Making the case for former Franklin County Extension Director Bill Mahan

Bill Mahan

The news circulating about Bill Mahan, Franklin County Extension Director’s reassignment to neighboring Bay County has been troubling to say the least; especially given the current situation the people of Franklin County is facing with the recent collapse of the oyster industry.

Bill has a Master’s Degree in Natural Resources, a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology, and his specialty is in the field of fisheries biology.  During the last 20-years he has been extensively involved with the Franklin County seafood community through episodes of red tide, preventing potential vibrio outbreaks, the BP oil spill and now this latest crisis that has crippled our economy and has the potential to threaten our very existence. 

Bill is widely known throughout the county for coordinating through the extension office the annual Tropicana speaking contest for our students, and he has always been readily available to give advice about all aspects of gardening, bugs, composting and the likes.   

Having served together with Bill on several boards and committees, including the Franklin County Black Bear Initiative, Franklin Promise Coalition Board of Directors and serving on his Extension Office Advisory Committee, I have learned first-hand that he loves Franklin County, its people and his work. He has always provided service to the people of this community with a smile and a hardy laugh when called upon to lend a helping hand.  

Given his extensive involvement throughout the community and especially his help through the years with our failing seafood industry, it's not hard to understand why I personally find it troubling that his supervisor Pete Vergot, Director with the University of Florida IFAS Extension Program would abruptly remove him from Franklin County and reassign him to another county in the middle of a crisis that directly relates to his field of expertise. To me that’s equivalent to replacing your cardiologist with your podiatrist in the middle of heart surgery.

But what's most troubling about the whole episode are the vagueness of Vergot’s comment, "It is a personnel issue..." and the lack of any inquiry at all from our county officials as reported in the November 6, online edition of the Apalachicola Times.  

Simply put, given Bill’s 20-years of dedicated service to the people of Franklin County he deserves better and the people of Franklin County also deserve better.  Unless there's some sort of underlying hidden political agenda, I for one am calling upon the powers that be at the University of Florida Extension Program to make it right and without hesitation reinstate Bill Mahan to his Franklin County post.

Van W. Johnson, Sr., Mayor

The Historic City of Apalachicola