First of two parts. It’s Feb. 1 and you know what that means. Actually, you don’t. So I’ll spill it: 35 years! February marks 35 years since I moved to Citrus County from Big Rapids, Michigan (the only Big Rapids in the United States). They know nothing about the road, where it’s going or how it gets there. They know nothing of the cost. Or whether houses will be plowed under, or businesses, or farm land. Thought I’d end a week of moral high-ground preaching with a little humble pie. If Gerry Mulligan is reading and sees the photo, he’s shaking his head because he knows what’s coming. NOTE: This post incorrectly said the leaders summit is at CF. The meeting is at the Lecanto Government Building. I apologize for the error, and it's been corrected. It's a big Friday in Lecanto. First at 9 a.m. is the “summit”, a gathering of the four local elected policy boards — county commission, city councils and school board --- at the Lecanto Government Building. At 10 a.m., the College of Central Florida will have a ceremony naming Building C-4, otherwise known as the Learning Conference Center, as the Charles S. Dean Sr. Educational Center. Monday was a day of milestones here at Just Wright Citrus world headquarters. I reached 1,400 Facebook followers. And I banned my first reader, which means I awoke Tuesday with 1,399 Facebook followers. Might as well get this over with. John Murphy knows Citrus County politics nearly as well as anyone. He knows the players, he knows the history. Because Citrus County commissioners don’t have enough on their plate, they now will search for a new county administrator. Randy Oliver announced his resignation Friday, but he presented it to commissioners as a transition plan instead of outright retirement. It was a fitting end to two days of full-court press in Tallahassee. Here was Commissioner Ruthie Schlabach, saying of Wilton Simpson, the Senate president, leading candidate to become next agriculture commissioner: You know in those old movies how the writer is stuck and keeps ripping sheets of paper out of the typewriter, crinkling it up and tossing it to an overflowing wastebasket? I’ve been doing the laptop version of that for the last hour. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. Archives
October 2024
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