Dr. Larry Walker - Serious About Service

I am a candidate for re-election to the District 5 seat on the ECUA. In previous terms, I have sought to serve with “energy, integrity, and humility” (my formula, 1995). In 1999, the Pensacola News Journal wrote that my service on the ECUA was “a prime example of how public servants should conduct themselves” (PNJ, July). In 2008, the PNJ endorsed me, referring to my “integrity and competence” (PNJ, August). I intend to continue serving with that same integrity and competence. Therefore, I make the following pledges to all citizens:

1. I will be a conscientious policy maker. I will not put personal political survival ahead of the public interest by dodging tough issues; on the contrary, I will face head-on the most pressing issues facing ECUA and our community. I will be concerned about the welfare of our community in our time—and in our children’s and grandchildren’s time.
2. I will actively oversee the vitally important Central Water Reclamation Facility project, which is centered in District 5. I will accept responsibility for the new plant’s rapid construction and for its satisfactory operation.
3. I will be a proactive and responsible leader on the ECUA board. In that regard, I will give District 5 a representative to be proud of.
4. I will be honest. I invite citizens to hold me to the highest standards of personal honesty and ethical conduct. My honesty will extend to dealings with citizens, both collectively and one-on-one. I will be truthful. I will never deceive, dissimulate, or “demagogue.”
5. I will be a diligent communicator. I will answer or return phone calls and emails. My cell-phone number will always be 723-6094. My ECUA email address will always be lwalker@ecua.org. I will show my face widely and frequently throughout the district. After the August 26 election, I will continue my campaign website, www.larrywalker.com, as a news source about ECUA affairs.

I invite you to judge me in the future by these pledges—and, if necessary, to hold me to them.

Sincerely yours,
Larry Walker, Ph.D.

Rae’s Chapel Baptist Church

On Sunday, August 10, Larry first attended the early service at his home church, St. Luke UMC, then attended the 10:30 service at Rae’s Chapel Baptist Church at Bogia. Rae’s Chapel has a new pastor, Nathan Brown, 27, from Sand Mountain, Alabama. Larry attended the service to welcome Pastor Brown and his wife, Danielle, to District 5.

Nathan and Danielle are a breath of youthful fresh air among District 5’s clergy, as the photo of them attests. Rae’s Chapel is Nathan’s first pastorate, but he preaches with power, presence of mind, and intelligence.

Larry felt a kinship with the Browns, since both they and he are from North Alabama. Nathan and Danielle are from Jackson County in the northeast corner of Alabama, and Larry is from Colbert County in the northwest corner.

Members of Olive Baptist Church may find the Browns familiar, because Nathan served pastoral internships for two summers at Olive before accepting the call to Rae’s Chapel.

There may be a Sand Mountain pipeline for Southern Baptist ministers into Escambia County now, since Dr. Ted Traylor of Olive Baptist is also a Sand Mountain native.

In addition to Pastor Brown’s preaching, the service at Rae’s Chapel was highlighted by the church’s outstanding choir, singing from the church’s beautiful choir loft.

Larry enjoyed seeing several old friends, including Raymond Truesdale, Billy Ward, Freddie Mooney, Don Grant, Dick and Ella Moye, and Heather Leonard. Ed Brown conducted a good Sunday School class.

Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church

Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church, W. Nine Mile Road, had the dedication of its new Family Life Center on the afternoon of the 10th. The facility is a state-of-the-art structure with a very large, deep frontage that will be a beautiful landscape one day, no doubt. Inside are a spacious physical-exercise area (basketball, volleyball, and so forth), a kitchen, and several lightheartedly decorated rooms. The rooms will be used during the week by a therapy program for handicapped persons.

A dedication banquet will be held by the church at 5:00 p.m., August 23. The banquet fee is $5. Come one, come all.

Pastor Mike Davis has led the church into this new era. The Family Life Center was begun in 2004, but Hurricane Ivan destroyed the partial structure that had been erected at that time, and completion of the new center has not been without its frustrations.

Larry enjoyed seeing old friends, including Jewel and Toney Bradfield, Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Helms, Mr. and Mrs. Wilton Barnes, and former Byrneville Elementary principal Ferryn Twarkins. The highlight of the afternoon for Larry, however, was seeing three-week-old Katherine Green, daughter of Jonathon and Natasha Green, and the great-granddaughter of Toney Bradfield and the VERY proud Jewel Bradfield. Many politically active citizens of Escambia County will be acquainted with Toney and Jewel.

Naturist Jeff Perkins, a Beck’s Lake Road resident, led Larry Walker on a mid-summer 2008 search for remnants of the original Spanish Trail on property bought by ECUA for the new Central Water Reclamation Facility (CWRF). After a rough ride in Jeff’s tough Jeep and fording a clear creek on foot, Jeff and Larry found what Jeff believes to be a remnant of the Spanish Trail that led from the area of Pensacola northward into what is now Alabama.

Traces of the trail appear to be evident in the form of depressions with ancient-looking clay walls. In one photo, Jeff sits on a clay wall of a narrow depression that may have been a shortcut for thirsty travellers to reach a creek (in background of photo). Unfortunately, logging trucks had made recent use of what might have been remnants of the trail itself, obliterating most signs of the old trail.

If clear and substantial signs of the Spanish Trail had been evident, Larry intended to see to the preservation of the trail remnant as ECUA develops the CWRF property. It was Jeff and Larry’s opinion, unfortunately, that the logging trucks had left too little to preserve.

Larry Walker and challenger Barry Tweedie spoke at the Tate Band Boosters political rally, August first. Don Parker served as person-in-charge, with Bobby Gindl operating a strict five-minute timer.

Larry enjoyed reminding Don Parker and some in the audience of an audacious performance by Don as emcee of a Tate rally in 1992. The reminder produced a look of somewhat pained amusement on Don’s face.

Larry used his full five minutes to talk about the past and future of the ECUA, but said his loudest applause came when he mentioned that, because he taught at the University of Alabama in the days of Bear Bryant, his blood runs “Alabama crimson” in football season.

Thanks to the Tate band boosters for the opportunity to talk!

The Independent News first asked THE question in May, and the Pensacola News Journal picked it up in July: Where was Larry Walker on April 24, when the ECUA board voted on curbside collection of recyclables?

For those in District 5 who don’t know, the Independent News (IN) is a downtown-oriented weekly publication whose editor dislikes the ECUA, in general, and Larry Walker, in particular. The dislike goes back to a spat between the ECUA and the City of Gulf Breeze in the late 1990s, when Larry was chairman of the Authority and Rick Outzen, now the IN editor, was a Gulf Breeze city councilman.

Larry did not attend the April 24 ECUA meeting when votes were taken on curbside collection of recyclables. The first vote, by a 2-2 tie, killed a motion to enact a program of universal mandatory curbside recycling. In a second vote, a program of voluntary enrollment for curbside collection was approved, 4-0.

The IN was a strong advocate of an ECUA program of universal, “mandatory” recycling. In reporting on the ECUA action on curbside collection of recyclables, the IN made a big point of noting Larry’s absence. “Where was Larry Walker?,” the IN asked, implying a sinister nature to his absence. In its coverage of the ECUA District 5 election contest on July 30, the News Journal reprised the question, albeit in a fair way. All this, despite the fact that Larry’s absence did not affect the outcome of the votes on recycling.

So, where WAS Larry on April 24? The answer is, Shaker Village, a hostel-style farm near Lexington, Kentucky, at a reunion of the Peace Corps Volunteer group of which Larry was a member in 1962-64. After forty-four years, Larry was finally able to attend his first-ever reunion of the Peace Corps group! He had missed all previous reunions because of the pressures of family, teaching at UWF, and serving on the ECUA.

This time, family pressures were relaxed, and Larry’s retirement from UWF had begun. A commitment to attend the reunion was made in January, when recycling had not yet even become an issue at ECUA. Travel plans were made, and hundreds of dollars in room reservations, non-refundable attendance fees, and non-refundable airfare had been paid. Most importantly, Larry had his first opportunity to attend a reunion of a group that had been an important part of his youth.

So that is “where Larry Walker was” on April 24. It was, he says, one of the happiest experiences of his life. It was a desirable event that he had put off for forty-four years while he took care of the business of living. AND—his absence from the April 24 meeting did not change the outcome of the votes on recycling.

Incidentally, in his sixteen years on the ECUA board, Larry’s attendance record at regular board meetings is 98.6 percent. Not too shabby. By the way, Mr. Outzen, what was your attendance record as a member of the Gulf Breeze city council?

In Larry Walker’s first six years as an ECUA board member (1988-1994):

• He was at the center of efforts to purge the ECUA of corruption. Ultimately, one board member went to federal prison on a bribery conviction and three other board members were retired from office.
• With the election of a “new” board in 1994, Larry was elected chairman of the Authority and served in that role for five years.
  • During that time, Larry used his leadership role to emphasize basic public service, to broaden ECUA’s recognition of environmental responsibilities, and to strengthen the Authority financially and organizationally.
  • Policy initiatives during those years included:
    • A sewer expansion program
    • A septic-tank abatement program
    • Residential and commercial sanitation (solid waste) programs
    • Water fluoridation
  • Larry led an attempt to establish an ECUA recycling program in 1995, but that effort was unsuccessful.

In Larry’s most recent term (2004-2008), he has served both District 5 and the entire county in the following ways, among others:

• He has contributed to the planning of the new Central Water Reclamation Facility, to the selection of the best possible location of the new plant, and to the rapid completion of this project (now scheduled for early 2010).
  • He insisted on City of Pensacola financial support of this project. The City is committing $20 million to the project—less than it should have been, in Larry’s opinion, but more than it might have been.
  • He insisted on extraordinary safeguards on the fiscal integrity of this $300 million project. The result has been the creation of special watchdog roles, performed by the Malcolm Pernie engineering firm and by the O’Sullivan Creel accounting firm.
• Larry has been adamant that ECUA cooperate with International Paper in a joint project of great importance to IP. In May 2008, he was the only elected official to attend a public hearing and to speak in favor of the issuance of a state permit to IP.
• Larry has been an advocate for abused Allied Waste Services customers in District 5, repeatedly bringing Allied’s performance deficiencies to the attention of the ECUA board, which is supposed to oversee Allied’s performance.
• Larry has been a proactive policy initiator on several fronts.
  • In 2008, he has supported the establishment of an ECUA recycling program but has advocated a conservative approach to this unusually complex issue. He supports offering a recycling program to those who want it, but not a “comprehensive” or “mandatory” program.
  • Larry has initiated an effort to ensure that free public water is available to students in all Escambia County public-school cafeterias. This is not currently the case, and Larry has brought this fact to the attention of both the School District and the ECUA.
• More than any other board member, perhaps, Larry has urged cooperative rather than combative relations with the County Commission in the intergovernmental aspects of solid-waste programs. He has met recently with both the chairman of the County Commission and the County Administrator to improve relations between the ECUA and the County Commission.

The ECUA’s Central Water Reclamation Facility project involves several major components, each of which will be a boon to the Escambia County economy at a time when, as it turns out, it will be sorely needed. Components include the following:

1. Construction of a new wastewater treatment facility north of the Solutia plant
2. Construction of a 25-mile-long raw-sewage pipeline from downtown Government Street to the new plant site
3. Construction of two effluent pipelines between the CWRF and Gulf Power’s Crist Plant
4. Construction of an effluent pipeline from the CWRF to International Paper (IP) at Cantonment
5. Construction, jointly by ECUA and IP, of an effluent pipeline from IP to the Rainwater Tract wetlands south of Mobile Highway at Beulah Road
6. Clearing of hundreds of acres of land and extensive earth moving on the ECUA’s 2,300 acres of land north of Solutia
7. Construction of a half-dozen or more major lift stations to push raw sewage toward the new plant
8. Retrofitting of dozens of existing lift stations in order to redirect their flow
9. Construction of a new office building at Ellyson Park
10. Construction of a new scientific laboratory at Ellyson Park
11. Last but not least, demolition of the Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Total cost of the CWRF project (or, the Main Street replacement project) is estimated at $300 million. Allmost all of this huge amount of money will be spent in 2008, 2009, and the first few half of 2010. Given the current recession and the threat that this recession may linger and perhaps even worsen, the ECUA CWRF project will be a powerful counterforce in the greater Escambia County community to the current and near-future recession. This huge infusion of money into the local economy could not come at a better time!

On May 29, the ECUA board awarded contracts for four major components of the Central Water Reclamation Facility project. The biggest contract–for $102 million–was for construction of the new treatment plant. Contracts were let for two of three segments of the 25-mile-long main sewage transmission line from downtown to the new plant site, and a fourth contract was awarded for construction of one of several major lift stations.

Happily, one of the four contract winners was a local company, Utility Service Company of Gulf Breeze (Bill Lee, president). The other three contracts were awarded to Alabama and Georgia companies; even so, it is expected that out-of-town general contractors will make extensive use of local subcontractors.

For more information on progress of the CWRF project, including the schedule for the awarding of additional contracts, go to the ECUA website, http://www.ecua.org.

On June 2, Larry Walker visited the site of the future Central Water Reclamation Facility, north of Solutia. Scott Jernigan of Baskerville-Donovan, Inc., took Larry onto the site, and the two of them talked with Bob Adams, subcontractor for the land-clearing work. Sixty acres of the 2,300-acre ECUA property has been cleared of trees, for the most part, Next, about ten feet will be shaved off the top of the highest point to provide a level surface for the plant itself. By locating the treatment plant on the highest site of the property, ECUA will utilize gravity to move effluent from the plant, at an annual savings of $500,000 in energy costs. The new plant will be located about 100 feet above normal stage of the nearby Escambia River, well above flood stage even in the worst hurricane event.

The earth-moving work is progressing smoothly. Meanwhile, the ECUA board awarded four major contracts for construction work on May 29, and work on each of these project components will begin by the end of June.

For up-to-date information on progress of the CWRF project, go to the ECUA website, www.ecua.org.