolished. The Commission 
may create by resolution, specifying the duties and 
membership thereof, such advsiory boards as it deems 
necessary. Members of such advisory boards shall be 
nominated by the Chairperson of the Commission, subject 
to confirmation by a majority vote of the full Commis­
sion.

SECTION 907. BOARD OF TAX ADJUSTMENT.

The Board of Tax Adjustment, as provided by the Laws 
of Florida, shall continue under this Charter.

SECTION 908. PETITION AND ORDINANCE.

The Commission may, by ordinance, or the electors of 
the County may, by petition signed by ten percent (10%) 
of the registered voters, submit to the electors of the 
County a proposed amendment to this Charter, which 
amendment may be to any part or to all of said Charter. 
When such change is filed with the Supervisor of Elec­
tions, it shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be 
held in accordance with the requirements of the Constitu­
tion and Laws of Florida, and if approved at the election, 
the change shall become a part of this Charter.

SECTION 909. RECALL OF COMMISSIONERS.

Any member of the Commission may be recalled and



1258

removed from office in accordance with procedures 
established by general law,

SECTION 910. NOTICE OF CHARTER
AMENDMENT REFERENDUM,

In addition to any other notice requirements provided 
by the Charter or general law, whenever a Charter amend­
ment is submitted to referendum, the exact language of the 
proposed Charter amendment or amendments shall be 
published at least twice in a newspaper of general circula­
tion in the County. One notice shall be published not more 
than forty-five (45) days nor less than thirty (30) days prior 
to the referendum election, and another notice shall be 
published not more than ten (10) days nor less than five (5) 
days prior to the referendum election.

SECTION 911. CODE OF ETHICS.

The Code of Ethics shall be the Standards of Conduct 
for Public Officers and Employees as provided by general 
law, and shall have full effect on all employees and office 
holders under the Charter government. Penalty for viola­
tion shall be provided by ordinance or as otherwise provid­
ed by general law.

SECTION 912. PROHIBITIONS.

No person shall be appointed to or removed from or in 
any way favored or discriminated against with respect to 
any County position or appointive County administrative 
office because of sex, race, creed, color, political or 
religious affiliations, provided however that nothing herein 
shall prohibit the reasonable regulation of political activity 
of County employees by ordinance.



1259

ARTICLE X

TRANSITION PROVISIONS

SECTION 1001. REFERENDUM AND BALLOT.

The election of this Charter shall be held in accordance 
with the requirements of the Constitution and Laws of 
Florida. The question on the ballot shall be as follows:

“SHALL THERE BE A HOME RULE 
CHARTER FOR ESCAMBIA COUNTY, 
F L O R I D A ,  P R O V I D I N G  FOR THE 
RESTRUCTURING OF COUNTY GOVERN­
MENT,  W HI CH  SHALL TAKE E F ­
FECT_____ , AS PROPOSED BY CHARTER
DATED_______ .”

FOR CHARTER:

AGAINST CHARTER:

SECTION 1002. FORM OF NOTICE.

The form of notice of the election by which this Charter 
shall be submitted to referendum shall contain the com­
plete text for this Charter.

SECTION 1003. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Charter shall become law when approved by a ma­
jority of those electors voting on the matter in an election 
to be held in the County under the provisions of the Con­
stitution and the Laws of Florida. The Charter govern­
ment shall assume all powers and duties provided by this
Charter on the first day o f _______ , the effective date of
this Charter.



1260

SECTION 1004. INITIAL CHARTER COUNTY 
MANAGER.

It shall be the obligation of the Commission to employ 
the initial County Manager within three (3) months of the 
effective date of this Charter. Pending the selection of the 
County Manager, the Chairperson of the Commission 
shall be empowered to appoint an interim County 
Manager with powers as may be established by the Com­
mission.

SECTION 1005. DISTRICTS.

The Commission districts existing on the effective date 
of this Charter shall Constitute the Commission districts 
under this Charter.

SECTION 1006. DEPARTMENTS CONTINUED.

Except as provided by this Charter, all County depart­
ments and agencies shall continue until reorganized in ac­
cordance wih the provisions of this Charter and the Ad­
ministrative Code.

SECTION 1007. EMPLOYEES’ CONTINUATION.

All employees of the former County government shall, 
on the effective date of this Charter, become employees of 
the Charter government without loss of benefits. Salaries 
of all employees shall be continued at no less than the 
same level as on the date of the referendum approving this 
Charter, unless at such time as the Commission shall pro­
vide for overall adjustments for all County employees.



1261

DISTRICT COURT ORDER DENYING STAY OF 
DECEMBER 3, 1979 REMEDIAL ORDER

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR 
THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 

PENSACOLA DIVISION

HENRY T. McMILLAN, et al.,
PSaintifs,

vs. PCA 77-0432

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA, et al.,
Defendants

ORDER

Before the court is defendants’ motion for an order stay­
ing this court’s order of December 3, 1979 providing for 
single member districts in the upcoming 1980 elections.

In argument before this court movants urged the elec­
tions be stayed completely pending further order of this 
court — in other words, urged that no elections at all be 
held in 1980, at least as scheduled.

This court would, in no event, grant that request. It 
would not do so for the same reasons that it denied a re­
quest to stay all elections in its order of July 11, 1978. This 
court may not and should not interfere with existing elec­
tion processes and procedures except to the extent required 
to remedy unconstitutional and illegal dilution found to 
exist.

There remains the question whether this court should 
stay the effect of its December, 1979 order so that the 1980 
elections may go forward under the at large system.



1262

In Pitcher v. Laird, 415 F.2d 743 (5th Cir. 1969) there 
was developed a four part test to determine whether a stay 
is proper with the burden being on the movant or peti­
tioner to show that all four conditions have been met:

(1) A likelihood that the petitioner will prevail on 
the merits of the appeal;
(2) Irreparable injury to the petitioner unless the 
stay is granted;
(3) No substantial harm to other interested per­
sons; and (4) No harm to the public interest.

On the record here, defendants may be faulted, at least 
to some extent, for not proceeding with diligence. They 
did not ask for expedited appeal of the July, 1978 decision 
of this court until November, 1979 — 16 months later. 
That decision had been certified under the statute by this 
court so that immediate appeal from it could be taken. In 
that same order this court pointed out that, while the elec­
tion plan adopted or approved by it under the order would 
not be effective for the 1978 elections, it would be effective 
for the 1980 elections.

These defendants waited to seek expedited, appeal not­
withstanding this court denied the motion of these and 
other defendants to stay all elections pending appeal by 
order of July 11, 1978.

There has been more delay in getting to final adoption 
and approvement of an election plan with the country than 
there was with the city. The delay resulted, in large part, 
because of consideration by the county of the question 
whether it would go forward with the adoption of a pro­
posed charter plan. The parties and the court all agreed 
that since adoption of such a plan might be a factor in 
decision of election plan to be finally adopted or approved 
by the court there should be delay by this court in going



1263

forward with such a plan. When such charter provision 
was rejected by the electorate of this county in November,
1979, all parties in this court were able to go forward and 
the result is that adoption of a plan was made in December 
of 1979.

To that extent defendants should not be faulted with 
delay. Nonetheless, it still remains that they could long 
earlier have sought expedited appeal of the July, 1978 
decision instead of waiting until November, 1979 to do so.

Without regard to that, however, and notwithstanding, 
it still appears there may be time for appellate decision to 
be reached in order to avoid election uncertainties for the 
1980 elections. As this court understands it, the Court of 
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has set oral argument on the 
appeal on March 26, 1980. In addition to that, the Mobile 
cases referred to by the parties in memoranda were 
reargued in the Supreme Court of the United States on Oc­
tober 29, 1979. It seems likely that court will rule on those 
appeals were pending without waiting for Supreme Court 
decision upon them. So there is also at least the possibility 
that in no event will Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 
delay its own decision in this case waiting on the decision 
of the Supreme Court of the United States in those cases.

In defendants’ application for expedited consideration 
of the merits of this appeal, the defendants pointed out the 
qualifying date for candidates in the 1980 elections is July,
1980, and asked the appellate court to dispose of the ap­
peal after argument, if at all possible, by July 1, 1980. 
Thus, it is aware of the election target dates and has 
granted the motion to expedite the appeal.

On the record here, it is not shown that appellate deci­
sion would not be forthcoming in time to avoid any uncer­



1264

tainties in the scheduled 1980 elections. For that reason 
this court concludes that defendants have not carried the 
burden of showing that irreparable harm and injury will 
result if this motion is not granted.

Of course, Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is in 
much better position to determine the likelihood of ap­
pellate decision in time to avoid interference with the 1980 
elections than is this court. While this court considers the 
motion to stay should be denied by it the denial is, of 
course, without any prejudice to the right of these defen­
dants to seek stay in the appellate court.

In reaching this decision this court has not overlooked 
the fact that in the companion case of Jenkins v. City o f 
Pensacola, by order of February 21, 1979, it stayed im­
plementation of its July 10, 1978, and December 28, 1978 
orders, thereby allowing the May 9, 1979 elections to pro­
ceed under the at large system. In that case there was, to 
this court, no likelihood for appellate decision in time to 
permit the elections to proceed in accordance with the 
decision. In the instant case there is that likelihood.

In memorandum, and in oral argument before the 
court, defendants contend that certainty for the 1980 elec­
tion period is needed now. They point out that a signature 
process under which candidates may be exempted from the 
qualifying fee, upon submission of petitions containing 
signatures of 3% of the voters, is under way with at least 
some candidates evidencing interest in such procedure. 
They also point out that a number of candidates for coun­
ty commission have announced their candidacy and com­
menced the qualifying process under the Florida statute 
but are uncertain as to the area in which they must cam­
paign or how they will be elected.



1265

To this court such contention is not sufficient to 
establish irreparable harm and injury unless the stay is 
granted. To the contrary, depending on what results on 
appeal, the granting of such stay order might inject even 
more uncertainty than now exists.

Nor does the contention establish before this court that 
such uncertainty does present, in fact, serious election pro­
blems to any candidates. Surely those candidates who are 
now making announcements, or proceeding with electoral 
process, if they are serious candidates for county commis­
sion, have made themselves aware of the status of the pend­
ing litigation and have not let it deter them from going 
forward. This contention, at least to this court, is not suf­
ficient to show irreparable injury.

Defendants contend before this court as a ground for 
granting the motion that the “purpose and effect of an 
electoral change to single member districts will be to vote 
the incumbent county commissioners out of office.” That 
change may have the effect of voting some county com­
mission incumbents out of office but it was not its pur­
pose. Its purpose, as pointed out, was, in view of the fin­
dings of unconstitutional vote dilution, to set up single 
member districts pursuant to the requirements of appellate 
decisions with one of them affording at least a reasonable 
opportunity for the election of a black commissioner.

Beyond that, a contention that this court by order 
should seek to influence the election, or re-election, or the 
failure in election, of any particular person seeking to be 
elected to an office should be and is rejected by this court. 
No person has a vested right to be elected or re-elected to 
office. No order of this court should be premised in whole 
or in part on consideration whether it would tend to help 
or hinder a particular person seeking election to an office.



1266

Before this court plaintiffs contend the situation in law 
is different than it was in the City o f Pensacola case at the 
time this court entered its order of stay and that under in­
tervening decisions there is even less likelihood that this 
court may be reversed on appeal.

Because the conclusion reached is that defendants here 
have not carried the burden of showing irreparable harm 
and injury, this court finds it unnecessary to make deter­
mination respecting this factor and the other two factors 
set forth in Pitcher, supra.

It is ORDERED that defendants’ motion for stay by this 
court should be and the same is hereby denied.

DONE AND ORDERED this 15 day of February, 1980.

/s /  Winston E. Arnow, Chief Judge



1267

EXCERPTS OF TRIAL TESTIMONY*
OF DR. GLENN DAVID CURRY 

[251] Dr. Glenn David Curry. His address is in Mobile, 
Alabama. He was born in 1948 in West Virginia. He 
served in the United States Army as a captain in Viet Nam. 
His education includes bachelor of science in sociology 
from the University of Southern Mississippi, master’s of 
sociology at the University of Mississippi, a P.h.D. in 
sociology from the University of Chicago. He has exten­
sive research experience with some of the top sociologists 
in the country, including Dr. James S. Coleman. His 
teaching experience includes his present position, which is 
assistant professor of sociology in the Department of 
Sociology and Anthropology at the University of South 
Alabama in Mobile. Dr. Curry is a member of a number 
of professional associations, including the American 
Sociological Association, Southern Sociological Society, 
and the Midsouth Sociological Association. Among his 
research papers published include, “A Study on Viet Nam 
Amnesty: The Social Demography of a Political Issue,” 
and, “The utilization of Dynamic Models for the Com­
parative Analysis of Military Institutions,” all of which in­
volved the use of a, a number of others which involved the 
use of statistical analyses applied to sociological questions. 
Dr. Curry is trained in computer programming, both 
FORTRAN and basic languages, and he has considerable 
experience with [252] a computer package, as it’s 
called, the statistical package for the social sciences or 
SPSS, as it is known. He is presently in the process of 
publishing a book which will come out from the University 
of Notre Dame Press in the fall of this year on the subject 
of Statistical Analysis o f  the Ford Clemency Board Data 
on Draft Offenders. Your Honor, we seek to qualify Dr.

♦These excerpts inadvertently were omitted in printing. The other 
excerpts of Dr. Curry’s testimony may be found in Volume I to this 
Joint Appendix at page 229.



1268

Curry as an expert witness in the field of sociological and 
demographic applications of statistics.

THE COURT: Does anyone wish to inquire respecting 
his qualifications

MR. FLEMING: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Let him be recognized as an expert in 

those fields. From time to time I see people coming in the 
courtroom, gentlemen. I saw one gentleman come in with 
a sort of briefcase. All of you are charged with looking 
after your witnesses, those under the rule. I call that to 
your attention and then I’m going to leave it up to you 
from now on. It may be these people are not witnesses I’ve 
seen in the courtroom but I do want all of you to know, as 
I reminded you, each of you is charged with the duty of 
seeing that your witnesses comply with the rule.

MR BLACKSHER: Yes, sir, we’re aware of that.
THE COURT: I leave it up to you. Thank you. [253]
MR BLACKSHER: May it please the Court, Dr. 

Curry’s curriculum vita is plaintiffs’ exhibit 2 already in 
evidence.

DIRECT EXAMINATION RESUMED 

BY MR. BLACKSHER:
Q. Dr. Curry, when did counsel for the plaintiffs first 

contact you in connection with this litigation? A. In 
October, sir.

Q. Of 1977? A. Yes, sir.

Q. Have you ever testified in litigation before as a 
witness? A. No sir.

Q. When you were retained by us what did, specifical­
ly, did we ask you to do as a consultant? A. You asked 
me to see if there was a relationship between the percent of 
black in precincts and the percent of votes.



1269

THE COURT: Are you able to hear the doctor over at 
the table here?

MR CARR: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Perhaps if you could speak a little 
louder, sir. A. Yes, sir. Okay, sir.

THE COURT: Go ahead.

[254] A. You asked me to find out if there was a 
relationship between the percentage of black voters in 
precincts and the percentage of votes that certain can­
didates got in those precincts, and I was, a little later, 
about a month later I was asked to see if there was rela­
tion, to come up with statistics to compare the turnout, 
turnouts for blacks and whites in various elections.

Q. All right, sir. What raw data were you given to per­
form these analyses? A. I was given voter registration 
data from Escambia County and the City of Pensacola 
and I was given voter returns by precincts for Escambia 
County and the City of Pensacola for the elections from 
1955 through 1977 and I was given census data on the City 
of Pensacola for 1970.

Q. What was the purpose of having the 1970 U.S. 
Census data? A. The census data was used to get a 
measure of income per precinct so that we could control 
for income in our statistics.

Q. Okay, and could you explain the mechanical prob­
lem of translating the income information that’s in the 
census data into the boundaries for precincts that are used 
for voting? [255] A. Yes. What was done, we had 
median income for the census tract, and using a map we 
found out which precincts were inside that census tract. 
Then weighting the size of the precinct we were able to 
calculate an estimate of the median income for each 
precinct.



1270

THE COURT: I suppose you’re going to clear this up 
for me. Median income and income cuts across the board. 
It is not confined to race. I suppose you’re going to show 
me how you tie it in, but go ahead.

Q. Why don’t we discuss that now, Dr. Curry? Why 
were we interested in having information about income in 
connection with the analysis? A. Yes, sir, see, if we 
just looked at race and its relationship to the percentage of 
votes we wouldn’t have an idea because, for instance, 
black people are usually poorer than white; we wouldn’t 
have an idea whether it was income that was causing the 
vote to come out this way or whether it was the percent 
black, but if we put regression analysis, which the techni­
que I used allows us to look at both of that, so we can take 
out the effect caused by income and look at the effect 
caused by percentage of black.

THE COURT: I don’t quite understand how you’re go­
ing to do that except that the median income of blacks 
generally is lower than whites, but we have both blacks 
and [256] whites who have small incomes, median in­
comes and very high income. The percentage of it or 
amount, I don’t understand how you could arrive at a 
percentage figure on it. All you know generally is that it is 
recognized that blacks as a race have a lower median in­
come than whites. A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: But that’s all you know.
A. And also for Pensacola then I have an estimate of 

what the median income for that precinct is and what the 
percent black is and what this kind of statistics does —

THE COURT: Median income for a precinct and also 
have the figures for registration of blacks and whites?

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: That’s the way you try to tie it together?



1271

A. We use it to control. If we have the information
with regression analysis we can take out the factor due to 
income because, as you say, there are poor whites and 
poor blacks voting and we want to take out the effect and 
sometimes it will show up, in the statistics it will show up 
that income in some elections, those involving two whites, 
very often comes out or can come out as the most impor­
tant factor.

[257] THE COURT: All right, sir.

MR. BLACKSHER: We’re not trying to use income to
tie it to race but rather to show that it’s race we’re looking 
at and not some other demographic feature of the returns.

THE COURT: Yes, sir. Go ahead, sir.

DIRECT EXAMINATION RESUMED

BY MR. BLACKSHER:
Q. All right, sir. Dr. Curry, were you asked by us to

use a statistical analysis to investigate whether there ex­
isted patterns of racial polarized voting in the Escambia 
County — Pensacola electorate? A. Yes, sir. The term 
“polarization” didn’t come up immediately but I learned 
that over the process, that this was the legal term. I was 
just asked to show an association initially.

Q. The relationship between? A. Yes, to show
whether there was a relationship between the percent 
blacks and percent of votes a candidate receives in a par­
ticular precinct.

Q. Would you take the time, please, to explain to the
Court and for the record the statistical model that you 
used to perform this analysis. A. Yes, sir. If it’s okay 
with Judge Arnow I’ll try to explain it to you. I have some 
drawings to help.

* *  * *  *



1272

[261] THE COURT: Take your 30 pecent black 
precinct. That means that 30 percent of the votes in the 
precinct were black?

A. Thirty percent of the people voting were black, yes, 
sir.

THE COURT: When it comes around to determining 
how many of those votes, those black votes that voted 
were Jones votes or not, how do you get to that? Because 
when that ballot goes in the box nobody knows the color.

A. Yes, sir. What we’re doing is we’re really just seeing 
the relationship of precincts. This technique was used in 
the Coleman Report in 1966 for Congress and they found 
that by, that grouped data very often can give a better in­
dication of what people are doing because people in 
groups have, if there’s a social force at work, that social 
force operates irrespective of our individual character­
istics. For instance you and I both have little idiosyn­
crasies that separate us from other whites but still if we 
assume there’s some overall behavior that whites have 
that’s operating for all the whites in the room, operating 
for all the blacks in the room, while an individual white 
person or individual black person is going to have those 
idiosyncratic factors, what we assume as sociologists is if 
we look at a whole group of them those social factors, 
those little [262] idiosyncratic factors are going to 
average away. I mean if you’re away from the model or 
average white person in some ways I might be away from 
the average white person in another way, so the larger 
group we get the more we average out the little idiosyn­
cratic effects and really get to measuring the effects of be­
ing white on how you vote.



1273

DIRECT EXAMINATION RESUMED 

BY MR. BLACKSHER:

Q. Dr. Curry, I think — A. Yes, sir.

Q. Maybe you’re not in my mind responding directly 
to the Court’s question, and that is, what you’ve got in the 
percentage black is the percentage of blacks among 
registered voters; that doesn’t measure, that’s not saying 
that 90 percent o f the votes were cast by 
blacks? A. Right, it doesn’t.

Q. What’s the authority, what’s the rationale and 
validity of using the percent of registered blacks as a 
measure of how many black votes were cast in that 
precinct for a candidate? A. In a free election system 
we don’t, we don’t know, as you said, how an actual black 
or white person voted. But as I said, we look at the average 
effect inside a precinct. We’ve got something that we can 
really [263] measure. We know.

THE COURT: I’m sure you’ll make it clear to me as we 
go along but that was the question I was concerned about 
and I still don’t see how this approach so far does it. I can 
see how in an election where you have a primarily black 
precinct and you have so many votes you’ve got something 
concrete to go on in a particular race. I don’t know.

Q. Dr. Curry, let me ask, well, excuse me. A. Yes, 
sir.

Q. Were you going to ask another question?

THE COURT: Go ahead, sir.

Q. Let me just ask this, since we don’t have, and it’s 
impossible to have the information of how many blacks 
voted for this candidate and how many whites voted for 
this candidate because we have a secret ballot on 
it. A. Yes, sir.



1274

Q. Is it permissible and is it considered profesionally 
acceptable in the field of applied sociology to use the next 
best data in averaging a large number of samples, that is, a 
large number of precincts? Is it professionally acceptable 
to use the next best information, which is the percent of 
blacks and whites registered? A. It most certainly is, 
sir*  ̂  ̂ h*

[271] A. Yes, sir. I was told by you that Judge Pitt­
man accepted a .50 “r”. square as being significant and so I 
followed that even though that seems lawfully high to me 
because social scientists are used to representing any, you 
know, if race explains 30 percent of how a vote is going 
that would be significant to me as a sociologist, but I 
understand in a court of law that if it explains more, if 
race explains more than half of the relationship between —

THE COURT: What would you consider an acceptable 
“r” two factor to establish it? A. The way I look at it, 
we usually use “r” square to estimate how good our guess 
is going to be. If we have a small group fo something, a 
sample, like if we only had four or five precincts for Pen­
sacola and calculated an “r” square for those four or five 
and then guessed about the other hundred fourteen then 
“r” square would mean, would be meaningful to say how 
good can we get about those hundred fourteen, but right 
now we put all hundred fourteen in here to get the “r” 
squares we’re working with here. So what this really is, is 
the measure of how much polarization, this is an exact 
measure of how much polarization there is across 
precincts so that you can just say how much is satisfac­
tory, how much of a vote should be explained by a 
person’s race, should be 30 percent, 10 percent.



1275

THE COURT: Well, I was asking you what figure was 
acceptable to you, what you think you should use. This in­
cidentally, this is just a hypothetical here?

A. This is still a hypothetical, sir. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: We’re going to get to whatever you’ve 
done in this county? We haven’t gotten that?

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: When we get to whatever, you say .50 
“r” square to you is high. Isn’t that what you said?

A. It’s very high, yes, sir.
THE COURT: What do you mean by that?

A. That means as far as I’m concerned, sir, this is a 
personal, this becomes a personal opinion. Half of the 
percentage vote per precinct shouldn’t be being explained 
by race. It seems that politicians should be speaking to all 
communities in the city to a degree that not that much per­
cent will be.

THE COURT: I see. In other words if it was down at 
zero you’d say no polarization?

[273] A. As it approaches zero that would be fine.

THE COURT: And what spot above that would you say 
is an indication of polarization?

A. I’d say, I’ll settle for the .50, sir, not knowing that 
much about the way the law should work.

THE COURT: The way the what?

A. The way the law should work, how much polariza­
tion is acceptable.

THE COURT: The question is whether the black vote is 
being diluted.



1276

A. Yes, sir.
THE COURT: And whether there is evidence of blacks 

voting for blacks and whites voting for whites. That’s not 
exactly a legal point, but the question is on your statistics 
where would you draw the line or put the line that in­
dicates that in a particular race whites were voting for 
whites and blacks were voting for blacks?

A. I have drawn the line at fifty, sir.

THE COURT: You have?

A. Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Even though you think it’s high you 

would stay with fifty?

A. Yes, sir, I will, because fifty works quite well in this 
case.

THE COURT: Go ahead, sir.
jj( 9jC jjs

[299] BY MR. BLACKSHER:

Q. Dr. Curry, may I interrupt a second. A. Yes, 
sir.

Q. On the point whether it’s Democratic Party affilia­
tion or race which is the predominant influence, could you 
explain how the stepwise regression tells you which factor 
is having more influence on the percent vote by looking at 
the outcome there? A. Yes, sir. Are you satisfied that 
there’s polarization in every black race in the school board 
and -

THE COURT: Well, I’m satisfied that your figures 
show that.

A. Yes, sir.



1277

MR, FLEMING: I thought the Court was asking the
questions. A. I’m sorry. I was just trying to save time.

THE COURT: Is there anything else you want to ask
him?

Q. Yes, sir, I just wanted him to point out what a step­
wise regression means so that you can tell which of these 
factors, demographic factors, the computer tells us had 
the most influence on the outcome. A. Let’s look on 
page 37 of the summary sheet, tab 43, in the book on 
school board races. Change that to tab 38. Okay, here’s 
why we used income and female, which [300] we also 
have, and Republican, if it was a general election, we 
counted Republican, because we assumed the Republicans 
weren’t voting in the Democratic races. Here’s what hap­
pens. The computer in setting up this equation, it looks at 
this correlation matrix and says, “Well, what relates most 
to the percentage of votes a candidate is getting,” like 
here’s the percentage of votes Marshall is getting. As you 
can see, this is flip side in each case. One is just a negation 
of the other. Okay, for running this on Marshall the com­
puter looks and says, “Which one of these independent 
variables here, income counted, and these three, which 
one of these has the largest correlation,” is black, so it runs 
black in first and takes black out and then it runs, gives us 
the regression equation for just black and then it looks to 
see which is the next largest. In this case it’s percent 
female. Then it looks to see which is next largest, in this 
case percent Republican, and then the last one goes in and 
there’s a summary table which is easier to interpret than 
these pages. The summary table is right here and this sum­
mary table allows us to tell how much of the variation in 
vote for a candidate like Marshall, in this case, Carol Mar­
shall, is determined by this. This is on page 6, under tab 
38.



1278

[301] Q. Got you. A. Okay, this says that 91 per­
cent of the differences in votes for percent Marshall was 
determined by black; .03 percent is determined by the dif­
ference in Republicans.

THE COURT: When you say black, you mean deter­
mined by race? Is that what you mean?

A. Yes, sir, by race. Excuse me. I use black. It really 
should be race.

THE COURT: What you’re saying is that 91 percent 
of the determination came from polarization of votes?

A. How many he got.

THE COURT: Marshall? That’s what it amounts to?

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: That was a race with Dr. Spence?

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: I see what you’re saying. You’re saying
the most, according to the computer the fact it was largely 
the reason for his, those factors to be considered, was 
race?

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: And there was polarized voting in that 
race?

A. And that’s controlling for Republicans, which ac­
counts for 4 percent.

[302] THE COURT: It’s a nonpartisan election.

A. Yes, sir.

THE COURT: Your knew that?



1279

A. Yes, sir. At the beginning I was running percent 
Republican.

MR. BLACKSHER: That was the Democratic 
Primary.

THE COURT: Just a minute. This is a school board 
election and the school board election is nonpartisan 
under Florida law, isn’t it?

MR. RAY: No, Your Honor, partisan.

THE COURT: School board is?

MR. RAY: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: I’m in error then. We have a primary
in the school board election?

MR. RAY: Yes, Your Honor, in this county it’s a par­
tisan election. A. In any case this only explains 4 per­
cent of the variation. It would only detract from female 
and income. Income, as you can see, explains practically 
nothing, and female explains practically nothing.

THE COURT: All right, sir. Anything else with him, 
Counselor?

Q. One last question, Dr. Curry. Is the regression 
analysis technique you’ve demonstrated here today a com­
m only used m ethod of analyzing th is kind 
of [303] political information? A. Yes, sir, it is the 
best technique to be used, that can be used for analyzing 
this kind of information.

MR. BLACKSHER: Your witness.

THE COURT: Cross examination?
MR. FLEMING: Thank you, Your Honor. I’m trying



1280

best to figure out where to set up here. I have copies of all 
this stuff to tote.

CROSS EXAMINATION 

BY MR. FLEMING:
Q. Good morning, Dr. Curry. My name is John Flem­

ing. We met at a deposition a while back. A. Yes, sir.
Q. And as you recall, at that time I asked you a 

number of confusing questions while I was attempting to 
gain a little knowledge about the regression analysis ap­
proach. I’ve done a little bit of reading since then and I 
hope maybe well have an opportunity to confirm whether 
or not I’ve learned anything. Now, you don’t regard 
yourself as an expert in the theory of regression analysis, 
do you Dr. Curry? A. Expert, yes, sir, as far as, I’d say 
I understand the theory of regression analysis.

* * * * *

[341] THE COURT: It really gets to polarized voting.

MR. BLACKSHER: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: In a district, and overall we encourage 
people to forget the fact of race in voting. You say we’ve 
got a situation where they aren’t forgetting so now we go 
to a single-member district where it really gives some ef­
fect.

MR. BLACKSHER: I think that is a fair simplification.

THE COURT: It would be nice in this nation if all of us 
could decide to vote without regard to race, sex, color or 
creed like the Constitution of the Nation wants us to do. 
Maybe that day will come, but that’s not the case now. 
Anything else you want?

\



1281

MR. BLACKSHER: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: Go ahead.

REDIRECT EXAMINATION 

BY MR. BLACKSHER:

Q. Dr. Curry, I guess we have established there’s a dif­
ference between the phenomenon of racial polarization 
and phenomenon of whether you win or lose. A. Yes, 
sir.

Q. Okay, so if we were just looking at Dr. Spence’s [342] 
returns in the city election, he won? A. Yes, sir.

Q. Do you still have that in front of you? A. No, sir, I 
don’t right now. I’ll look it up. You mean the scattergram?

Q. The scattergram. It looks like between tab eleven and 
tab twelve, page sixty-eight. A. Okay, got it, sir.

Q. Okay, this scattergram, as I understand it from your 
prior testimony, shows the polarization because in the 
precincts that were, for example, 90 percent black, Spence 
got close to 90 percent of the vote. A. Yes, sir.

Q. But in the white precincts —

THE COURT: Counsel, let me. Maybe I’ve gone too 
fast. Did anybody else want to cross examine him before 
we went along? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bypass 
anybody.

MR. RAY: No, Your Honor.

MR. CARR: No, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Thank you. Go ahead.

Q. Whereas Dr. Spence was getting 90 percent of the 
vote in the 90 percent black precinct he was getting what 
was the, is there a rough average you can see of what he



1282

was getting in the all-white precinct there? Can you [343] 
tell from this or from one of the statistics?

MR. FLEMING: If I might assist, I think the “Y” in­
tercept is indicated immedately following the scattergram 
to be 44.8.

A. Yes. I wouldn’t necessarily consider the “Y” intercept 
the average, average of those.

Q. Of the all-white precincts? A. Of the all-white 
precincts because the ‘a” intercepts is allocated as the 
average, the average votes for Spence per precinct, minus 
the regression coefficient of slope times the average vote 
for the average percent black in the precinct, which is a 
statistical —

Q. The point for those of us who don’t want to take a 
math course, it is that you can’t look at the “Y” intercept 
and say that’s the average the all-white or 100 percent 
white precincts gave the black? A. Sometimes it might be 
and sometimes it might not be.

Q. And we would have to have you around to tell us 
which times? A. No, sir, you just have to have a 
calculator.

Q. No, sir, I would have to have you around. A. 
Okay.

Q. But the point I’m making here is that somewhere 
around 50 percent, plus or minus 5 percent, is what [344] 
the all-white precincts were giving Dr. Spence in this race, 
right? A. Yes, sir.

Q. Okay, and that is significantly different from the 
percentage he was getting in the black races and that deter­
mines the polarization? A. Certainly, sir.

Q. Okay, but it doesn’t determine whether he won or 
lost. In this case he won, is that right? A. In this case?



1283

Q. Dr. Spence. A. He did win, yes, sir.

Q. Okay, and does this display of how many white 
precincts Dr. Spence won give some indication of how 
many white precincts, let’s say over here on the left hand 
margin, that a black candidate must get in order to add to 
his black totals and achieve an overall majority and get 
elected? Is this a fair way to judge this? A. That’s a way 
of estimating, yes, sir.

Q. Okay, and isn’t it a fact that only in the two examples 
that we’ve seen where Hollice Williams won twice, I 
believe it was, in opposed contests and Dr. Spence this 
once, those are the only times?

MR. FLEMING: I object, Your honor.
* * * * * *



1284

EXCERPTS OF TRIAL TESTIMONY*
OF DR. MANNING J. DAUER

[21] Q. Thank you, Your Honor. Dr. Dauer, that’s 
all Siie questions I have. Lawyers for the plaintiffs may like 
to cross examine.

THE COURT: Let’s see if we have some, before you 
take over, sir, anybody else want to?

MR. LOTT: No, Your Honor.

THE COURT: I thought I saw Mr. Ray get on his feet. 
You may proceed with cross examination.

MR. STILL: Thank you, Your Honor.

CROSS EXAMINATION 
BY MR. STIJX:

Q. Dr. Dauer, we met in the hall. My name’s Edward 
Still. I’m one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. Since 
February, when you were retained by the defendants, how 
many trips have you made here to Pensacola? A. One.

Q. All right, sir. Now, since your deposition was taken 
on the 8th of May have you made any further analysis of 
Pensacola and Escambia County which would further sup­
port or detract from the conclusions you made in that 
deposition? A. No.

Q. Has anyone discussed with you the testimony that
[22] has been elicited in this litigation so far regarding 
responsiveness, polarization, dilution and campaign tac­
tics? A. I have had two consultations with counsel and 
there has been, but there has been no detailed presentation 
of evidence presented in the case. I have not sought to 
master the situation in Escambia County.

"These excerpts inadvertently were omitted in printing. The other 
excerpts of Dr. Dauer’s testimony may be found in Volume II to this 
Joint Appendix at page 578.



1285

Q. All right, sir. Now, I believe during your deposi­
tion it was your opinion on the basis of the information 
you had at that time that you did not have an opinion as to 
polarization in the county but that you had found a 
polarized vote in the School Board and you had not found 
polarized voting in the city. Is that correct, sir?

MR. CARR: Your Honor, I have an objection to make 
First of all this is not within the scope of direct examina­
tion and secondly Dr. Dauer said on direct examination he 
had no opinion.

THE COURT: I disagree with you. It’s within the pro­
per scope of cross examination because there’s some 
background. I didn’t understand the question. Will you 
ask it again.

Q. Yes, sir. Let me break it down into three parts. 
With regard to the County Commission, on your deposi­
tion you did not express an opinion as to whether there 
was polarized voting for that body, is that correct, Doc­
tor?

THE COURT: Was he asked? Was he asked? Are you
[23] trying to say, are you going by something in this 
deposition? Was he asked did he have an opinion in the 
deposition?
MR. STILL: Yes sir.

THE COURT: Doctor — he’s not said anything to the 
contrary here that I know, but go ahead, Doctor. Do you 
know what he’s talking about?

A. Yes, Your Honor. I examined certain voting results 
in regard to elections since 1971 for the School Board, the 
County Commission and the City.

THE COURT: Yes, sir. All right, sir.
A. In regard to the specific black-white opposed elec­

tions. This was, as I’ve stated, one factor in regard to dilu­
tion. And it showed that the elections where there were



1286

black-white candidates did have polarization in the county 
except in two elections, which were in 1974, But, and there 
I was using a measure that if the candidate, if the black can 
didate got 40 percent in the white precincts the result was 
that it was not. So out of, oh, ten or eleven elections I 
found polarization in the voting proper between black- 
white candidates, if it were eleven I found polarization in 
nine and not in two. On the other hand I also looked at the 
race of Justice Hatchett, who ran in the county at large, 
and he carried the county at large and he carried a majori­
ty of the white precincts. So that was the case of a black- 
white opposed candidate in the same precincts [24] but 
a different election. Certainly it had nothing to do —

THE COURT: There again, just looking at that alone is 
some evidence but is meaningless, standing by itself, that 
is; it doesn’t establish anything. There may have been 
other factors in that race, other situations here and that 
kind of thing that accounted for it.

A. Well -

THE COURT: You can’t just say that that was lack of 
polarization in that vote on that race. I mean it works both 
ways, doesn’t it?

A. On the other hand if there had been polarization 
and white supremacy was the principal issue and he was 
opposed by a white candidate he would not have carried 
the county. So I think I —

THE COURT: If that had appealed to the white voters. 
In other words if the white voters had been polarized 
against him he wouldn’t have carried the county, is what 
you’re saying.

A. Exactly.



1287

THE COURT: So you’re saying this is not a polarized 
vote?

A. That’s correct. And so I’m indicating that there 
must have been even in the vote a lack of white polariza­
tion in that particular race.

THE COURT: Well, I was thinking of some other fac­
tors. [25] His candidate, as I recall, was from way 
down south, from Miami, and he was way up here, and 
different things got into it. He had strong support from 
the Bar Association and other things. I’m saying all these 
things. I don’t suppose there’s objection from any body to 
my saying them. I do know those things were true about 
Mr. Justice Hatchett.

A. Yes, but I’m saying even if he were from Miami 
and even if the Bar Association did endorse him —

THE COURT: It still means the white votes didn’t vote 
for him.

A. The whites did vote for him.

THE COURT: I mean voted for him; I understand.

A. But I’m also saying that this is only one factor of 
the total political process, so while this shows some 
evidence of vote polarization in my judgment that doesn’t 
outweigh on the issue of vote dilution the total question of 
the delivery of services and so on. And that those are other 
factors in order to determine vote dilution.

THE COURT: I think I understand that and I believe, 
you all can tell me, we have no quarrel, I believe, on some 
expert testimony; his point there as I understand it is that 
even if you establish polarization that necessarily doesn’t 
indicate dilution. You have to put other factors.

A. That is correct.



1288

THE COURT: I believe that’s consistent with all the 
[26] testimony I’ve heard, is it not?

MR. STILL: Yes, sir, I believe so.

THE COURT: Go ahead, sir.

Q. Doctor, so on the basis of the evidence you looked 
at regarding polarization, which was just the election 
returns, leaving out for the moment dilution questions and 
responsiveness questions, you did find that there had been 
some polarization of School Board races, is that correct?

A. Yes.
Q. All right, sir. Now —

THE CARR: Your Honor, if I may, he asked the ques­
tion in such a way as to indicate that the answer to the 
question could be drawn solely from an examination of 
the voting returns. The witness has testified it can’t be 
done.?

A. Well, no, I answered in the context that the vote 
itself was polarized. I didn’t say what the result, I would 
say again that in regard to the School Board the total test 
is whether services are delivered and whether there are 
compensatory and vocational education and campaigning 
in the black community.

THE COURT: You have to get into that on the issue of 
dilution?

A. Yes.

THE COURT: Go ahead, Mr. Still.
Q. All right, now, Doctor, now you advised the [27] 

local governments what to look for on these issues of dilu­
tion and I presume that’s some of the evidence they put on 
here. Now let’s take one aspect of dilution that you men­



1289

tioned, which was, or, excuse me, one aspect of respon­
siveness, which is appointments to boards and commit­
tees. Now, if there were no blacks appointed to boards and 
committees and yet it was shown that there were some 
blacks who were qualified to be appointed to boards and 
committees would you say that that indicates at least in 
that aspect unresponsiveness by the local government?

A. I would have to look at the question of what 
qualifications were needed on those particular boards and 
commissions and also how actively individuals may have 
made their qualifications known before I could really 
answer that. And I don’t think I can answer that one by 
itself without knowing the duties of the boards and the 
qualifications of the candidates.

Q. All right, now, Doctor, you mentioned your study 
of the Dade County legislative delegation. That study, I 
believe, was made in 1966. At least it was published in 
1966. A. Yes.

Q. That was a completely multimember district in 
Dade County? A. That is correct.

[28] Q. Now, is it your testimony that because the 
Dade County legislative delegation was responsive to the 
needs of blacks in Dade County that that means that all at- 
large elected groups are responsive to the needs of 
blacks? A. The Dade County is merely one example. 
And I would say that you would have to then study, but 
there have been other studies than mine. For instance 
there’s an article by Profesor Banzhaf in the Yale Law 
Review that points to the same thing. That comes im­
mediately to mind. And he argues in fact that 
multimember districts are unfair to the, are unfair because 
it gives a larger impact to minorities.



1290

Q. All right, now, sir. Professor Banzhafs articles 
deal with electoral strength and not responsiveness, don’t 
they? They don’t make quantitative analysis of the respon­
siveness of elected representatives? A. I beg your par­
don. He argues on that point, he hasn’t studied the specific 
item but he has set up a mathematical model of what the, 
of whether if you vote for five people you have more im­
pact on the ultimate result in the deliberative body by hav­
ing voted for five than if you just vote for one.

Q. All right, Professor Banzhafs is a mathematical 
model and not based on comparisons?

[29] A. He did not examine specific legislative or 
commission behavior but he set up a mathematical model.

Q. I believe you stated in your article that the Dade 
County delegation, you differentiated them from the rest 
of the Florida Legislature in that they were much more 
liberal than the rest of the Florida Legislature. Isn’t that 
correct? A. Yes.

Q. And the rest of the Florida Legislature, many of 
them, were also elected from multimember districts at the 
time, weren’t they? A. I broke this down into segments 
and I scaled that so that if they came from certain areas I 
think I adjusted it for that.

THE COURT: Counselor, I hate to interrupt this but I 
need to take a recess. I’ve got an important telephone call 
on another matter. While we’re at it, if we can take about a 
ten minute recess and I’ll be right back with you.

(Recess)

CROSS EXAMINATION RESUMED 

BY MR. STILL:
Q. Now, Doctor, we were talking about the Dade



1291

County delegation and we were saying that they were a lit­
tle bit more liberal than the Florida Legislature at-large. 
Wouldn’t it be fair to say that a liberal delegation is [30] 
usually more solicitous of the needs of a black constituen­
cy than a conservative delegation would be? A. Yes.

Q. All right, sir. Now, also in that study of the Dade 
County delegation I believe that you stated that the Miami 
Herald, which was the chief daily newspaper there in Dade 
County, was able to influence from 20 to 40 thousand 
voters or even more, partly because of the long ballot and 
the elections at-large. Does that mean that decisions in a 
large multimember district are probably more likely to be 
made on the basis of some recommendation like by a 
newspaper or some other influential group than on the 
basis of some close personal observation by the 
voter? A. In that particular case where they had as 
many as sixteen I stated in that article that I thought that 
was too large and I recommended at the end of that article 
that they change over to dividing Dade in quadrants and 
having no more than five or six in each quadrant so that 
there could be better voter recognition of the individuals, 
and that recommendation of mine was repeated to the 
Florida Legislature in 1971 and was followed out. In other 
words what I thought was that there should be a balance 
between having sixteen on the one hand or having single­
member districts on the other and therefore I consider that 
when you get it down to five or six, why, you have about, 
you are [31] Still within the attention span of the voter 
but that that also avoids the ward politics aspect of single­
member districts.

Q. Would you say that a multimember district of ten 
members would be too large? A. Yes.

MR CARR: Your Honor, can I ask for clarification of



1292

the question. Is he talking about Dade County or is he 
talking about in general?

Q. I’m talking about in general. He’s testifying in 
general. Is that a general statement, that the attention span 
of voters is about the same no matter where you 
go? A. It is if they all run at the same time. Now, if you 
stagger the elections that could have a different, in 
Other words it depends on whether you’re offering the 
voter with ten opposed choices in a single election or 
whether the terms are staggered.

Q. Are you aware that the Pensacola City Council has 
ten at-large members? A. No.

Q. All right, sir. Now, one of the purposes, as I 
understand it from your testimony and from other 
writings, of at-large elections, is to try to produce a body 
which is more like the whole electorate rather than like the 
parts of the electorate. Isn’t that correct? [32] 
A. Not quite. I’m suggesting that the parts ought to have 
their input and then the individuals who are being voted 
on ought to have the point of view of a variety. But I’m 
not suggesting that you’re just going to have everybody 
elected, excuse me, everybody represented if you do get 
this at-large.

Q. All right, not everyone will be represented if you 
have at-large? Is that what you’re saying? A. That is 
correct.

Q. So really the effect of at-large elections is 
sometimes to exclude some minority groups from direct 
representation, is that correct? A. It depends on how 
you’re defining direct representation. I’m defining direct 
representation as having an influence. If you mean by 
direct representation that each person in a minority has to 
have somebody identified with that minority, that would 
be a different answer.



1293

Q. Now, not necessarily a member of that minority. 
Let’s say someone chosen by that minority as opposed to 
someone chosen by that minority and the whole 
majority. A. If the minority is fairly sizable I think the 
result would be unlikely because if the minority constitutes 
as much as 10 percent or more of the vote then the chance 
of that minority being completely excluded would be 
unusual.

Q. Doctor, let’s take an extreme hypothetical here. 
[33] If we could somehow or another work out through 
some process the problems of campaign costs and ballot 
size and voter recognition, would you favor electing the 
entire Florida Legislature at-large from the entire state?

A. No.
Q. Now, why not? A. Because I’ve already said I 

think the attention span of the voters can extend to as 
many as half a dozen in a particular election.

Q. Well, let’s say we could work that problem out. I 
mean by having staggered elections and it was all carried 
out through some 100 percent television coverage system 
and the State paid for the campaign.

THE COURT: You’re talking about something you 
could work out in a state the size of Florida?

MR. STILL: I’m just using that as a hypothetical.

THE COURT: The problem is whether it’s realistic or 
impossible. I don’t know where you getting with it. If you 
want to go ahead, go ahead with the question, I guess, sir.

Q. Well, are there any other reasons besides this prob­
lem of the attention span that would militate against hav­
ing at-large elections for the whole State of Florida?



1294

THE COURT: Are you speaking of an election where 
every member of the House of Representatives and Senate 
is elected by the whole State of Florida? Is that what 
you’re [34] saying?

MR. STILL: Yes, sir, that’s what I’m saying.

THE COURT: In other words just like you elect the 
Governor or Senators? You confine it to two or three 
hundred Representatives, so forth?

MR. STILL: Yes, sir.
A. I’m tempted to answer it this way. This happened 

once in Illinois when they were unable to pass an appor­
tionment bill and it was a mess.

Q. But if we could get over that ballot size and that at­
tention span problem are there any other reasons why we 
shouldn’t have state-wide at-large elections? A. I don’t 
see how you can. I don’t see how you can do that on 
legislative questions which are as complex as would affect 
the entire state.

Q. All right, so there are some regional or localized 
differences which might require local representation, is 
that correct? A. That is correct.

Q. All right, sir. I believe you stated in your deposi­
tion that Malcolm Jewel had written an article which sup­
ported your position favoring at-large elections. Were you 
talking about the article in the George Washington Law 
Review of 1968? A. Right. I did not say that he neces­
sarily [35] supported my position. I said that he 
discussed the pros and cons on this question and I was 
referring to that particular article and he did not support 
my position. He simply stated what the issues were on 
both sides of the question.



1295

Q. Well, in fact he pointed out that ethnic minorities 
and particularly blacks had more of a chance of being 
elected in single-member districts, didn’t he? A. As far 
as a specific black being elected, his answer is yes.

T

THE COURT: Yours would be too, wouldn’t it, Doc­
tor?

A. Yes.
Q. Now, Doctor, let’s talk for a moment about 

responsiveness again. It’s my understanding that you’re 
saying that responsiveness is one indication of whether or 
not there is dilution of the black vote in a particular elec­
tion, elective body. Is that correct? A. Yes.

Q. Would responsiveness also be an indication 
whether there was a dilution, let’s say, of rural votes or of 
urban votes in, say, a state legislature? A. Yes.

Q. Let me read you a statement, Doctor, which is 
taken from an article by Herbert Jacob and Michael Lip- 
ski, L-I-P-S-K-I, called “Outputs, Structure and Power,” 
and it’s [36] found in the book State and Urban 
Politics edited by Hofferbert and Sharkansky. Are you 
familiar with that book and with that article? A. I’m 
familiar with some chapters but I don’t remember this par­
ticular part of it.

Q. All right, let me read you this statement: “Three in­
dependent investigations using slightly different analyzing 
techniques have concluded that legislative malapportion­
ment has not been related to a distinctive pattern of out­
puts. Policies which might be heavily favored by the 
underrepresented urban majority are no more in evidence 
in well-apportioned than in poorly-apportioned states. 
The substantial differences in the level of outputs are ac­
counted for by a variety of other variables, not by



1296

legislative malapportionment.” Now, would you agree 
with that statement, Doctor? A. No. As a matter of 
fact I’ve written in opposition to that point of view 
because what they did was that they measured certain 
items which were statistically measurable and they arrived 
at it in my judgment on the basis of partial evidence. They 
did not, they did not, they took more into account the 
level, for example, of highway expenditures and they took 
into account the level of school expenditures and they 
found that those were principally accounted for by what is 
called incrementalism; that is, [37] it was part of a state 
budget for roads; next year they appropriate about the 
same percent and next year the same percent and so forth. 
But where I think they slipped up was that they didn’t ask 
where the roads were being built or what aspects of the 
school programs and school services were being delivered. 
And there is a great deal of controversy in the literature on 
that point, that they did not go far enough when they 
stated their conclusions.

Q. In other words it’s not how big the pie is but who 
gets the pieces o f the pie, is what you’re 
saying? A. Well, the size of the pie is one aspect but 
also there can be a differential division of the pie, yes.

Q. And so in terms of responsiveness if we were look­
ing, let’s say, at parks, and we found that parks were being 
built and maintained in white areas and not, in propor­
tionately much larger numbers of acres than black areas, 
that would be one indicia of unresponsiveness? Is that 
what you’re saying? A. If you can’t get to them -  I 
would have to know where the parks are located and how 
close they are, of course, in order to fully anwer that ques­
tion.

Q. But I’m saying if there were statistical evidence on



1297

that point and it indicated that, that would be one 
indicia? A. It would, but I would weight it against who 
got [38] to the specific parks or swimming pools also.

Q. All right, sir. A. And how close they were.
Q. Now, with respect to what you call white polariza­

tion or what Mr. Carr called white polarization, I believe 
you said that one of the things you must look at is whether 
the white vote, whether the whites vote as a bloc behind 
candidates who are opposed to a minority. A. Yes.

Q. Now, Doctor, can you also look at campaigns in 
which a candidate was not necessarily opposed to a 
minority, he didn’t have to be a J.B. Stoner of the States 
Rights Party in Georgia, but instead was just not relevant 
to the needs of the black community? A. If that were 
the case in the particular candidate’s program and the way 
he voted, that would be significant.

Q. Now, in your chapter in Changing Politics o f  the 
South edited by Havard, I believe you stated that one of 
the reasons for the gap in registration by blacks was that 
you said it was the product of such cultural factors as 
lim ited relevance to the Negro of campaign 
issues? A. Yes.

Q. Now, would you still hold by that, that if we found 
a lower turnout or lower registration rate in a [39] 
particular community it might be indicative of a lesser 
degree of relevance of campaign issues to blacks than to 
whites? A. It could be an indicator.

Q. Now, Doctor, if I told you that the evidence in this 
case showed that in the very same election, the very time 
you walked into the polling place, that blacks were casting 
twice as many votes in races that involved a black can­
didate than they were in races which involved white can­



1298

didates, would that indicate to you that there was a degree 
of lack of relevance of the campaign issues among those 
white candidates running against each other as opposed to 
a black candidate running against a white candidate?
A. It might or might not. Let me mention this. When a 
particular — here let me go on an example from something 
else. In the case of the Irish, when the Irish were first en­
franchised, they first showed greatest interest in Irish can­
didates. After a time they showed greater interest in issues. 
So correspondingly on what you’re stating I would say that 
at this point, and I’ve already indicated what I looked at 
are the black returns, the black returns show a blocking 
around their particular candidate and a high interest level. 
Now, in the case of how they turn out, how many votes 
they cast between the white candidates, then I would say it 
would depend on the platforms of those white [40] 
candidates and whether those white candidates were rele­
vant. That would be another factor I would want informa­
tion on.

Q. But you have not made such analysis yourself? 
A. No, I haven’t done that.

Q. Okay, Doctor. Now, also in your chapter in 
Changing Politics you said that, on page 160, “When the 
Negro vote helps to nominate a liberal, however, that can­
didate is likely to lose the general election. In Florida as in 
most states outside the South the concentration of the 
Negro vote in certain localities rather than its mere 
presence is the most important factor in its effect on 
politics.” Would you say that that statement is still 
true? A. All right, it depends on the, I would say it is 
less true today than it was when I wrote that. The book 
was published in ’72 and I wrote that in ’71. And also it has 
to be measured against the degree of liberalness of the can­
didate. So that if, so that on a scale, how liberal a can­



1299

didate is, then if the candidate is very liberal he moves a 
considerable proportion of the moderate vote. So it has to 
be measured in terms of time and also the degree of 
liberalness of the candidate.

Q. And generally, just so we can make sure we’re 
defining terms correctly here, liberals we would say 
generally favor more social welfare programs and more 
redistribution of the income programs which would help 
the [41] poor more, is that correct, Doctor? A. By 
and large this part is, although I think there’s growing 
awareness among moderates that it does redound to the 
benefit of the community if there are fewer unemployed 
and therefore you have to have, spend enough for voca­
tional training and you have to have some job training 
programs of apprenticeship type and that a certain 
amount of expenditures are in the better interest of the en­
tire community. That would be a point of view not just of 
liberals but also of moderates.

Q. Now, Doctor, you made the statement in your 
direct testimony that, let me see if I’ve got this correct. 
You were talking about the incumbency factor as it ap­
plied to black candidates and you said if there was polariz­
ed voting that the incumbency factor would be far 
outweighed by the polarized voting, that the racism of the 
whites, if it was in existence, would outweigh the in­
cumbency and the blacks would have been defeated. 
A. Yes.

Q. Is that a fair statement of what you said? 
A. Yes.

Q. Now, Doctor, what support do you have for that 
statement? Is it just a general proposition that racism is 
stronger than incumbency always? A. No. I’m saying



1300

what is evidence of polarization. [42] I’m saying that 
there are many, many situations where there is not 
polarization that is so extreme but it measures the intensity 
of the polarization.

Q. Well, Doctor, are you equating winning an election 
with there not being polarization and losing an election 
with there being polarization? A. As far as looking at a 
particular race between candidates I am talking about not 
just winning or losing but coming within 40 percent. Our 
definition in political science is that if two candidates are 
within the sixty-forty range then it is not severely polariz­
ed. If it gets to sixty-five, thirty-five, there is a con­
siderable amount of polarization.

Q. So you’re saying that if a black candidate gets at 
least 40 percent of the vote then there’s no 
polarization? A. I would rather put this on a scale. I 
would say that there’s some but it’s not so, but it is not 
severe.

THE COURT: It would depend a little bit too about the 
percentage of black and white votes in a particular place?

A. Right.
THE COURT: That would have to be a factor, wouldn’t 

it?

A. Right.
Q. Well, that was my next question. I mean 40 percent 

of what? Forty percent of the total vote or 40 percent 
[43] of the white vote or what?

A. I was talking about whether or not the white, I was 
assuming a white precinct and I’m saying if the black can­
didate can get 40 percent.



1301

THE COURT: Oh, I didn’t understand that from the 
testimony.

A. Yes.
Q. Doctor, do yo know of any other political scientists 

that have used this 40 percent test as an indicia of polariz­
ed voting? A. Yes. I certainly did not develop it. It is in 
many of the books on legislative politics. This is used. In 
fact Jewell is coauthor of one of those books with Patter­
son on legislative politics and they use it, for example, not 
in there in terms of black-white but in terms of what they 
call polarized Congressional districts, and there are a 
number of articles on opposed Congressional elections 
and in some where you even classify states as to whether or 
not the state politics is polarized so much that the can­
didate doesn’t have a chance as between Democrats and 
Republicans.

Q. So that’s really a predictive test to say, for instance, 
whether or not a Republican has a chance of winning in a 
Democratic state; we want to know how Democratic a 
state is? Is that what you’re saying? [44] A. That’s 
right. And, well, it’s not just predictive. It’s also analytical 
of what goes on.

Q. All right, sir. Now, do you know of any study 
which has used it in black-white situations? A. No, but 
I’ve seen it used in other minority situations.

Q. What other minority situations? A. For exam­
ple some of the tests of attitudes toward Irish and the like. 
There are some historians, there are historical examples of 
that.

Q. All right, Doctor, let’s go back to the Republican- 
Democratic situation for a minute in the book by Jewel. 
Does Jewel analyze those races only from the stand-point



1302

of how well a Republican candidate did in a heavily 
Democratic ward or does he look at how the Republican 
candidate did in the whole state or the whole district or 
whatever the Republican happened to be running in? 
A. It doesn’t make, well, it depends on what the unit of 
analysis is. You could use it in any of those. But specifical­
ly he’s using it in regard to Congressional districts.

Q. Well, now, if you could use it in any of those and 
you have utilized it only in predominantly white precincts 
then all you’re able to tell us whether those predominantly 
white precincts are polarized and not whether the [45] 
whole electorate is polarized, is that correct? A. No. I 
used it in all of the precincts and I found that in certain of 
the races, just looking at black-white candidates, for ex­
ample, that the black precincts were polarized and in the 
city precincts, for example, with some black-white can­
didates it was and others it wasn’t. In the Hatchett race I 
found that it was, that it was not. In the case of the Coun­
ty Commission and the School Board races I found two 
where the 40 percent did not show polarization and some 
eight or nine where it did.

Q. Now, Doctor, in your analysis you only looked, 
did you not, at the wards which were 95 percent or above 
white or 5 percent, or excuse me, 95 percent or above 
black? A. No, no, I didn’t. We broke them down by 
percent into five categories and we took a percent that 
were heavily black, 50 percent, up to that figure, then 
down to 30 percent, then 30 to 5 and then under 5.

Q. And your analysis then is, of polarization, is based 
upon the analysis of all five of those groups and not just 
the two groups at the extremes? A. That’s right.

Q. That’s not what you told us in your deposition, is



1303

it, Doctor? A. I think that in the deposition I stated 
that we had scaled them and that, whether I described the 
scaling [46] in as much detail as I have now I do not 
remember at this point, but that’s what we did.

Q. Excuse me just a moment. Doctor, can we use 
regression analysis to tell whether or not an electorate is 
polarized? A. The answer is that in a stepwise regres­
sion you’re getting an “r” square and the “r” square is go­
ing to show which is the first factor.

THE COURT: Is going to show what, sir?

A. Which factor explains more of the division than 
any other. And that goes back to what I said on direct, 
that if, that on stepwise regression I think it skews it if part 
of the electorate, in this case the black part, is polarized 
and the white is not; it still would show that black-white is 
the number one factor in that particular vote that you’re 
studying but I would argue that that showed that the black 
vote was polarized but the white, but it is not conclusive as 
to the white vote. That’s why I’ve used this 40 percent rule, 
which is called the difference of means test.

Q. All right, Doctor, let me ask you this. On the elec­
tions that you studied, which were only contested elections 
in which blacks ran, is that correct? A. Yes.

Q. Did you look at any of the regression analyses 
[47] or scattergrams that have been prepared by the 
plaintiffs? A. Yes.

Q. Did you find any skewing among black precincts or 
white precincts? A. I found skewing among the blacks, 
black precincts, and I did not find polarization among the 
whites in those specific races that I’ve already indicated, 
which were two in the county at-large. I didn’t find it in the



1304

Hatchett race and I didn’t find it in many of the, in five 
out of, I think, nine of the city races.

THE COURT: What does skewing mean, Doctor?

A. Skewing means that if the black vote is polarized 
and the white is not you can’t generalize about the total 
electorate; you can only generalize about part of it. And 
skewing means that you’re coming to a false conclusion.

THE COURT: Because you don’t know about the 
white?

A. Because you don’t know about the white.

THE COURT: And you said what about it in these 
things? Did you say you found no skewing?

A. I found that all of them were skewed because of the 
heavy vote in the black precincts and that that’s a fault in 
regression analysis.

* * * * *