Affordable housing, responsible development and infrastructure concerns were key topics as Okaloosa County Commission candidates discussed their plans to address the area’s growing housing needs during a forum Thursday.

• The event, hosted by the Greater Chamber of Fort Walton Beach and the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, featured candidates vying for seats in Districts 1, 3 and 5 in the upcoming August 20 election. 

The forum featured 7 candidates running for the three open seats: De’Carlo Garcia (District 1), Sherri Cox, Wade Merritt, Keri Pitzer, and Andrew Rencich (District 3), and Drew Palmer and Mary Anne Windes (District 5). However, incumbents Paul Mixon (District 1) and Heath Rominger (District 3) were absent from the event.

During the forum, candidates were asked varying questions related to housing and development, with not all candidates addressing the same specific issues. This format allowed for a range of topics to be covered but resulted in some candidates speaking more extensively on certain aspects of housing and development than others.

When asked about the potential development of Eglin Air Force Base’s orphan parcels, De’Carlo Garcia, running for the District 1 seat, emphasized the critical need for affordable housing while stressing the importance of responsible placement.

• “Affordable housing is a necessary thing,” Garcia said. “I believe that once we tackle this situation, we need to make sure that we are actually prepared to handle such a thing with the load, with the infrastructure that we already have no matter where it is.”

Addressing whether the county is facing a housing issue, Wade Merritt, a District 3 candidate, affirmed the existence of a housing crisis in Okaloosa County, noting it’s not just a local issue but a state and national concern as well.

“I would absolutely say that we do have a housing crisis,” Merritt said. “You see it all the time, there’s people trying to find housing. Problem is, it’s not affordable housing.”

Andrew Rencich, also running for District 3, was asked about the county’s responsibilities in addressing housing inventory and attainability. He stressed the importance of collaboration between the county and various stakeholders.

• “The county needs to ensure that it is working with all investors in the community,” Rencich said. He highlighted the potential of Eglin’s orphan parcels, stating, “Those P3’s, public-private-partnerships, that are formed on those orphan partials are going to generate not only commercial space, but also affordable housing.”

Mary Anne Windes, a District 5 candidate, was questioned about the potential benefits of the Live Local Act for Okaloosa County’s housing situation.

“The Live Local Act has to do with making grants to make things affordable so that you can be able to purchase land,” Windes explained. “They usually do it through lenders, and it has to do with down payment money. It has to do with interest rates. And it’s very good for anybody who’s lower income, who’s looking to buy a home.”

When asked about strategies to address the county’s housing needs, Sherri Cox, vying for a District 3 seat, emphasized the need to balance affordable housing development with preserving the county’s character.

“I think affordable housing is an issue,” Cox stated. “While I think affordable housing is an issue, I think also there’s a responsibility in developing affordable housing in the areas in which our culture as Okaloosa County citizens is not going to be disrupted.”

Keri Pitzer, another District 3 candidate, was asked about the role of public transportation in affordable housing development. She focused on broader infrastructure and transportation issues related to housing development, particularly in the county’s north end.

“I do think that traffic is a problem. Transportation, obviously, is a big part of the growth in the North County,” Pitzer said. She highlighted the challenges faced by military personnel, noting, “And how do we get more people on 85 South? And especially those military folks who have an hour recall and sometimes can’t make that.”

• Pitzer proposed exploring various solutions, including ride-share programs and opening up additional access routes.

Drew Palmer, running for District 5, addressed a question about managing community resistance to new housing developments.

“Obviously there is a lot of consternation about the growth that we’re experiencing here,” Palmer acknowledged. He emphasized the importance of community involvement in the growth process, stating, “We can either participate in the growth or we can resist the growth. If we resist the growth, what’s going to happen is the county’s going to end up getting sued, we’re going to lose, and we’re going to end up paying the legal bills, and then we lose our ability to be partners in that growth.”

• He stressed the inevitability of growth, noting, “Again, the word is out [that] this is a great place to be. There’s growth happening on the mission, on the bases…so we have to figure out how do we partner with those developers, how do we partner with those entities who are designing the growth, and how do we make sure that it doesn’t change the character of our communities.”

The Okaloosa County Commissioner election will take place on August 20, 2024. All county residents are eligible to vote for candidates in all three districts, regardless of their place of residence within the county. For more information on voting locations and procedures, residents can contact the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections office or visit their website.

It’s worth noting again that not all candidates present at the forum were asked the same questions about housing and development. As a result, their views on these particular issues were not captured in this portion of the event.