Counting on Crystal River politics

Mindi Hastings wins the right-place, right-time award.

Mindi is a Crystal River resident who wants to improve her community. She’s volunteered for city boards and is generally the kind of resident any community would want.

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Last August, when the City Council was making an appointment to fill the late Pat Fitzpatrick’s vacancy, Mindi put her name in the hat. The council chose Ken Frink, who had just resigned as city manager due to his marriage to Councilwoman Cindi (Guy) Frink.

The appointment was until a special election in March. Frink, as expected, filed to run. So did Mindi.

I met with Mindi last week for a Cattle Dog chat. She was very eager for the race and to participate in the election process. She realized the uphill challenge of opposing a more known name, but reasoned the experience would, if nothing else, prepare her to run in November if she chose.

Well.

Frink tossed Crystal River politics a curveball Tuesday by announcing he was dropping the City Council bid and instead will run for School Board.

That means Mindi Hastings, as Frink’s lone opponent, will be elected without opposition. She’ll take office in March.

Some thoughts:

— Gotta give Ken and Cindi Frink credit. They recognized the awkwardness of sitting on the City Council together. If citizens believe these two votes act as one, well, it’s just hard to remove that perception once it’s planted. 

It was going to come up in this special election even in a nice way. Ken didn’t want Cindi to endure the question. He married Cindi because he’s crazy in love with her, not because he wants to set policy together.

— The School Board is an odd choice for Ken. He has county government experience, and County Commission would seem the more logical move. However, no way Ken would go up against Commissioner Jeff Kinnard.

I’ll need to do the research to see the last time someone was elected to the School Board who didn’t have school connections. The five current members all have school experience in some way, even as a parent of school-aged kids.


—Lost in all this is Ginger Bryant’s decision not to run again after six terms. Can you believe that? Six terms on the School Board.

Other than her first run, when she defeated the incumbent after getting in the race at the last minute, Ginger hadn’t faced opposition until 2020.

She won rather easily, but at some point, it’s time to bid farewell. Not that I would know.


— Two weeks ago, no one was talking about either of these races. Most folks didn’t know about the special city election. Frink’s entry into the School Board race helps increase its visibility. That’s no shot at the other candidates; just a reality.

— On the Just Wright Citrus Facebook post Tuesday morning announcing the news, I called this a “huge” story. That’s my enthusiasm for small-town politics showing through. I love this stuff.

— Enough politics, onto something important: Buddy update. First off, thanks for all the nice comments. Buddy had a good Tuesday, and we’re still trying to figure one another out. (As I'm editing this, he's lying on the floor right behind my chair. Yeah, that's cool.)

The blood test results came back from the vet, and without violating Buddy’s HIPPA rights, I’ll just say it’s a good thing our paths crossed. Neglecting the basic health of a dog…I just don’t get it.

Cute as he is, Deb and I still had to make a call. I advocated for Buddy, and Deb was non-committal, or so I thought. Turns out, Deb already ordered Buddy’s bed from Amazon.

Looks like we have an addition to the family.

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