So great...

I am off to South Africa again in search of the mighty Black Wildebeest. It is so great to be blessed with such a wonderful son, daughter-in-law and super employees that will tend to business while off we are off seeing the world. I'm just as excited about the prospect of seeing penguins in Cape Town as I am anticipating our safari. I will talk to you when I return from vacation on June 12, 2007.

Good-hearted souls

Do you remember the graffiti that was spray-painted on the old railroad car at the old Brooksville Train Station? Well, some really good-hearted souls cleaned up this mess with a coat of paint. These same good Samaritans also mow the grass and work as handymen to make necessary repairs for the train station. These generous individuals are members of the American Legion Post at High Point. These men even volunteered for security detail for the Brooksville Raid in Janaury which helped ease the burden for Jan Knowles. It sure is great to have individuals of this caliber in our community.

Possible replacements...

Yesterday, a radio report listed possible replacements for Paul Wolfowitz, the head of the World Bank. One name that was mentioned was Robert Zoellick who was the former Ambassador of Finance and former Deputy Secretary of State under Condoleeza Rice. Robert Zoellick is the son of Gladys Zoellick, a resident of Timber Pines.

GOP will punish Florida

Did anyone catch the small article in today's metro section of the Times about Senator Mel Martinez? It was titled, Martinez says GOP will punish Florida. Seems Mr. Martinez intends to impose sanctions for the 2008 Presidential Preference Primary if Governor Crist signs the legislation to hold the election on January 29th. The Florida Legislature made this law for an earlier election and it is projected to be signed by the Governor next week. Doesn't the republican party have enough problems with credibility without the RNC chairman threatening a loss of delegates?

Hit a few snags...

From the information in this morning's Hernando Today, it looks like the second pick for the new city manager position of Brooksville has hit a few snags. It appears that Ms. Norman-Vacha has made demands the mayor, David Pugh, Jr. is not willing to accept into her contract. Mr. Pugh is right to thoroughly scrutinize these unreasonable details of this contract for new city manager.

It seems that Ms. Norman-Vacha wants her starting pay to be $83,500 a year which is $8,500 over the amount offered to Mr. Bobowski. Why should the second choice for city manager be worth more than the first?

The city attorney brought into question her credit history which has some flaws in payments history . The city council should stipulate that Ms. Norman-Vacha be required to pay for her own bonding as a condition of her contract if it exceeds that of her predecessor, Richard Anderson. This would be the only fair way to make sure the taxpayers are not burdened by anything that may, or may not, be in her credit history.

Ms. Norman-Vacha does not want to be held to the same standards as rank and file employees with the city of Brooksville under their personnel policy. She does not want to be held accountable for misfeasance, malfeasance of nonfeasance. Does the city council realize that if these items are granted, the dismissal of Ms. Norman-Vacha from her contract would be very difficult, if not impossible? Who is going to determine "just cause" if she does not have to follow standard protocols?

One item that was not discussed in these contract negotiations was the residency of the new city manager. It was a stipulation for the city manager to live in Brooksville when Richard Anderson held the position. Will Ms. Norman-Vacha be moving into the city?

Ms. Norman-Vacha has indicated that she wants to continue with her personal business venture when hired as city manager. Isn't the city manager position a full time position?

It will be interesting to see if the city council votes to contact their third choice, Mr. Lester Baird at Monday night's meeting if this contract cannot be ironed out with Ms. Norman-Vacha.

eLert system

If you haven't signed up for the Hernando Sheriff's Department's eLert system, I highly recommend it. The Hernando County Sheriff's Department developed a system to automatically send out alerts via email to all that have subscribed to the service. I signed up for this service several months ago and have been notified of all the major crimes before they reach the local media. For instance, an eLert was sent out for the suspects in the armed robbery and shooting at Boyette Groves within hours of the crime. This week I received an eLert that included photos of bank robbery suspect who was apprehended the next day. If you want to sign up for this service, here is the link: http://www.hernandosheriff.org/eLert/

Offensive behavior...

The article in this morning's Hernando Times, in reference to the criminal complaint filed against David Pugh, Sr., by city councilman Richard Lewis caused me real concern. It appears that the content of this article was based on the comments of the friends of Mr. Pugh, Sr. and they have attempted to paint Mr. Lewis in a negative light.

The city attorney stated in this article that Mr. Lewis had "completely embellished" the incident and fabricated information. It must be noted that Mr. Lewis had attempted to have the city attorney dismissed from his position at the council meeting earlier in the evening and possibly that is the reason why the city attorney made such outlandish statements to the newspaper reporter.

I had a similar incident happen to me with Mr. David Pugh, Sr. Several months ago, before a Brooksville City council meeting, Mr. Pugh, Sr. came at me in a very hostile fashion, attempting to bully me. I did not agree with the actions of his son, the mayor, and thank goodness my husband was there to intercede on my behalf to stop this aggressive behavior by Mr. Pugh, Sr.

Another incident occurred not long ago with two elderly ladies at city hall. These ladies were in a conference room at city hall listening to recordings of prior city council meetings when Mr. Pugh, Sr. barged into the room screaming at them. These poor ladies had to call for help to have him removed from the room.

This offensive behavior of Mr. David Pugh, Sr. has reached a point that it can no longer be ignored by anyone. Councilman Richard Lewis needs to be commended for having the foresight to walk away from this incident with Mr. Pugh, Sr. and file the proper complaint with authorities.

Fabrication of her friends...

Excuses for delaying Mitchell Bobowski's contract until the city council meeting are becoming very clear. Council members Bradburn and Bernardini wanted to sway Mr. Pugh into changing his mind for the new city manager choice. Too bad Mr. Pugh acted on bad advice by his cohorts on the council who also convinced Mr. Burnett to change his mind and enter into contract negotiations with T. Jenenne Norman-Vacha.

I telephoned the city of Hazel Park, Michigan about an hour ago and spoke with their city manager, Ed Klobucher. Mr. Klobucher was quite cordial and stated emphatically that, yes, Mr. Mitchell Bobowski was their city manager during the late 1980's and earlier 1990's. Mr. Klobucher stated that he was on the zoning board appeal commission when Mr. Bobowski was their city manager and remembers his tenure quite vividly. Mr. Klobucher even said the Mitch Bobowski was responsibile for many economic developments projects that the city still utilizes today.

Seems like it is just another chapter in this sad, sorted history of this new council which has been commandeered by Mr. Bernardini and Ms. Bradburn. They side-stepped their own procedures to get a second bit of the apple for the new city manager position. Too bad Ms. Vacha will enter the city manager position based on the fabrication of her friends...

Nit-Picking

Turn out the lights, the party is over in the city of Brooksville for Mitch Bobowski, the first choice for new manager. Last night at the city council meeting, a 4-1 vote was taken to proceed with contract negotiations with T. Jenenne Norma-Vacha. It seems that the term nit-picking took on a new meaning with 4 of the 5 of the city council members.

Mr. Bernardini's was overheard making a comment last Tuesday evening saying, "It ain't over yet", in reference to the new city manager position. Those who heard the comment took it as a threat to Mr. Bobowski's contract negotiations. It looks like they were right.

It will be interesting to see how long the remaining department heads stay in their positions after Ms. Vacha becomes city manager. Several names come to mind but they will be left unsaid today. Those that crossed her over the years may be looking for employment elsewhere after this new tsunami sweeps over the city...

A big thanks...

I attended the Hernando County Fine Arts Council annual "Arts in the Park", art festival over the weekend at Tom Varn Park. The festival turnout was good even though a few in the community were a little confused about the changing of the date. Previous festivals have taken place over Memorial Day weekend but the festival community decided last year it was just too hot to be enjoyable on that date. It rained late Saturday afternoon but thank goodness no one had their art projects damaged in the down pour. The rain held off on Sunday until the end of the day so everyone had the opportunity to leisurely visit the park.

The "Art in the Park" festival was put on by some very hard working volunteers in our community. These people worked for at least six months behind the scenes to be able to present this wonderful festival for our community, from lining up the exhibitors, to making sure the porta-potties were ready on opening day. The festival committee consisted of Linda Anderson, Kathleen Wilson, Patti Cotter, Lois Hall, Tony Covell, Mikel Hannnigan, Jan Knowles, MJ Russel and Lee Parent.

Besides the festival committee, many other people assisted in making this festival a success this year. The young adults of Navy JROTC from Central High School volunteered as parking assistants and the Scouts manned the Coke wagons, selling cold drinks to the thirsty crowds. Many retired, semi-retired, and just plain working folks donated a few hours over the weekend to help the festival committee. Each of these hard working volunteers worked to make this festival a success and really deserve "a big thanks" from all of us in the community!

What a difference

Did anyone watch the first republican presidential debate on MSNBC last night? It was conducted in the Ronald Reagan facility in California. Nancy Reagan was in attendance with the Governor of California as her escort. Mrs. Reagan looked frail but elegant just the same as she entered the hall. The most amazing part about this debate last night was the emphasis placed on "greatness" for the former President Ronald Reagan by all the personnel at MSNBC. What a difference a few years makes in their praise for President Reagan by the media.

Most of the candidates were equal in this first debate. In my opinion, none of the candidates made a home run, so to speak, with any profound platform statements. In fact, the republican party has been sorely lacking when it comes to developing any new ideas during this primary season. The moderator asked the candidates several questions which were meant to be a one-line answers by the candidates. This gave MSNBC a method to collect sound bite information for later in the election.

Rudy Giuliani was the only candidate to answer the question about the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade in direct opposition his opponents, stating he believed it should be a woman's choice even though he personally did not agree with abortions. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Giuliani prevails with his centrist opinions in the Presidential Primary. This will be a litmus test to gauge the far right wing's actual power compared to the moderate wing of the republican party in this election...

Be careful

For those of you waiting for a decision on property tax reduction from the Florida Legislature, you will have to wait a few more weeks. The Florida House, Senate and Governor cannot agree on the language necessary to give Floridians relief from high property taxes in the last few days of this Legislative session. In fact, the term rancorous has been used by the media to describe this stand-off by by House Speaker, Marcio Rubio, Governor Charlie Crist and Senate president Ken Pruitt. All talks have been suspended on property tax reduction in the Florida Legislature until a special session is held for June 5-15, 2007.

Many groups have expressed concerns about the impact that these proposed reductions could have on our economy. One main item of concern that has not been fully addressed is non-homesteaded properties that include commercial property. If your first thought is so what, businesses make enough money, think again. Commercial property owners already pay a lion's share of the property taxes in this state and without proper oversight by our Legislature on carefully structured property tax reduction, the economy could come to a screeching halt. The business community, which includes the tourist related property, cannot bear the burden of increased property taxes.

The term "be careful what you wish for" should be the motto of our House, Senate and Governor when they bang the gavel on June 5th, the first day of the special session...

"Art in the Park"

The Hernando County Fines Arts Council will host their annual arts and crafts festival this weekend, titled "Art in the Park". Over 150 exhibitors will display their works that range from water color, oil,graphics, acrylic, mixed media, photography, pen and ink, and fine crafts on the walking trails of beautiful Tom Varn Park. Come out on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to enjoy the art festival which will also include live entertainment and many food vendors for your pleasure. See you all this weekend!

New city manager...

Congratulations go out to Mitchell Bobowski, the final choice for new city manager of the City of Brooksville. Mr. Bobowski has many years of public service ranging from Hazel Park, Michigan to the city of Seminole in Pinellas County. He has government management experience which includes being a general services director and city manager.

Mitchell Bobowski served as General Services Director in city of Seminole from 1999 to 2006. He served over a population of 18,500 in the city of Seminole and is very familiar with economic development which will be beneficial to our community. As a added plus, he supervised planning and community development, building and code enforcement and public works departments in Seminole. Mr. Bobowski was the city manager of Hazel Park, Michigan, from 1987 to 1994, who responsible for an annual budget of $12 million, with 135 full time employees.

Many of us in the city of Brooksville are looking forward to having this new city manager come on board. Congratulations, Mitchell Bobowski!