'We live in the best place possible': 10 Questions with Commissioner Paul Mixon, part 2

CRESTVIEW - In the first of a series of interviews with Okaloosa County community leaders, District One County Commissioner Paul Mixon agreed to sit with a reporter from the Northwest Florida Daily News to answer questions about issues affecting residents within his district and the county as a whole.

In Part One, Mixon talked about the Okaloosa County Jail, the county's efforts to acquire land from Eglin Air Force Base to use for attainable housing, housing prices, development at Shoal River Ranch and ongoing county budget discussions.

In Part Two of the 10-question interview, Mixon address topics such as the new Crestview bypass, his re-election campaign and the opioid problems affecting Northwest Florida.

Question #6 - Crestview Bypass

Since 2021, construction has been underway on the much-awaited Crestview bypass, with Phase 5 of the project beginning in October that year. While most of the project is taking place in Commissioner Nathan Boyles' district, impacts can be felt by residents in District 1.

"If you drive P.J. Adams every day, you probably feel like it is incredibly delayed; you're still hitting the same bump that you hit a year ago," Mixon said. "If you drive I-10, you see the progress that is happening. They are clearing trees, you can see asphalt on the north side, and lanes are shifting already. I can say it's a whole lot easier to see progress when you go through a 'virgin roadway build,' where it's just trees. You don't have to deal with any traffic or pedestrian traffic. You can clear the trees and start building.

"I would say (it's) at least two years out from being finished," he said. "Public Works Director Jason Autrey does a great job updating quarterly with new YouTube videos with some drone footage. That gives folks an opportunity to see the things that are happening."

Question #7 - Re-election campaign

In 2024, three seats will be coming up for re-election on the Okaloosa County Commission. In addition to Mixon, Commissioner Mel Ponder will be running for another term in District 5, while Boyles will not run because of term limits.

"Thanks for announcing that," he joked.

Mixon ran for his first term in 2020 and was one of three candidates for the open seat. He won with 54.3% of the votes cast. When asked about his next year's election, Mixon gave his first public statement on his upcoming re-election campaign.

"Look at the things I've done in this district," he said. "Let's get on board and continue our work. Thank you for trusting me because that's what this is when we take on anyone and elect them to a position; we're trusting them."

2023-24 Okaloosa County one step closer to finalizing upcoming budget

Question #8 - Surtax Projects

In July, the Okaloosa County Commission approved a $1.4 million transfer from surtax funds to help the county criminal justice system replace its aging data management and communication system.

In a previous referendum, all surtax funds were to be used for infrastructure and public safety. With Mixon having experience in law enforcement, he said it's vital for the county's public safety initiatives.

"It's a move toward allowing all public safety agencies to be able to communicate together," he said. "You can have a deputy arrest someone on the side of the road in Destin, and then that person goes to Fort Walton Beach for booking; their information is put in there. They get transported to Crestview to the jail; everything's put in again with a different system. Now they go to the courts, and everything's re-entered another time with a different system.

"This gives us a way of breaking down some of those barriers and allowing the agencies to save time and manpower."

Question #9 - Opioid Deaths

In July, State Attorney General Ashley Moody held a news conference in Pensacola to announce that Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties are the number one medical district in the state for opioid-related deaths.

"It's a huge problem, and we need to address it," Mixon said. "I know that these issues affect everyone, and we as a county have a responsibility to help."

Mixon said the county has partnered with neighboring counties to create a nonprofit organization called the District One Medical Examiner Service (D1MES). Mixon said Deputy County Administrator Craig Coffee is the Okaloosa County representative.

The idea behind the D1MES was to create a more transparent medical examiner's office, he said. The organization meets monthly to discuss various tactics to help curb opioid-related deaths and gather data to track the opioid problem so various law enforcement and medical professionals can better understand the opioid issues affecting Northwest Florida.

To further address this issue, Okaloosa County announced that throughout the month of September, the county will recognize "National Recovery Month" for the first time.

Question #10 - Message to Okaloosa County residents

"I believe we live in the best place possible," Mixon said. "We have open, transparent government practices. We have people who get along with each other for the most part as they make decisions. There's some healthy argument at times, but for the most part, we have some level-headed people in authority.

"Our commission is at a great place with some, with some folks of integrity serving, and I just generally feel like we are really blessed to be in this community. With the structure that we have right now, is there room for improvement? I'm sure there's room for improvement in everything.

"If I were to play a comparison game, there's nowhere else I would want to go besides right here."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: 10 Q's, part 2: Paul Mixon talks Crestview Bypass, surtax and opioids