 The other day I cleaned my desk.
It’s one of the things I do when I start feeling a little squirrely, or, as my friend Josh Wooten calls me, “paranoid.” The other is to go hide for a few days but that option doesn’t really exist with Just Wright Citrus, whose no-vacation policy was somehow overlooked while reviewing the company personnel handbook.  Here’s a fun Thursday question:
Should the county buy Scott Adams’ new two-story faux brick office building in downtown Inverness? County Administrator Steve Howard thinks it’s worth considering, though Adams’ asking price of $2 million is certainly eye-catching.  For someone who barely passed math in school, I sure have a fascination for numbers.
Which means the annual Temperature Check is right up my alley. The Chamber of Commerce conducts this survey to get an idea where business folks stand politically. Is the county headed in the right direction? Do people generally view locally elected people in a favorable or unfavorable light?  One of those days when I roll out of bed at 6:45 a.m. with a great blog idea for that night, and the next thing it’s 12 hours later and I’m staring at an empty screen.
So, three topics today, in order:  Confession time: I was never a big fan of Crystal River.
It always seemed rudderless — local government and citizens constantly belittling one another, council members sniping publicly, silly politics forcing regular turnover in the manager’s position.  Mike note: I realize Father’s Day is a week off but there’s a time element to today's blog, which goes a little longer than usual.
My dad story: I grew up in a family of six kids, with me checking in at No. 4. Mom and Dad were loving parents and we had a fairly traditional life in the Detroit suburbs. I went away to college and then to my first job right after graduation in Big Rapids, four hours north of home.  Citrus County Chronicle photo. This week brought two kicks to the community gut and both left deep scars.
First on Tuesday, when County Commission Chairman Ruthie Davis Schlabach shared her breast cancer diagnosis from the dais.  County commission meetings rarely surprise.
A vote may go a little different than I’m thinking but most have an ebb and flow. So, when commission Chairman Ruthie Davis Schlabach on Tuesday told a hushed room she had breast cancer, I immediately shook to the core.  Those of us who have called Citrus County home for more than a few years are nervously watching the landscape change.
That could be literal — a car wash where trees once stood — or something a little more esoteric. We feel a transition but can’t quite put our finger on it.  Writing Friday about my childhood friend Jeff brought back some high school memories.
I wasn’t exactly a straight-A student. I struggled socially and in the classroom, and I had a particular disdain for homework. Especially Sunday night homework. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years. 
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