"A FORCE OF NATURE"

friends.' And that's how we

Benson would later drop out of the race. Gov. Charlie Crist appointed her to head the Agency for Health Care Administration. Gaetz won the election by a landslide. "We became closer friends and supported each other in causes we both believed in for many years thereafter. He was a guy who said what he meant and did what he said—and always kept

The retired lawmaker also talked about Lewis's business acumen. "Lewis Bear was extraordinarily successful in business. There are probably two or three people who built Northwest Florida's modern economy, and Lewis Bear certainly was one of them. But he didn't stop there because he was driven by a sense of community involvement and particularly community involvement that would help

Lumon May

Lumon May has known Lewis and Belle Bear since childhood. "I didn't know that he was this philanthropist, didn't really understand that he was this great political supporter or civic leader. I just knew him as David and Cindi and Lewis's dad."

He added, "I would say that even growing up, the Bears always would open their house. They didn't care about red, yellow, black, white, Republican, Democrat, rich or poor. Lewis and Belle and their children were always encompassing everyone. And I think that's what set Lewis apart from most leaders is that Lewis could talk to the person in Attucks Court or Oakwood Terrace, or Gulf Breeze or Portofino. He just had that way about him that made everybody feel comfortable around him."

Lewis and Belle Bear supported the Southern Youth Sports Association. Much of his support was done without fanfare. May shared, "He wanted to make sure our kids had tickets to the Pensacola Interstate Fair, and Lewis came down to Legion Field to bring those passes down to those children. He and Belle made sure that we were giving disadvantaged children an opportunity to go to the fair."

Pensacola Bay. All the other media have praised his business acumen as the head of the Lewis Bear Company, his leadership in the arts, economic development and higher education, and his philanthropy.

I interviewed Big Lewis in all those capacities but also knew him as a friend. On the surface, we shouldn't have gotten along. I'm the publisher of an alt-weekly that challenges the status quo, and Lewis represented what I saw in the early days of this newspaper as the status quo. Plus, I resist being told what to do, and Lewis liked giving orders.

What bonded us was a passion for this community and humor. We might have disagreed on some issues, which led a more than a few epic battles during Pensacola Chamber board meetings. However, I always enjoyed our conversations and that twinkle in his eye when he was about to zing me with a quip.

But I realized to gain a fuller picture of Lewis Bear Jr., I needed to reach out to others who also knew him—Don Gaetz, Lumon May, Quint Studer, Martha Saunders, Maria Goldberg and Collier Merrill, who tag-teamed with Lewis at the Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida and Triumph Gulf Coast.

Don Gaetz

When BP tar balls hit our shores and ruined our economy in the summer of 2010, Gaetz and how to set up Triumph Gulf Coast," Gaetz told me. "He gave very solid suggestions about how to make sure that money didn't fall into the hands of politicians but was truly used for economic development and job development. And then I was able to persuade Lewis to come on the board of Triumph Golf Coast, and the governor appointed him."

He pointed out how Lewis's political influence and "his grit and determination" made sure $1.5 billion stayed in Northwest Florida. "Lewis was principally responsible for making sure that there was more than $250 million already invested to date in economic development, education, job creation in Northwest Florida to help our communities, and much more will be invested in the years to come."

Gaetz met Lewis when he was running for the Florida Senate in 2006 against State Rep. Holly Benson, whom the Bear was supporting.

"I sat down with Lewis 20 years ago and asked him if he'd consider supporting me, and I laid out all the reasons why and talked about our mutual friends," Gaetz shared, "and he said, 'You know, Don, I really would like to support you. I think you're doing a good job over in Okaloosa County, but I've already made a commitment, and I keep my word, so I'm going to do everything I can to help my candidate against you, but I sure like you, and I hope we can be

And on his philanthropy, Gaetz said, "I know he did things that were far and away beyond what was done publicly. There are people who were very successful in business, who were very generous to the community with their time and money, but there are a whole lot that aren't. Lewis Bear was, in my view, the greatest philanthropist in Northwest Florida history."

Quint Studer

Over the past decade, Lewis and Quint Studer, co-owner of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and founder of the Studer Community Institute, have donated significantly to local projects.

Studer said he got to know Lewis and Belle Bear during the Community Maritime Park referendum. The Bears planned to contribute to the maritime museum that was to be included at the park, and Studer and Lewis hit it off.

"We always came to the conclusion that if we combined our dollars and supported each other, we could do more than doing it alone," said Studer. "Many of the projects one would lead, then the second one would come in—at the Children's Hospital, we came in with a donor gift, and they came in with great work on the oncology unit; at Baptist, they came with a big gift; we came with a smaller gift."

He added, "We just felt if we worked together, we could do more."

When asked about Lewis's legacy, he said, "If there's a legacy besides all the projects that Lewis helped get off the ground and supported, it is going to be the continuation of his community service through his children and grandchildren."

As county commissioner, May had to deal with Lewis on a different level, and the two didn't always agree. "All Lewis wanted you to do was just tell him what you were going to do," said the commissioner. "If there was an issue on which you couldn't support Lewis, he liked for you to tell him. And I think that's one of the things I loved about Lewis is that he could disagree with you and fight you but still resolve with you and say, 'Let's agree to disagree.'"

He continued, "People sometimes thought he was a bull in a China shop or a bully. But actually, he really, really, really, really was a gentle giant, in my opinion."

Collier Merrill

Merrill's relationship with Lewis began at the Pensacola Museum of Art, which Lewis's parents helped start in the mid-50s when they were part of a group that convinced the Pensacola City Council to convert the old police station into an art center.

"My great aunt, Mary Janice Thornton, was an artist and had a lot of artwork at the museum," Merrill shared. "At a party, unbeknownst to me, she asked Lewis to get me involved in the art museum because he was on the board at that time. So he invited me, and I got on, even though I wasn't even in my 30s."

He smiled, "I stayed on the board, and he became chairman, and the next year, I became chairman—as I joke, which meant Lewis was still chairman."

Bear's tenacity convinced Merrill to ask him to take over economic development when Merrill became chairman of the Greater Pensacola Chamber.

"In 2010, that BP oil spill hit, the economy was down, real estate had really gone downhill and we were starting to do a capital campaign drive because we realized we needed to recruit more businesses and would need incentives and other things to attract new industries," Merrill shared.

He continued, "Lewis was probably 70 years old at the time and had already served as chamber chairman decades earlier. I asked, and he said, 'I'll do it,' and led this area's economic development until he died, quite frankly."

Lewis served three years as the chamber's vice chairman for economic development. When the chamber spun off economic development, he chaired FloridaWest and the Pensacola Escambia Development Commission.

Merrill later became the founding chair of the University of West Florida Board of Trustees. When he rolled off, Lewis was appointed and continued to serve on the board until his death.

He shared what he told UWF President Judy Bense when she asked what she needed to know about "Mr. Bear." Merrill told her, "Return his phone call. You don't have to agree with him all the time, but don't dismiss him, and you will find out he's your biggest ally."

Merrill said, "I shared the same recommendation with Dr. Saunders. Lewis, like I said, can be your biggest advocate. If he disagrees with you, he'll disagree with you. And I've seen him do it publicly plenty of times, but, at the end of the day, he would be fair."

Martha Saunders

The UWF president told me about Lewis's commitment to the university. "For many years, he served on our foundation board of directors and then later on our board of trustees and played a major role in the development of university infrastructure programs and processes."

Dr. Saunders shared, "He was a hands-on board member. I mean that in a good way, in that he wanted to understand; he wanted to see where he could be of most help. But he also never, ever wavered from a commitment to the community and wanted to be sure that the work that we were doing at the university would benefit this community."

She noted that Lewis helped launch UWF's logistics and supply chain management program and created the Bear Family Foundation Engineering endowment to support the engineering program. "He had a hand in the partnership that we have with Florida State University Medical School for physical therapy. He looked for opportunities that leveraged the strengths of the university to benefit the region and the community."

Before he passed, the university bestowed a special honor on Lewis. Dr. Saunders said, "Lewis had been on the list for an honorary doctorate for the longest time. Our honorary doctorate is the highest honor a university can bestow. You can't buy it, it has to be earned, and it was clear to us that Lewis deserved one years ago."

However, there was a glitch—UWF cannot award it to someone on its board. Then the university president got a call from David Bear that his dad was in the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and his health was quickly declining. Would UWF consider bestowing the doctorate?

Dr. Saunders said, "Of course, I said I would fly up if that's what you need. But we agreed to do a Zoom honorary doctorate bestowal, which was certainly the first for us. And so on a Sunday morning, I was in full regalia, one of my vice presidents was there in full regalia with our tech people, and Lewis and his family were on their end, and we bestowed the doctorate with all the pomp and circumstance that we always use."

When asked about Lewis's less serious side, she shared, "If you ever sat by him in a meeting that he wasn't in charge, he was the guy that was going to get you in trouble, mainly because he would whisper some wicked little witticism, usually some comment, about whoever was talking, and you knew if you laughed everybody would pay attention. So there was always that—if I sit by Lewis, I'm going to get in trouble today."

Calling Lewis "a force of nature," Dr. Saunders later added, "It's just hard to imagine a world without him."

Maria Goldberg

The former executive director of the Pensacola Museum of Art told me about Lewis's love for the visual arts. "If you were to look back in the history of the museum from its inception as an art center, Lewis and Belle, their family, his parents, and now through the Family Foundation, they are probably the largest contributors to the visual arts and the art museum that has ever been."

She added, "We, as a community, are all indebted to him and his leadership through all of that, and that we have such a vibrant museum for the benefit of all of us."

Goldberg shared that Lewis was "incredibly passionate" about art. He loved just being surrounded by it, learning about it, and also sharing it with folks."

I asked her to share a special moment about Lewis. "Probably one of the coolest things to see was during our exhibit, the Vandals to Vanguards exhibit. At the closing reception, we had a panel conversation, which was really wonderful. And on that panel was Lewis and myself, David Bear, and Lauren Bonner, one of his grandchildren."

She continued, "And it was really a conversation led by the museum on how did you collect, how did you get into art. And I will tell you the 'twinkle in his eye' moment was when he listened to Lauren talk about how she's inspired as an artist and how Lewis was such an influence on her and the career path that she's chosen and her dedication to the arts. It was just magical, just one of many magical moments. But that was a really wonderful moment to see happen."

In His Honor

I enjoyed the challenge of arguing with Lewis because of his intelligence and quick wit, but it was even more enjoyable when we worked together on a cause because Lewis was a big thinker that cared about our community's future. He pushed me to be better, and I'll forever love him for that.

Lewis is survived by his wife, Belle; their three children, Lewis Bear III and wife Jennifer, Cindi (Bear) Bonner and husband Chad, and David Morris Bear and wife Cindi Bear; and four grandchildren, Lauren and Lewis "Chad" Bonner and Julia Belle and Max Bear.

In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations be made to The Lewis and Belle Bear Family Facilities Endowment Fund at Temple Beth-El, the Pensacola Museum of Art or the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research.

Don Gaetz may have summarized best the feelings of those who loved Lewis. "Lewis Bear. We love him. We'll celebrate him. We'll remember him. And by God, we'll always miss him." {in}

Preservation's 2022 Florida's 11 to Save.

Rev. Powell's nonprofit Truth for Youth purchased the 2.3-acre property in 2010 for $750,000 with a loan from the owner, American Building Components Inc. Unfortunately, he got behind on the payments, and the debt grew to $900,000 with interest. The property is set to be auctioned on Wednesday, March 22.

Last week, Community Redevelopment Agency approved the mayor's request for the authority to meet with Rev. Powell and figure out how to save the building. The CRA approved the mayor offering up to $1.5 million for the property. Mayor D.C. Reeves hoped to preserve the historic structure and create a community space that fit Rev. Powell's vision and possibly offer affordable housing in the Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood.

"I didn't want to sit idly by and not see if there wasn't something we could alongside Rev. Powell to preserve in both of those ways, as well as listen to the community about what they would want on that iconic block," the mayor told Inweekly.

Mayor Reeves met with Rev. Powell after receiving CRA approval. "I said, 'Look, what I want is what you want, which is a generational vision and preservation, both of the historic structure and the neighborhood.' Ultimately, we made an offer of $1.4 million with a $100,000 contingency."

At the 4 p.m. deadline on Thursday, March 9, Rev. Powell turned down the offer, saying that he had a loan that would happen on Monday. Reeves told Inweekly, "And I said that that's great and respected what he wants to do. He's a property owner, and our interest is in preservation and that neighborhood."

The mayor said the city would not get involved in the auction. However, if Powell's loan falls through, he would be open to completing the deal, but the window narrows as March 22 nears.

"I have the authorization to do so now, but again, that doesn't mean we're going to be calling him or his representatives every day," said the mayor. "When we start getting a matter of hours 24, 48, 72 hours away from the auction, it gets a little complicated in terms of what the city could actually functionally pay off a lien holder and all of those things as well."

If the property goes to auction, Mayor Reeves said, "Our duty, at that point, is to work with whoever wins the auction proactively, whether it's someone local or out-of-town, and try to be partners with them in terms of at least the historic preservation."

He added, "Maybe we can't really envision what would happen on the block, but we might start with the first priority of preservation of that corner and Smith's Bakery."

Check on ricksblog.biz for updates on this story.

UNITY NEEDED At the end of the 2020-21 school year, School Superintendent Tim Smith and the Escambia School Board began work on a five-year strategic plan.

"The plan sets a roadmap for where we're going, and one of the important pieces of that was engaging the community and our team members within the school district," Smith told Inweekly. "An exhaustive process was conducted where a tremendous amount of input was gathered as to where should our school district go and what direction we should move forward."

The framework introduced last August was built on the vision "United For Every Student to Succeed" and with five focus areas— students, employees, leadership, business and community. Smith said, "What's happening now is we have teams taking that plan and setting objectives and action items. So the plan is being crafted toward what it will look like in action."

He sees unity as a key element of the vision and strategic plan and provides a means of dealing with the struggles and challenges of the appointed superintendent framework.

"We're going through some growing pains right now with that. Do we change our school superintendent governance structure after two years? I personally think that's not enough time when you take a core system (elected superintendent) and change that," said Smith.

"After two years, we really don't want to quit. What we want to do is we want to persevere. We want to show some grit and determination and make our system the framework it needs. So anytime you do this, you're subject to growing pains, and I think that's exactly what's taking place here. So we need to have some fortitude, and it would be premature to switch a governance structure after a couple years."

He admitted there is difficult work to be done. "There's some big challenges, but we work on that together and keep moving forward and getting stronger and stronger. And so that's what I hope that happens through all these topics of discussion lately, is let's work together; let's collaborate; let's be unified and not shy away from the tough conversation."

GE WIND INVESTMENT Earlier this month, General Electric announced plans to invest more than $450 million in its existing U.S. manufacturing facilities this year, purchasing cutting-edge equipment and making upgrades to position the company and its U.S. workforce for a strong future in advance of the company's planned creation of two independent, industry-leading companies in energy and aerospace.

GE Vernova, GE's portfolio of energy businesses, expects to invest this year in capacity upgrades, facility maintenance, and equipment and tool management. The company is hiring externally for more than 920 U.S.-based positions and anticipates investing upwards of $117 million in its U.S. energy facilities this year, including $20 million in wind turbine manufacturing facilities in Pensacola (GE Wind) to expand production capacity and bring new products to market.

BYE, ERIC Last week, Florida Secretary of State

Cord Byrd notified the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. (ERIC), that Florida was terminating its membership. Missouri and West Virginia joined the state in withdrawing from the ERIC, alleging the organization had rejected proposals that they believed would "secure data and eliminate ERIC's partisan tendencies."

"As Secretary of State, I have an obligation to protect the personal information of Florida's citizens, which the ERIC agreement requires us to share," said Secretary Byrd. "Florida has tried to back reforms to increase protections, but these protections were refused. Therefore, we have lost confidence in ERIC."

In April 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Florida would join the center, a move long sought by county supervisors of elections to help ensure the integrity of voter registration lists. ERIC is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit formed with the Pew Charitable Trusts' assistance in 2012 and grew to include 32 states until last week.

Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford didn't want to discuss the politics of Byrd's decision but was positive about the ERIC system. "It's certainly been a net positive for us, and I believe my 66 colleagues share that."

However, he added that Florida already did a better job than most states of tracking eligible voters but saw ERIC as "an addition."

SHOOTING FIREWORKS On Tuesday, March 7, the 2023 Legislative Session began with speeches from Gov. Ron DeSantis; House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast; and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, with rebuttals from the Democratic opposition.

Speaker Renner told the representatives, "Standing together, along with America's greatest governor, and our Senate partners, this session will be remembered for when we fearlessly took on the major challenges and opportunities facing our state and delivered transformational results again and again."

Among the challenges Renner mentioned were affordable housing, tort reform, constitutional carry of guns, right to life, tax relief, school vouchers, battling inadequate sleep, tech addiction and the indoctrination and sexualization of children, and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) on college campuses.

He challenged the lawmakers to "deliver the kind of real, transformative results our constituents expect and deserve."

President Passidomo praised Gov. Ron DeSantis. "Our governor is truly America's governor. He has defended our conservative values, challenged the individuals and institutions who pose threats to others, and introduced innovative solutions to better our state."

On each senator's desk was a photo book of landmarks that senators submitted to represent their districts. She said, "These are the reasons we are here. We must advance policies that protect our people and our places—what makes Florida so special. We must hold others accountable when they threaten our people and values."

Passidomo shared a Winston Churchill quote that she had given the House Speaker: "These are not dark days. These are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived—and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race."

She closed, "Senators, the eyes of the nation are on Florida this year. Let's show America how it's done."

In his State of the State address, Gov. DeSantis checked off a litany of accomplishments and recognized several guests in the audience from hurricane-stricken Lee County, law enforcement, education and health care—many of which had resisted COVID vaccinations.

"November's election results represent a vindication of our joint efforts over these past four years," he said. "The results also vest in us the responsibility to lead and provide us the opportunity to shoot for the stars. Boldness be our friend in this endeavor. We have a lot we need to accomplish."

Shooting for the stars included a $2 billion tax cut package, cutting drug costs, holding back "Florida's lawsuit-happy legal climate," accelerating infrastructure projects, unwanted medical interventions and delivering "a good education, not a political indoctrination."

The governor proclaimed Florida to be "on the front lines in the battle of freedom." He said, "We will stand strong. We will hold the line. We won't back down. And I can promise you this— you ain't seen nothing yet."