Walton County Commission rejects defunding Economic Development Alliance

In Brief:

💼 Commissioner Curry’s motion to defund the EDA failed for lack of a second.
🏗️ Supporters say the EDA has brought grants and major employers like Amazon; critics cite poor return on investment.
🤝 Board directs Curry to meet with stakeholders to assess performance before making funding decisions.

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DEFUNAIK SPRINGS — A move to defund Walton County’s Economic Development Alliance stalled Tuesday after commissioners instead agreed to have Commissioner Dan Curry meet with the EDA board and other stakeholders to examine concerns and potential improvements.

Curry’s original motion to “defund the current EDA as it stands” and direct staff to return with an alternative in-house or other model failed for lack of a second. He argued the county’s long-term investment had produced a poor return.

“We’ve spent almost $6 million on those 90 jobs over 16 years,” Curry said. “Our average is five jobs per year at a cost of almost $60,000 per job. That number is probably closer to $75,000 to $80,000 per job spent.”

“To me, I don’t know what person, after 16 years of giving this kind of money and that kind of return on their money, would continue to stay with that status quo,” Curry said.

Curry criticized specific projects, including the Woodlawn Industrial Park, saying the county will “be a million in the hole” after land sales are complete and noting the site lacks natural gas and three-phase power. He also questioned whether the EDA’s priorities matched the county’s needs.

An agenda item report prepared ahead of the meeting listed the county’s current EDA contribution at $485,080.91 for fiscal 2025, with smaller per-capita contributions from DeFuniak Springs, Freeport, and Paxton.

The request for 2026 is $421,840 from the county, plus municipal contributions. Curry noted Paxton’s share, about $3,364, as an unnecessary expense given the city’s small budget and limited benefit from the EDA.

During the discussion, Curry remarked that Paxton “doesn’t have a pot or a window to throw it out of” when referencing the small city’s annual EDA contribution.

In a video posted the following day, Curry said the phrase referred only to Paxton’s limited municipal budget and was not meant as an insult.

“My statement was… referencing their budget, their municipality’s budget, because that budget is low,” Curry said in the video on his social media page. “I still feel that they shouldn’t have to pay the $3,500–$4,000 they pay to be on the EDA when they’re getting nothing in return from what I see. If I offended anybody, I apologize… poor taste of words, and again, I apologize.”

Commissioner Brad Drake countered Curry’s defunding proposal with a substitute motion calling for Curry to meet with EDA stakeholders, private investors, and school officials to determine “what hasn’t worked in the past and what could potentially work in the future” before dismantling the program.

“If you believe in an economic development organization, if you believe it should exist, why are you wanting to get rid of it?” Drake asked.

Commissioner Tony Anderson backed Drake’s approach, saying, “If they are fixable, let’s fix them, and let’s go from there.”

Commissioner Danny Glidewell opposed an in-house model, citing confidentiality concerns.

“With all due respect, the least confidential organization in Walton County is Walton County government, so that ain’t going to work,” Glidewell said. He credited the EDA with securing an $850,000 grant for the Bailey Road site and helping attract Amazon to Mossy Head, which he said will bring about 250 jobs.

“It is, at best, premature to try to kill [the EDA],” Glidewell said. “If that $485,000 or $440,000 in the next budget goes away, the EDA is dead. If we do away with that funding… that organization is dead on arrival, period.”

Curry pressed back, questioning why his district had not seen significant job gains after years of investment. Glidewell acknowledged the frustration but stressed economic development “just takes time,” citing other counties where major projects took a decade or more to finalize.

Anderson ultimately withdrew his motion in favor of an informal directive for Curry to meet with the EDA board “to figure out where it’s working, where it’s not working.”

Walton County Attorney Clay Adkinson cautioned against creating a potential Sunshine Law violation by placing multiple commissioners in those meetings.

The board then moved on to other business.