TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor is calling on lawmakers across the street to pay more attention to Tallahassee, even going so far as to call for a “North Florida 2050 Commission” to revitalize the region.
Proctor said Leon County was left out of the “rural renaissance” bill that unanimously passed the house earlier this month, though legislative leaders noted that relief was aimed at “fiscally constrained counties.”
“The rural Renaissance legislation red lines and it carves out Leon County, we ain’t getting none,” Proctor said. “This is electoral gerrymandering, not electoral, but legislative financial gerrymandering because we are being redlined.”
WCTV asked Proctor if there’s a risk of the state paying too close attention. A bill has been filed at the Capitol building that would expand the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police out into downtown, an area traditionally covered by the Tallahassee Police Department.
Requests for comment with the speaker of the house and senate president are pending. When we hear back, we’ll update this page.
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The idea of the state paying closer attention, especially to downtown security, excites Barney Bishop, CEO at Barney Bishop Consulting, LLC.
“And there’ll probably be some additional high-definition security cameras. Hopefully, there’ll be some extra officers that’ll be walking around. So this will provide some help to local law enforcement when Tallahassee is inundated with hundreds and thousands of people during the 60-day legislative session,” Bishop said.
Before the Capitol Police perimeter could be expanded, the legislature would need to pass a bill that the governor would need to sign into law.
“But I think that they’ll be mostly looking on the public safety side, vagrancy of potential threats to any legislators or elected officials, whether they live here or they just happened to be here at the time,” Bishop said.
Proctor said a majority of lawmakers already see Tallahassee “a certain way.”
“The Capitol Police is a part of what the governor thinks is their domain and fiefdom and ICE and them,” Proctor said. “That’s a different mentality.”
Despite ideological differences, he thinks an ad-hoc committee to study a rebirth of North Florida could take a year to make recommendations, engaging county and city commissioners from across the panhandle.
“Let’s get a citizen group of all these smart people and come together with recommendations that can be a 25 year master plan,” Proctor said.
Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for the full story. This article will also be updated this evening with all the details.
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