Our theme: Details, details, details

Here’s a shock: Just Wright Citrus is in its third election cycle. 

That means the people elected during the blog’s inaugural year are now up for re-election. (A candidate’s campaign pen from 2022 ran out of ink Wednesday.)

I’m super psyched for this election year, as it gives us an opportunity to delve into the issues that impact us the most.

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The blog evolves, as has my approach to covering elections. Cutting to the chase: Candidates, we need fresh, workable ideas. The stakes are high. Leave the rhetoric at home.

Let’s talk about it.

My first year of blogging about elections, let’s face it, was somewhat of a mystery. I didn’t know what I was doing. Covering elections for the Chronicle for 30-plus years made it rote. If a candidate got my specific attention, that usually wasn’t for a good thing.

I transitioned from newspaper to blogging as the 2022 election season was in its infancy. The blogs from that year were OK, not great. They were generally issue-focused. They engaged readers, many of whom had rarely dipped their toes into local politics before.

But I didn’t press candidates enough to explain themselves. I concluded we focused too much on what a candidate said and not enough on whether the candidate could back it up.

So, my approach in 2024 was to ascertain three things from candidates:

• Who are you? What have you done with your life? 
• How familiar are you with our communities? 
• How much do you know about the job you’re seeking? (I started this one out of frustration. Some people run for office without a clue what the job’s duties and constraints actually are.)

After that, we can talk about issues. A candidate's opinion becomes relevant when it’s in context.

This year, we’re elevating the game even higher. We need answers. We need solutions. And we need them now.

So, here’s the Just Wright Citrus plan for election coverage specific to the County Commission. I’ll get to the other races later, but this one kicks it off.

I’m going to make a couple of assumptions. I’m assuming anyone interested in the County Commission has paid close attention to the community conversation in the last year or two.

We are all over the board. That’s due to lack of direction from the County Commission. It’s not that stuff isn’t getting done, because it is, it’s just that the stuff WE NOTICE isn’t getting done fast enough. And we’re definitely not in agreement on how best to move forward.

So, I have just two questions for County Commission candidates:

Where will we be in four years?

How are we getting there?

No rhetoric, no fancy slogans. Just the details.

As for me, I see four specific areas to address:

• Roads.
• Taxes.
• Affordable places to live.
• Homelessness.

— How are our roads being paved and widened? Who is paying for that? Or, do we simply bite the bullet with lousy roads?

— Candidates say they want to cut taxes, but what exactly does that mean? A new tax structure? A combination of taxes and fees? Or, just cut the millage and live with the consequences? As a candidate, you’re cool with telling people the truth — cutting taxes means fewer services? And which part of government, specifically, isn’t a priority?

(Pet peeve from years of doing this…candidates with vague answers who promise results “once I get in there.” Seriously…run from these people.)
 
— The gap between affordable and unaffordable is widening every day, and the County Commission keeps approving developments for the affluent. Is that the vision? Our low-income folks are just tossed to the side? The government plays a vital role in affordable housing (though it often doesn’t think so). How do we narrow that gap?

— As for homelessness, I’m not suggesting we pour tax dollars into a homeless solution, but the County Commission should absolutely be at the table leading that conversation. At least, I think so. Others disagree. Candidates should be specific on this point.

Those are my suggested themes for this election year. I’d sure like to hear yours.

We spent much of 2025 talking ourselves into exhaustion. I’m looking for candidates with vision, and the personal experience to carry it out, on behalf of 160,000 of their closest friends. 

Those are the Cattle Dog chats I'm eager for. And the blogs they produce.

It's only January and I'm already hyped. That's a good sign.

Stay warm today, friends.

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