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.