 Learned a long time back not to write about things I know nothing about.
Sgt. Kyle Lovelady, the soldier in today’s photo, changed my mind for one day. I’ll return to him in a minute. It's the Fourth of July week. It’s fireworks, burgers on the grill, plenty of red, white, and blue, and the general happiness that accompanies our nation’s birthday bash.  Hey, it’s July 4th week, so let’s celebrate civic involvement.
Folks are getting citizen feedback for a potential referendum on the 2026 ballot to raise the sales tax from 6 cents on the dollar to 7 cents. That extra penny would bring Citrus County tens of millions of dollars for potential projects. The Chamber of Commerce took on the role of receiving community feedback. It conducted four sparsely attended town hall meetings, and now has the matter online for folks to participate virtually.  Someone asked me recently what I do in my spare time.
I stared at her for a moment. “That’s a good question,” I responded, and then didn’t really give an answer. It’s not that I don’t have spare time. I just don’t have much of it. The blog consumes practically the entire day. I’m always researching online, texting with a source, having Cattle Dog chats with community leaders, or on the road traveling the byways of Citrus County.  It’s Wednesday, so let’s have a little Q-and-A.
This is the specialized JWC feature where I talk to myself. I ask the questions, I provide the answers. It’s like a typical evening at the World Headquarters. Let’s get to it:  OK, this one is weird.
Weird enough for me to push off a County Commission blog for a day. So weird that I drove from Inverness to Homosassa on Monday afternoon to get a picture of something that isn’t there.  Welcome to no-frills Monday.
Wish I could start the week off with something a little more glamorous (!), but it’s your basic, run-of-the-mill County Commission advance. During the course of my journalism career, I’ve written, oh, approximately 6 million of these. I know, that number is crazy. Probably on the low side.  Ending the week with a little bit of this, a little bit of that…
— Club Recovery of Citrus County has an open house at noon Saturday at the Old Schoolhouse Community Center. This project is one of those under-the-radar big deals. Very quietly, Club Recovery and the county agreed on a five-year lease to create a community center at the Historic Hernando School, 2415 N. Florida Ave.  Mike note: Today’s blog is approved for publication by my esteemed attorney, Michael Kovach Jr.
These things always start innocently enough. Before going there, a word about the Just Wright Citrus photo selection process. Most photos are generated by me, clearly. I have the market cornered on photos of buildings, parking lots, and signs. Oh, and I’m really good at taking photos from the rear, so we see the backs of heads at a County Commission meeting.  This is where we are with public anxiety about development in Citrus County.
County Commissioners are receiving a steady stream of emails from folks in Connell Lake Estates, commonly called Lakeside. Lakeside is a golf club, 157 acres in the middle of a beautiful, well-kept neighborhood north of Inverness. The golf course closed in May.  Hey, it’s Tuesday. Let’s talk about the sales tax idea.
Through no fault of the folks who are organizing these town hall meetings, the turnout so far is, um, being nice about it, well below expectations. Forty to 50 the first night. Thirty the second night. Thursday is the third town hall, this one in Homosassa. I’m hoping for more, but no expectations. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years. 
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