 After painstaking research, dozens of interviews and a lucky break here and there, I am finally able to reveal the source of Citrus County’s growth issues:
You. And me.  Here’s a conversation starter:
The next section of the Suncoast Parkway to County Road 486 is expected to begin construction soon and will take about two years.  “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” — Doc Brown to Marty McFly.
Not sure where Doc was headed, but it sure wasn’t Citrus County. We need roads. Not necessarily new roads, but at least an overhaul of the roads we have.  If ever there was a place that showcases its best during a festival, Crystal River is that town.
This weekend is the annual Manatee Festival, which you can bet will mean big crowds on both sides of U.S. 19 in the Citrus Avenue area.  Betz Farm sure gets a lot of attention for something that never even existed.
That northeast section near Crystal River would look a lot different today had the Tamposi family, who owned the 350 acres, followed through with plans for a good-size development of 1,500 homes and condos.  It’s Wednesday so let’s talk about our two new county commissioners.
I tend not to make rash calls on freshman commissioners this early in the process. Even with some of the more newsmaking commissioners of yesteryear, it often takes a few months to see which direction they’re headed.  One of the peculiarities of this blog business is accepting that not every piece will be a winner.
Some blogs have a few thousand pairs of eyes on them. Others, like Monday’s, scarcely a few hundred. Obviously the goal is to have people read the blog and comment on it. This is of no use if it’s just me barking into the wind.  We start off this week with a little chat about conflicts of interest.
It’s not unusual at all for county commissioners to occasionally find themselves in a conflict of interest, forcing them to sit out a vote. I can’t remember it ever happening with a commissioner who's been in office less than two months.  A pair of notes to wrap up this first week of 2023:
— Many years ago, in another lifetime, I was editor of a small weekly in northern Michigan, the Lake County Star. I was just a few years out of college and this was my first editor gig, so I wanted to do it right.  When it comes to government spending our tax dollars, most opinions fall into one of two categories:
Spend it on this. Don’t spend it on that. Commissioners aren’t dumb. They know there’s a finite number of dollars to spend and it’s their job to do so wisely. So I had a little chuckle the other day when I saw an email to the county from a resident whose idea of government spending included removing feral cats from her neighborhood. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. 
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