State lawmakers get an earful at forum

Jan. 20--NICEVILLE -- Two of Okaloosa County's highest-ranking women stood Thursday night to call on their legislators to find funding to help end an injustice for the mentally ill.

First, County Commission Chairman Carolyn Ketchel and later Fort Walton Beach City Councilwoman Diane Keller urged the two senators and two state representatives who make up the legislative delegation to find money for a county diversion center.

"I really think we could make it a showcase for the state," Ketchel said at the session at Northwest Florida State College.

Ketchel said with a $1.75 million allocation the county could build a 50-bed center focused on outpatient help for the mentally ill and drug addicted. It would give them a place to find the counseling and treatment they need outside of jail and the criminal justice system, she said.

Keller said two bills have already been submitted to the Florida Legislature calling for funding a pilot program to create just such a jail diversion program as Ketchel suggested. As part of the program, law officers would be trained to recognize people for whom stabilization was more important than incarceration.

"This is a way to keep these people out of jail, get them the treatment they need and reduce recidivism," Keller said. "Please assist us in getting these bills through with funding."

The mental health issue was just one of several suggestions a room full of elected officials, community leaders and residents had as they got their first chance to speak to a nearly new state delegation. Only Sen. Doug Broxson had previously been on the receiving end of one of these forums, and he was a state representative last year.

Newly minted state Rep. Mel Ponder chairs the Okaloosa delegation. He and Broxson were joined by freshman state Rep. Jayer Williamson and freshman Sen. George Gainer.

Crestview City Councilman J.B. Whitten asked them to help his city find ways to ease the gridlock on State Road 85 through the city. Ketchel also requested funding to ease the traffic by building a perimeter road west of the city.

Gainer, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, agreed to sit down with Crestview representatives to discuss a strategy for funding to reduce gridlock.

Kay Rasmussen, manager of the Defense Support Initiatives Committee, told the delegation that threats still exist to the military mission line that runs over the Eastern Gulf of Mexico from Hurlburt Field to the Florida Keys.

The area is a key training ground for not only the Air Force but other military services, Rasmussen said, but the possibility the area could be opened to oil drilling looms large, with a moratorium on exploration due to expire in 2020.

"We want the moratorium made permanent," she said. "We want to protect the federal and state waters, and we'd like your support doing that."

Okaloosa County School Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson discussed the high cost of student testing, and asked the lawmakers to work toward reducing the number of tests students face each year in Florida.

Broxson said discussions to do just that have already begun on the state level.

Jackson also asked the delegation to see what could be done to increase the School District's share of the ad valorem tax millage rate. She estimated reductions in the portion going to schools is taking $8 million out of a fund that could be used to keep aging buildings safe and intact.

Attorney Burt Moore requested approval for the merger of the Blackman and Baker Volunteer Fire Districts. He said both districts are in favor and that the move could provide cost savings. The delegation voted to look into the move and Williamson agreed to take the lead on putting together local legislation.

Former state Rep. Jerry Melvin asked the delegation to seek money for severely underfunded elder care services in Okaloosa County, and former state Rep. Jim Ward spoke on behalf of the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, which is seeking funds for an educational center.

Dr. Karen Chapman, director of the Okaloosa Department of Health, was seeking state funding to hire epidemiologists, while resident Steve Czonstka suggested the state might consider creating a cooperative through which the nine historical services or museums in the county could coordinate.

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