Panama City Commissioners Zoom To Fix Phones, Slips, And Snafus On First Virtual Workshop

June 23, 2025

by Janet Pattison

PANAMA CITY, FL - On June 16, 2025 the Panama City Commission held a virtual workshop to discuss improving city services, focusing on communication, documentation, and infrastructure.

Commissioners Hughes, Street, Lucas, and Granger, along with Mayor Branch, addressed the need for consistent departmental responses through standardized checklists and canned replies, inspired by other cities’ practices. They explored a call center model, similar to the tax collector’s office, to streamline citizen inquiries, citing issues with unanswered calls, particularly in water billing.

The group also discussed the Downtown Marina project, aiming to build 200 slips with City Marina Partners (CMP) within 60 days, while navigating uplands development constraints with St. Joe’s first right of refusal.

Water billing disputes were raised, proposing forgiveness for estimated billing errors due to faulty city-owned meters, with a policy vote planned. Staff was tasked with reviewing phone system data, exploring a 311 service, and naming future workshops, scheduled for the first and third Mondays monthly.

Watch the meeting here:

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