Dr. Larry Walker – Serious About Service

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?