Capital city and county leaders gathered at the WFSU studio on May 7 to answer the community’s most pressing questions on hot local topics.
Elected leaders covered topics across the board, from the ongoing tensions between Leon County and the city of Tallahassee, the recent transfer of the local community hospital to Florida State, as well as the ongoing struggles with state and federal laws.
The annual town hall, hosted by The Village Square, is sponsored by the Tallahassee Democrat, Leadership Tallahassee and WFSU. This year marked the forum’s 14th year and also the chance for many sitting commissioners to have their stance on topics heard ahead of election season.
City Commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox – who arrived late – Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow, and County Commissioners David O’Keefe, Rick Minor, Nick Maddox and Carolyn Cummings all weighed in. Here are a few highlights:
County commissioners talk potential preemption of city ordinance and current local tensions
WFSU’s Tom Flanigan asked the county commission about a charter amendment to be featured on the upcoming 2026 ballot that would make county ordinances trump those of the city.
According to Cummings, while the city and county have always maintained a healthy relationship, the current state of affairs is in response to the fight over the fire service fee.
In September, the city commission voted 3–2 to terminate the fire service contract with the county after a contentious back and forth between the local governments over supposed raises to the fee by the city, which did not sit well with the county.
Though she said this issue would now be up to the voters, her colleagues had much more to say.
“Our county charter is a constitutional document. It is not meant to be changed based on current difficulties at a snapshot in time. It’s meant to be looking for generational issues and change and I think, currently, our disagreements come from a short term collection of personalities,” O’Keefe said.
When asked the same question, city commissioners also were in agreement with O’Keefe.
“We really just need to bring our two bodies back together in more collegial fashion, because I think largely people who live in the county don’t want to have the same rules as people who live in the city,” Matlow said.
Added Minor: “I think a lot of the consolidation angst that’s out there amongst the public is derived from this sort of disagreement … I predict in the coming months, the city and county will get back to the negotiating table with clear eyes.”
City commissioners look back on recent TMH transfer
City commissioners were asked to consider their recent vote to transfer the city’s publicly owned hospital, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, to FSU.
Under terms of the sale, the university will pay the city $109 million for the assets over a 30-year period, while FSU will invest $100 million in existing hospital facilities and another $150 million on the newly branded FSU Health. The university also has “aspirational plans” to invest $1.7 billion in healthcare improvements, contingent upon legislative appropriations and state and federal grants.
Commissioners voted 3–2 to transfer city-owned hospital assets to the university, which will see TMH, a nonprofit community hospital, transform over time into the newly minted FSU Health. That vote fell along the usual lines: Mayor John Dailey and City Commissioners Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson voted yes; Commissioners Matlow and Porter were no’s.
“It was a transaction that included money being exchanged for city services that could be used for city services. I assessed it that the process took at least a year and all the I’s were dotted, all the T’s were crossed. We were very transparent,” Williams-Cox said.
Williams-Cox was so confident in her decision when asked during a later portion of the forum what her favorite vote was, she chose TMH.
Porter had a much different take: “I don’t even know how we can say that our I’s were dotted and our T’s were crossed when the transaction took place before FSU and TMH even finalized their agreements with each other. I don’t even think to this day that’s been quite finalized.
“… I think this all started not from direction from the commission, not from a desire to the community, but from a private conversation between the city manager, the mayor and the FSU president,” she continued. “I think many things about the process could have been different that could have led us to a different outcome or just more community involvement.”
Matlow echoed Porter’s sentiments claiming the transfer was “probably the most opaque process and the largest betrayal of public trust.” He also spoke of the uncertainty of what FSU and TMH’s partnership will look like.
“We don’t know what the future of that medical center will look like because TMH and FSU never had time to come up with a plan, so we haven’t seen a plan that talks to any specific specialty that may come out of this. There’s not even an agreement between TMH and FSU to operate an academic medical center,” Matlow said.
City and county talk impacts of new state laws
All commissioners were on the same page when it came to ever-changing laws, many of which will impact existing city and county services. One worry is the uncertainty of property taxes; the Legislature still has yet to finalize the 2026-27 state budget and convene a special session possibly to develop a plan to do away with the taxes that fund much of Florida local government.
Depending on how the issue goes, it’s likely the city and county could lose a significant chunk of money in their own budgets. That could lead to cuts to parks and recreation and other services.
O’Keefe has warned of a parade of possible horribles: library branches could close, there could be slower EMS times, elimination of mosquito control, cuts to road work and sidewalk safety, and no more free sandbags for residents during storms.
Also in question is the future of the Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) and the work done as part of the Minority, Women & Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) Division, overseen by Deputy Director Darryl Jones.
Legislation passed this year that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2027, bars counties and municipalities from “funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI. And local officials who violate the law could face suspension.
“I was the commissioner that fought for us to make sure that we had a MWSBE program,” Maddox said. “There was an option of a SBE (small business enterprise) program but I thought better for the key programs we had and it’s been successful.
“It may look different the way we help our small businesses, but our small businesses are the fabric of our community, and we will continue at Leon County to have a program that focuses on help our small businesses stay afloat,” he added.
O’Keefe, on the other hand, said more could be done than just simply complying, explaining a vote he will take at the commission meeting on May 12. “I actually am going to vote against … wiping away our MWSBE program … This (state) law that goes against our values,” he said.
“We ought to be making sure we comb through every page and every word and every sentence of this overbearing legislation that we only scale back what is required.”
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Town hall: Commissioners talk TMH, property taxes, more at forum
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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