Gloria Horning: Candidate, ECUA District 2
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an interview conducted via questionnaire by the Pensacola News Journal with Escambia and Santa Rosa County election candidates for their respective races. All of the answers were submitted to the Pensacola News Journal by the candidate and are available to our readers to show the candidates' position and priorities on the issues.
Candidate: Gloria Horning
Race: ECUA District 2
Occupation: Environmental and Social Scientist Advocate
Education: FSU: Ph.D. Information Sciences MS: Mass Communications - 5/93, San Jose State University. BA: Mass Communications - 12/91, California State University, Hayward. AA: Broadcast Journalism/Engineering - 12/81, Northeast Louisiana University. AA: Photo Journalism - 5/81, Northeast Louisiana University.
Why are you running for this office? A dedication to the health of our communities through transparency, communication and accountability.
What makes you stand out from your opponent? I have spent countless hours attending state, county, city, ECUA, and neighborhood association meetings watching as government officials have repeatedly failed to act on regulatory infractions that impact our water, soil, and air. As a member of ECUA board, I will work to promote information exchange among regulatory agencies and evaluate alternatives, identify priorities, and communicate potential impacts on stakeholders. My career includes 12 years in broadcast journalism as a news producer and managing news and commercial budgets; 15 years in academia – teaching hands-on broadcast journalism, documentaries, writing peer-reviewed articles on media and reports on pollution impacts on disenfranchised communities; and managing multi-million dollar international grants focusing on health education in West Africa. My Ph.D. degree is from Florida State University’s College of Information Sciences. I relocated to Pensacola following the BP oil disaster as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) to serve as the Public Information and Education Coordinator for BRACE (Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies). I continue to serve communities with outreach educational programs with a focus on flooding, storms, landfills, and sewer overflows. I am serving as lead liaison of those impacts on communities with national organizations including the Flood Forum USA, Thriving Earth Exchange, American Geophysical Union, and The Public Lab Foundation. Additionally, I serve on the City of Pensacola’s Environmental Advisor Board, and I am the chair of the NAACP Environment and Climate Change Board. Eight-years ago I relocated to Pensacola and joined AmeriCorps VISTA – the domestic Peace Corp to serve as the Public Information and Education Coordinator for BRACE (Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies). I served for two years.. I continued my service to the community as a consultant for the Center of Independent Learning – Human Resource Center, followed by a three-year visiting lecturer at UWF. And during all of that I also volunteered my time with communities with outreach educational programs with a focus on flooding, storms, landfills, and sewer overflows. I am serving as lead liaison of those impacts on communities with national organizations including the Flood Forum USA, Thriving Earth Exchange, American Geophysical Union, and The Public Lab Foundation. Additionally, I serve on the City of Pensacola’s Environmental Advisor Board, and I am the chair of the NAACP Environment and Climate Change Justice Board. I am also the vice-president of the Tanyard Neighborhood Association I am a lifelong learning and continue my education on health issues facing all of our communities – by attending conferences on health impacts of our every changing environment – water, land and soil. My last two conferences I attended this year include the Thriving Earth conference in Washington D.C to share communication tactics in the Wedgewood communities used to close one of the 13 landfills in the communities.
Previous elective office/ elective office experience: Elected no, appointed yes. Presently, I am on the Environmental Advisor Board for the City of Pensacola. Additionally, I served on the Escambia County Human Relations Board.
Do you have a criminal record? Have you ever been found to have committed any other civil or ethical violations?
What are your three most important priorities if you are elected or re-elected? 1. Organize public, private, and nonprofit leaders to bring best new practices to the table to accelerate responses to environmental issues we face in Escambia County, including but not limited to drainage, sewer waste, water quality, landfills and recycling. 2. The development of cost-reduction programs for septic tank removal, new sewer and water tap-ins, and water conservation. We need to increase green space and pervious pavement to deal with storm water runoff --- the number one polluter of our bay and waterways. 3. Transparency, accountability and communication with the citizens of Escambia County.
How would you implement Priority 1? 1. Organize public, private, and nonprofit leaders to bring best new practices to the table to accelerate responses to environmental issues we face in Escambia County, including but not limited to drainage, sewer waste, water quality, landfills and recycling. Team with advisory panels of public, private and non-profit organizations to determine how well each problem is being addressed. There is little stormwater regulation—local, state or federal—despite the fact that stormwater is one of the largest and most serious sources of water pollution. The ECUA, the City and County elected officials have done little to solve these issues other than writing reports.
How would you implement Priority 2? 2. The development of cost-reduction programs for septic tank removal, new sewer and water tap-ins, and water conservation. We need to increase green space and pervious pavement to deal with storm water runoff --- the number one polluter of our bay and waterways. I am presently working with several national organizations that are providing resources for our communities including American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX): Drawing on the nearly 200,000 scientists that belong to the American Geophysical Union, TEX builds teams of community leaders and scientists who work together to advance local resilience, flooding, stormwater waste and adapt to a changing climate. Bringing these organizations on board will help direct our path to cleaner water and waterways. Were too often more interested in promoting and protecting the current interests of industry and business, especially the homebuilders, without any attempt to fit those particular interests into a community plan that allows for rational and sustainable development.
How would you implement Priority 3? 3. Transparency, accountability and communication with the citizens of Escambia County. Outreach to our customers via mail, email and open the website to links to agendas meetings, dates of meetings including staff meetings where budget, rate hikes, violations and operations are often the subject of conversation. The ECUA in 1994 and 2004 grand jury reports was identified as one of the leading polluters of water in the countyECUA’s blatant disregard for protecting the environment and residents of Pensacola —suggesting that there is something particularly odious about the culture of ECUA board members and staff. The 2004 Grand Jury report was particularly critical of the ECUA, for staff and board for essentially dereliction of duty and violating the public’s trust. We have common ownership of the tributaries, streams, creeks, rivers, bays, and aquifers. In case after case, economic power translates into political power and subsequently environmental destruction and social injustice. Elected officials must monitor and provide oversight and uphold their constitutional and moral duties. Elected officials are too often more interested in promoting and protecting the current interests of industry and business, especially the homebuilders, without any attempt to fit those particular interests into a community plan that allows for rational and sustainable development. We must elect people who act in the long-term interests of the area as a whole, not merely at the behest of the short-term interests of a few.
How would you work with your peers in city and county government for the betterment of our community? It is crucial that, as public officials we work to achieve a commitment to protect our children, communities, and future; more transparency from industry; greater accountable government; a commitment to the highest environmental and ethical standards; and, the participation of concerned and informed residents. My established work with Flood Forum, USA, and other non-profit science based organizations will help raise community voices and help all stakeholders to measure and track water quality and the impact of sewage spills the resulting analysis will provide valuable information to other communities, researchers and decision makers. The health of our environment, where we live, work and play, should be our #1 for all communities.
Do you support open records and open meetings laws? Would you ever support any exemptions to the public's right to access information? Would you support efforts to expand these laws? Yes, I do support open records and open meeting laws. No, I would not support exemptions. Absolutely would support the expansion of these laws. As of now the ECUA is not working under any of these open records laws. They are a special district that operates in the dark and in the background. We must open the ECUA record up for all to see. After all what are they hiding? Why won't they do further water testing? Where is the oversight of this public office? We all deserve answers. It is crucial that we these goal through the legislative branch of government by electing officials dedicated to public service.