Finegan-Wooten hits the low spot

Florida Politics image

First up, we have to name it.

The political craziness of last week is going to have plenty of life in the coming weeks. Think 491 mess with video.

So, we need a name. I thought of it carefully (ha!) over the weekend and came up with this:

The “Finegan-Wooten meeting.” Finegan-Wooten for short. Fin-Woo if you’re in a hurry.

---

County Commission Chair Diana Finegan and Chamber President/CEO Josh Wooten managed in one afternoon to plunge our community into political turmoil. Both say they’re right, both have friends accusing the other of wrongdoing, and both claim vindication.

The political fallout is just starting. Districts 2 and 4 County Commission races are suddenly in wild flux. One guy says he’s running as a write-in for District 2. Another candidate, whose name is familiar, not in a good way, is now in the District 4 race.

I'm taking no sides. Both Finegan and Wooten are placing political egos before the community's best interest. From a political standpoint, here’s how I see it:

— While Finegan could have done much better as Chair, Wooten started this mess. It’s just another testy County Commission meeting before the Chamber of Commerce got involved.

— The video of Finegan yelling at Wooten during his altercation with a citizen, partially heard off camera, is truly cringeworthy. The Chair simply can’t do that. (I’m going to come back to this in a minute.)

— The episode will likely affect in some fashion both re-election campaigns for Finegan and Commissioner Rebecca Bays. During an already messy meeting, they squared off about campaign contributions (a totally inappropriate discussion on their parts). Not their finest moments. Voters have taken notice.

— Stacey Worthington is now on challenging political ground, as well. Wooten has made it crystal clear that she is his candidate over Finegan. If Wooten continues his divisive posture vs. Finegan, that places Worthington in a very tough spot with voters.

— No idea what it means for Holli Herndon in District 4. Herndon better be on the ball with what’s taking place, cuz voters are much more tuned into the County Commission today than they were a week ago.

— Having said that, I will not be surprised to see more candidates, especially in District 2. That’s the Homosassa-Sugarmill Woods corner of the county. Finegan is the incumbent; Worthington is, so far, the lone challenger. Voters would welcome another viable candidate in that race.

(The problem is timing. Ballot qualifying is in three weeks. The perfect candidate is one with enough name recognition to immediately be a decent choice against two candidates who are well ahead in every respect. No pressure.)

— Finally, I want to get ahead of something. Wooten said during the Board meeting that commissioners should remove Finegan as chair, and I’ve seen that repeated online by some of his friends the last few days.

Straight up: That’s a junk move by people for the SOLE PURPOSE of discrediting Finegan during an election year. It's cheap politics and has no place in the County Commission chambers.

Yes, the meeting was unruly. And, yes, Finegan should have gotten a better handle on it. And some of her statements were over the top.

However, the same has happened with each commissioner during his/her stint as chairmen. Every so often, there’s a full-moon meeting when citizens are howling at commissioners and commissioners are sniping at one another. That’s not a reason to fire the chairman.

I watched the salient points of Tuesday’s meeting. Other than one time, when Bays protested after a citizen dragged her name into the data center debate, commissioners never said a word.

That tells me it's one of three things. They didn’t see any reason to interfere with the way Finegan was running the meeting; or they didn’t want to get involved; or they knew she was sinking and let her sink.

I’d give equal weight to all three possibilities. Bays, Holly Davis, and Jeff Kinnard, the board’s senior commissioners, could have helped. They chose to stay silent.

Plus, it’s not like the County Commission regularly disciplines its own. For these commissioners to turn around and lay into Finegan would take political hypocrisy to a whole other level.

That said, a Board conversation is appropriate. We can’t have out-of-control meetings. No cheering, no applauding, no booing. And NO POLITICKING! Be respectful of the room.

Let's be clear. The decorum that day is solely on Finegan as chairman. Taking ownership for her side in all this, without blaming another soul, would certainly go a long way toward mending fences with colleagues, and with citizens who say this only proves she's not mature enough for the job. 

As to whether Commissioner Diana Finegan is deserving of four more years or not, voters in August will decide. I'm truly not understanding this rush to create havoc in May.

Thanks to Finegan-Wooten, the political season received a jolt no one saw coming. Looks like some people are spoiling for a fight. Glad they’re happy.

Have a great Monday, friends.

​Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon.