Pay to play

Last week the Nature Coast Human Resource Society, Inc. conducted a seminar at the Silverthorn County Club. The theme of this seminar was "What happened to the stimulus money and other questions you would like to ask." The cost of this seminar was $25.00 which included a continental breakfast and lunch. While I applaud this small business for thinking up enterprising ways to make money, I say shame on all the elected officials and government offices that participated in this pay to play seminar.

According to the flyer sent out from the Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, Senator Bill Nelson was instrumental in helping to set up this seminar. In a capitalist society, I certainly hope the owners of Nature Coast Human Resource Society, Inc. made a profit but it doesn't excuse government officials from participating in this event that required payment for information that should have been presented in a free-public forum,.

Here's the line-up of the government officials and offices that participated in this seminar:

• Senator Bill Nelson
• Florida Dept. of Financial Services
• Florida DOT
• Department of Energy
• Small Business Association
• Hernando County Government
• City of Brooksville

I'm sure this seminar was very informative but in this economic climate everyone needs to be questioning why these officials participated in a seminar that required payment to understand the expenditures of the federal stimulus package. Having to pay $25.00 to see a government official explain how our tax money is being spent is inexcusable...

Flux?

The headline in yesterday's Hernando Times read, "County Budget Still in Flux" which was about the uncertainty of this year's county budget. Has anyone stopped to consider that the budget has probably already been decided by the hierarchy at the county government. If this wasn't the case, then why did the county administrator cancel the Hernando County Budget and Finance Committee meeting for July. The administrator also received approval by the Commission Chairman David Russell to take a three week vacation in July which is normally the busiest time tying up the loose ends on the yearly budget review.

The reporter, Barbara Behrendt, stated in this story that this Tuesday's BCC meeting included money-saving information for the commissioners to review about the Hernando County Housing Authority. Her article stated that the housing authority "will consider" moving from their space in downtown Brooksville to the Development Department on SR50. This is information is probably in the agenda but it is apparent that the reporter did not verify her facts for this story. The Hernando County Housing Authority already moved to the SR50 location about a month ago. Anyway,this is a mute point about the housing authority saving the county money. The Hernando County Housing Authority operates with their own budget, comprised of state and federal tax dollars, and does not directly impact the county general fund budget. Maybe her story should have focused on the slight of hand and the lack of transparency in our local government budgetary process this year!

I'm back from vacation

After taking a month off for vacation it is was real rough getting back to work and classes at USF St Pete. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary with a spectacular trip to South Africa. We traveled over 5,ooo kilometers in a rented car from the Drakenberg Mountain chain to Mossel Bay on the coast.

The Drakenberg Mountain was an experience to remember for the rest of our life time. We traveled high into the mountains to a resort where we stayed for a week. While there, we took a helicopter ride over the Drakenberg Mountain chain. The pilot even stopped on the highest peak so we could get out and take some breath-taking photos. The next big adventure was the hot air balloon trip. The indescribable sensation of floating on air became a real memory-maker, as we toasted our champagne flutes, filled with orange juice, of course. We also saw the Drakenberg Boys Choir. The boys performance proved why they are world-wide stars.

The second leg of our trip was a hunting safari at the Wolf Craig Lodge, just outside Port Alfred. We hunted with our friend Glen Elliott for 10 days. Two of the four most exciting hunts for me were the wharthog and the blue wildebeest which were both difficult shots. I took the wharthog at 207 meters and the blue wildebeest at 180 meters. Here's a look at my trophies:

The last portion of our trip was along the southern coast of South Africa. We traveled through Port Elizabeth, Graff-Reinet, Tistiskamma and Mossel Bay. We took a boat trip out to Seal Island, Off Mossel Bay, to see the great white sharks. The sharks we saw were 15 to 18 feet long.

Long story short, now all we have to do is finish paying off our credit card bills and then we can begin planning a trip for next year! It sure is good to be home though...