This, that, and the other thing on my mind riding in the car with Buddy… — A good reporter would tell you all the ins and outs of the County Commission’s new microphone system, but this good reporter is retired. All I know is we have one. It’s been an issue for some time at County Commission meetings. Hard to hear commissioners in the back of the room. Politics has entered the cratered streets of Inverness Villages 4. First, the news: The board, on a 3-2 vote Tuesday, killed an ordinance designed to require expensive stormwater collection systems for anyone in IV 4 who adds an “impervious surface” to their house. Typically, that’s concrete or rock. While that would stop new homes from pouring rainwater into the awful streets, it would also require the current residents to install the same expensive system if they wanted to add something like a pad for their generator. Today’s question: How are pickleball and COVID-19 related? Answer: They’re not. Caveat: Unless you’re the government. In the “do we ever stop and think” category comes the American Rescue Plan Act and Citrus County. Happy Monday! Let’s start the week with one of my least favorite subjects: Library Guy. John “Library Guy” Labriola is rousting his band of mighty minions to attend Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Library Advisory Board. We had another good week: marked 5,900 Facebook followers, with one post exceeding 130 comments. That’s a lot of chatter taking place right here. Most of it is the spirited back-and-forth readers have enjoyed at Just Wright Citrus for some time. The ideas I come up with when I don’t want to use a particular subject on Thursday because it’s better off next week… Just for giggles, I looked back at the April 2023 blogs to see what we were discussing a year ago. Here’s a sample: — A few blogs about attempts by Commissioner Rebecca Bays and numerous organizations to get a handle on mental health/addiction treatment in the county. I wrote about that a lot last year and while it’s a little bit off to the corner right now, Bays and her team set a foundation that will only grow. A funny thing happened at the Sam Himmel roast the other night. Himmel jabs of course. But she wasn’t the main attraction. The current sheriff was. Mike Prendergast wasn’t among the 300 or so who attended Saturday night’s event, but there was little doubt he was on their minds. In the early days following my Chronicle retirement, more than a few folks suggested political consulting as my next career. Certainly made sense. Over the course of covering Citrus County politics for 30-plus years, I’ve witnessed what works and what doesn’t. I’ve seen candidates win. More importantly, I’ve seen them lose. Those are not necessarily opposites. Some candidates are simply not going to win. Others, however, lose through unforced errors. Meanwhile, back on Betz Farm. Boy that thing sorta fell off the radar, didn’t it? Well, there’s been a development that we should discuss. A little perspective: Betz Farm, 350 acres on Turkey Oak across Crystal River High School, is county-owned land that never cost taxpayers a dime. You can tell I’m losing my edge when I come up with the lamest idea to mask that I really have no particular plan for today. “Whiner Friday.” That was the idea. I’d write 700 words whining about this and that. I hatched this act of brilliance driving home Thursday on S.R. 44 from Crystal River, while trying to dream up a blog topic to wrap around today’s photo of me in the Floral City Library. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. Archives
April 2024
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