Blaise takes us on a wild ride

Hey, it’s Wednesday, so let’s talk a little politics.

I usually would be writing about politics at the Citrus County Fair. The political organizations and candidates are stationed in the Jacobs Building. Everyone looked chipper when we chatted during a very busy Tuesday night. Let’s see how they’re doing by Saturday afternoon.

Real life politics showed up Tuesday, so we’re going to get into that.

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Two items:

— CFO Blaise Ingoglia said Citrus County’s budget is $39 million more than it should be.
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— Board Chair Diana Finegan picked up two prominent endorsements and will probably get more. The weirdness is the endorsements come from prominent Republicans in a Republican primary. That rarely happens and often produces mixed results in a tight race.

Let’s start with our old friend, Blaise. He’s touring the state alleging massive mismanagement on the part of local governments. 

Blaise had a press conference Tuesday morning at the Realtors Association of Citrus County, where the Republican Executive Committee meets. Friendly gathering, plus a few press persons and one blogger.

Why local governments shake when Ingoglia shows up is anyone’s guess. It’s the politics of the day, folks. Bullying, embarrassing, ridiculing…and yet our own county commissioners nod along. It’s like that famous line from Animal House: “Thank you sir, can I have another?”

The number purposely cannot be ignored — $39 million wasted? My gosh, who can we string up first? Someone call the governor! Let’s get the recount started (can’t do that here, but it doesn’t stop people from trying). It is just so unfair. Thank goodness we have a CFO who truly cares.

Horse feathers. I’m not discounting the number, but that’s not the purpose of Blaise’s expose. If it was, state and local governments would work strategically to reduce government costs to citizens, and spotlight obvious waste.

Nope, this had nothing to do with accountability. It’s pure dog-and-pony show. I mean…he doesn’t even alert the county government of the audit findings before announcing them to the world. The purpose is to build mistrust in our local political leaders. It’s to divide, not unite.

Worse, it gives permission to those who buy into that nonsense to swing wildly for the fences. When politicians make universal statements — 10 percent cut across the board! — with no understanding of what that actually means, mistakes happen. Good programs that benefit citizens are eliminated. Employees with unmeasurable value are tossed aside as useless "bureaucrats." The county infrastructure falls into disrepair.

Expect an earful about this during Tuesday’s board meeting. Should be interesting to see where this goes.

Now, the County Commission District 2 race. Sen. Ralph Massullo and U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis both endorsed Chair Diana Finegan in her re-election campaign, which as of now, has just one opponent in Stacey Worthington.

I’m not so surprised to see Bilirakis and Massullo support Finegan. What’s surprising is that they’re making public endorsements in a highly contested Republican primary.

Um…that just doesn’t happen. Elected Republicans never EVER take sides in primaries. Unless the candidates are total opposites — not the case here — top Republicans avoid the fray. The only time I see it is to ward off potential opponents. Again, not the issue here.

I’m sure others will follow. I expected Blaise to toss out a, “Hey while I’m here, vote for Diana” line Tuesday, but he didn’t. (Though I read that he spoke on Diana’s behalf at her campaign kickoff Tuesday night.)

The weird thing is Stacey is no outsider to Citrus County politics. She’s past president of the Chamber of Commerce and participates in Legislative Days. She seems fairly connected and community focused. 

Endorsements are risk-reward. They come from people and groups that know how to get things done. The risk is those relationships might alienate ordinary voters. I mean…Congressman Gus is OK popular in Citrus County but not crazy popular. 

Still, usually candidates who poo-poo endorsements are the ones not getting them. Stacey says it’s about the local voters, and I’d expect her to say that. These are some big names backing Diana. Voters will notice, one way or the other.

Politics kept me away from the Citrus County Fair for Seniors Day. I blame Blaise. Someone should do an audit.

Have an awesome Wednesday, friends.

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