Dear editor,
Is the city's leadership anti-church? No, of course not!
Does Destin Commons have a church located in the area? Does Cordova Mall have a church located in it?
Folks, if you want shopping, we need shopping districts with eateries and public facilities. The intent is to make Main Street a more vibrant retail area where people can dine, shop and be entertained.
Saturday’s paper gave us a classic example of an alarmist with doomsday comments: "religious persecution is finally knocking at Crestview's door" and "selling the city’s soul to the devil."
These make for wonderful headlines and to sweeten the pot, from all people, a preacher — to compound matters, the acting chaplain of the Crestview Police Department.
The irony? A fellow public servant has used their position in the religious community to make disparaging comments about the city leadership who are, by and large, Christians; with current and past members very active in their respective churches.
The current mayor (who had veto power over the offending ordinance) is very active in his church.
Same with the council members, who are Sunday school teachers, a deacon and serve other roles in their respective churches.
Brother Broadhead, in my estimation you have misused your position as a religious leader and have attempted to demonize fellow public servants.
I got a phone call Friday morning from a local preacher who took the time to privately voice their concern and work through the issues professionally and without being an alarmist.
Yes, there was some poor wording in the ordinance, with unintentional consequences. We’re human and we make mistakes; but it was nothing that was intentional and nothing that can’t be fixed.
Although I’m no longer on the council, much of this came through during my time on the council, so I made a few calls.
As of recently, the City Council enjoys a wonderful administrative assistant who was already on the matter.
My understanding is that the current city council will have a solution before them without all the fanfare.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet us.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: The irony? Crestview's Christian city leaders support Main Street plan