Finegan hasn't proven her mettle

And that’s why Commissioner Diana Finegan’s border resolution should fail.

The photo. I’m referring to the photo.
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It’s our Commissioner Finegan happily smiling with her good friend Jeff Atwater, the former Florida chief financial officer turned consultant whose clients want a car wash/storage unit in Lecanto.

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And it’s my biggest concern with Commissioner Finegan, that she will get caught up in rubbing elbows with big political names and forget us back home.

How else to explain such a serious lack of common sense?

Finegan posted the photo with Atwater on her Facebook page, along with several others from an event at Mar-a-Lago. Numerous people sent them to me before Thanksgiving.

“While in the area…so happy to see my friend Jeff Atwater,” she wrote.

Atwater may be her old friend, but he also represents a company that wants Citrus County land-use decisions in its favor. As I’ve written here numerous times, land-use rules forbid commissioners from meeting with either side while the case is pending.

Just so happens the car wash/storage unit plan is on Tuesday’s board agenda.

I’m sure Finegan would say she and Atwater never discussed the Lecanto Tidal Wave car wash, thereby making the encounter nothing but a friendly chat. And I would believe her. But it taints the process and puts the other commissioners in an uncomfortable spot, not of their doing.

But it draws a much larger issue. Simply, where are Finegan’s loyalties?

The County Commission has its organizational meeting Tuesday, meaning Finegan and Commissioner Rebecca Bays have been in office for one year. 

During that time, Finegan has produced two minor initiatives. Just two.

I wanted to make sure, so I reviewed each agenda over the last 12 months. The only item other than a letter of support for a Department of Energy grant for Sumter Electric Cooperative was a procedural move to place the Halls River Road multi-use path project with the Department of Transportation.

Oh, yeah, one other thing: the border resolution on Tuesday’s agenda.

That’s it. One year in office and very little initiative. Extremely little.

I’m certainly not the first to question Finegan’s loyalty to the cause, though I’ve held off doing so. I reviewed Sunday what I’ve written about Finegan since she took office. It’s been rather complimentary. 

In April Just Wright Citrus pointed out that Finegan asks good questions, makes suggestions, and helps find compromise. I stick with that observation today. Finegan is a very good one of five board members.

But when it comes to bringing fresh ideas to the table, well, you see what I see.

And that’s why Commissioners Ruthie Davis Schlabach and Holly Davis shouldn’t give Finegan a pass on the border resolution.

I point out Commissioners Davis and Schlabach, in particular, because they can vote to kill this thing. Commissioner Jeff Kinnard already said he’d support it (and I’ve mentioned the political logic for that) and Commissioner Rebecca Bays is a hard no.

Simply, Finegan hasn’t earned this vote. 

One more thing about Atwater, Finegan and Mar-a-Lago: It’s fine showing off your connections but by golly, you should be coming home with a sewer project in your purse or wallet. That’s what those friendships are for. 

— I refrained from commenting on County Administrator Steve Howard’s pay raise because I don’t think it’s my business to say how much money someone should earn.

But I did have two questions about the process, and I’m surprised no one brought these up.

First, supposedly former Commissioner Ron Kitchen Jr., who negotiated Howard’s contract, suggested a six-month pay review, and Howard decided to wait until now to ask.

I’d like to know a little more about that. I can’t imagine any commissioner, let alone Kitchen, promising something that only the full board can deliver. Why are we just hearing about this? Seems like that would be discussed at contract time, right?

So that’s my first question.

The second revolves around commissioners saying they’d hate to see Howard go. Um…was that a possibility? Was he making noises about leaving without a pay raise after less than a year on the job? Or are commissioners simply making that assumption?

County administrator is a hard job, and I’m sure Howard earns every dime. 

That pay-raise process was a head-scratcher, though. Just sayin’.

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