Gray-murky waters...

Last Friday's editorial opinion by Jeff Webb of the Hernando Times hit the nail on the head. The title said it all which was "All fun, no work? No way." This editorial highlighted the gray-murky waters that the city council member will swim in tomorrow night at the Brooksville Country Club, to wine and dine the applicants for the new city manager position. Mr. Webb's said that this gathering will take place in a dimly lit spot of the Sunshine Law in his article. Everyone in the city who is interested in this none-city meeting, labeled a social gathering, should make a reservation at the country club to watch this non-public meeting in action.

Too Bad Jeff Webb was not aware that Councilman Richard Lewis had notified the city clerk over a week ago that he would not be attending this function. Mr. Lewis did not want taxpayers money spent on this event but this was not his main concern about the gathering. Mr. Lewis felt the mere appearance of impropriety was reason enough not to attend this dinner that had questionable connotations in reference to the Sunshine Law.

Fishing

Lawyers usually don't arbitrarily go on fishing expeditions without the direction of their superiors in Hernando County government. I wonder who asked county attorney, Jon Joubin, to request the billing records of Andy Saltzman, attorney for the Spring Hill Fire Commission? It would be interesting to know...

So much

"I would not be in favor of voting to approve the comprehensive plan amendment for Hickory Hill because I think it is premature," stated Rose Rocco during her campaign in 2006. So much for campaign commitments...

Posthumous pardon

Just one quick question, please. "Doesn't Governor Charlie Crist have anything better to do with our tax payer money than to have his staff research the feasibility of a posthumous pardon of Jim Morrison, the deceased lead singers from the Doors? Jim Morrison was charged with indecent exposure and using profanity during a concert in the 1970's. Governor Crist was quoted as saying about Jim Morrison, "if you have a heart pounding in your chest, that tugs on you" in reference to the death of this singer attempting to clear his name from the incident in the 1970's. If Governor Crist thinks this is a pressing issue then he should also consider the pardon of Janis Joplin for using profanity at Curtis Hixon Hall in the 1970's...

***Please be advised that I have one rule on this sight which is no profanity so I have blocked the comments to this post. To those that replied earlier, this case is approximately 35 years old and happened at a time when profanity was not permitted in public. Our tax money is being wasted at the hands of Charlie Crist with his attempt to pardon a rock and roll star that clearly set out to shock the public of that era and in my opinion, is a clear case of pandering on the governor's part.

Good sports

Saturday night, my husband and I attended the Enrichment Center's fundraiser to roast Rich Nugent, John Druzbick and Mickey Smith. This fun evening was to raise money for the Enrichment Center which is located on the campus of Oak Hill Hospital.

Debbie Druzbick did a wonderful job coordinating this event with all her volunteers from the Enrichment Center. She looked pretty snazzy, too, in her black, palazzo pant suit. Nick Morana served as the Master of Ceremonies to the delight of the crowd while Anthony Palmieri tended bar. The ladies of the Enrichment Center deserve a round of applause from all of us that attended this event. They worked tirelessly serving the crowd a dinner of spaghetti, salad, desert and coffee. The tables were all beautifully decorated with center pieces, and individual servings of roast nuts to munch on during the evening. The chef that made the roasted nuts gets my personal thanks. They were mmm, mmm, good!

Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite squeezed time into her busy schedule to briefly stop in and wish the Enrichment Center every success with their fundraiser. Although all the county commissioners, Rep. Robert Schenck and Senator Fasano purchased tickets, none of them attended this event. They could all take a lesson from Congreswoman Brown-Waite on what it takes to be a true public servant.

Robert Nolte, editor of the Hernando Today and Jeff Webb, editor of editorials for the Hernando Times, roasted John Druzbick. Mr. Nolte had the Hernando Today staff print a funny article on John's obsession with the big yellow school buses. Mr. Webb did a hilarious slide show presentation of John, using photos from his birth to present time.

Walter Dry, president of the Human Rights Coalition, and Anna Liisa Covell (me) roasted Mickey Smith, the CEO of Oak Hill Hospital. Although Walter's remarks about Mickey were quite gentle, he managed to get in some very humorous zingers about Mickey. My presentation was a spoof about Mickey which brought laughs from the crowd.

Sheriff Nugent was roasted by Leo Jacobs, Spring Hill Fire Commissioner, and Nick Morana, member of the Enrichment Center board of directors. Mr. Jacob's remarks started out funny and then became very complementary to the Nugent family. Nick Morana's comments were a play on some well, worn jokes but hilarious, just the same. Nick should have had a second job as a stand-up comic. He would have put Henny Youngman to shame with his quick wit.

Sheriff Nugent, John Druzbick, and Mickey Smith certainly were good sports for lending themselves to this wonderful organization all in the name of raising money.

Honor his contract

This should be under the heading, "You're not going to believe this one" with the Brooksville city attorney citing provisions of the city charter for reneging on the contract with Chief Tincher. Its ironic that the city charter is now being dusted off after being blatantly violated numerous times since January 8, 2007, and the city attorney is grasping for a legal maneuvers to violate the rights of Chief Tincher once again. Incidentally, this same contract provision under the city charter was discussed about a month ago at a city council meeting.

Do you remember when city council member Richard Lewis questioned the interim city manager, and the city attorney, about the lack of a written contract for Mr. James Farley? This is the same James Farley that conducted the outside investigation of Chief Tincher. The city attorney stated in this public meeting that Mr. Farley did not need a written contract under the provisions of the city charter. Imagine that, the city paid Mr. Farley approximately $11,000 without a contract and now the city attorney is screaming foul when it comes to paying Chief Tincher with a fully executed the legal document.

Chief Tincher and his family have been through enough mental anquish and the city of Brooksville needs to step up to the plate and honor his contract now.

Roast

The Enrichment Center of Hernando County will be having a fundraising event this Saturday, April 21, 2007. This fundraiser will include dinner, entertainment, a silent auction and a special roast of three local dignitaries of our community. John Druzbick, Richard Nugent and Mickey Smith have willingly volunteered to be roasted for this fundraising event. It should be a fun evening to raise funds for this most worthwhile organization. The event begins at 5 p.m. at the SNPJ Hall located at 13383 County Line Road in Spring Hill. Contact 597-6631 for any questions.

Dispatch at fault

This morning's headline in the Hernando Times "Dispatch at fault for death" brought to light a very real problem in our county with emergency dispatch calls to 911. Let me first say, my deepest sympathy goes out the family that lost their family member on Tuesday in this 911 mix up.

This is not an isolated incident of a 911 mishap though and I can speak from experience. About a year and a half ago I had to call 911 for my husband who was in distress. When he began choking on food lodged in his windpipe so I immediately called for help on the 911 line. Thank goodness my husband did not panic and was getting limited air to his lungs or my family would have been in the same position of the family written about in the newspaper this morning.

After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, I called 911 a second time and was told to be patient it had only been seven minutes from my last call. At this point, my husband's fatigue from gasping for air was becoming more than he could handle so I screamed into the phone to have someone help me. I, then dropped the phone and began beating my husband on the back with both of my fists when he could no longer breath on his own. He finally able to dislodge the food in his wind pipe from me beating on his back. I picked up the phone again to speak to the 911 dispatcher and he asked if I still needed an ambulance. My response was no but please get the rescue squad to our home as soon as possible to check my husband who was still clearly in distress from the incident.

To make a long story short, it took the rescue squad 11.5 minutes to arrive at our home due to human errors in the 911 dispatch system. My first call was logged as an emergency at the sheriff's department, then transferred to the Spring Hill Fire Rescue, who dispatched the Hernando County Fire Rescue instead of Tri-County Volunteer Fire Rescue. Our first responders, Tri-County Volunteer Fire Rescue, who cover the Nobleton area were never notified of my call for help. On arriving at our home, the first comment from the EMS personnel of the Hernando County Fire Rescue was what happened to Tri-County?

The next morning, I telephoned the Sheriff's Department and Spring Hill Fire Rescue for the dispatch logs to find out why Tri-county never made it to our home. It was human error combined, with an outdated method of dispatch in our area. Thank God our family had a second chance but unfortunately this gentleman that died Tuesday did not have the same opportunity. My prayers go out to this family in their time of loss...

Winners and losers...

Today proved to be a stressful day for the Hernando County Commissioners. The county commission chamber was packed all day with angry residents. These angry residents came for a fight to keep their fire commissioners in Spring Hill and they won this round.

Chief J.J. Morrison was the biggest winner today with his professional behavior at the podium. He had to defend his department in a game of gotcha with the county administrator, Gary Kuhl. Chief Morrison was very professional in his demeanor throughout his presentation and the residents of Spring Hill should be proud to call him their fire chief.

The biggest loser category today came in as a tie with Commissioner Russell and Commissioner Kingsley. It was hard to tell which commissioner was more self-absorbed in their own ego. Somehow the term representative government went out the window with these two commissioners today when they voted for what they deemed best for the county instead of listening to the public that placed them in office.

The prize for pandering went to Commissioners Rowden and Rocco. Last week they were going to vote to dissolve the Spring Hill Fire Commissioner saying it was the best for the county. The public outcry changed their minds after they were called names in the newspaper last week and at the podium today. Ms. Rowden"s grandstanding this morning had "re-election campaign" written all over it. Did they make the right choice? Yes, but it should have been done for the right reasons in the first place and not from the arm twisting they received at the hands of the residents today.

Commissioner Stabins should be named old reliable for his consistent position of the fire commission. He wanted to wait for the consultant's report and use diplomacy from the very beginning of this debacle created by Commissioner Russell. Jeff Stabins came off today looking like the elder statesman who had the wisdom to lead this county into the future.

County Fair

Mark your calendars for the 56th Annual Hernando County Fair and Youth Livestock Show which begins on Friday, April 20th and runs through April 29th. For those new to the area, the fairgrounds are located on US 41, about a mile south of the SR 5o intersection. See you there!

Congressional Art Competition

On Friday, April 27, 2007 Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite will host the 5th Annual Congressional Art Competition Awards Ceremony and Reception. This event will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Brooksville City Hall, located at 201 Howell Avenue. This is always an exciting event for the young artists in our community.

Beatle's Bash

The Bandshell Bash on Saturday, April 14th, will feature the entertainment group, Live and Let Die. This Beatle's Bash is will bring back the memories of the 1960's with the sounds of the Fab Four.

The Cruise-In of classic cars will also be on hand along with several food vendors.

The event takes place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hernando Park Bandshell on Ft. Dade in downtown Brooksville. This event is family friendly and best of all, it is free. Bring your lawn chairs and groove to the sounds of Live and Let Die.

Never Mind

A special meeting of the Brooksville City Council this evening, the final three applicants for the new city manager were announced by the city clerk, after she tallied the votes. The top three candidates are Lester B. Baird, Mitchell N. Bobowski and Jennene Norman-Vacha.

Guidelines for the interview process were also voted on this evening by council. In this interview process, the Brooksville City Council members will treat the three applicants and their spouses to dinner at the Brooksville Country Club at taxpayer expense. Council Richard Lewis was the only one that objected to using tax money to have dinner with the applicants.

When city attorney, David LaCroix was questioned about the Sunshine Law and publicly advertising this dinner, he said it was not necessary. The only thing the the city council had to do was not talk to each other at this dinner about city business. How does that work? City council members carrying on a conversation with potential candidates for the new city manager position at dinner and this doesn't violate the Sunshine Law? Isn't it the city council's primarily responsible for the hiring of the new city manager under the city charter?

Oh well, never mind. The city council has violated the city charter three or four times already, why should they worry if the Sunshine Laws are violated with this purely social dinner?

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone!

Oak Hill's Heart Institute

This past week has really been hectic but I was able to attend the anniversary V.I.P. tour of Oak Hill Hospital's Heart Institute. I must say, remarkable improvements have been made since the grand opening tour of December 2005 which include the latest in technological equipment on the market.

Although the operating room was not on the tour this year, we were able to view some of the new equipment coming on board over the last year. We viewed the cardiac cath lab which has complete digital cardiac system, with outstanding Fluoroscopy image technology. This enhanced cath lab technology has an estimated cost of over $1 million.

Oak Hill has new Picture Archive Communication that replaces traditional X-ray films. This P.A.C. system enables faster diagnosis, and facilitates ease of consultation with specialist, via computer link-up. This system provides immediate access to diagnostic images and reports for increased efficiency with the hospital, and the doctor's office through a link-up. This P.A.C. system technology enhancement cost approximately $1.4 million.

A new cardiac nuclear medicine camera has been implemented at Oak Hill Hospital. This equipment produces a digital image of the body that has been injected with a radioactive isotope to pinpoint the area of study. This equipment provides the highest quality images available in today's technology. This cardiac nuclear medicine camera cost $500,000.

At the end of the tour , we viewed the cardiovascular intensive care unit that has state of the art capabilities for monitoring the heart patients. A cardiac rehabilitation program is planned for future expansion which will include three phases, from inpatient monitoring, to the planned outpatient phase(s) to incorporate behavior modification and education for lifestyle changes in nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation, etc. The outpatient services is being planned in two phases, with the second providing a more personalized approach with physiologist, cardiovascular nurses and clinical dieticians.

Oak Hill Hospital is on the cutting edge of new technology with their futuristic equipment relating to heart and stroke care for patients. Hernando County is truly blessed to have this outstanding medical facility within our community.

Stabins is 100% correct...

Hernando County Commission Chairman, Jeff Stabins should be commended for his cautious approach to the pending vote to dismantle the Spring Hill Fire Commission Board. Mr. Stabins is 100% correct is his statement saying that diplomacy is necessary before the nuclear option is used to dissolve this board. This ordinance change to dissolve the Spring Hill Fire Commission Board, promoted by David Russell, has not had sufficient public discussion. This first step in the dismantling of the Spring Hill Fire District is certainly premature and unwarranted at this time. The public would be much better served by waiting for the paid consultant's review of the entire county fire structure before implementing any drastic changes.

Even though Commission Stabins has done a superb job using diplomacy in his first few months as chairman, Commissioner Russell has taken advantage of many situations to act unilaterally to control public opinion by floating his ideas first to the media, to gain the upper hand over the entire commission. Protocol for the Hernando County Board of Commissioners placing items on their agenda is done by a clear majority of their board, then the issue is placed on the regular agenda for discussion, prior to any action taken by county staff. This method allows the public, as well as the rest of the commissions, the ability to discuss critical issues before rushing to judgement that may, or may not be in the best interest of those involved in the issue at hand.

Thanks, Mr. Stabins, for your ability to respect the public interests in this community with your professional guidance as our county commission chairman.

Chat-time...

This evening I attended the workshop conducted by the Brooksville City Council to discuss the applicants for the new city manager position. The agenda only included two items. One item was to review of the top ten qualified candidates, with the other to set procedures and process for the interview of applicants.

No discussion of the individual applicants took place by the city council. Nothing firm was resolved in reference to the type of procedure to interview the applicants was decided either. The council did narrow down their search to six individuals, mostly by attrition or withdrawal by the applicants. The individuals left in the running are Lester B. Baird, Mitchell Bobowski, Susan Roper, Jennene Norman-Vacha, Patricia Quigley and John Zakian. The only firm decision by council tonight was to narrow the search to three for the final interview process.

The entire workshop centered around the method the council would use for interview of the final applicants. Ms. Bradburn is insisting on personal time with each applicant to drive them around town for chat-time. This chat-time suggested by Ms. Bradburn could be perceived as a touchy-feely and not very professional in nature. Mayor Pugh had a more business like approach suggesting that the council follow the procedures in place to interview professionals, like consultants and engineers, so it would treat each applicant in a fair manner.

Mr. Lewis made a very profound statement by saying that the council members should reframe from meeting one on one with the candidates to eliminate any appearance of impropriety. Mr. Lewis stated that since this was a Human Resource matter, all applicants should receive equal treatment in the interview process. Mr. Bernardini had nothing to add to the throughout the entire conversation. Mr. Burnett was quite insistent that clear guidelines be established for a fair interview process.

Even though the council batted ideas around for more than an hour on the interview process, no one asked the Interim Human Resource director her opinion even though she had presentation listed on the agenda to assist city council. Instead of speaking with the human resource director, the council took direction from the interim police chief. The council directed the interim city manager, interim police chief and the city clerk to come back with a plan on Monday for another workshop.

One idea that this interim police chief suggested still has me scratching my head. His suggestion was to have the entire city council take all three applicants out to dinner for a relaxed chat. It was not discussed how they plan to accomplish this dinner and still comply with the Sunshine Laws of the state of Florida. Even if this dinner is noticed to the public, what restaurant has a sound system and seating to accommodate this type of chat session and still be open to the public?

At the end of the meeting Mr. Burnett stated that the public needed to be involved in the process even though he thoroughly rejected the self-appointed citizens review committee on Monday night, saying it was irrelevant to the process. Funny thing is though, if the council really wanted the public to be a part of process in this city manager choice why didn't they ask for public comment at the end of the workshop tonight?

***It was brought to my attention late yesterday afternoon that Councilman Burnett approached Ernie Weaver, member of the self-appointed citizens review committee, to voice his overwhelming approval of our efforts to assist the city council in the selection of the next city manager.

***Councilman Richard Lewis telephone all the members of the committee to personally thank them for participating in the public process of reviewing the choices for a new city manager.

Self-Appointed Citizen Review Committee

At last night's Brooksville City Council meeting, the following information was presented during citizen's input by Paul Neuhann. The following information is self-explanatory:

Self-Appointed Citizen Review Committee
To review Applications for New
Brooksville City Manager

March 26, 2007

Brooksville City Council
201 Howell Avenue
Brooksville, FL 34601

Honorable Mayor and City Council Members:

As members of a self appointed citizen review committee, we respectfully request your consideration of our top choices for the new city manager position.

Committee members Gail Samples, Ernie Weaver, Anna Liisa Covell and myself, Paul Neuhann thoroughly reviewed all applicants for the new city manager position and we recommend the following top three “ranked” individuals for your consideration:

1. Lester B Baird, Sr.
2. Thomas F. Christie
3. James Patrick Gallagher


Our number one choice was Lester B. Baird, Sr. who had the unanimous approval of our committee based on his 32 years of experience as a government administrator. Mr. Baird was very open and honest in his application, emphasizing his strong points, as well as his weak points. His last job was ten years in duration as the administrator for Hendry County where he managed a budget of $60 million, with 200 full time employees.

Our second choice was Mr. Thomas F. Christie who had majority approval of our board. Mr. Christie was the city manager for Talladega, Alabama, with 225 full time employees. He was instrumental in the re-organization of departmental structures to improve efficiency and accountability. Mr. Christie upgraded the police department with improved technology and communications under his tenure as city manager.

Our third choice was James Patrick Gallagher who had majority approval of our committee. Mr. Gallagher has twelve years of government experience that included smart growth management, strategic planning and economic development. Mr. Gallagher participated in several urban research projects, studies and publications.

Our committee met several times to discuss at length all the applicants that had applied for the city manager position. There were seven other applicants seriously considered but none gained majority approval by our committee.

The members of our committee respectfully request the Honorable Mayor and City Council members seriously consider of the results of our city manager applicant review. As members of this self-appointed committee, we would like to encourage all others within the city of Brooksville to review the applicants for city manager and present them for city council consideration, too.

Respectfully Submitted,

Paul Neuhann
Gail Samples
Anna Liisa Covell
Ernie Weaver

Vandalism

Driving to work this morning, I viewed a very disturbing site. As I rounded the corner onto Brooksville Avenue, by Brooksville's Department of Public Works, the upcoming view left me feeling ill. All I could see was the graffiti at the Old Train Depot.

The old train car that was just completely restored for the old train station was a target of vandals over the weekend. This beautiful old train car, recently restored by fine folks at Southern Hills Plantation, has been spray painted with graffiti across the entire backside of the structure.

There is no excuse for this type of behavior. The culprits of this vandalism need to be brought justice and punished to the fullest extent of the law. So many people have volunteered to make the restoration of the railroad station a reality and to have this happen is sad, very sad...

Regressive tax

County tax collector Juanita Sikes has asked the Hernando County Board of Commissioners to repeal the ordinance for collecting the occupational license tax. Ms. Sikes statement that this ordinance is outdated is an understatement. Hopefully, Ms. Sikes will be asking the city of Brooksville to also repeal this regression taxing method on business.

The occupational license tax has give the public a false sense of security. Some people have assumed that if a company has an occupational license, they (the company) are qualified to be conduct business. A majority of businesses are required to be licensed through the state of Florida or through their county development department so the occupational license fee amounts to nothing more than an additional tax to conduct business.

Thanks, Juanita for being forward thinking to put the brakes on this regressive taxation method!