Candidate Forum

The Hernando County Chamber of Commerce will host a candidate forum tonight at 6 p.m. in the Hernando County Commission Chambers. Most candidates will be on hand one hour before the forum to field questions from the public in the atrium. The candidates will be given two minutes to introduce themselves and then will be asked two questions by Robert Nolte of the Hernando Today and Mike Konrad of the Hernando Times. The moderator of this event is Chris Pipinger, the governmental affairs chairwoman for the Chamber of Commerce. The candidate forum will be televised on the HGTV-Channel 19 for those of you that will be unable to attend this event. This will be your last opportunity to see all the candidates before the September 5th Primary Election. Each candidate deserves thanks from our community for their willingness to participate in the political process for their bid to become our public servants.

A more conservative approach needed

How many of you called the Hernando County Property Appraisers office this morning to say thank you? Did anyone say thanks for increased market value on your home? I'm sure everyone called the appraiser to say thank you for assessing my property the maximum allowed amount under the Save Our Homes Act at 3%. So I'm sure the next time your local business owner raises his prices, a thank you note will be forthcoming as you struggle to pay your monthly bills. All this is tongue in cheek to emphasize the out of whack property appraisals mailed out this year on our TRIM notices. While mom and pop worry where they will get the funds to pay their property taxes, businesses of all sizes are asking the same question. Estimates are starting to surface on the increased market values businesses will face this year, starting at 16% and jumping to over 257%. Everyone knows that these increased market values on businesses mean massive tax increases (to business) equating to higher prices to the consumers. Commercial and industrial properties do not have the luxury of the annual 3% cap on values, nor does that local non-profit organization that survives on your contributions to pay their expenses. A friendly little note accompanied our TRIM notices that stated, "The Property Appraiser's office does not set your tax rates, we only establish the market value of your property". His office appears to distance itself from any negative affect of the TRIM notices with this statement but he always manages to impose that maximum cap of 3% on our personal property, plus much, much, more on business entities. Even though our economic growth is market driven, a more conservative approach by our local property appraiser could have slowed the escalation of costs in our community by more fairly evaluating the market values on our property. Just remember, if the county government does not receive the money in the first place, it cannot spend it. We would be far better served by having more of our own money to expand this free market economy than be paralyzed by tax burdens created by the assessments of our property appraiser's office.

Small Business Advisory Council

Yesterday, I was privileged to attend the Small Business Advisory Council meeting hosted by Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite at the Jerome Brown Center in Brooksville. Guest speakers for this meeting were Bob Carroll, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, United States Treasury and Tom Wright, Executive Director for Americans for Fair Tax. Congresswoman Brown-Waite opened the meeting with brief comments which included information on small business and the need for tax reform. Before Ginny introduced Bob Carroll of the US Treasury, she made it clear that this was an informational meeting only, and not a debate between speakers. Mr. Carroll's presentation included discussions on the estate tax, health care costs and tax reform. Mr. Carroll outlined the Alternate Minimum Tax from its inception in 1966, and offered some suggestions to improve this system, like indexing this tax. Mr. Carroll discussed the Marriage Relief Act of 2001 which is set to sunset in 2010 and the need to make this (act) permanent. Bob Carroll discussed the need for future tax reform to have large corporate investment here, not overseas, and the aspect of small business having opportunities to re-invest to promote economic growth within our country. Mr. Carroll briefly discussed high health care cost and the Bush administration looking at initiatives to give individuals the same tax advantages for deductions and credits under health care savings plans as business. On the estate taxes, Mr. Carroll, and Ginny, stated that the House of Representatives had passed a repeal of this tax but it did not clear the Senate. Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite then introduced Tom Wright to give his presentation. Mr. Wright indicated that the Fair Tax idea is a national retail sales tax, currently estimated at the rate of 23% to 25%. This tax would be in addition to any imposed state sales taxing system. This national sales tax would replace the personal tax, estimated tax, social security tax , self-employment tax, etc. Mr. Wright indicated that this single rate was revenue neutral and replaces, dollar for dollar, the current system of taxation estimated at 23-25%. Ginny interjected that the estimated rate was more to the degree of 32-33% but would have to be determined through independent analysis. Mr. Wright stated that the Fair Tax would be imposed on all new goods and services. Discussion then ensued on the demise of former Governor Martinez for the imposition of sale tax on services under his administration. Mr. Wright stated that his Fair Tax concept was a tax on consumption, such that, the more one spends, the more tax someone would pay into the system. The Congresswoman then opened the presentation up to floor questions. One gentleman posed a question about the chances of having the Fair Tax pass. Tom Wright indicated that he currently had 60 co-sponsors and was 100% sure this would pass. Bob Carroll took the conservative approach stating that fundamental reform is needed and he looks forward to the discussion. Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite said that basic simplification of the tax system is needed and she foresees the Fair Tax passing in either the House, or Senate, in the years to come. Ginny emphasized that the chance of passing will depend on any harmful effects that this system may have on constituents. She also stated that public hearings are necessary to hear all sides of this issue which would include independent analysis of all the presented data. As a small business owner, I felt that Mr. Wright's presentation had considerable flare but was very short on substance. Nothing of substance was included to say how items like Social Security would be funded for those of us that have paid into the system, nor the matching amount required to be paid in by currently by employers. Mr. Wright's stated his idea of eliminating personal taxes from payroll would free up business but neglected to include the paper work nightmare of collecting a national sales tax, in addition to state sales tax (for business). In our society which is driven on the basic principals of supply and demand, any tax on that consumption could virtually damage our economic growth. Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite was right in stating the need for public hearings to examine all the facts on tax reform for our country to protect the interests of everyone.

Sounds like an oxymoron

Well, we are off to the races in the run for the Primary Election which is just weeks away on September 5th. For those local partisan enthusiasts, early voting begins Monday, August 21st. The Hernando Times has started printing their recommendations for candidates, from the state level to local races. One race in particular that has garnered considerable attention is that of county commission, district 2. Hubert "Wayne" Dukes (D) and Nancy Robinson (R) got the nod for this seat from the Times this morning. Dukes, a 32-year federal government employee was chosen by the paper for his longevity as a civil servant, citing he will weed out waste and promote efficiency. That sounds like an oxymoron to me. A 32-year government employee weeding out waste? Most fairy tales begin with "Once upon a time" so if the voters believe this, then they will believe Mr. Dukes' commitment to build a hospital on the east side of Hernando County. Apparently Mr. Dukes absence from Hernando County for the last two decades has prevented him from keeping up on the hometown news about the controversial hospital locations. His opponent, Rose Rocco was complemented as the second best choice for this seat, with the only negative comment being made about her changing political parties. Nancy Robinson was given the nod for her longevity in government, edging out her opponent Augie Peretti who is a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative. In their recommendation, the Times stated that Robinson has not demonstrated leadership commensurate with her lengthy term as commissioner and they appeared to excuse her for the change in party affiliation during her current term. Since there are no opponents to David Russell(R) and Jaime Wrye (D) in county commission, district 4 race, their recommendation from the Times will be done at the end of October. So, everyone, hold on to your seats (and wallets) as we slide into home base for the 2006 Primary Election. Please remember to vote, your voice will make a difference for Hernando County's future.

Staged campaign stunt

Hernando County Commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden was quoted in this morning's Hernando Times as saying, "I don't think that their agenda right now is for the best interests of the people of Mitchell Heights. They are just trying to incite additional fears." Ms. Rowden was referring to the 6 or so protestors in front of the old Hernando DPW site yesterday morning. This handful of protestors said they were there to protest the scheduled demolition of old buildings on site that should begin today. First, the clean-up at this site was not fast enough, now it is going too fast for the Mitchell Heights Health Awareness and Restoration Board. Since the county officials have been following proper protocol with clean up efforts, and public notification at the old DPW site, there was no reason for this protest. This "protest" appears only to be a staged campaign stunt to promote county commission candidate, Ronnie McLean, and both newspapers took the bait by publishing his photo on their front pages. Other discouraging information about this incident was that of Brooksville city councilman Frankie Burnett participating in this stunt, stating that it was a failure of the county to communicate with the neighbors of Mitchell Heights. The public would have been far better served if Mr. Burnett had expended his energy, in his capacity as an elected official, by telephoning Commissioner Rowden or county administrator Gary Kuhl to inquire about the demolition process. There is enough blame to go around for the delay in cleaning up the hazards at this old DPW site but manufacturing media coverage, by holding a protest to incite fear in the neighborhood, is an unacceptable means of promoting a cause, or candidate.

No authority under the law...

Hernando County Supervisor of Elections, Annie Williams, stated in the newspaper on Wednesday that her office can only levy fines and does not have investigative powers. By statute, the Florida Department of State has the enforcement powers for campaign rule violations but does not investigate. If both of these statements are true, then just who protects our electoral process in Hernando County? If Annie Williams does not investigate, or enforce the rules, then it must be safe to assume that her duties are merely that of a clerical status, holding no authority under the law to protect our election system. Ms. Williams stated that any campaign finance complaints against candidates must be filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics. Does this mean she relies on a system of one candidate turning in another candidate, for any perceived violations, during the campaign because that is not under her job description? What happens when violations are handed to Ms. Williams? Does she just ignore them? The answer is yes. For example, a situation involving a civic activist named Linda Hayward has been ignored after two requests to Ms. Williams. You see Ms. Hayward is promoting an issue of lower Ad Valorem taxes countywide, by handing out flyers with candidate statements from Steve Mattingly, Wayne Dukes, Augie Peretti and David Russell. This $500.00 in-kind contribution to these candidates for advertising purposes is for the intent of promoting a single issue of significantly lowering Ad Valorem taxes. Ms. Hayward checked with Annie Williams before having these items printed for the proper required disclaimers but was not advised to file the appropriate financial disclosure forms with the SOE's office. For that matter, Steve Mattingly, Wayne Dukes, Augie Peretti and David Russell neglected to include this $500.00 in-kind contribution in their July 28, 2006 financial documents. Florida statutes clearly defines this rule:

106.071 Independent expenditures; electioneering communications; reports; disclaimers.--
(1) Each person who makes an independent expenditure with respect to any candidate or issue, and each individual who makes an expenditure for an electioneering communication which is not otherwise reported pursuant to this chapter, which expenditure, in the aggregate, is in the amount of $100 or more, shall file periodic reports of such expenditures in the same manner, at the same time, subject to the same penalties, and with the same officer as a political committee supporting or opposing such candidate or issue.

Florida has been seen as the laughing stock of the world for election errors. Who can ever forget the missing chad, the hanging chad, the dangling chad, repeated over and over in the news in the 2000 election until everyone in Florida wanted to put a bag over their head in shame. We do not need that type of disgrace in Hernando County with our electoral process. If it isn't Annie Williams, the Supervisor of Elections job, then whose is it?

A little ironic

As I was driving to work this morning something interesting caught my attention. It was campaign signs. It is not unusal to see campaign signs littering the right of way, and the state forestry property in my neck of the woods because this happens every election season. What mystified me was the name(s) on the campaign signs. The majority of these illegal signs belonged to candidates for judicial positions. It is a little ironic to have a person running for a judicial position that has not read the sign ordinances. Just in case the Hernando County Code Enforcement sends someone out to look for these signs, please stop for several seconds to inspect the courthouse lawn. A faded banner of the Hernando County Parks Department has been swinging from the palm trees for over a month and it needs your attention...

August Bandshell Bash

The Bandshell Bash will feature JT Curtis and the Silver Eagle Band on August 12th from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Bandshell Bash takes place at Hernando Park located at 204 East Fort Dade Avenue in downtown Brooksville. JT Curtis and the Silver Eagle Band has opened and performed with some major stars like: Brooks & Dunn Lonestar, Toby Keith, Lynard Skynard and the Allman Brothers. This event is fun for everyone because the music is always rated "family friendly". Bring your lawns chairs and your appetite because they usually have several food vendors. The Brooksville Cruise-In of antique hot rods are also on display during the event.

Newcomers make mistakes...

In this morning newspaper, Supervisor of Elections, Annie Williams was quoted as saying: "That is not uncommon for newcomers to make mistakes. We do have candidates that periodically need a little more help than others because it's new to them." Ms. Williams also stated that she did not if Ronnie McLean would face any fines but she would sit down with him on Thursday to correct his campaign reports. Possibly the Supervisor of Election could ask Mr. McLean why his treasurer failed to report contributions to his campaign last April and May, even though campaign finance laws require prompt reporting on his campaign treasurer's report, as prescribed by Florida Statutes. Another valid question Ms. Williams should ask Ronnie McLean is why he knowingly signed a Waiver of Report stating that he had no activity in his campaign for the reporting period of April through July when he had accepted $2,275.00 for that period. Another pertinent question that the SOE's office should ask Mr. McLean is why his designated campaign treasurer did not sign his treasurer report, dated July 28, 2006. One more point of interest that should be brought to Mr. McLean's attention is the incomplete report filed on July 28, 2006 that did not have the full addresses of all his contributors, nor did it have the required sequencing numbers. The SOE could also ask Mr. McLean why his printed campaign literature is not reflected in his treasurer report and why it (literature) does not contain the legal disclaimers reguired by law. The newspaper stated that it was unclear whether Mr. McLean would face any fines by the Supervisor of Elections office. Strict laws are written in Florida Statutes (104 to 106) to govern electors, elections, campaigns, campaign committees, etc. The following is the statement that every local candidate for public office is required to sign with the Supervisor of Elections Office. I,_______________________ , candidate for the office _______________________; have received, read and understand the requirements of Chapter 106, Florida Statutes. The campaign treasurer is required to certify that campaign records are true and correct, by understanding it is a first degree misdemeanor to falsify a public record (ss.839.13 F.S.) Hopefully, our Supervisor of Elections, Annie Williams, will stand behind her statement: "It's not something that should be taken lightly."

2006 Veterans Appreciation Parade

My thanks go out to the Brooksville City Council for waiving the associated fees and insurance for our 6th Annual Veterans Appreciation Parade at their meeting last night. Our parade is to honor all our veterans, including those currently serving to protect our freedom worldwide. The parade is scheduled on November 11 at 10 a.m. in downtown Brooksville. As the parade coordinator, I would like to thank the American Legion/Post 99 for allowing us to conduct our meetings in their facility again this year. Thanks also go out to Bob Haa at WWJB for his continued support of this peoples parade. Bob has invited Chief Tincher and I to promote this parade on his morning talk show every year. Hopefully, with community support, we can out-do ourselves over last year's parade. Last year we had floats, lots of participants, many veterans groups, military vehicle, Vietnam Veterans on motorcycles, even a float from Pinellas county, along with the Hernando High School Band (and much more). Please watch for the flyers in your area (soon) with the details. Stay tuned for more developing information in the coming weeks!

Fire Master Plan

Last night at the Brooksville City Council meeting, Karen Nicolai, Clerk of Hernando County Court, invited Chief Mossgrove to participate in the Hernando County Master Planning Project for Fire and Rescue Services. Ms. Nicolai requested that the city council allow Chief Mossgrove to participate in the meetings. A consensus of the council was approved after guarantees were given that the city would not be taken over by the county. The city attorney, David LaCroix, assured them (council) that this would not be possible without the prior approval of the Brooksville City Council. Chief Mossgrove welcomed the invitation by Ms. Nicolai and gave a run down on why his input would be beneficial to this committee. It seems Chief Mossgrove has prior experience in writing fire master plans since he just completed one for the city last year. Ms. Nicolai indicated that an RFP (request for proposal) would go out soon for a consultant to participate in these planning meetings. She also indicated that after a consultant was on board Gary Kuhl would not be participating in these meetings and her office would only send a representative. All countywide fire chiefs have been invited to participate in this master plan process. For a fair outcome, it is important that representatives from the High Point Fire District, Hernando Beach Volunteer Fire Department and the Tri-County Fire Department also be included these meetings. It is great to see that our fire safety will finally be reviewed by an analytical screening committee of all the top fire people in our county, without the background noise of local politics.

DCA meeting

The Florida Department of Community Affairs will meet this Thursday afternoon, August 10th, in Tallahassee to discuss the Hickory Hill Comprehensive Plan Amendment for Hernando County. Listed below is the address and phone numbers for your convenience:


Department of Community Affairs
Division of Community Planning
2555 Shumard Oak Blvd
Tallahassee, FL 32399-7018
(850)488-8466 / Secretary
(850)487-4545

USDCA is located in an Office Park complex.

Outstanding Contributions

Hernando County may soon become famous through the hard work and determination of Brian Brijbag. Mr. Brijbag has done in-depth research of the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker and has gotten the attention of WEDU / Tampa for a future program to promote arts, nature and conservation. Mr. Brijbad is working on a 60-minute program about the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker that is meant to entertain and educate the public. The sandhill terrain of the Withlacoochee State Forest is the home to these endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers. Grants have been applied for to promote this project for this WEDU broadcast and hopefully it will picked up as a national program through PBS. Mr. Brijbad is a current member of the Hernando County Fine Arts Council, the host of Hernando Culture (seen on the local Brighthouse channel 19), an Adjunct Professor at PHCC and on the Bandshell Bash Committee. Mr. Brijbag was also recently hired as the new Re-development Coordinator for the city of Brooksville. Everyone should be very pleased to have Brian Brijbag in our community for his outstanding contributions countywide.

Candidate forum last night

The candidate forum on Hernando Beach last night was standing room only. Many of those in attendance with the candidates were their committees, family members and friends. This forum was much like any other year, with very few surprises. The top issue mentioned by all candidates was skyrocketing insurance rates for homeowners. The local issue of interest was the explosive growth in Hernando County. Tables were set up around the perimeter of the room for each candidate to display brochures for the public before the event. The public mingled by these tables listening to candidates before the forum. Major players from both political parties were on hand in the audience to listen to their respective candidates, as the newspaper reporters and photographers covered the event. One new candidate for county commission that took his opponent by surprise was Jamie Wrye. Mr. Wrye was articulate, informed on the issues, and fast on his feet with wit and charm, leaving his opponent scrambling for words, as questions were drawn from audience input. All in all, though, this year's crop of candidates was typical of those in years past, with some being very polished professionals, to the novice, unskilled amateurs. No matter what the degree of skill, or polish, all the candidates should be acknowledged, and thanked, for taking on the challenge of a campaign for public office.

Interesting legislation

As a member of Safari Club International, I receive weekly newsletters via email. Even though SCI, Inc. is a hunting organization, it is also very active in conservation and environmental issues along with the concerns of gun owners worldwide. I received the following information by email this afternoon that I thought you might like to read:

Louisiana's Senator David Vitter and U.S. Representative Charles Boustany have each introduced legislation (S. 1488 and H.R. 3436, respectively) that would require the President of the United States to certify to Congress each year that the U.N. has taken no action to "restrict, attempt to restrict, or otherwise adversely infringe upon the rights of individuals in the United States to possess a firearm or ammunition." Should the president be unable to provide that certification, the legislation would allow for the refusal to submit any funding to the U.N. for that fiscal year.

Biggest campaign issue in a decade

As the Primary Election day quickly approaches, many incumbents are ducking for cover, trying to hide from the biggest campaign issue the state of Florida has seen in a decade. It just happens to be skyrocketing homeowners insurance and the financial burden it is causing on property owners in this state. Three elected officials are publicly talking about homeowners property insurance reform and need to be recognized for their efforts. The three elected officials that have met this catastrophic insurance crisis head-on are Congresswoman Ginny Brown Waite, Chief Financial Officer for the state of Florida, Tom Gallagher and state Representative Randy Johnson. Congresswoman Brown-Waite has been working hard in Congress on the re-insurance problem http://brown-waite.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=2101 and has publicly asked Governor Bush call a special session of the legislature to address the problem. Tom Gallagher who is candidate for governor has consistently stressed the need revamp the insurance industry in the state of Florida http://www.tg2006.com/Pages/News/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?p_id=93 starting with Citizens Insurance. Rep. Randy Johnson who is running for CFO for the state of Florida has issued a position paper http://www.johnsonforcfo.com/issues/Insurance_Plan.pdf on insurance reform. Its really hard to imagine but we really do have a few hard working politicians who put their constituents first, before themselves. Ginny Brown-Waite, Tom Gallagher and Randy Johnson are bravely facing this insurance crisis head-on and deserve a real round of applause from each of us at the polls on September 5th.

A contract, so to speak

A commitment, a covenant, a deal, a negotiation, a pact, an arrangement, an agreement, so to speak, are all synonyms for the word contract. This is what our county administrator Mr. Gary Kuhl signed when he became a contract employee with Hernando County less than six months ago. In this contract was the stipulation that Mr. Kuhl live in Hernando County and he had 6 months to move from his current residence in Citrus County. This morning, Mr. Kuhl requested a contract change from the Board of County Commissioners so he could remain as a resident of Citrus County. The Hernando County residency requirement was understood by all applicants that originally applied for the county administrator position. Each commissioner stated they did not want to lose Mr. Kuhl, even though he had publicly stated in this morning's newspaper he would comply with the stipulations in his original contract. The commissioners then voted 4-0 revise Mr. Kuhl's contract, deleting the verbiage concerning his place of residence so he could remain in Citrus County.

With friends like these?

Wasn't Katherine Harris the person that took the heat for the election of George W. Bush in 2000 when she was our Florida's Secretary of State, while standing by the letter of the law. Wasn't Katherine Harris the person that stood tall with Governor Jeb Bush throughout this 2000 election turmoil, as it went to the US Supreme Court? Hasn't Katherine Harris done an outstanding job as a republican congresswoman for her district? Hasn't Katherine Harris been a loyal Reagan republican, never uttering an unkind word to anyone in her party? The answer is yes to all of the above, so why is she being unfairly targeted by major republican party players like Senator Elizabeth Dole, Governor Jeb Bush, and once again, Carole Jean Jordan, the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Florida? Its a shame that the major hurdle in Katherine Harris' Senate race has been internal to the own republican party strife. Somehow the old slogan fits this example which is, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" Katherine Harris has held her head high throughout her campaign, despite all the criticism of her peers. She has had a smile on her face, and a positive message in her campaign. No matter what the outcome of the election is, at the end of the day, Katherine Harris will be the clear winner.

A new day dawning?

Is a new day dawning on the horizon in Hernando County or is this just turning out to be another typically weird year, politically speaking, that is? Just think about it for a minute. A county commissioner resigned his position early to run for a Florida House seat. Another state representative is running for county commission. A sitting county commissioner changed her political party midstream into the term and is now running under the new banner of republican. Another candidate changed party affiliation and is running for county commission as a democrat. Democrats are attending republican fundraising events. The strangest one yet is the news that a well, established republican women's club, turned political action committee, is extending invitations to interview republicans and democrats, alike, before the Primary Election. This musical chair routine really looks like the game of Mr. Potato Head we played as children. You remember, switch the heads or faces and the body remains the same. What is in store for us next? Maybe Jeff Webb of the Hernando Times was correct when he stated it was time to have non-partisan county commissioners. If it isn't time for a change by the Florida Legislature for non-partisan county commissioner elections, then maybe they could humor us here in Hernando County by changing the date of our General Election this year. October 31st would be a more suitable date which just happens to be Halloween!

Budget workshop yesterday

Some things never change and this was proven true once again yesterday when I attended the Hernando County Board of Commissioners budget workshop. I commend Commissioner Jeff Stabins for asking months ago that the staff bring back budget reduction suggestions. The county staff did include the reduction suggestions, requested by Mr. Stabins. To those of you that follow the county budget each year, you know little changes except for the actual presentation used by the staff. This year's budget workshop seemed like a re-run of year's past, with the staff using the same hot button issues for tax reduction, like reducing library hours, reducing the animal services hours, paperless agendas, etc. All these reductions were sacrificial lambs, so to speak, and pale in comparison to this year's increase of 16.1% ($399 million) over last year's budget. No real discussion took place by the commissioners on meaningful budget reform at this workshop. In fact, the commissioners did not have questions for any constitutional officers, even though they were all in attendance with their department's budget personnel. This workshop was also suppose to discuss the $1 million of General Fund revenue for the Hernando County Fire Rescue. The only discussion was by Gary Kuhl who referenced a meeting with the Spring Hill Fire Rescue, in regards to future dispatch services. The budget director glossed over the Mercer Study, saying that 6.6% increases for county employee salaries was compatible with the current cost of living in Hernando County. Unfortunately, many of our residents have to survive on a fixed income of less than a 4% yearly increase in Hernando County. The one item that did not even raise an eyebrow from the commissioners until the citizens brought it up ( in public comments) was the $6 million increase in the General Fund Reserve Funds. This additional $6 million brings the General Fund Reserve account up to 20% for a total over $24 million (in reserves) of taxpayer money. The only item that seemed feasible was the requested by Debbie Walker Druzbik for $400,000.00 to assist in county special needs shelter to be located a Oak Hill Hospital. This facility has been necessary for years and Oak Hill Hospital is (once again) generously offering Hernando County the ability to share in the construction of this facility. This facility will be maintained by Oak Hill Hospital so this $400k is a on time cost to cover construction. Tom Leto, Emergency Management Director, stated that this special needs shelter will be a mandated in several years and would meet the initial state guidelines. Somehow the lines of responsibility have been blurred when it comes to our county budgetary process. It is the responsibility of our commissioners, not the county staff, to eliminate the pork from our annual budget. Was I disappointed by attending yesterday's workshop? The answer is yes but I have hope that our commissioners will come back next month with their pencils sharpened and be ready to do their jobs.