Rep. Matt Gaetz said fee-simple bill is dead at Pensacola town hall

Jim Little
Pensacola News Journal

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz said any federal legislation to change how land ownership works on Pensacola Beach and Santa Rosa Island is dead.

During a Pensacola town hall on Saturday at Brew Ha Ha restaurant, Gaetz took questions from a standing-room-only crowd of supporters and opposition by randomly drawing numbers from a bucket. 

One of the first people whose number was drawn was Dianne Krumel, organizer of Save Pensacola Beach.

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She asked Gaetz where he stood on fee-simple in the wake of the Escambia County referendum where more than 80% of voters supported policy against selling an unleased land on the island.

"As a consequence of a lot of the advocacy that you led and that others led in the area, I have lost this argument with the people of this district," Gaetz said. "I know that, and I have no intention of re-filing this legislation because I do not believe that it will get a hearing in the Senate. And I do not believe that I have been successful of convincing people that double-taxing folks on the beach is unfair."

In his first term, Gaetz sponsored a bill that would overturn the 1947 federal deed agreement that gave the whole island to Escambia County and replace the complex lease system that has evolved in the years since with fee-simple title.

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The bill passed the House of Representatives but died in the Senate.

"So, you win some, you lose some," Gaetz said. "And for the folks out on the beach, it's my assessment that we'll probably keep things how they are."

The town hall was one of three Gaetz held on Saturday as part of his "Won't Back Down" town hall tour. Gaetz held a town hall in Navarre on Saturday morning and left Pensacola for another town hall in Defuniak Springs.

Talking to members of the press after the event, Gaetz blamed the News Journal's opinion section the failure of the fee-simple bill.

Congressman Matt Gaetz speaks to the crowd Saturday, June 1, 2019, during his “Won’t Back Down” town hall meeting at Brew Ha Ha restaurant in Pensacola.

"I surrender to the lies of the Pensacola News Journal's opinion pages," Gaetz said. "The opinion pages of the Pensacola News Journal reflected things that were inaccurate, and the people bought it. And I'm on to the next issue."

While Gaetz was inside taking questions, a group of protesters had gathered outside and led chants during the entire town hall event.

Lilly Eubanks, chairwoman of the Escambia County Democratic Party, was among the protesters and said before the meeting the group had gathered to protest Gaetz's positions from gun control to his stance fee-simple on Pensacola Beach.

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"Everything that comes out of his mouth is an embarrassment to us," Eubanks said.

A group of people in the middle of the audience had brought sheets of paper with "agree" and "disagree." Throughout most of Gaetz remarks Saturday, the group held up the sheets that said "disagree" except for when Gaetz spoke about his position on climate change.

Although most questioners during the Pensacola town hall said they supported Gaetz and the job he was doing in Washington D.C., one questioner asked him why he had embarrassed his district by asking Manuel Oliver — whose son, Joaquin Oliver, was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — to be removed for a disruptive outburst during a House Judiciary Committee meeting in February.

Gaetz defended his actions saying he didn't know who the man was at the time and he began his outburst as a woman was testifying in support of allowing students with concealed carry permits to carry guns on college campus. Gaetz said the witness had been raped on her college campus.

"Directly behind her was this very large man who stood up and started screaming at me and pointed his finger at me," Gaetz said. "I saw her become afraid and concerned. Victims of sexual violence can sometimes be triggered by someone kind of in an overbearing way operating outside the normal agreed upon rules. So, after the third time, when this man stood up, and I didn't know him from Adam. I didn't know why he was there, but I knew this was disruptive conduct."

Gaetz rejected the idea he had embarrassed the district.

Protesters hold up signs while Congressman Matt Gaetz speaks to the crowd Saturday, June 1, 2019, during his “Won’t Back Down” town hall meeting at Brew Ha Ha restaurant in Pensacola.

"I don't believe I embarrassed our district," Gaetz said. "I think I did the right thing, and I would do it again."

Despite the few clashes during the town hall, the idea of the lack of unity in American politics was brought up at several points.

"Let me confess I can do better in that regard," Gaetz said. "There are times when I get a little snippy up there in Washington, where maybe I need to put down the Twitter machine for a moment."

Gaetz said he believes any move to impeach President Donald Trump will only add to the division, and said he believes there are individual ideas which he thinks Congress could make progress on if they worked together.

"I think we need to look for discrete examples where members of different political parties have the ability to work together to advance our common goals," Gaetz said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.