‘A GREEN SIDE’
working with the development community. Previously he spent time with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as well as with the county’s Chips Kirschenfeld—also a Coastkeepers board member— in the Escambia County Water Quality and Land Management Division. Where some people may think of his connections and experience as compromising, Varazo sees them as useful. Where some may view his path as misguided, he believes it’s realistic. Varazo said he wants to see RESTORE money go to address environmental concerns—he emphasizes water-quality issues—and understands whoever ends up sitting in the environmental seat may have to be satisfied with fighting on the fringes for scraps, crumbs from the bigger picture. “I think it would be a tragedy to use environment to get the money and then go after just infrastructure or just jobs,” Varazo said. “If you pick the right person it can go hand in hand.” Varazo’s train of thought is similar to the county-preferred philosophy. “Everything’s got a green side,” Wilkins said, suggesting that infrastructure and economic development projects would offer environmental opportunities. “We can build a building—say a spec building for the tech park—and that building can be LEED certified.” Hobbs has a similar philosophy. Except backward, and inside-out. “We keep having this silly argument—we can do environment, we can do economic development,” she said. “We can do both.” Instead of infrastructure and development projects offering peripheral environmental opportunities, Hobbs views environmental efforts themselves as bettering the area’s economic horizons. She views the region’s environmental and economic outlooks as intertwined and believes Escambia’s long-term environmental health is the linchpin in its economic success. “People understood that quite well back in 2010, we have a short memory,” Hobbs said, recalling the layers of fear that gripped the area as it waited to weather the spill’s impact. “Just the thought of oil on our beaches was enough to send our economy into a tailspin.” With that in mind, some members of the environmental community are asking the county commissioners to remember why Clean Water Act money will be coming into the region in the first place. They would like to see RESTORE money spent on environmental concerns and not treated like a stimulus party. “It’s kind of like giving out Christmas gifts,” Albrecht said, “and having no concept of why you’re giving out a gift.” {in}
A few days before Christmas, Varazo was out in the water. Braving the cold for some holiday mullet. “I got family that comes from up north and all they think about is fried mullet,” the Coastkeeper said. Varazo’s not thinking about mullet. He’s thinking of that environmental seat on the county’s RESTORE committee. “I’m dreaming about it every night,” he said. “They’ve got to put the right guy in there.” Varazo feels that whoever sits in that seat must be well-rounded, savvy and realistic. He knows the commissioners are looking for economic development and infrastructure projects and he thinks environmental interests may have better prospects piggybacking on such projects. “I think the projects that are going to get through are the ones that get the most bang for the buck—I’ve been around enough politicians to know that’s how they think,” Varazo said. “You’ve gotta convince these people. If you can’t think like them and you can’t walk the walk and talk the talk, good luck with getting an environmental project through.” The Emerald Coastkeepers did not consult with other area environmental groups when choosing a nominee—“we just did our own in-house thing”—and Varazo said he wasn’t keen on the commissioners’ instructions that local groups collectively select a representative. “Their formula’s intent is to get someone the environmental community is behind,” he said. “My concern is that may not be the guy that can get your project done—just because there’s a person that’s liked by everyone in the environmental community does not mean you’re gonna get your project through.” Members of the environmental community, meanwhile, expressed concern about the Emerald Coastkeepers. “I don’t know if I actually would discuss it with them,” said Gutierrez, when asked if any of the groups she’s involved with had conferred with the organization about the county’s committee. “They have not really done much for this area.” Hobbs, who said she is no longer involved with the organization, wasn’t any more encouraging. “The only thing I’ve heard out of them this past year is coming out in support of having dogs on the beach,” the former coastkeeper said. Albrecht is more direct. “I’m just not getting a warm-fuzzy,” she said of the group. The BFA president raised concerns about Coastkeepers at-time inactive past and said the addition of Varazo—with his governmental experience and county ties— was not a good sign. Earlier this year, the Emerald Coastkeepers appeared adrift. There offices had been closed, phones turned off. A spokesman with the WHEN: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7 broader organization—Waterkeeper WHERE: County Central Office, 3363 W. Park Alliance—said the local chapter was Place non-operational. DETAILS: Escambia County Community and This fall, Varazo entered the Environment Department, 595-4988 scene preaching the gospel of collaboration, the importance of
RESTORE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, ENVIRONMENTAL SEAT SELECTION
January 03, 2013
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