 Happy Easter Monday! Have a refreshing weekend? I did, and now we’re raring to go on our new favorite subject. The 491 mess. That’s what I’m calling it from here on out: the 491 mess. It’s not really an issue, and I don’t think it’s reached scandal stage. Although we could get there if certain people keep pretending it never happened. I spent the entire Easter week not mentioning the 491 mess, but I sure heard about it from folks. Not a day went by when someone on one side of this debate or the other didn’t give me an earful.
Despite what you may be reading elsewhere, this isn’t a made-up issue. We’re not looking for trouble. There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things, and this was the wrong, wrong, wrong way. Quick recap: A lobbyist for the Tuscany Ranch developer arranged with Commission Chair Rebecca Bays and County Administrator Steve Howard to seek a $3 million legislative appropriation for design to widen C.R. 491, which runs the length of the proposed lagoon development. All this was done outside the sunshine and kept under wraps. Nearly everyone — including other commissioners and county staffers — heard about it from my blog. Citizens are not happy. When commissioners had a chance to rectify the situation by holding accountable those responsible at a public board meeting, they instead passed. Everyone got the wet noodle treatment. And now Commissioner Diana Finegan comes to the rescue. Finegan has two proposed ordinances on the Tuesday board agenda designed to reduce cozy relationships between developers and county commissioners. I’ll get to the details in a minute. First, though, the elephant in the room: Diana Finegan is NOT the County Commission’s moral officer. I can’t think of a more hypocritical situation than Commissioner Finegan lecturing commissioners on the right way to govern. Two years into office, Finegan hasn’t shown an ounce of leadership on any issue of significance. This is the commissioner who brought us the border resolution. This is the commissioner who bragged about her association with a lobbyist for a car wash developer. And, just a few months ago, this commissioner referred to me and Just Wright Citrus readers as “un-American” because we dared to oppose the crazy idea of renaming the Cross Florida Barge Canal in order to pacify politicians. So, while I guess someone had to take the reins here, Finegan’s credibility on political morality is iffy at best. She could come clean on her own behavior. Something like this: “Commissioners, I didn’t realize how inappropriate it was for me to pal around with the Tidal Wave lobbyist while their application was still pending. Now that I see someone else essentially doing the same thing, I truly regret my actions. These ordinances will keep all of us in line.” Without it, or something like that, her proposals seem shallow and have an opportunistic feel to them. If Finegan truly wants reform in how commissioners conduct public business, she should set an example. Her proposed ordinances:
Second one is in line with the 2018 constitutional amendment that restricts lobbying on behalf of former elected officials. While the amendment says a county commissioner may not lobby his former board for six years, experts told me this needs an ordinance to apply locally. As for the first one, we wouldn’t be in this mess had the county declined Metro’s overtures when the company first offered its lobbyist services for a county road. That’s when the trouble started. Not sure who’s taking the leadership mantle Tuesday. Commissioner Jeff Kinnard is out of town, so it’s a four-commissioner makeup. The potential of tie votes always throws predictability out the window. That’s it for this Monday. Have a great one, friends. Join the discussion on our Facebook page. Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. 
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