![]() Happy Monday! Enjoy the long Independence weekend? Got those warm fuzzies for America? Good. Cuz it’s politics time. The Chronicle’s political forum is tonight at 6 at the Fairgrounds Auditorium. Doors open at 5. I’ll be there at about 5:01. (The Chronicle says it will livestream the event on its Facebook page.) For over 40 years, the Chronicle forum has been THE political event of the year outside of the actual election. About 400 people will crowd into the auditorium to interact with candidates and hear what they have to say. Today’s photo is from two years ago.
For me, I’m looking for separation among candidates in three tight races. Certain candidates really need to shine. Specifically: — Sheriff. This is the biggest night of the year for Dave Vincent. For the first time, he’ll be on the stage alone with incumbent Mike Prendergast. Vincent’s goal should be this and nothing less: 400 people leaving the auditorium mentioning his name as sheriff. He needs to be sheriff more than the guy who holds the job now. That is an extraordinary challenge for Vincent against a skilled politician. Prendergast really is an expert at snowing the public. Or, I guess I should say, he thinks he is. Vincent’s challenge is not just to call him out on it but convince voters that the alternative makes better sense. Here’s how he does it: Vision. How will I know after six months that Dave Vincent is the sheriff and not Mike Prendergast? Vincent needs to lay out, in very simple terms, why we're better with him than the incumbent. (Prendergast has his problems, plenty of them. Now I see the incumbent is having town hall meetings for the first time ever. Imagine the thinking: "Hmm…beating up on the public isn’t working. Let’s try engaging with them instead!" I’ve gotta believe the B.S. meters at those things will be unreadable.) This isn't County Commission. It's Sheriff. Change doesn't happen so easily. Voters will quickly give Prendergast another four years if they’re not convinced Vincent is BETTER. His degree of difficulty is much higher than Prendergast’s. Vincent needs to give us a vision of what all this community policing thing really means. The latest campaign reports suggest Vincent is going in the right direction; he collected $14,000 the last two weeks of June. While the incumbent has a 3-to-1 financial advantage, he has 100 fewer donors than Vincent. A third of the incumbent’s donors are businesses. That’s where Prendergast’s yard signs are ending up. Translation: Vincent is connecting with people. He could not be in a better position heading into this event. An enthusiastic Sheriff Vincent needs to show up. — Superintendent of Schools. Scott Hebert is another one who should separate himself from his opponent. I’d argue that the Chronicle forum is the biggest night of his long career. I’ll give it to Jason Koon. Pretty impressive that a school principal is going neck-and-neck with the assistant superintendent. This race should be Hebert’s to lose. I mean, let’s be real for a minute. If it were an appointed job, Hebert would get it hands down. Someone who has methodically moved his way up the chain from classroom teacher (Florida Teacher of the Year) to principal to academic officer to No. 2 in the district. Of the two candidates, one is right in the middle of coordinating a highly successful school district, and the other isn't. Voters have a sixth sense. Hebert’s campaign lacks energy. That’s where Koon has him. Koon can’t beat Hebert on experience, ideas, foresight, or direction. But he’s a likable guy who has done very well on the Campaign Trail. Hebert’s challenge: Convince voters they need to pay closer attention. Koon can’t touch Hebert’s breadth of knowledge of Citrus County Schools. Really, not even close. Hebert has a major problem if he can’t make that distinction clear. — School Board District 2. Looking forward to hearing from Ken Frink, Laura Gatling-Wright, and Victoria Smith. (The fourth candidate, Dale Marie Merrill, lost my interest when she said there should be a lawyer on the School Board. Dale’s a lawyer.) Very interesting race, this one. Frink gets the contributions and attention because he’s Ken Frink and everyone knows him. But he’s not an educator. Smith and Gatling-Wright are teachers, but only Smith works in the Citrus County School District. And Smith's husband is a former legislator/commissioner known for lobbing insults at the school district. While I’d like to see a front-runner emerge, that might be asking too much. I’m not sure that degree of separation exists. (I guess Frink, if he wanted to, could make the point that he’s the ONLY candidate who hasn’t taught in a Citrus County Schools classroom. Actually, that’s probably the point his opponents want to make. Never mind.) It’s Chronicle forum time. Good stuff being served. Bring your appetite. Join the discussion on our Facebook page. Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorMike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 36 years. Archives
February 2025
|