Finegan shows who's in charge

Happy Wednesday!
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Strapped in? Here we go.

The sun rose on a good Tuesday last week for Commissioner Diana Finegan. She had one important stop that morning. The Lakes Region Library, which had undergone renovations the past few months, was having a grand reopening. Commissioners, other public officials, and library friends were all invited.

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Except…two pesky hurricanes put the library and all other non-essential projects on the side while county employees were sent on other more significant tasks. 

So, that morning, there was no grand opening. In fact, the library doors were closed. It hadn’t yet reopened.

County officials put the word out on Facebook so that patrons and library friends would know not to show up. They forgot to send the word out to the public officials, which, in hindsight, was fairly big on the oops scale.

But not this big.

Commissioner Finegan was incensed that officials canceled the reopening without notifying her. 

Rather than calmly address the situation, she fired off an insulting email to Library Director Adam Chang, which I received along with other emails I requested. In its entirety:

“You can imagine my embarrassment on behalf of Citrus County when other elected officials were asking me why the doors were locked at the Inverness library grand reopening ceremony. When I called Cheryl Stanton she explained that you canceled the event with her two minutes before it started. I can’t imagine any justifiable reason for you to do that, but even so, why weren’t YOU there explaining to your invited guests? As I stood with a city council member and a school board member, we watched people come and go in confusion.

I would ask for the future that you remember that your actions, or lack thereof, reflect on the county as a whole. Your blatant disregard for other people’s time and schedules is not appreciated.”

Both Chang and his boss, Community Services Director Eric Head, profusely apologized in emails to Finegan and other commissioners.

Head wrote: “We’re all extremely embarrassed that this occurred. Time is valuable and limited, so we very much take this issue to heart and will take the necessary steps to avoid any repeats in the future.”

All that because a commissioner has a rather high opinion of herself. A few points:

— The two other elected officials Finegan mentions were Inverness Councilwoman Linda Bega and School Board member Sandy Counts. I spoke with Sandy, who had no issue with the miscommunication. We’re a few days removed from back-to-back hurricanes. These things happen. That was her approach.

Most anyone would respond the same way. Life is pretty hectic around here right now. People are working long stressful hours. How can Finegan not see that?

— “You can imagine my embarrassment on behalf of Citrus County…” Finegan wrote. Give me a break. This is the Inverness library, not a visit to Mar-a-Lago. Get over yourself, Commissioner.

— The event was not canceled two minutes beforehand. 

— Commissioners being rude and abusive to the staff is bad enough, but in Citrus County, it’s also illegal.

Here’s a quick civics lesson about the County Commission: It speaks as one. Yes, there are five individual commissioners who vote, attend meetings, answer emails, help constituents, and all that. But on his/her own, each has no authority.

The only employees they collectively oversee are the administrator and attorney.

Because some commissioners over the years have sidestepped the administrator, the county now has a “non-interference” ordinance that forbids commissioners from reaching beyond the two people they employ. The pertinent part:

“Except for purposes of inquiry and information, members of the board are EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED (my emphasis) from interfering with the performance of the duties of any county employee who is under the direct or indirect supervisor of the county administrator by giving said employees instruction or directives.”

Doing so is considered “malfeasance.” There’s no actual penalty, though.

It’s up to Finegan’s colleagues to call her out. They’ve done it with past commissioners, and I hope they do it here, too. Commissioner Jeff Kinnard, in particular, is a stickler about stuff like this. As senior commissioner, he should be out in front.

— I’ll wrap up with this. We can’t have commissioners bullying the staff. Finegan taking a cheap shot at a county employee in the days following two hurricanes is incredibly selfish and tone-deaf. The other commissioners need to nip this in the bud.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, friends.

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