Winners: Hebert, Frink, Vincent

One of those days when we’re just going to jump right in:

— First off: Great forum Monday night, Chronicle! The Fairgrounds Auditorium had 500 chairs set up and it wasn’t enough. The place was PACKED.

— The video is on the Chronicle’s Facebook page. Take a gander at it.

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— Nothing crazy happened. No wild statements. Nothing too controversial. No zingers to speak of. I saw Jesse Rumson walking around and thought he might try to storm the stage in his panda head, but no go.

— Scott Hebert was MVP of the night. Wow, he blew his opponent out of the water. Holy cow.

I challenged Hebert in my Monday blog to show some energy and prove to voters that he, as assistant superintendent of schools, is the more qualified candidate for superintendent over high school principal Jason Koon.

Hebert proved it and more. He answered each question by mixing his own experiences in with suggestions for improvement. Koon could only sit by and talk in theory.

Koon then made the blunder of the night. He noted that current Superintendent of Schools Sandra “Sam” Himmel was not an administrative higher-up when she was elected superintendent. I think he was trying to compare himself favorably to her.

That fell flat, as it should. For one, Himmel is endorsing Hebert. And, sorry Jason Koon, but you’re no Sam Himmel. Sam is from a prominent Inverness political family and served on the School Board before being elected to the job she’s now retiring from.

Hebert still has a political challenge. They both seemed to have equal vocal support in the room. Koon has built up a following. Hebert did a great job Monday of showing why serious voters should be looking at him.

— Ken Frink sounded like a School Board candidate for the first time. Someone is feeding him decent school district statistics, and he wove them well into answers about teacher shortages and students with behavioral issues.

He also pointed to his years in government service. He’s handled big budgets and bureaucracy. Ken may not be the warm and fuzzy school person, but Monday night he made a case that he’s thinking like a classroom guy.

I mean…two of his three opponents are educators, but it was Frink talking about helping teachers.

— Both Laura Gatling-Wright and Victoria Smith scored well with their knowledge of classroom issues. This is a subject for another day, but the School Board District 2 race is exactly why we should NOT have partisan School Board races. Unless the primary winner has more than 50% of the vote, there’s a runoff in the November election. 

This one has all the markings of a runoff in the making.

— Dave Vincent also met the challenge, though not as much as I would have liked.

He definitely had the largest support group. Those green Vincent T-shirts were everywhere, and many held Vincent campaign signs in the back of the room while the two candidates spoke.

Vincent’s comments were met with cheers. Sheriff Mike Prendergast received some polite applause, but little else.

I can’t figure this one out. Prendergast keeps saying things that are just, well, obnoxious and insulting.

“I think our community relations is pretty outstanding,” he said to a smattering of boos and laughs. People laughing at the sheriff. How can he possibly be re-elected?

Prendergast continued to hammer his only-I-can-unite-us-by-dividing-us campaign theme.

“You don’t want someone who drinks from the same fountain,” he said. The meaning was clear: Trust him because he’s not a part of community leadership. That’s your sheriff’s logic.

Vincent had strong support in the room. And his message of unity is one Citrus Countians are striving to get behind.

But I thought Vincent needed to wow the crowd. Not sure that happened. Don’t get me wrong…Prendergast didn’t get anywhere either. He took a shot at Vincent, but it was lame and didn’t land.

Vincent gave us a more detailed vision of what community policing means in Citrus County. He says all the right things. He has the background and experience to back it up.

Monday was a good night for Vincent, not great. Voters are embarrassed by Prendergast, but I don’t think Vincent has the support he needs quite yet. Early voting is a month away. Time's ticking.

— All in all, a very educational and entertaining night. Citrus County is certainly paying attention. 

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