 One blog won’t cut it from Tuesday’s bizarre County Commission discussion that led to the unanimous vote to interview four people for county administrator.
It wasn’t an enthusiastic unanimous vote. More like a beat-down from Chairman Ron Kitchen Jr. that Commissioners Holly Davis and Ruthie Davis Schlabach eventually gave in to.  So…I’ve been working on this theme for a blog about Ron Kitchen Jr.: Best politician. Worst commissioner.
Best politician in that he really, really, REALLY knows how to play the game. No one is better than Kitchen at reading the room and finding the votes he needs.  Bill Hunter would have enjoyed today’s County Commission meeting.
It’s a light agenda with one heavy hitter item — deciding who gets interviews for county administrator. I’d already be in my seat by 12:30, half an hour before gavel time, and we’d make sure to spend a few minutes chatting about how the day might go.  Let’s start off this week talking about integrity in politics.
You’ll see by our photo that I’m referring specifically to Commissioners Holly Davis and Ruthie Davis Schlabach. Maybe it’s because I am aging and that the line between right and wrong is clearer, but I have less interest in a politician’s politics than I am with his or her values.  Attended the County Commission budget public hearing Thursday evening, because that’s what I do.
The public part of these meetings is usually somewhat predictable. When taxes are going up, folks complain. When they are kept in line, the public tends to stay home content.  It is customary in Citrus County government, and likely elsewhere, to invite newly elected commissioners to drop in for a briefing before taking office.
These meetings with top county brass bring incoming commissioners up to speed about the major goings on. When the two new commissioners are sworn in on Nov. 22, the idea goes that they’ll be ready to join the discussion.  What’s that you say? You want to read even MORE about Citrus County roads than we covered in Tuesday’s blog?
Happy to oblige. Commissioners received an email from the Florida Department of Transportation alerting them the U.S. 41 widening in Inverness is starting soon.  It’s true I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed but I cannot figure out the county’s residential road resurfacing program.
It seems pretty basic. The roads are rated on a 1-to-10 scale, with 10 being the worst. Anything with a 7 or higher meets the criteria for resurfacing.  Two totally unrelated subjects on my mind heading into the Labor Day weekend that I’ll forget if I don’t write about them now.
(Sometimes the thinking behind these blogs really is that simple.) Subject one: Don’t mess with Floral City heritage. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years. 
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