 Crazy busy day Tuesday so I’m saved once again by the county commission email, this week randomly from Commissioner Jeff Kinnard.
Kinnard didn’t provide much in the way of replies, at least not yet. So naturally, I will:  Today we get to experience a little political perception.
This day is hugely significant to many people across the state. Yet others wouldn’t even know about it if someone like me didn’t tell them. It’s the first day of Session.  Nothing shocks a politician more than when his own people turn on him.
Sheriff Mike Prendergast is experiencing some of that after his agency assisted in the federal arrest last Monday of the so-called Sedition Panda, a Lecanto man who’s accused of breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wearing a bear head.  Drained after four days of government writing with thoughts toward the weekend:
— Strawberry Festival! Need I say more? Floral City and Floral Park are the places to be this weekend for the 36th annual Floral City Strawberry Festival. I love the Strawberry Festival — who doesn’t? — and we need it. We need the distraction, we need the fun, we need to get out in the sun on an un-winter-like winter day.  Crystal Oaks Drive has a popularity problem.
If you’re not sure where Crystal Oaks is, it’s a few feet from the Suncoast Parkway on-ramp at State Road 44. Anyone getting off the parkway looking for the quickest drive to U.S. 19 takes a left onto Crystal Oaks Drive and it’s about 7 minutes (I timed it Wednesday) to the Home Depot. Coming the other way, it’s an easy route to the parkway.  One of those county commission days with a ton of notes and few votes.
Hey, it happens. If Citrus County commissioners spend a lot of time talking, as they did Tuesday, instead of doing, well, there’s not much to write about. And, my goodness, are these commissioners talking.  Every so often, Citrus County commissioners need to have The Talk.
I don’t know whether commissioners are at that point but indications suggest we’re getting there. You see, while commissioners are elected individually and serve together on a board that meets twice a month, there is much taking place beyond those few hours.  Happy Monday! Pull up a chair.
Today we introduce you to SCOP. Say it out loud. Sounds like “stop.” SCOP. As in, SCOP roads. SCOP stands for Small Counties Outreach Program. No one in the government calls it that. It’s just SCOP.  A commissioner recently expressed her displeasure at one of my blogs.
When I suggested maybe she was reading too much into it, the commissioner replied: “Words matter!” Yes, they do, fortunately. Between Just Wright Citrus and Florida Politics, it was a busy word week. So here are a few Friday words about words:  Let’s start Thursday with a question:
Been on U.S. 41 between Inverness and Hernando lately? Or even U.S. 41/S.R. 44 through the heart of Inverness? I was out there Wednesday. It was crazy. Middle of the afternoon, middle of the work week, and the traffic backups through town and northward were the kind you see after college football games. |
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 35 years. Archives
March 2023
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