A check of my calendar has shown there will be an election soon.  This will not be a routine, boring election, for it will be one in which a president, one-third of all senators, and all 435 members of the United States House of Representatives are elected. 

On the state level, the state’s electors will decide some changes to the state’s constitution; locally, Crestview residents will determine whether a new city charter will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

Aside from the state issues, each voter within the state can cast his or her ballot for the presidential candidate of his or her choice: one candidate for senator, and one candidate for representative. Locally, those of us within the city of Crestview can decide the form of government that will rule the municipality, along with some other less significant but noteworthy changes.

I trust that each concerned resident has secured a draft copy of the proposed charter and has taken the time to read it and digest its contents.  I have read it several times, and each time I have had different thoughts about the wording.

Let’s look at some of the major, standout provisions. In Section 4.01(a), it is stated that the mayor shall have the following powers and duties:  “to be recognized as the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes…,” and “to preside at all meetings of the city council with authority to participate in discussions, but without power to vote.”

In other words, the city’s elected chief would be relegated to greeting visitors at the front door of City Hall, riding in parades and kissing babies.

To make the incumbent feel important, the council will let the mayor rap the gavel to bring a meeting to order or adjourn it, and possibly enter into a conversation without the power to determine a considered item’s outcome. The current day responsibility to oversee public safety, like police and fire departments, would be removed. That should make the mayor feel important!

So that the city is kept in good order and with discipline, the City Council’s five elected members would select a city administrator (presumably from the outside) to run all the city’s day-to-day operations. Based on what I have read in several publications’ Help Wanted columns, the going annual salary for such an individual is around $100,000 plus benefits, a city automobile and a private office, with an assistant and benefits. Added together, the cost of having such an individual employed could very easily amount to an annual outlay of $200,000, though that’s not to say Crestview’s expenditures would be the same.

Here’s how it would work: the City Council would hire the administrator, who would run the city with the council’s direction. However, the council members could do nothing unilaterally. All the council’s actions must be taken during open sessions, so a majority of council members present at a regularly scheduled meeting must first approve any direction they give. An appointed administrator has virtually no direct supervision.

To streamline City Hall’s operations, the proposed charter eliminates the elected city clerk position and provides an appointee who answers to the city administrator.

It is reasonable for one to ask “why.” 

Some three years ago, it was suggested that a charter review committee analyze the existing document and recommend changes. Numerous paragraphs are no longer applicable, namely positions for a city physician and a city tax collector. 

Some paragraphs are needed, namely the procedure to take if an elected official decides to resign from office. Several members in the past few years have “resigned,” but there is no “paper trail” to that effect.  One can say that he or she resigns, but there is no document to prove it.  Further, to whom is a letter of resignation given?

When asked why these changes to the charter were recommended, one member of the charter review committee replied, “Every town has a manager.”  When the subject of an elected city clerk versus an appointed city clerk arose, it was stated that “almost all cities in Florida have one.” 

Thus, the upcoming election is more that Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama, or Bill Nelson versus Bonnie Mack.  It is about every citizen in Crestview and the form of government that will be in existence.

Bob Allen is a former Crestview city council member. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: MY VIEW: The importance of this year's election

A while back, during the Jacksonville Bolles – Crestview football game, I was engrossed in the field’s goings-on on when my attention was taken by a young man, a student whom I had mentored last year. I inquired how he was doing since he has moved on to Davidson Middle School, and I assured him that I was following his progress through a Northwood Elementary teacher. We spent most of a quarter of the ballgame discussing one play or another; mixed into our conversation were comments about what we accomplished during our weekly times together. One thing that made an impression on him was something that was not in any textbook — and, I’ll bet, is rarely, if ever, taught in any classroom or most homes. Last year, the young man and I were seated at a table in the school’s media center. I do not remember what it was that we were working on, but I looked up to see a female teacher coming to speak with us. Without any thought about my actions, I immediately arose from my seat and stood throughout our conversation. Whatever it was that we discussed does not matter, and frankly, I do not remember. After the teacher had departed the area where we were working, the student asked why I rose and stayed standing while talking with the teacher. Wow! This allowed me to teach something that I am certain this young man will never forget. I asked if he knew anything about etiquette, and he admitted that he didn’t even know what the word meant. I acquainted him with the “rule” that a gentleman rises if seated when a lady approaches him, and that he remains standing throughout the conversation. He questioned my sincerity, for he thought that I was “pulling his leg.” Well, when a woman approached us a couple of weeks later, and he saw me sliding back in my chair, he was up and on his feet faster than this old man! Surprisingly, as time went on, and interspersed with solving an arithmetic problem or discussing something in a science assignment, we often discussed other situations that, once learned, become automatic. We did not discuss which side the fork or spoon is placed on, or myriad subjects that fill an Emily Post book. Nevertheless, there is now a young man in middle school who knows that he removes his hat when he enters a building, or that he steps forward to grasp a doorknob and open a door for a lady – whether she is a young girl or an octogenarian. It is unfortunate that few children seem to know these things. If a young lady knew what was expected, perhaps she would demand consideration and respect. Speaking of social graces, I remember when I was in eighth grade and we filed into the locker room beneath our gymnasium. We opened our lockers and were about to don gym clothes when our coach came out of his office and told us not to bother changing, and that we were going upstairs in our “street clothes.” We had no idea of the reason for this, for we had never done something like this before. As we stood around, the coach had us line up near the collapsible wall that separated the “boys gym” from the “girls gym.” Just then, the wall’s panels began to move and fan fold into a depression at the end of the gym. On the other side of the wall stood all the girls, who were scheduled for gym class during the same period. They, too, had “street clothes” on. As we stood looking at each other, one of our gym teachers came between us, told us to “count out,” and then find the girl with the same number. Next, we were told that this would be our first partner for dance lessons. Some of us were a bit skeptical about learning to dance, but the faculty was not going to take “no” for an answer. In the next couple of weeks, we were exposed to the foxtrot and the waltz. Did it hurt us? Perhaps it wasn’t to our liking at the time, but it sure paid off when we got into high school and throughout our adult lives. Yes, social graces and a dose of etiquette never hurt anyone. Perhaps it is time to forego preparations for the FCAT for a couple of classroom hours and devote a similar period for lessons that will pay unknown dividends in the years to come.

Bob Allen is a former Crestview City Council member. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: MY VIEW: Social graces, etiquette never hurt anyone

As I sat at the breakfast table and perused the newspapers over my ration of cold cereal and a cup of warm coffee, my eyes caught a few snippets about various fundraisers being conducted by the local high school band and chorus. Our kids are helping themselves by giving of their time to earn some money to defray expenses of their respective organizations. (Note: the operative words here are “helping” and “giving.”) As I thought about these high-schoolers, I realized that these words can be applied to folks of all ages, if they would only take a few moments to think about “helping” and “giving.” There is a tendency among many who, for some reason, do not want to get involved, but all that is being asked of them is a little of their time — no money, nothing else. I have been a regular blood donor most of my adult life. Even when I was flying with the Air Force, and especially the Air Force Reserve, I, admittedly, broke a few of the rules when I would make a blood donation and then go off and fly a mission just a few hours later. Now, all of a sudden, and thanks to a medical condition that hopefully will be neutralized in a few months, I am taking a blood thinner that prevents me from donating. (I am certain that the young ladies on the blood donor bus will miss my smiling face the next time they are at the local church’s blood drive.) Last week, just a few weeks into the school year, I sat in a local elementary school’s media center — we used to call them libraries! — and listened to the faculty coordinator as she reminded some of us of, and introduced newcomers to, the workings of the school’s mentor program. Granted, there was some paperwork involved, but the “bottom line” was the giving of time — as little as a half-hour each week that can be spent assisting an assigned student with his or her arithmetic — they call it mathematics now! — or reading. Kids can be helped with their science studies, or a mentor can just sit and talk with the assigned student about any subject under the sun and just be an adult “friend.” Some of the new mentors were a little leery about being effective, but it was emphasized that they will “get more out of the experience than they will ever put into it.” As an old — in number of years served — mentor, I could not resist telling of my experience as I once was walking through Walmart and had some former student come running up and almost tackling me, all the while looking back and yelling to his mother, “Mom, this is Mr. Bob, my mentor!” These are but two examples in which one can give a little time — an hour every two months for blood donations, or 30 minutes or more for mentoring — and it doesn’t cost a cent! There are innumerable places where one can give of him or herself to help others in their times of need. Why not take a few minutes to contribute to making this small piece of this planet a better place in which to live? You will be glad that you did! Bob Allen is a former Crestview City Council member who lives here in the Hub City. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: MY VIEW: Help someone; make an impression

Today, you opened the newspaper and probably noticed something different.

Your opinion matters, so today’s Crestview News Bulletin features a development a month in the making: a regular source that keeps the conversation going and includes the following sections you can expect:

·         From the Editor’s Desk: a column that usually will give readers a glimpse “behind the curtain” on news-selection decisions or otherwise would add substance to our A1 stories.

·         Word on the Street: Weekly, our news staff will pound the pavement, asking residents for their input on our question of the week.

·         A local columnist. Currently, we will run commentary from a familiar face, Bob Allen, but we encourage guest columnists and talented writers to weigh in on local issues or provide a nice slice of life for Crestview, Baker, Holt, Milligan or Laurel Hill.  We prefer non-elected officials, average Joes and Jeanettes who don’t usually appear in the paper.

·         Hubbub: a collection of the most thoughtful or humorous Facebook or Twitter comments we received the prior week. This also is the space for any letters to the editor.

The Opinion section isn’t new to the News Bulletin. Upon checking the paper’s archives, I noticed that this once-regular section comprising several regular features evolved and evolved and evolved until, well, there wasn’t much of a section.

In life, things change. Sometimes, newspaper staffers focus their energies on a certain story or other opportunity that seems more important at the time, and other things, inadvertently, fall by the wayside. Newton’s law of gravity states that whatever goes up must come down, and I suppose the rule reaches into other disciplines. For instance, I’ve seen the quality of my favorite TV sitcoms and dramas nosedive in their later years, and recall appointment-television newscasts making inexplicable changes to the detriment of content.

However, when it comes to the newspaper, any reason for this focal shift can’t justify the erosion and ultimate exclusion of an Opinion page. After all, newspapers celebrate freedom of speech and accountability, and those values extend far beyond the newsroom.

YaleUniversitylaw professor Thomas Emerson said that freedom of speech acts as a so-called safety valve that allows anyone to express his or her opinion without resorting to revolt.

Oprah Winfrey, in interviews explaining her daytime talk show’s massive success, stated a belief she said everyone shares: “We want to know that we matter. We want to know that we were heard and that what we had to say meant something.”

We in the newsroom see the comments readers make on Facebook, and understand that you want to be heard. Whether you’re posting about lighter concerns — like snakes you spotted in your yard — or more serious topics like motorcycle safety following a fatal crash, whether the city should involve itself more in West Nile virus prevention, or speaking out on funding for public transit, it doesn’t matter. The common thread is that you believe your voice can add to the debate, and possibly help someone or otherwise make a difference.  

We believe so, too.

This publication supports regular, robust discussion on issues you care about, and we understand how vital it is for the public to have a proverbial safety valve that allows them to let off some steam.

So go ahead and write in. That’s what this page is here for.

Thomas Boni is the Editor of the Crestview News Bulletin. Email him at tboni@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @cnbeditor, or call 682-6524. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR'S DESK: What's your opinion?

“Out of the mouths of babes” is an expression that people use when kids say something funny, sad or ironic without realizing the wisdom of their words. It’s not to be confused with “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” a 1990s primetime show in which Bill Cosby asked children a series of questions, setting them up to say something “cute” that typically made audiences howl but ultimately lacked substance. Art Linkletter, the show’s executive producer, is credited with pioneering the idea on his 1940s “House Party” radio series. Sometimes, we adults can learn a thing or two from kids who say things wise beyond their years. Things that make us stop, think and behave responsibly. Other times, we can be like children and go for what — in hindsight — is the easiest thing in the world: the “cute” factor. The former is the stuff of life: salt of the earth, hang-your-hat-on, old reliable advice that never goes out of style. The latter is what many corporations and businesses hope sways us: style. You know, the flighty, flash-in-the-pan, always changing, whatever’s “in” thing. There’s a reason for the expression “out of style.” Unlike its counterpart, style is the stuff of lies. Listen to TV commercials very closely, ladies. You need that anti-aging cream because you’re a wrinkled mess without it. Guys, you can’t possibly land a girl without this deodorant that makes you irresistible to the opposite sex. Oh, and if you are dating someone, assume she’s shallow enough to trade you in for a new dude if you don’t trade that clunker in for a flashier set of wheels. And even if you do that, forget about fun; Friday night’s going to be a snooze fest if you’re not drinking the right kind of beer. Survival of the fittest — and newest — you see. Broadcast commercials communicate one message, above all: something’s wrong with you. This revelation shattered television advertising’s deceptive looking glass when I learned it as a Spring Hill College junior, and I never looked at TV commercials the same way again. (Of course, these days, with time-shifting devices, we can avoid such messages all together, and literally don’t have to look at such ads the same way again.) This explosive information also informed my purchasing decisions. After all, when you know corporations spend billions of dollars to infiltrate your head with carefully designed messages that make you ache for an item, or its newest version, you often can put your foot down on all the madness and say, “Enough is enough.” Literally! Notice I said “often.” The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, right? So splurge occasionally. If done in moderation, it’s fine to buy that sparkling diamond for your wife, and it’s OK to trade in an economy vehicle for a luxury sedan — if you’re not in debt and it makes you feel good. However, that defining moment — deciding whether to budget or live beyond your means or right at your means (which isn’t much better) — separates the wise folks from kids who simply “say the darndest things.” It’s when you invest in the stuff of life or fall for the stuff of lies. The News Bulletin was encouraged to see that 280 Okaloosa County children are on track toward financially stable lives. (See A1, “Area youth recognized for saving money,” of today’s edition.) These kids, cumulatively, saved more than $20,000 during this year’s “Teaching Children to Save” program, which the University of Florida’s Okaloosa County Extension Office annually presents. That’s about $72 saved per child. Did you deliberately save at least $72 this year? (Don’t laugh — there’s a reason why so many mortgages defaulted.) I deliberately save now, but don’t recall caring about contributing to a savings account at 10 years old, the age of Dalton Tenorio, one of the contest’s winners, who’s already budgeting for his future car. “Out of the mouths of babes,” indeed. The newspaper selected this story for publication because the program promotes responsibility among our community’s youngest ones, and today’s children will make purchasing decisions that determine whether there’s a recession tomorrow. They will decide whether they buy all the hype — and buy themselves into the poorhouse — or take the road less traveled. They will be leaders or followers. Thomas Boni is the Editor of the Crestview News Bulletin. Email him at tboni@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @cnbeditor, or call 682-6524. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR'S DESK: Crestview’s young savers lead by example

Aug. 27 was the birthday of my mother and a dear friend.

However, both women’s celebrations took a backseat to Hurricane Isaac, the storm that seemed to spare Northwest Florida but wreaked havoc in New Orleans and Alabama coastal areas—to name a couple—and even destroyed some houses.

That Monday, what should have been a day in Alabama set aside for both Southern Belles in my life instead became a big, fat rain check. After all, the good restaurants closed, and although Mom got her gift, and we enjoyed some time together, all eyes were on Isaac.

I fell asleep early—perhaps 6 p.m.—and had one of my incredibly real dreams. (Oh, I dream in color, wide-screen and high definition.)

In the dream, I became lost, and happened upon various campsites filled with interesting people from all lifestyles. However, when meeting strangers, how do you know whom to trust? Moreover, being without a car in the dream, and having no choice but to fish for food and eat it in these people’s presence, was strange.

I would travel from campsite to campsite, hoping to find a way home. The characters were quite interesting, and the whole thing played out like a movie, with various suspenseful twists, but I won’t bore you with the details. (Heck, I barely remember them, as that was last week!)

When I came to the last campsite, and thought I would finally get some answers, and possibly find a way home, my dream was interrupted. By a Lady Gaga commercial, with the singer herself confessing that the movie had no ending and was just performance art to promote her new fragrance.

You know Lady Gaga: the singer who’s been known to wear meat and plush frogs as dresses, an artist who performs with blood dripping from her face and will do absolutely anything for attention.

In other words, a distraction.

Often, meaningless things distract us. Whether they’re politicians reciting the same tired talking points and ignoring the public’s questions; pop stars mindlessly instructing us to “just dance” when we could be doing something constructive and worthwhile like feeding the poor; or cell phone alerts that indicate waiting text messages while we’re driving, so much noise in our lives diverts us from things that actually matter.

Kids don’t have it so easy, either.

When I was in grade school, in the 1990s, 30 students had one teacher who taught the core curriculum and regularly traded with another teacher for an hour or so when special subjects arose. There were switch-outs for computer and P.E. classes, too, of course. However, imagine the distractions that arose from 29 classmates who passed notes, threw spitballs and mocked the teacher when her back turned.

That’s why the News Bulletin is particularly interested in Shoal River’s learning communities, which represent a first for Okaloosa County schools. (See “Learning the Mustang Way,” on A1 of today’s edition.)

Dividing students into groups of four, or “pods,” and having them take such an active role in the curriculum, means students have fewer opportunities to distract classmates — all eyes are on them.

By helping classmates when problems arise, students learn responsibility and take ownership of their classroom, perhaps, in a way that we didn’t all those years ago.

Though the learning communities’ ultimate effect at Shoal River remains to be seen, students who applied for the program, and were accepted in it, by all accounts have found a way to reduce distractions, focus on their education and, along the way, learn some leadership values.  

And, oh yes — we will be watching, very closely, to see how this all turns out.

This year, all eyes will be on Shoal River Middle School.

Thomas Boni is the Editor of the Crestview News Bulletin. For comments, email him at tboni@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @cnbeditor, or call 682-6524. What's your view? Email news@crestviewbulletin.com with the subject "My view." Letters must be 250 words or less and written on local issues.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR'S DESK: All eyes on Shoal River

In the year 1941 our nation, a nation of democracy and laws, was thrust into the greatest conflict the world has ever known.

Democracy ultimately prevailed, we ultimately prevailed. It was our “greatest generation” that transformed America into a single congruent beast, a war machine, sufficiently tenacious and voracious to consume and destroy those regimes that made a mockery of democracy and held the free world hostage.

A few of those brave men and women remain today, though the inevitable march of time continues to diminish their ranks.

As a law student I suffered through the unavoidable constitutional law courses and the accompanying 1,704-page textbook. I was taught about the adaptability and durability of the foundational document of our nation, the Constitution.

I was made to understand the unique qualities of our Constitution provided for the unrivaled longevity of our democracy.

Missing from these courses, however, was any sense of the adaptability and durability of the people who have stepped forward during times of great peril to ensure the endurance of America.

I learned more about these great men and women when I had the privilege of flying as a guardian with three World War II veterans on the most recent Emerald Coast Honor Flight one week ago today. The trip took about 100 World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., and back in a single day to view the World War II Memorial, the Marines’ Iwo Jima Memorial and several other monuments to wars and presidents past. The program is organized locally by the office of U.S. Representative Jeff Miller and funded completely through donations. The veterans pay nothing.

We arrived at the Pensacola airport before 5 a.m., and our return flight did not touch back down in Pensacola until 7 that evening.

It was a whirlwind tour, and the trip was a trying one, even for someone born 38 years after the end of the war. I was utterly exhausted at the end of the day.

Among the three veterans I was assigned to accompany throughout the journey were a Marine who was injured on the shores of Iwo Jima, a naval aviator who landed on aircraft carriers and a Navy Seabee responsible for building vital war infrastructure throughout the Pacific. Each of these men contributed substantially to the war effort. None had ever been given the opportunity to view the World War II Memorial erected on the National Mall in their honor. It was a humbling experience to be given the opportunity to spend a day with those great gentlemen and to witness them viewing the Memorial for the first time.

My naval aviator was every bit of 88 years old, and his body reflected his service to his country and the tremendous life that he led. He was on supplemental oxygen for much of the day. We were rarely separated as I manned the wheelchair that provided him with greater mobility around the memorials. At the Korean War Memorial he insisted on having his picture taken with me out of gratitude for my assistance despite the fact I was there for the purpose of showing my gratitude to him. But, as I learned throughout the day, such acts were merely a reflection of the tremendous character of our greatest generation.

By the end of the day my naval aviator was tired.

Medical complications arose on the return flight. 

By Thursday morning he was gone, a casualty to the inevitability of time. But he lived to see his Memorial. I am grateful for that, and I believe he was too. I have my hat from the flight bearing autographs of two of my three heroes of the day. The third fell ill and passed away before he could sign. I may not have three signatures on my cap, but I will always have the lessons of freedom learned from a day with three great men that no law class could ever hope to impart.

Nathan D. Boyles is a Crestview attorney. This column is intended for general educational and entertainment purposes and is not legal advice. Every situation is unique. If you have a legal issue you should contact a lawyer who can provide counsel.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ASK THE ATTORNEY: 'He lived to see his memorial'