Meet Destin's First Mayor: McIlroy wants to ‘finish job' as he hopes for a ‘long honeymoon'

Editor’s Note: This story ran in the Jan. 12 1985 issue of The Destin Log.

The man who led the fight for incorporation now has the chance to “finish the job” by heading the city of Destin’s first government.

“I just hope and pray the people of Destin give us a long honeymoon to get established,” said Bob McIlroy, who was in Tuesday’s city election.

“Back 40 years ago, I saw a need for incorporation and recently we were successful,” McIlroy said during a post-election interview Thursday with the LOG.

“At that time I hadn’t thought past that point, but incorportion was just half the battle. I ran for mayor because I wanted to finish a job.”
Starting a government from scratch is “going to be a long, hard procedure. We’re starting with a population of 8,000 with a $500 million tax base and a lot of problems. There’s so much to be done at once,” he said.

Establishing good relations with the county and the state government are top priorities on McIlroy’s list.

“We’re going to have to take it one step at a time,” he said. The county has promised Destin additional deputies in the spring and “we plan to hold them to that promise,” he said.

The Destin charter describes the mayor as a “figurehead,” and McIlroy, 69, says he’s “content” with the way the charter reads.

“I believe the mayor can be as strong as he wants with the consent of the council, but it would be a mutual agreement,” he said.

As for working relations with council members, it would be a “day-to-day developing relationship. There are many tasks to be done, and I’m willing to help them in any way.

“In return, I would expect from them a very close, cooperative and friendly relationship,” he said.

One of the first things the council members should look into “very quickly” is finding a solution to the building permits that were put on hold during the transition period, McIlroy stressed.

As for first-year goals, McIlroy plans to establish such administrative operations as finding city hall office space; tax structure; setting up committees and putting volunteers in place; acquiring legal council, a certified public accountant and city manager.

“If we can do all that in one year, we’ve done a fine job,” McIlroy said.

He emphasized  that finding a city manager will be hard. He personally is looking for someone who has school training for the job, experience and is preferrably between the ages of 35 and 40.

After the first year, “I visualize a city with a strong government with zoning laws that will be enforced. One that will work closely with the chamber. A government that will have good law enforcement and the answers to traffic congestion; a government that is working in harmony with the county and state,” he said. However, “we are going to have to walk before we run.

“I hope the people of Destin have patience and volunteer their services. We’ve had got a lot of good people in Destin,” he said.

McIlroy pointed out that during last week’s League of Women Voters’ forum, “everybody was for Destin and it was wonderful. I think we are off to a strong beginning with a unified spirit that hope will continue to prevail.”

During the forum, one of the questions dealt with the Destin Airport. McIlroy said Thursday, “I don’t have the expertise to say what needs to be done at the airport. I know the people are concerned about the noise level and the lengthening of the runway. I feel we need to get an unbiased expert to give us an opinion.”

As for community services such as Destin Water Users and Destin Fire Department, McIlroy said, “I think it’s great they are seperate.

However, we should work very closely ... hand in glove with them.

“All the groups are looking at the same problems for the same answers,” he said.