The charm of small-town politics

We had one goal this election season:

Cover all the Citrus County races best as possible with insight and observation.

Close, but not quite.

Other than writing about Library Guy’s antics, I completely ignored Crystal River and Inverness City Council races.

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One day, it was post-primary, and I had plenty of time to have Cattle Dog chats with council candidates. Next thing it’s early voting, and that door has shut.

The other night I attended the Chronicle’s forum for Crystal River candidates. It wasn’t well attended, but in the Chronicle’s defense, the forum had been rescheduled because of the hurricanes.

It was the first time I had seen the three Seat 1 candidates — Gabrielle Satchell, Larry Schenavar, and Benje Thomas. I was a little familiar with Seat 3 candidates Mindi Mulvie Hastings (incumbent) and Chris Ensing.

A few weeks earlier, I attended a similar forum for Inverness Council candidates. I came away quite impressed with three of the four candidates — incumbent Jacquie Hepfer in Seat 2; Tom Craig and Karen Esty in Seat 4.

Before some rambling notes about our cities, a little personal history.

My college newspaper work included covering the Mount Pleasant City Commission, in the city where Central Michigan University is located.

Now. There are worse assignments on a college paper, but writing about the university’s town government is right up there. I’d come back to the apartment from a city commission meeting and my roomies are killing off a keg. I felt in a different universe.

Well, one particular City Commission event stands out. There was a zoning case. I have no memory of the details. The university had a role of some sort, so it was one of those townies vs. students' kind of things. 

I sat among residents who muttered under their breath any time someone of an opposing view made a point. For the first time, the local government made sense to me. Oh, so it’s about people? And not boring stuff?

While I believe County Commission is the sweet spot of Citrus County politics, the city councils are politics in their rawest form.

So, with that, some thoughts:

— Here’s the good news: You haven’t read much about these city council races because, with one exception, all the candidates are upstanding citizens. That is a solid start.

— We’re fortunate when all candidates for office are caring members of the community. That certainly seems to be the case in Crystal River. I’m not going to assume anything, but it looks like Crystal River citizens are in strong hands.

— Same for Inverness Seat 4. I’ve known Karen Esty for many years and heard Tom Craig really for the first time the other night. Impressed with both. The winner of this seat follows Cabot McBride, who’s been an outstanding council member. Happy to say we’re OK, regardless how this one turns out.

— It’s also quiet because both cities are in good shape. Nothing crazy is happening in either Crystal River or Inverness that’s drawing attention (other than John “Library Guy” Labriola creating an issue out of nothing, just so he can solve it). Overall, though, both cities are managed well with plenty of citizen involvement.

— Local government is always closest to the people, and it doesn’t get more local than city council. The County Commission carries an air about it; meeting with a commissioner is considered a big deal for most folks.

City council members are shoulder-to-shoulder neighbors with their constituents. The bureaucratic overhead is minimal. Doesn’t take nearly as much time to get stuff done (unless you’re trying to remove an ungodly blight off U.S. 19). And they mobilize in no time, as we’ve seen in Crystal River during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

— Crystal River and Inverness are exact opposites. This is a full blog for another day but let me just say I appreciate both towns. Each is individual in its own right. And both city governments are constantly exploring ways to improve the quality of life.

— They have challenges. That’s why we have elections. It’s the voter’s turn to set the course.

— Voter turnout is brisk. Between early votes and mail votes, the county’s at 28.5% already. Both city precincts are pacing at the same rate.

It’s Thursday. Let’s make it a good one, friends.

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