Does not pass the smell test

Well, it sure looks like everyone has hopped back into the saddle again with the 'good old boys' club to ride through downtown Brooksville. I didn't think I would ever agree with anything Brooksville City Councilman Joe Bernardini had to say but hiring Jake Varn as the city attorney does appear to be a case of the fox guarding the hen house. Apparently Mr. Varn included a letter with his job application to directly address any conflicts of interests that might arise with him as the city's attorney. In this letter, Mr. Varn indicated that if any conflict of interest were to occur that another member of his law firm in Tallahassee would represent the city.

Let's see if we have this correct about any conflict of interest that may arise by hiring Mr. Varn. If Mr. Varn needs to recuse himself from the position of city attorney for any conflict of interest, the question is, who will be watching over the public's interest? How will having a colleague from Tallahassee sit in as acting city attorney during a conflict be any different that having Mr. Varn, himself, sitting at the dais, or for that matter in a courtroom setting? Mr. Varn will be paid as a city attorney and also be paid as an attorney for this Tallahassee law firm. If you want to read in depth about the responsibility of public officials, public attorneys, and those directly related to them, I suggest checking out the website of the Florida Department of Ethics which is located at:

http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/publications/guide_2007.pdf

The quote by Joe Murphy, the chairman of the conservation committee for Hernando Audubon, in this morning's edition of the Hernando Times really sums it up. Mr. Murphy said, in part, "Hiring Mr. Varn does not pass the smell test". It will be interesting to see what comes out of this marriage between this newly hired city lawyer who is also tied to the Tallahassee law firm.

John Druzbick

John Druzbick, recently announced his intentions to run for the office of county commissioner, district 3. John is a registered Republican, a well-respected business owner in our community, and an all-around good guy. He was a very respected member of our school board for 12 years, with a proven track record of success. John's campaign website has a wealth of information about his personal career in our community. His website even contains a very good video clip of his campaign announcement on the courthouse steps. If you want to take a look, here is the link: http://invisiblepatriots.com:80/Druzbick.html

Campaign platform

This morning, I received our tickets to the Reagan Day Gala 2007 event which is being presented by the Republican Party of Pinellas County. This fund raising dinner will take place on Friday, September 7th at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg. The reason for the excitment is that Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the keynote speaker for this gala event. After we attend this dinner, I will fill everyone in on the details of Rudy Giuliani's Presidential campaign platform.

Fire union boss makes comments

Last night, I received a very lengthy comment to my post "6.6% increase for HCFR". This comment was from Jason Brazinski, president of the firefighters union for HCFR . Mr. Brazinski currently works out of Station 24 in Brooksville. In the interest of fairness, I have included Mr. Brazinski's unedited comments below, with my comments at the conclusion of this post.

Mrs Covell, to paint a clear picture it is important to include all of the pertinent details. Starting pay is often a poor indicator of the overall picture. Management loves to make starting pay high to get you in the door. After that, the honeymoon is over. (1) To compare department salaries, it is important that you compare departments of similar service level, and salaries throughout the pay scale. Citrus County Fire is a new fire service that does not provide EMS transport or Advanced Life Support. (2) Their inception was brought about by declining volunteer service and increased call load in Citrus County. Polk County Fire is a well established organization that provides fire protection only. However, since you chose to include them you may find it interesting that they themselves just completed a compensation and benefits survey to help decide whether or not to merge Fire and EMS. (3) In that survey, their firefighters were found to be 22% underpaid according to their market average, with our starting pay slightly ahead of theirs. In addition, their Captain ranks were found to be 19% underpaid. Their Captains make more than HCFR Captains, and are not required to be Paramedics or Fire Inspectors. (4) In regards to Pasco County Fire Rescue, they just received a ruling from the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC):On August 7, 2007 the State of Florida Public Employee Relations Commission's (PERC) special magistrate filed his recommendations on the impasse issues between the Pasco County Professional Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 4420 and Pasco County. In his Recommendations Mr. Charles Hall stated that his wage "analysis shows Pasco County considerably (emphasis added)below the Local Labor Market and not able to compete for the most qualified job seekers" and that to help correct the problem the firefighters and paramedics should receive a 20% pay increase over a three year period. (5) He also recommends improved medical leave incentives and an improved workers' compensation package for firefighters seriously injured in the line of duty. (6)

Perhaps the most ludicrous comparison is to Tampa Fire. You are correct that their starting Firefighter/EMT salary is $1500.00 more than ours. What you fail to spell out is that in 5 years their same FF makes $42856, compared to our $34275. More importantly, they make that pay while working 300+ less hours per year than a HCFR employee. (7) These same scenarios are duplicated and in some cases worsened when comparing HCFR to Spring Hill Fire and Hillsborough Fire. If we?re going to talk about job market, it?s hard to ignore the OTHER fire rescue in our county. (8) I can only assume that if a Fire Captain at HCFR irks you making $45000 a year (minus close to $400 per month family medical insurance), then certainly that same Spring Hill Captain making $52000 a year with full family medical coverage must drive you crazy. (9)

Our raises were negotiated and approved back in October 2005 with many of the above factors being taken into consideration. These raises were approved with no negative feedback from either the elected officials or our citizens. The reality is well accepted by my membership that we will never make the money that some of our surrounding departments make (including Spring Hill). However, we do not want to be so far behind that we go back to the days of being a training ground for other departments. Our raises were a very small part of the increase in fire rates this year. Increased staffing was a much larger part. It is important to note that the departments you compare us with staff their fire engines with 3 personnel. Four of our eight still only staff two personnel. (10)

Thank you for your consideration.

Jason Brazinski

Please take notice that I have taken the liberty of numbering the points in Mr. Brazinski's comments so you can follow along with my reply:

(1.) Although you do not agree, I believe the starting salary is a good indicator of working conditions in most employment climates. Anyone who thinks the honeymoon is over once starting a job is certainly free to seek other employment.

(2.) The Mercer Study massages figures to compare services of other counties to warrant wage increases, thus, giving the image that government feeding on government, to grow the bureaucracy,and this will somehow protect our community at large? The Mercer Study does not take into consideration the salaries and benefits of the private sector when recommending salary increases in their government reports. In fact, the Mercer Study does not even take into consideration the cost of living for citizens living in our county that support local government with tax money.

(3.) Please allow me to remind you that we pay separately for our EMS service with a MSTU that has a guaranteed 3% annual margin of increase, in addition to our new fire rates of $194.87 with an guaranteed annual rate of increase of 5.5%.

(4.) It was widely reported several years ago that your Chief had let all of his certifications lapse upon making the top position. This may or may not be true for Chief Nickerson but the fact remains that he currently makes $92,000 a year without having a degree. BTW, with this 6.6% increase, Chief Nickerson will be making a whooping $98,072 a year.

(5.) This is a "right to work state" and no one can be forced to join labor unions. In fact, in my opinion, your union uses its power as a way to muscle the taxpayers for increases in wages and benefits. Your union cannot strike to push your agenda so I find it hard to believe anyone would negotiate this type of contract for HCFR.

(6.) Are you referring to be seriously injured while in the line of duty while exercising at Gold's Gym? Yes, the taxpayer would have to pick up the tab for any firefighter who is injured while exercising on duty at Gold's Gym while on duty. This fact was confirmed with Chief Nickerson last month.

(7.) Please refer to my comment (1.) that states that anyone is free to seek employment elsewhere.

(8.) This only strengthens my points made at the fire rate increase hearing for having the county commissioners wait until the results are complete from the $100,000 consultant hired to review county fire services.

(9.) Anyone paying 400.00 a month for family medical coverage in today's market is enjoying a bargain. Try living in the private sector where the rates are sometimes double, even triple what you are paying, if coverage is available at all. Mine currently averages $878.00 a month so I do not have any sympathy for your plight.

(10.) This one was the easiest to answer. You stated that some HCFR fire stations only have 2 firefighters, while the ones I compared them with have 3 at each station. The taxpayers being charged for equal service across the county with HCFR while the service factors are not the same for each station. Surrounding counties are paying less in salaries for 3 firemen at each of the fire house while we are have 2 at some fire stations which it all relates back to administration policy of HCFR.

6.6% increase for HCFR

The Hernando County Commissioners took on a lively debate this morning about the projected employee wages for this year's budget. No decision will be made on the employee wages until September 12, 2007 at the Hernando County Commissioner's Regular Land Use Hearing, per a request made by Gary Kuhl, on behalf of the Commissioner Kingsley, who was absent from the meeting. The county commissioners had various view points on the information brought to them about the methodology of awarding raises by Ms. Dupree and Mr. Zoettlin, Hernando County Budget director.

During this morning's discussion, a thorough explanation was given by Barbara Dupree, Human Resource Director, in reference to the Bell Curve approach for departments giving raises to employees. Ms. Dupree informed the commissioners that each county employee would receive a 2% cost of living increase, with up to 1% merit increase based on job evaluations. This would mean some would receive less than the 3% increase while other would see more than 3% in their paychecks. Each department would "X" number of dollars to work with and the salary increases would be determined by job evaluations.

The information presented at this discussion included the salary increases for various departments and those of the constitutional officers. Hernando County Sheriff's Department has a 5.5% increase included in their budget this year. The Sheriff's Department will include the same cost of living increase as set by the county commissioners, as well as any Step raises per their contract negotiations. It must be noted that Richard Nugent kept this year's budget increase to the maximum 3% set by the Florida Legislature. Karen Nicolai, Clerk of Court, still has a 5% salary increase listed in her budget for her employees but indicated to the budget director that she would hold the increases to the limit eventually set by the Board of County Commissioners.

It was reported that Hernando County Fire Rescue would receive a Mercer increase this year but no percentage was mentioned in this meeting. Not one of the county commissioners bothered to ask Ms. Dupree what percent of increase the HCFR would be receiving this year. Finding this odd, I telephoned Ms. Dupree to ask those questions shortly after the conclusion of this meeting. The HCFR Mercer increase will be 6.6% this year. This Mercer increase was approved as a part of a 3 year contract, with this being the last year (of the contract). It must be noted that HCFR employees received approximately 5% increases in 2006 and 5% in 2005. It must be noted, again, that when comparing the current salaries of HCFR to neighboring counties like the Mercer Study claims to do, Hernando County Fire Rescue's beginning salary for firefighters is over $3,000.00 higher that the starting salaries in Citrus County, Polk County, Pasco County and Port Richey. In fact, HCFR is just $1,500.00 less that the starting salary of firefighters in the City of Tampa. This salary information does not include the additional increases of 6.6% for this year's salary increase for Hernando County Fire Rescue employees.

When comparing this 6.6% increase for Hernando County Fire Rescue with those other county employees that may receive a 2% cost of living increase it just doesn't seem to be fair. It is now quite clear why Chief Nickerson needed to pursue a 25% increase in the fire rates charged by HCFR. Funny thing is though, there has been absolutely no discussion on that additional reduction in our Ad Valorem to offset this 25% increase which was promised by Commissioner David Russell when he made the motion to approve the rate increase. We are still waiting, commissioners...

7th Annual Veterans Appreciation Parade

Please mark your calendar for this year's Veterans Appreciation Parade to take place on November 10, 2007 in downtown Brooksville.

This year the parade is being sponsored by the Hernando County Fine Arts Council. The Arts Council has graciously assisted us in providing an insurance certificate which is being funded with the donations of some generous individuals in our community. The donation list includes Dr. James King from Pasco County, T. Jennene Norman-Vacha/Brooksville city manager, Henry and Janet Searcy, Tony & Anna Liisa Covell and Wayne Dukes. My sincere thanks go out to all our contributors, along with a special mention of thanks to Bob Haa, talk show host of WWJB. Bob has been instrumental in keeping this parade alive each year by allowing us to come on his morning program to pitch the parade.

Our parade will be the kick-off event at 10 a.m., followed by a concert by the Hernando Youth Orchestra. Later in the afternoon the Bandshell Bash committee will present a concert with the famous "Cab Calloway'".

Sue Rupe, Hernando County Tourist Development has reserved the 100 sq. ft. WW II traveling museum from the Florida Museum in Tallahassee. This traveling museum will be in town for the salute to veterans on November 10th.

Please mark your calendars and plan to spend the entire day in downtown Brooksville salute our veterans on November 10, 2007.

More details about the parade will be made in the coming weeks! Stay Tuned...

Run to Remember

The YMCA of the Suncoast/ Hernando Branch has extended an invitation to participate in the "6th Annual Run to Remember" on September 11, 2007. This 5k memorial run, or 1 mile walk, will kick-off at 6:30 a.m. and this event is open to the public. Child care will be available, along with a continental breakfast at the completion of this event. For complete details, contact Olivia Matles of the YMCA / 666-9622.

Natural Disaster workshop

A Natural Disaster Preparation and Awareness workshop is being hosted by Congresswoman Ginny Brown Waite on September 8th at the Hernando County Emergency Operations Center located at 18900 Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville. This workshop is scheduled for 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. and includes members of CERT, Community Emergency Response Teams and Hernando County Emergency Management. Dr. Daniel Noah of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration will be a special guest at this event. For additional information, call 352-799-8354.

Comment

I received this comment to several of my previous postings on the Government Gone Wild seminars from Blaise Ingoglia. In the interest of fairness on this issue, I am posting his comment below so it can easily be viewed by the public, instead of it appearing in the pop-up window.

Ms Covell,

I have just read your blog about "following the money trail". I assure you that nobody is funding these seminars except me. (If you would like, you can come by my office and I will show you the cleared checks). The costs to date are in excess of $12,000 and ALL of it was funded from my personal bank account. It is my way of "giving back" to the community. Hernando County is my home and I cherish it. I want to get it back to where it used to be. As far as who I am representing, the answer is very easy...I represent the tax payers of Hernando County, nothing more, nothing less. Not once did I divulge my party affiliation, and will not do so here either. That is because this is bigger than parties or group affiliations. It is bigger than you or me.I am the author of the power point presentation although I did get help on the content. Hernando Today had nothing to do with it. In fact I never spoke to reporter Mike Bates until after the presentation was finished. I don't know why they were giving out free 2 week subscriptions, but I didn't get one!! (Remember, its a free country).Regarding the Chamber of Commerce comment disavowing the seminars... THEY DID NOT DISAVOW THE SEMINARS. The press release from the chamber said no such thing. This was an error and will be clarified by the chamber soon!In your "evening of change" blog posting you claim that I said the average earnings was $46,843. This figure, as STATED AND SOURCED in the presentation is the average for BOTH Pasco and Hernando counties. I realized this slide confused people and has since been omitted from the slide show. As far as the derivation of the AVERAGE of the salaries, it IS quite fair to lump the lowest and the highest paid employees, for that is what AVERAGE MEANS! In fact, the 17 department heads' salaries dont skew the numbers that much beacuse of the sheer number of employees!!The undertone of the presentation was to enlighten people to how our government has been operating ECONOMICALLY, not just on a taxing basis, and how the county's decisions affect us in everyday life.One last thought on this blog entry...You eluded in this blog that I needed a "basic understanding of business principles". I am fully aware these principles. I came to Hernando in 1996 with $1600 in my pocket. Last year my company constructed over $40 million worth of homes. I own three businesses in town and I am on the verge of purchasing a large stake in a bank. Some people would say I have a VERY GOOD understanding of budgets, business, and economics.You are an upstanding citizen in this community.I would rather have you ON OUR SIDE, than against it.

Blaise Ingoglia

Smart Decisions???

At the Tuesday Hernando County Commission meeting, Commissioner Rose Rocco said the county had to make some tough choices. Ms. Rocco stated, "With all the unknowns coming to us, what we are trying to do is look at everything we have and make some smart decisions." Her quote was in reference to her vote to discontinue the funding of the residential road program that has been in place for almost eight years. The county has already spent approximately $14 million just from the county's General Fund over the last seven years to upgrade the residential road system. This dollar figure does not even take into consideration other funding sources for road residential road improvements, like the gas tax.

Commissioner David Russell agreed that funding road maintenance was important, but he did not agree with financially constraining future boards. Mr. Russell then warned other commissioners that to attain the $2 million for residential road program they would have to find an additional $750,000 elsewhere. By just using simple arithmetic that leaves $1.25 million for the residential road program. Incidentally, this is the $1.25 million requested by the Department of Public Works in this tight budget year. Where is Commissioner Russell planning on spending that $1.25 million? Will this money be returned to the taxpayers or spent on the additional 6,000' sq. ft. of rental space proposed by Commissioner Kingsley to house Annie Williams' office on Jefferson Street.

The Hernando County Commissioner failed to address some basic elements of good management at their meeting on Tuesday. Is it smart to just abandon the residential road investment and leave it to languish on the vine which will allow our property to devalue in future years, Ms. Rocco? Was this $1.25 million earmarked for a refund to the taxpayers for the past promise you made to equal out the 25% increase for fire fees, Mr. Russell? Where in the long-term Facilities Master Plan does it state that all county departments must move out of the government center to make room for new judicial space, Mr. Kingsley?

The Hernando County Commissioners are elected to set clear guidelines and policy for the county administrator. Why hasn't this happened and could this be remotely be classified as smart management?

TRIM notices hot off the press...

This afternoon, I phoned the Hernando County Property Appraiser's office to ask when the TRIM notices would be sent out to Hernando County property owners. The TRIM notices are hot off the press and should go out in tomorrow's mail. The TRIM notices include a section on Special Assessments for solid waste, street lighting and fire, under the heading of Non-Ad Valorem so we will all be able to determine this year's full impact to our own personal, and business budgets. Please take notice that these TRIM notices will include the date, time, and location of all scheduled Budget hearings that affect your property taxes.

Disavowed...

The Greater Hernando Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors disavowed the Government Gone Wild seminars this afternoon.

Follow the money...

Everyone has been scratching their heads wondering just who ponied up the cash to promote the Government Gone Wild series. Room rental fees were most likely charged for the event at Silverthorn last Friday night titled, "An Evening of Change" along with any costs associated for all the refreshments that were served to the business community. Where did the money come from for this seminar? In fact, where is the money coming from for the six, upcoming seminars being promoted to the public? Do we need to follow the money trail to find out?

To make the mystery even more interesting, an article appeared on the second page of the Hernando Today this morning, titled "Behind the Numbers" defending the figures used at this first Government Gone Wild seminar held strictly for the business community. No one from the newspaper took credit for writing this article in this morning's paper which attempted to clarify statements made at the "Evening of Change" seminar last Friday. In fact, Blaise Ingogolia, commentator for the "Evening of Change" did not detail which group he actually represented, nor did he reveal the author of his Power Point presentation used in this seminar. Another pertinent question is, why was the Hernando Today handing out free, two-week subscriptions at the end of this seminar? Was this really an appropriate place to promote their newspaper? Is Hernando Today trying to create the news instead of just reporting it in an ethical manner? No one really knows this answer for sure anymore and a simple answer could probably be found in just following the money trail...

Health, safety & welfare

Hernando County Fire Rescue proudly announced the purchase of two new fire engines in this morning's newspaper. Excitement was expressed by the firefighters union president in reference to this purchase by fire officials. This purchase of the new fire engines was made a year ago, and the delivery of these vehicles will be in mid-September to the HCFR. Even though this $840,000 purchase for vehicles was not mentioned at the recent (HCFR) rate increase hearing, its nice to know that our health, safety and welfare are being so diligently looked after by Hernando County Fire Rescue, with the blessing of Commissioner Rose Rocco's vote to approve a 25% increase in their budget.

Money cannot buy anyone happiness but be rest assured that Commissioner Rose Rocco is always looking out for our health, safety and welfare. So if you are having trouble finding the money to buy new school shoes for your children because you are strapped with the new fire rates, call Commissioner Rocco since she feels your pain. Even if your elderly grandmother has to decide between paying her fire dues and buying medication, don't worry, call Commissioner Rocco since she is really concerned with your personal health, safety and welfare.

Even though you may be having trouble financially coming to grips with the new 25% rate increase by Hernando County Fire Rescue, don't you just feel better knowing we have two new fire engines for the Hernando County Fire Rescue district?

Evening of Change

The preview event Friday night of Government Gone Wild, titled "An Evening of Change" at Silverthorn was filled to capacity with business owners who had been beckoned there by the Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, along with the chairwoman of the Hernando County Republican Executive Committee, via a flurry of emails sent out early last week. Upon entering the facility, the business owners were met with a directional sign that said, "Lower Hernando Taxes" this way. As you may recall, the organizer of this group being promoted with Internet registration.

Len Tria, the liaison for the Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, the Hernando Realtors Association and the Hernando Builder's Association, served as master of ceremonies to introduce Blaise Ingoglia who gave a Power Point presentation using figures from the county budget. Mr. Ingoglia used an example, titled Government 101, and then cherry-picked figures from the county budget for his presentation. Some of these figures were used out of context to intensify the drama of his presentation, like the average wage of a Hernando County employee. Mr. Ingoglia cited as "the average earning of a government worker to be $46,843 and then later stated this figure to be $40,467 in his presentation which included the salaries of the department heads. This analogy did not seem quite fair to lump in the county administrator's salary of $131,000 with the blue collar workers averaging $10 to $12 dollars per hour.

Examples of "large profits" were cited by Mr. Ingoglia in the Utilities and Development Department. The profits that he spoke about were actually the reserve accounts for these departments. The speaker did not go into detail about these self-sufficient, operational budgets of the Utilities and Development Department which are classified as Enterprise Funds that do not use any Ad Valorem revenue. Mr. Ingoglia should have phoned the director of the development department to get a clear understanding on how this department manages its budget. Grant Tolbert was able to continue operations at the same level, with minimal lay-offs in his department, even in the downturn in building permits because of good management practices.

The whopping $43.7 million in profit Mr. Ingogolia spoke of for the Utilities Department is another example of the "drama factor" built into this presentation. The $43.7 million for the Utilities Department is in their reserve accounts, some of which will be used to complete their long term capital improvements. A portion of this $43.7 million figure is necessary to be in secured accounts to insure the continued A+ bond rating for their bonding projects. This A+ bonding rate insures Hernando County receives the best available interest on their long term bonds.

This seminar had an undercurrent that "local government" was the whipping post for the all business down turn in this county. Mr. Ingoglia stated in his seminar that Hernando County business associations are losing memberships due to the hard economic times. He also stated that companies are going out of business, or laying people off, with his perception that problems lie at the doorstep of Hernando County government. A basic understanding of business principals would clear up any misconception that local government had that much authority over local business. Market trends, based on supply and demand, drive the economy for private business, not the other way around with the perception of local government in the driver seat.

This "Evening of Change" could have been the opportunity of a life time to perk up the appetite of the apathetic business owners in Hernando County if more research had been done using down-to-earth facts about the numerous excesses in Hernando County government's budget instead of the skewed analysis of this presentation. Shame on the Hernando County Chamber of Commerce director for not thoroughly reviewing this presentation before calling out businesses for a seminar that only appeared to be a pep rally to incite the masses for the September 13th Hernando County budget hearing.

Election equipment moved...

For the past several days I have been looking for a news article, or a press release from the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections, Annie Williams announcing that she had finally moved the election equipment out of the old DPW site on Martin Luther King Blvd in Brooksville. I must have missed the report somewhere even though it was not listed in the press release on the SOE's website. Anyway, do you remember all the uproar in 2006 about the hazardous location where Annie Williams had her election equipment stored in a warehouse in Hernando county? Ms. Williams decided to leave this equipment at the old DPW site even though the county administrator worked dilegently to get it moved to a secure location. The Hernando County Supervisor of Election chose not move this equipment last year, stating it would be too inconvenient for her employees.

On March 3, 2006, Dawn K. Roberts, director of the Florida Department of State, Division of Elections sent a technical advisory memo to all 67 Supervisor(s) of Elections to immediately enhance voting system security throughout the state. Under the state of Florida, a set of guidelines and procedures were recommended based on threat models, or forms of perceived attacks on our election system. Ms. Roberts underscored the importance of items that could be a perceived threat to the voting methods in our state, such a transportation of ballots, and pre/post election security. One method that was discussed in her memorandum was the threat to optical scanners, like the type we currently use in Hernando County.

Why is this historical data significant to our election equipment? It is important to underscore the time it took for Ms. Williams to finally move this equipment into a secure, leased facility at the Airport Industrial Park. Yes, the election equipment was finally moved several weeks ago. This move was without any fanfare, or press releases from Annie Williams' office but I guess its better late than never, even if it took 16 months...

Super Homestead

For those of us in Hernando County who have questions about the upcoming referendum on about the "Super Homestead Exemption", now there is a place to go for accurate information. Hernando County Property Appraiser, Alvin Mazourek has a link on his web page that gives clear cut answers to many questions on this issue. The article titled "Save Our Homes vs. Super Homestead Exemptions, is in a short, easy to read format. To find out more about this referendum which will appear on the January 2008 Presidential Preference Primary, click on the following link:

http://www.hernandocounty.us/pa/

HCSO

The Hernando County Sheriff's Department is hosting a meeting for new residents to our community on August 22, 2007 at 6 p.m. Sheriff Richard Nugent will be on hand to welcome new residents to the neighborhood with information about his department, and the programs they offer to the community. If you are planning on attending, please rsvp no later than August 20th by calling 754-6830 / ext. 53667.

Bandshell Bash

The Hernando County Fine Arts will present their monthly "Bandshell Bash" this Saturday, August 11, 2007. The fun begins at 4 p.m. at the Hernando Park & Bandshell located at 205 E. Ft. Dade Avenue in downtown Brooksville. The entertainment will be calypso sound and the Pacific Revue Hawaiian. Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of family fun. See you all there!

Obsolete bridge

Last Friday, I received a news bulletin about the condition of bridge structures in the local area that were either obsolete, or structurally deficient, by engineering standards of the Florida Department of Transportation. I clicked on the link on this bulletin for the list of additional Florida roads in our area. To my surprise, Hernando County has one obsolete bridge that received no coverage in this news report. The bridge in question listed the location as being 0.5 miles east of SR 700 (Ponce de Leon Blvd./SR98), with the site of Brooksville - Hernando CSX R/R. If you are not familiar with Brooksville, the bridge is over the CSX train tracks on Broad Street, just north of the old Register Chevrolet which is now the Sun Trust office complex.

Under state inspection guidelines for bridges, a functionally obsolete bridge has older design features and, while it is not unsafe for all vehicles, it cannot safely accommodate current traffic volumes and vehicle sizes and weights. Not to cry wolf about this bridge but wouldn't it be prudent for the engineers from Hernando County and the city of Brooksville to put pressure on the Florida Department of Transportion to limit heavy truck traffic on this "obsolete" rated bridge until the structure is updated to conform to safe state guidelines? Maybe with some pressure from county and city officials, the majority of thru truck traffic could be routed to the SR50 truck route, leaving only local traffic to use this obsolete bridge. This could be the answer the "city father (& mothers)" have been searching for for years which would be to eliminate the heavy thru truck traffic in the city of Brooksville.

Memorial for fallen soldier

PFC CODY GRATER

PLEASE JOIN US AS WE HONOR THIS FALLEN SOLDIER

Saturday, August 11, 2007
Funeral Time: 10:00
Estimated Procession Time: 11:00am to Noon

Route:
Mariner and Linden (Spring Hill Baptist Church)
North on Mariner to East on Elgin Blvd
Elgin (turns into Powell) to US41
North on US41 to right on US50A
US50A to right on US50
US50 to I75
(proceeding to Bushnell)


Please bring your flags and line up anywhere along the
procession route until once the entire procession has passed
Timing is estimated so please be patient as you wait

Seeking their nomination

A correction needs to made to a prior post that indicated that Commissioner Jeff Stabins was the only person who had not voiced his opinion during the recent rate increase hearing for Hernando County Fire Rescue. It seems that a candidate for Hernando County Commission, district 5, stood strangely silent in the atrium of the government center while this rate increase took place only yards away. For the record, the candidate's name is James Adkins, the former fire chief of Brooksville.

Although James Adkins has frequently employed the slogan, "Ax the Tax" for any and all government programs he deems unworthy of funding, he was no where to be found inside the chambers of the Hernando County Commission meeting on that fateful day our fees were raised 25%, with additional, annual rate increases of 5.5%.

Why, you may ask, was Mr. Adkins not present to voice his displeasure with this massive increase? His absence from this rate increase hearing could have hinged on his hope for the support of the firefighters union in his quest to become a county commissioner. Maybe Mr. Adkins didn't want to take a tongue lashing, like the one dealt out to Commissioner Kinglsey, by the Spring Hill Fire Rescue when they publicly stated he was no longer their "brother". The only other explanation could be that Mr. James Adkins does not own any real property in Hernando County so he's not really concerned with the impact this 25% rate increase will have on homeowners.

Where do you stand, Mr. Adkins, with the firefighters union seeking for their nomination and money or with the very public you hope to represent?

Arc Nature Coast

I received the following information from Nancy Stubbs, Arc Nature Coast, in reference to their P.O.S.S.E. program. Here are some of the highlights from their press release:

The Arc Nature Coast of Brooksville, Florida, recently became accredited under the Premier Accredited Center Program offered by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). NARHA Accreditation is a respected benchmark within the therapeutic riding industry. It demonstrates a commitment to safety and the highest professional standards.

“We are very proud of the accomplishment of our equestrian riding program known as the P.O.S.S.E. (Promoting Opportunities and Skills with Special Equestrians)”, said Mark W. Barry, Executive Director. “All of the credit goes to our lead equestrian instructor, Theresa Smith, and all the staff and volunteers who are passionate about this program.”

It is great to have such wonderful, caring people like Mark Barry, Nancy Stubbs and Theresa Smith in our community who truly care about needs of these very special people.

PHCC

The district board of trustees for Pasco Hernando Community College has elected a new chair and vice chair for the 2007-2008 academic year. Irvin Homer was elected chair, and Thomas E. Weightman was elected vice chair. Congratulations Mr. Homer and Weightman!