Candidate: Graham Fountain

Commissioner Graham W. Fountain was elected to his first term on November 8, 2016, and was selected by the board to serve as Chairman and Vice-chairman during his first term of office.   Commissioner Fountain is a man of faith and keeps his commitments; he followed through with his plan to restore trust in government, support good law enforcement, provide open and transparent BCC business, keeping taxes low and reasonable, fighting to keep God in our county business, constitutional rights protected at all levels of government, and obtaining a bigger piece of the taxes we pay in from DC and Tallahassee at home for infrastructure projects and public safety. It’s real simple….promised made and promises kept!

Graham is a retired state and local law enforcement executive, seasoned executive and legislative advocate, businessman, and public policy expert. As a former Okaloosa County Undersheriff and state agency head, Graham has managed all aspects of operational, administrative, and support programs delivering services to the public. He has served over three decades in the public and private sector working in the administrations of Governor Jeb Bush, Florida CFOs Gen. Robert Milligan and Tom Gallagher, Okaloosa Sheriff Larry Gilbert and Walton Sheriff Mike Adkinson. 

He served as Commissioner on the Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission, Commissioner on the Florida State Historical Commission, and member of both US Department of Justice and Florida Homeland Security Advisory Councils.  During his career, Graham has managed over 1 billion dollars in budgets and work capital project programs dollars and has provided leadership to thousands of employees. While serving as the Director (Colonel) of Law Enforcement for the Florida Department of Transportation, Graham served on the department’s executive committee and was involved in the delivery of statewide transportation projects and programs. Graham has regularly appeared before county commissions, state legislature, and congress presenting bills, providing expert testimony, and advocating for the people. In the private sector, Graham has owned and operated two consulting firms, a retail sales outlet, a professional dental practice, and managed family real-estate holdings and rental properties.

For his work in managing complex, capital projects, Graham was selected for the prestigious “Leader of the Year Award” at the Florida Department of Transportation. He directed a statewide build out of state-of-the-art commercial vehicle inspection facilities and law enforcement and communications operations centers, gained evaluable experience in road and bridge projects, building construction, emergency communications, and information technologies. He served for 7 years as Co-Chair of the state law enforcement radio system (SLERS) helping provide policy guidance on the 300 million dollar project state-wide. He also served on the ESF-16 support function in the state emergency operations center making decisions on emergency management operations during activations and out-of-state deployments.

A well-known fighter for fiscal responsibility and  detecting economic crimes, Graham was awarded the “Davis Productivity Award” for his leadership in a statewide investigation into predatory lending practices of title and check loan businesses. While Financial Investigations Chief for Florida CFO Bob Milligan, Graham directed the state’s fiscal integrity program which identified and investigated waste, fraud, and abuse in state and local agencies receiving public funds. Graham has a passion for local community service; serving on the Crestview Historical Preservation Board, Board of Directors for the Safe-Connections/Judge Ben Gordon Houses, President of the Big Red Machine Alumni Association, and the Emerald Coast Children Advocacy Center.

Fountain holds a Bachelor‘s Degree in Criminal Justice/Political Science from Troy State University and received his Master’s Degree in Management and Leadership Studies from Liberty University Graduate School of Business. He is a graduate of the American Association of Highway Safety and Transportation Officials’ Executive Leadership Academy, Florida Criminal Justice Executive Institute’s Chief Executive Program at Florida State University, The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Glynco, and over 3000 hours of advanced training in accreditation, quality assurance/organizational excellence systems, leadership and management, homeland security, emergency management, and public safety.

Graham is married to his childhood sweetheart Felicia Adams Fountain and they are both Okaloosa County natives. Their Fountain and Adams families have been in north Okaloosa and Walton Counties since the late 1800s and have been involved in various businesses including timber, land development, farming and cattle production, coastal properties, marina/hotels, fishing and diving services, gas and oil dealerships, and a profession dental office.

Commissioner Fountain has enjoyed being the county commissioner for district-1 and has been honored to serve the citizens and visitors of Okaloosa County. Together, we have begun a historic transportation capacity campaign, kept our faith and ethical conduct front and center, protected your 2nd amendment rights and allowed county workers to be armed to protect themselves and the public, kept taxes the lowest in the state, and developed a world-class leadership team in the county departments.