By JEFFREY POWELL  

Approximately 20 citizens concerned with Walton County’s future attended a vision planning meeting at the Freeport Community Center on June 18. The meeting, spearheaded by Walton County Commissioner Sara Comander, was intended to allow citizens their input concerning future economic development in the area. Thursday’s meeting was the first of several such gatherings to be held in the upcoming months.
“This is a subject that is close to our hearts,” said Comander. “Public involvement shapes a vision plan in that the core of the plan must be what the community jointly identifies as its shared values and purpose, which translates into qualitative aspects of what the community should look like socially, economically and environmentally in 10 to 20 years.”
Northwest Florida State College (NFSC) Vice-President Dr. David Goetsch lead the attendees in a discussion of what they thought were the positive and negative aspects of the county and how to address those issues in the future. Many of those in attendance participated in the discussion.
Goetsch and Comander invited citizens to participate in a vision plan survey so that everyone’s voice can be heard. That survey can be found on the Walton County Web site.
“This is a broad-based approach to conducting future business in Walton County,” said Walton County Senior Planner Jason Bryan. “It is also an effort to enhance transparency in local government and intergovernmental relations among the cities of the county.”
The next visioning meeting will be on July 30, at 6 p.m. at the Freeport Community Center.
Jeffrey Powell can be contacted at jeffrey@defuniakherald.com