Finding my way to the right lane

Been a while since I perused a County Commission agenda. Or even a County Commission meeting, for that matter.

I attended December’s board meeting, but I didn’t really feel all that engaged. In fact, sitting here right now, I can’t recall a single thing that occurred. No strike against the government; my mental state couldn't absorb it.

It harkened me back about 10 years to my dad’s passing, and how I didn’t really feel normal again until sitting in my seat at the County Commission meeting. Same one as today…back row, far left, where I can plug in the laptop.

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So, let’s take a look at the agenda. The board meets at 1 p.m. today.

— The county’s antiquated cell phone texting policy is about to change. I’m simplifying the process, but the new regs will allow commissioners and county employees to receive and send text messages on their county-issued cell phones.

Part of this is simply practical. The other is to shore up public records requests. Text messages about county business are public records, whether they’re on an official phone or the commissioner’s own personal phone. The message itself determines whether it’s a public record, not the device where it appears.

By the way, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I had something to do with the current policy in place. Memory is fuzzy, but there was some big issue going on and a commissioner was texting about it with citizens. Someone got hold of the texts and publicized them. I wrote a story, and the administration’s response was to stop texting on county phones.

That was fine until the last few years, when texting became more universal than phone calls and more convenient than emails. We’ve seen a spate of records requests for texts on commissioners’ private phones; hence, the new policy.

— The City of Crystal River is seeking $500,000 in tourist tax funds for the King’s Bay Riverwalk project.

We love Crystal River, so we’re going to be nice, right? But my gosh, this project has gone on forever. Lots of reasons for that. But, seriously, let's move this one into the win column. 

— Interesting item on Commissioner Jeff Kinnard’s agenda about the county administrator performance reviews.

Funny, but I hadn’t even thought of that. Steve Howard’s been on the job four years and never had a public job review.

It’s always a little, um, edgy when it comes to commissioners evaluating the administrator. It’s never really clear whether these should be in public before the full board, or privately between individual commissioners and the administrator.

There are schools of thought on both approaches. Commissioners are often professionals in real life, so they’d prefer not to drag out performance reviews publicly. 

That process, however, excludes the public.

This administrator, unlike any of his predecessors, has very little public interaction with commissioners. He rarely speaks during board meetings, and it's difficult at times to determine how exactly this relationship works.

On the other hand, yikes, public reviews can get ugly in a hurry. You get one or two commissioners with an ax to grind, and off we go.

Looking forward to that conversation.

— Kinnard also would like the county to seek state funding to widen C.R. 491 between Pine Ridge Boulevard and Hampshire.

That certainly seems like a smart move, right? Though, not sure why we’d stop at Hampshire. Another half mile north is Deltona, a major entry into the growing section of Citrus Springs.

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Cross every t, dot every i, have the conversation fully in public, and DO NOT try to pull one over on us. If the Tuscany Ranch developer is getting one iota of benefit from this road project, we need to know about it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, by the way. I just want all the cards on the table.

(And for what it's worth: Hampshire's biggest problem isn't the width of 491. It's that intersection. I drove past and saw it stacked up seven vehicles behind a semi trying to turn left. I guess a traffic signal is in the works. Let's hope it's the fastest traffic signal the county has ever installed.)

It's commission-meeting Tuesday. You know where to find me.

Have a great one, friends.

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