From left, School Board District 3 opponents Diane Coleman and Carol Boston and District 5 candidates Tom Naile and Scott Peden listen to a question posed by moderator Jim Nitterauer during Monday night’s election forum at Calvary Chapel Church in Gulf Breeze. Pam Brannon/Gulf Breeze News Candidates for several races from school board to governor of Florida appeared and shared their opinions during Monday night’s election forum at Calvary Chapel Church.

The event, sponsored by the Gulf Breeze Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee, came less than a month before the Aug. 24 primary, which will set the stage for the Nov. 2 general election.

Candidates answered a series of public-submitted questions selected by the event committee. Some candidates are unopposed, while others will be non-partisan or write-in hopefuls in the general election.

Here are the candidates and races keenest on Santa Rosans’ minds:

School Board District 5

Note: Incumbent Ed Gray not on the ballot.)

¦ Tom Naile of Gulf Breeze – 29-year resident of Santa Rosa County; married 47 years with three children; active member of St. Ann Catholic Church, Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce, and Oriole Beach School Advisory Council. Served as cochair of the Little Red Schoolhouse project. Enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1958, rising to Lt. Commander before leaving the Navy in 1982.

¦ Scott Peden of Gulf Breeze - age 50, married with three children. Wife Renee Carr teaching at Gulf Breeze Elementary for 21 years. Career – 25 years in telecommunications industry, with 20 years experience in managing multi-million budgets.

When asked about the effectiveness of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and whether it should be discontinued:

Naile said accountability is important. “FCAT is the best standardized test we have right now, until we get a better test we need to use it.”

Peden said, “FCAT is the problem. It should be done away with. And the test is given 10 weeks before the end of the school year to help determine if students should be promoted – that is just nuts.”

School Board District 3

¦ Diane Coleman of Navarre, incumbent – age 43; married 26 years with three children; former teacher in Santa Rosa County Schools; business owner; member Board of Directors Florida School Board Association.; member Legislative Commission Florida Board of Education; this year’s local school board chair; member Santa Rosa School District Transportation & Safety Committee.

¦ Carol Boston of Navarre – age 45, military spouse, mother of two; substitute teacher in Santa Rosa County Schools; sales and marketing professional.

When asked about FCAT, Coleman said, “Accountability is something we need. FCAT has been an issue since it started. Having only one test for accountability is foolish – we need to come up with some end of course exams to better determine where students stand.”

Boston said, “I think there could be some better options than FCAT. Students should at least get to the end of the year before taking such a test like FCAT to determine if they will be promoted on what they have learned for an entire year.”

County Commission District 4

¦ Gordon Goodin of Navarre, incumbent, Republican – age 54; married to Santa Rosa County native/children in Santa Rosa schools; president/owner of Holley Dirt Company, Inc.

¦ Jim Melvin of Milton, Republican – age 65; retired USAF; retired certified public accountant

¦ Mark Goode of Navarre, Republican – age 41; 15 years military service U.S. Army and Army National Guard including Desert Storm/Desert Shield/Afghanistan; local law enforcement 12 years; on Board of Directors for Holley-Navarre Water System and Fairpoint Utility System.

¦ Ruth Esser of Midway (Gulf Breeze), Republican – age 48; married w/ 4 children and 5 grandchildren; business owner of Avalon Landing RV Park; owned and operated large construction company; physicians liaison for Baptist Hospital.

A new courthouse? Would surcharge fees on filings, etc., help fund a courthouse?

Melvin said, “I would support getting the state legislature to help us find a way to build a new courthouse. I am not in favor of increasing local taxes at this point in time. We would hope that Tallahassee could help us, but I don’t expect that to happen in reality.”

Goode said, “There are grants to do this. And we should sell the excess lands that Santa Rosa County owns. There is other funding out there besides taxes, and by selling the excess lands and identifying other funds available like from surcharges we could charge, we could build a new courthouse.”

Esser said, “We should definitely use surcharges on filings and such. I have experience in land development and construction, and for about $100,000 you could get a courthouse done from design and plans to building it if you built it on the same site it is now. We need a new courthouse.”

Goodin said, “Our funding comes from surcharges already that we charge for filings with the county. Our surcharges are already so high, we are getting reports from the county offices that people are not filing the different papers they are supposed to because in many cases they are claiming they cannot afford the filing fees. That will no cover the cost of a courthouse. Our research has found that nowadays it will cost in excess of $30 million to build a new courthouse, no matter where you build it. The only way to fund it is a one cent sales tax, and right now I can’t see that being viable. We put a band-aid behind the courthouse with what is being called ‘the trailer park’ that will hold us for 10 years while we figure out how to levy a one-cent sales tax and where we want to build it.”