In Florida, you can’t vote in a presidential preference primary unless you are registered with a political party.

Local party leaders urge people to register as a Republican or Democrat before Feb. 16, the deadline to vote March 15 in one of those two primaries.

More than 3 million Florida voters are registered with either no party affiliation or with a minor party, according to Czonstka, and in Okaloosa County as of Jan. 28, there are 28,231 out of 124,642 active registered voters registered as neither Republican nor Democrat.

Read more from the Northwest Florida Daily News>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Deadline to register for presidential primary looms

Okaloosa County Commissioners have approved a plan that could more than triple the staff tasked with marketing the area as a top vacation destination.

The board on Tuesday unanimously signed off on the new strategy, which calls for a greater use of local businesses and far less reliance on an out-of-town advertising agency to promote the area.

“It’s a good plan that’s been laid out,” Commissioner Trey Goodwin said. “One thing that sold me … was this reorganization will significantly dovetail with our efforts to make sure Okaloosa County isn’t the next spring break mecca.”

Read more from the Northwest Florida Daily News>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa Tourist Development Council set to expand marketing staff

Mack Busbee, a senior manager at the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser’s Office, is running for property appraiser.

The 53-year-old Republican has been a state-certified general property appraiser since 1993, and is a Florida Department of Revenue-certified property evaluator. He has over 15 years' experience working under Property Appraiser Pete Smith as a residential and commercial field appraiser, property evaluator, administrator and division manager.

Busbee — the Commercial and Tangible Personal Property departments' supervisor — said as Okaloosa County Property Appraiser he would protect the integrity of property values, ensure evaluations are fair and equitable, keep technology up to date, and continually improve customer service.

“I will use my 15 years of hands-on experience to deliver what people expect from our property appraiser’s office — fair and accurate evaluations, highly trained, helpful public servants, and easy access to the information and services taxpayers need.”

Busbee headed in-house appraisals and was VA appraisal reviewer at Peoples National Bank of Niceville before serving in the property appraiser’s office. He also served as a loan officer and assistant vice president at the bank.

The Niceville native and Niceville High School graduate earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of West Florida in 1988.

He was married for 12 years and widowed in 2014, and lives in Niceville with his two children.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Mack Busbee running for Okaloosa property appraiser

FORT WALTON BEACH — The Mulligans will provide music during the Okaloosa GOP Reagan Dinner, themed "Voices of Victory."

The event is scheduled for March 12 at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort, 1500 Miracle Strip Parkway SE, Fort Walton Beach. Social hour begins at 5 p.m.; dinner will be served at 6 p.m. Silent and live auctions will be held.

Dan Bongino, the keynote speaker, is a Fox News contributor, radio host and former Secret Service agent and security consultant. Texas senator and retired Army Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell, a decorated survivor of the 9/11 Pentagon attack, also will speak.

Tickets cost $60 per person through Feb. 15; $50 for students. See sponsored table prices and other information at www.OkaloosaGOP.com or call 863-2301 or 512-584-4589.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Reagan Dinner to feature The Mulligans

CRESTVIEW — A little-noticed city facility raises an unexpected challenge to the PJ Adams Parkway widening project, but city and county officials are searching for a solution.

Tucked back partially into woods just east of Crosspoint Crestview South church is a sanitary services lift-station, or pumping station, that sends untreated sewage to Crestview’s wastewater treatment plant about a mile and a half away.

Officials recently discovered the station partially encroaches on the parkway widening project’s right-of-way by “a few feet,” Crestview Public Works Director Wayne Steele said.

HDR Engineering's project engineers did not realize the city and Okaloosa County had not previously worked out a solution for the station when they designed the project, Steele said. An HDR spokesperson did not immediately return calls requesting comment on the issue.

Now, city and county officials must find a solution to what appears to be a costly problem.

'THERE'S REALLY NO ONE TO BLAME'

“We were surprised — and he was really surprised — that we did not know about it,” Steele said. “It was a little bit of an oversight by HDR.

"It’s a county project, so unless there’s a meeting or they release plans to us, we don’t have the privilege to sit down and study plans.”

Steele said county and city officials are immediately seeking a resolution to the matter.

“Jason Autrey has been very, very good in working with us,” Steele said. “His spirit of cooperation is very good.”

“We are absolutely working with the city of Crestview on the lift station and other utility issues,” Autrey said.

While Steele said his department had already been addressing the need to move some utility lines to accommodate the road widening — scheduled to begin this fall — the sewage lift station had not been mentioned as a problem.

“It was one of those things neither they or we realized was going to be impacted by this widening until late in the process,” Steele said. “There’s really no one to blame. I think everyone thought the lift station was going to be avoided.”

HARD TO MOVE

Steele says the city can’t move the utility; a new lift station would have to be constructed.

Further complicating matters is that it sits on the edge of federally protected wetland. That would require the Army Corps of Engineers' involvement and permitting, he said.

To relocate the station, a new site must be located, engineering drawings produced, permits sought, construction done, services disconnected from the existing station, and testing performed — and then the current station would have to be taken offline and dismantled.

Engineering and permitting could cost the city as much as $92,000, Steele said.

Actual construction and relocating utilities, including anticipated water line relocation, could top $1.2 million.

“We are going to do everything we can to accommodate the station,” Autrey said. “The reality is if we put the road out there and make them move the station, it’s going to cost the (city water and sewer) customers, which is you and me.”

Steele said city and county officials have held meetings to discuss options, while earlier this week, county and HDR engineers met at the lift station to explore solutions.

“In my meetings with Jason, we left with a very positive feeling that the city and county can work together,” Steele said.

“We want to make it the best fit for everybody,” Autrey said.

“I firmly believe we’ll find a solution for everybody.”

A sanitary services lift station on PJ Adams Parkway obstructs the road’s planned widening by “a few feet,” Crestview Public Works Director Wayne Steele says. The city and Okaloosa County Public Works officials are exploring several options.

Among them are:

●Move the lift station and reroute surrounding utility lines at a potential cost of $1.2 million, incurring delays while U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits are completed due to surrounding wetlands

●Tweak design plans to narrow the median near the lift station so it can remain

●Run planned sidewalk over the top of the lift station so it won’t have to be moved 

WHAT TO DO WITH A LIFT STATION

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview taxpayers' $1 million PJ Adams problem

CRESTVIEW — Two local historians will serve on the city’s Historic Preservation Board following their Jan. 25 appointments.

Councilman Doug Faircloth nominated Betty Curenton and Claudia Patten, authors of “Crestview: The Forkland"; the City Council unanimously approved them.

Curenton and Patten spent almost 20 years' research on their book, which traces the city’s history from the Spanish colonial era through the 1990s.

The 11-member board provides recommendations in areas of historic preservation, architectural history, architectural planning, archeology and related disciplines, as set by the amended 1980 Historic Preservation Act and the Crestview code. It was established in Aug. 2001.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 2 historians appointed to Crestview Historic Preservation Board

NICEVILLE — Joe Gibbons, the Florida Democratic Party's vice chair, will be the Okaloosa County Democratic Black Caucus' keynote speaker for its Feb. 6 Black History Fundraising Banquet.

Gibbons served as a Florida Legislature representative from 2006 to 2014 and worked on several government-related committees.

Tickets to the event, themed, "Passing the Torch for Freedom: Vote to Ensure Our Future," cost $50 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m.; the event begins 6:30 p.m. at the Niceville Community Center, 204 N. Partin Drive, Niceville.

Contact Trish Rowe, 678-0871; Lawrence Kelley, 733-0601; or Solonia Bogar, 215-431-8986, for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former state rep. to speak at Democratic Black Caucus banquet

CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Commission will discuss ongoing litigation during a Feb. 2 executive session. 

The session, closed to the public, is estimated to begin at approximately 8 a.m. — before commissioners' regular, public board meeting — in the Okaloosa County Administrative Building's County Commission Conference Room, 1250 N. Eglin Parkway, Shalimar. It will last approximately 30 minutes.

Commissioners will discuss settlement negotiations or strategy sessions related to litigation in connection with the Department of Juvenile Justice and secure juvenile detention.

After the closed session, the board will reconvene in open session in the County Commission meeting room for its regular board meeting and to take action on this matter, if necessary.

County officials have been fighting the DJJ for reimbursement of the overcharges for housing youthful offenders from 2009 to 2013.

Commissioners plan to keep fighting for reimbursement of $3.1 million in overcharges.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa commissioners to discuss ongoing litigation

CRESTVIEW — Consideration of a proposed agreement between the Community Redevelopment Agency board and the City Council has been postponed until a Feb. 8 meeting.

The agreement would transfer fiscal responsibility for CRA funds from the city clerk to the CRA — which the CRA Board oversees — while the city, through the clerk, retains oversight of the agency. It also would allow the CRA to retain legal counsel, as needed, through an attorney specializing in CRAs.

The CRA board and the council have the same members, just different responsibilities, Growth Management Director Teresa Gaillard said. “This is just a formality that shows there are two separate entities and we realize there are two separate entities," she said.

Board member JB Whitten on Jan. 25 said he was uncomfortable agreeing to a contract without CRA Director Brenda Smith present. Smith was attending an out-of-town conference.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview interlocal agreement on hold

UPDATE: Due to multiple cancellations, the presidential debate party has been replaced with a CNN Donald Trump Wounded Warrior & veteran fundraising event. It's scheduled for the same time and place; just the event name has just changed.

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FORT WALTON BEACH — Swag and information will be part of an upcoming Republican Presidential Debate party planned at an area restaurant.

The party starts 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28 at Fudpucker's Beachside Bar & Grill, 1318 Miracle Strip Parkway, Fort Walton Beach. (This is the grill's new waterfront location across from Ramada Beach Plaza, turn at the pedestrian highway walkover bridge.)

There are only 50 seats available on a first come, first served basis. Limited refreshments will be served.

The event includes games prizes and more. Local Republican candidates are invited to bring their petitions, brochures, pamphlets or business cards to share.

For more information, email scwsandra@cox.net or send a text to 850-586-0444.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: UPDATE: Republican debate party replaced with Trump, Wounded Warrior fundraiser