Latest news with #AllanBranch
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Panama City welcomes new leaders in inauguration ceremony
PANAMA CITY, Fla (WMBB) – Panama City is welcoming new leadership: Mayor Allan Branch, Ward One Commissioner Robbie Hughes and Ward Four Commissioner Josh Street were all sworn into office on Wednesday. City, county, and state leaders all attended the inauguration ceremony and offered support to the trio. Hughes and Branch are both Panama City natives and talked about how they're excited to begin serving their hometowns in a different way. Lynn Haven Elementary School students celebrate last day of school with a water play day 'You can love something and acknowledge that there's challenges and hurdles and there's flaws in it. Since Hurricane Michael, my goodness, we've come so far, the progress we've made. We've challenged ourselves. We've got progress happening in certain parts of the city, we need that to echo in the rest of Panama City. You can be proud of yourself, but not satisfied,' Mayor Allan Branch said. 'I'm not going to try to worry about saving my seat for the next–I'm not going to make a decision for four years from now. That doesn't matter. This is a job. A seat's a seat. I'm here to serve you guys. And I promise you every day you lay your head on the pillow, just know that I have done everything that I can possible, in working with this team and City Hall and staff to make the quality of life better in Panama City,' Ward 1 Commissioner Robbie Hughes said. The new commission's first meeting will be June 10. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tourism Appreciation Month kicks off, TDC funding threats loom
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Bay County officials are excited about a number of events they have planned for Tourism Appreciation Month. However, they can't ignore the state legislative threats looming over the local destination marketing industry. House bills 7033 and 1221 would force 75% of tourist development tax revenue to be used to implement local property tax cuts. That's the money the TDC uses to fund tourism promotion and marketing, and build and maintain tourism facilities. It could even dissolve local tourist development councils. 'The TDC, we focus on how we continue to support tourism in bay county, I mean it's a 3.1-billion-dollar industry, and without destination marketing, the number of visitors who come to Panama City Beach every year and across Bay County would likely go down,' Bay County TDC executive director Dan Rowe said. Not only do local marketing efforts increase tourism, but they also influence the demographics of visitors. Mayor-elect Allan Branch talks future of Panama City Bay County's TDC helped PCB move away from the spring break reputation. 'Panama City Beach is a great place to go 12 months out of the year. We started this, you know, 15 years ago just to make sure that we were marketing it on a year-round basis, so we have less need for business, college spring break business, quite frankly, because the revenues were coming other times of the year,' Rowe said. The TDC also helps fund major local events like Beach Home for the holidays, the New Year's Eve Beach Ball Drop, UNwineD, Mardi Gras, and more. House members have already passed House Bills 7033 and 1221, which would require voters to renew bed taxes every eight years. The Senate is still debating its two companion bills, 7034 and 1664. Visit Panama City Beach is hosting tourism appreciation day next Wednesday at the county Panama City's event is Monday at 11:00 at the Panama City Marina. Both events are free and open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Who won? Which races are headed to runoffs? Municipal election results in Bay County
PANAMA CITY — Local voters took to the polls on April 22 for the 2025 municipal elections in Bay County. As of about 7:30 p.m., the unofficial results for the elections were listed on the Bay County Supervisor of Elections Office website. Here's what we know: Mayor − Allan Branch defeated incumbent Michael Rohan. Branch secured 4,150 votes, or about 69%, while Rohan secured 1,851 votes, or almost 31%. Ward 1 commissioner − Since no candidate received at least 51% of votes, a runoff race is required to decide this election. Robbie Hughes secured 1,130 votes, or almost 46%, while Daniel Schultz secured 689 votes, or about 28%, and Ed Young secured 638 votes, or almost 26%. Ward 4 commissioner − Incumbent Josh Street defeated Demetrius Rease. Street secured 842 votes, or almost 70%, while Rease secured 366 votes, or about 30%. Beach Drive non-binding referendum − Almost 53%, or 3,151 residents, voted in favor of the referendum, while about 47%, or 2,820 residents, voted against the referendum. Seat 3 commissioner − Incumbent Jamie Warrick defeated Johnnie Beshearse. Warrick secured 1,786 votes, or about 62%, while Beshearse secured 1,088 votes, or almost 38%. Seat 4 commissioner − Since no candidate received at least 51% of votes, a runoff race is required to decide this election. Judy Tinder secured 1,413 votes, or about 49%, while Jeff Snyder secured 796 votes, or almost 28%, and Jamie Marler secured 659 votes, or almost 23%. Non-binding referendum regarding re-establishment of city library − Almost 20%, or 570 residents, voted in favor of the referendum, while about 80%, or 2,304 residents voted against the referendum. Non-binding referendum regarding a regional library partnership − Almost 66%, or 1,893 residents, voted in favor of the referendum, while about 34%, or 985 residents, voted against the referendum. Non-binding referendum regarding creation of city zoning map − About 45%, or 1,289 residents, voted in favor of the referendum, while almost 55%, or 1,556 residents, voted against the referendum. Group 2 City Council member − Erik Fosshage defeated Gary Cox. Fosshage secured 178 votes, or almost 60%, while Cox secured 120 votes, or about 40%. According to the unofficial voter turnout listed on the Bay County Supervisor of Elections Office website, 9,242 residents cast ballots in the 2025 municipal elections in Bay County. There also were six provisional ballots cast. About 23% of the 40,037 eligible voters participated in the elections. Of those, 1,714 residents voted by mail, 3,611 residents voted early, and 3,911 residents voted on Elections Day. Votes were divided between 5,780 registered Republicans, 2,267 Democrats 1,009 non-affiliated voters and 186 voters categorized as "other." Local development: Panama City working to establish grocery store in Glenwood, Millville areas For more information on the election, visit This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Unofficial results of the 2025 municipal elections in Bay County
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Attention voters: Early voting open until Friday for 2025 municipal elections in Bay County
PANAMA CITY ― Residents now can cast ballots for the 2025 municipal elections in Bay County. According to the Bay County Supervisor of Election's website, early voting began Monday for local elections at two locations: The Lynn Haven Senior Center, 905 Pennsylvania Ave.; and Panama City City Hall, 501 Harrison Ave. Registered voters can cast ballots at either early voting site until Friday. They are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, more than 300 residents already had voted early, the website said. There are 135,541 registered votes in Bay County. They are split between 76,312 Republicans, 26,332 Democrats and 32,897 voters categorized as "others." Following early voting, election day will be held April 22. Unlike during early voting, those who wait until election day to cast ballots must do so at their designated voting sites, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They are: Lynn Haven Senior Center − 905 Pennsylvania Ave. First Baptist Church of Mexico Beach − 823 15th St. Panama City City Hall (Ward 1) − 501 Harrison Ave. A.D. Harris Learning Village (Ward 2) − 819 E. 11th St. Mathison Retirement Community (Ward 3) − 3637 W. Highway 390 Frank Nelson Building (Ward 4) − 4201 W. 22nd St. Panama City, Lynn Haven, Parker and Mexico Beach all have offices up for election. Offices up for election in Panama City are mayor, Ward 1 commissioner and Ward 4 commissioner. Incumbent Michael Rohan and Allan Branch are running for mayor. Robbie Hughes, Daniel Schultz and Edward Young are running for Ward 1 commissioner. Incumbent Josh Street and Demetrius Rease are running for Ward 4 commissioner. Offices up for election in Lynn Haven are Seat 3 commissioner and Seat 4 commissioner. Incumbent Jamie Warrick and Johnnie Beshearse are running for Seat 3 commissioner. Judy Tinder, Jeff Snyder and Jamie Marler are running for Seat 4 commissioner. Offices up for election in Parker are mayor, Seat 1 council member and Seat 3 council member. All three Parker races have unopposed candidates. They are incumbent Andrew Kelly for mayor, incumbent Ron Chaple for Seat 1 council member and incumbent Katy Bodiford for Seat 3 council member. Offices up for election in Mexico Beach are mayor, Group 2 council member and Group 3 council member. Two of the three Mexico Beach races have unopposed candidates. Incumbent Richard Wolff is running unopposed for mayor, Gary Cox and Erik Fosshage are running for Group 2 council member, and incumbent Linda Hamilton is running unopposed for Group 3 council member. More on the elections: Panama City creates Q&A on controversial West Beach Drive multi-use sidewalk project For more information on the election, visit This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Early voting open until Friday for 2025 Bay County municipal elections
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Panama City Mayor: 'You caught me, you're right.'
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — The words 'To restore fiscal sanity and end political cronyism,' close out Panama City Mayor 'Doc' Rohan's most recent campaigning endeavor. 'Political cronyism means the good old boys. We have a good old boy network here in town and the good old boys have been running this place for a long time and they're running it for their benefit,' said Panama City Mayor Michael 'Doc' Rohan. The letter lists several scenarios Rohan believes to be examples of financial Martin theatre, the marina, the Beach Drive referendum and the fire assessment fees are just a few topics Rohan covered. 'Panama City is real; we're not bankrupt, but we're pretty close. We're pretty close to running out of money. The reason we're not doing well is two reasons. We're spending too much money, as my letter would talk about Chestnut, where we spent over $1,000,000 for a piece of property that we didn't need. And we don't really have any economic development here in town. Since I've been the mayor for two years, we've had no economic development whatsoever,' said Rohan. In addition to citing reckless spending, Rohan calls out his opponent Allan Branch with allegations of using public property for personal gain. While the literature is packed with content, there seems to have been an oversight. One that appears to break Florida law. The Florida Division of Elections mandates that any political advertisement that is paid for by a candidate must prominently state 'political advertisement paid for and approved by' the candidates name. 'I don't know for sure. If I didn't do it, I guess I didn't know. I think that is a probably generally an accepted good idea. So you caught me, you're right. Maybe it being a paid political advertisement that I put out. Yeah, I guess it should have that on there,' said Rohan. Rohan says he paid for the letter to go out to around 5,000 Panama City residents. His opponent Allan Branch says he plans to respond by Tuesday night. 'He's the one that has the misinformation and is slandering people. He didn't even put paid for by Doc Rohan on the letters. He's the one that's not following the rules. Anyone who's seeking the truth can look in the property appraiser website and see the purchase records of the properties I own,' said Panama City Mayoral Candidate Allan Branch. The letter's return address is 'Doge 2.0' and lists a PO box with a Panama City zip code. Rohan admits he set-up 'Doge 2.0' to solicit information about possible wastes of taxpayer money. The letter claims to have the endorsement of a local group called the Republican Liberty Caucus. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
