We’re introducing a new subject today at Just Wright Citrus, entitled: What to do about Mike’s vacation. All my adult life I've had a job that included some paid vacation. A week, two weeks, something to rest the gears a little before jumping back into the fray. The newspaper would get along just fine without me for a spell. Here at Just Wright Citrus we’re paid big money to ask the tough questions. Like this: What’s the deal with all these car washes springing up? Is this our new norm? Did Citrus County somehow land on the car wash map and now we’ll be known as the car wash capital? So, how was your Tuesday? This was how mine went: Phone died. Election Day is the biggest day of the year, so forgive me if you were near Big Lake Henderson on Tuesday morning and heard cries of panic coming from Just Wright Citrus World Headquarters. Emptying my brain of the 2022 election while Nicole whispers sweet nothings in my ear: — Writing about campaigns can get a little dicey because the stakes are so high. Candidates and their close supporters read every single word written about them or their opponents. Sometimes it’s not what they want to read and they react accordingly. Well, how about that Joe Faherty? And give it up for Crystal Lizanich. Citrus County had not one but two political newbies win their respective races over incumbents on Tuesday and both are well deserved. It’s Election Day and I have some thoughts. I write about politics for a living, and every two years we do this voting thing. Used to be fairly simple. People voted early, by mail, or on Election Day and that night, or at the latest the next day, we’d know who won and who didn’t. Voting is the best. What an incredible feeling to get that ballot and look at it, as if for the first time, taking the black felt pen and carefully filling in the little oval next to my selected candidates. All this politicking and we nearly failed to mark a momentous occasion. The county commission meets today (not Tuesday), and it’s the final meeting for Commissioners Scott Carnahan and Ron Kitchen Jr., and County Administrator Randy Oliver. Discovered something very interesting Thursday. I can drive and take notes at the same time. Not with one of those fancy recorder things, actual note taking on a reporter pad. It’s not something I plan to make a habit out of, but here’s the deal. I come up with a lot of blog ideas while out driving around, then promptly forget them two hours later when I’m in front of the computer. One of my favorite “Far Side” comics depicts a kid in class asking the teacher to be excused because “my brain is full.” Totally get it. Some days it’s 6 p.m. and not a single thread goes through my mind because it’s so crammed with this, that and the other thing or two. No candidate has a stranger Election Day than Diana Finegan. She should be Commissioner-elect Finegan by now, but because of some childish shenanigans from people who aren’t nearly as smart as they think, Finegan is on the Nov. 8 ballot against a no-party affiliation candidate that virtually everyone in the county concludes is a fake. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. Archives
April 2024
|