 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.  Happy Monday! Today I want to talk a little about fulfilling campaign promises.
You may have heard we had a rather contested race for sheriff last year. The prior officeholder was somewhat of a lightning rod in the things he said and did. Before going there, some context about the Citrus Coffee Coalition.  The Lu story always chokes me up.
Whenever I speak to a group about my reporter/blog experiences, someone usually asks about my favorite stories. I have a few over the decades. Stories of goofy politicians, or investigative reporting where wrongdoing is exposed.  The County Commission could use some Dennis Damato wisdom right now.
Damato, a three-term commissioner who died in 2022, had a well-earned reputation for common sense and leadership. He was the least political politician I’ve ever known. Dennis wasn’t interested in rhetoric or wasted words. His colleagues listened when Dennis spoke.  OK, I’m just gonna be honest: I’m whupped.
Tuesday was one of those long government days. Meeting in the morning, meeting in the afternoon, and a couple of bill signings with local flavor that grabbed my attention. I started to write the blog at 8 p.m. Bunny asleep at my feet. Never a good idea to get into anything deep when my brain is filled with government mush, so we’re going to skim the surface... — The Citrus County School District has a new logo! From the press release:  Back in my newspaper days, we had these things called deadlines.
This was way before Al Gore invented the internet. Folks got their news from TV, radio, and newspapers. Citrus County was a newspaper town. Morning newspapers. That meant nighttime stories had been written and edited in time to make production deadlines, so that your Chronicle would be waiting before daybreak.  Good Monday morning, friends.
A moment of silence for Lu the hippo, who died Sunday. We were roughly the same age. I'm trying not to think much about that. I'll have more on Lu later this week. Today, we're going to talk a little about the Inverness Airport and the shabby treatment of fixed-based operator Andy Chan. Chan owns Right Rudder Aviation. Since 2018, he has run the airport on the county's behalf. He's two years into a five-year lease extension.  Happy Friday! Here’s a question:
Read any good books lately? I ask because about six weeks ago, Judith Worthington invited me to her “DeSoto Street Little Free Library” kickoff in Beverly Hills.  Happy Thursday!
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it 5,000 times (or not): Hey Mike, what’s up with commission email? I’m a big fan of public email. BIG fan. It was 20 years ago, or so, when I was working on an investigative piece about a youth residential treatment facility in Beverly Hills that was constantly in trouble with state regulators. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years. 
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