And Cancelled!

Well... I think it is safe to say that among the politically elite, I am probably the most hated person in Citrus County. First the outing of the potential data center... then the sand mine issue being outed... now Betz Farm contract has been cancelled. None of that happens without me doing this and without people joining in on the conversation. When you all read what I write and then share it or even contact commissioners or show up at meetings... those things help. We saw that yesterday with Betz Farm.

For the record, I am not suicidal. If I disappear one day, it is not me simply skipping town. It is sad that I have to say this, but someone came into my office a few weeks ago and basically said... "Be careful with what you are doing. You are messing with people who have no issues burying bodies as you are no messing with their $$". He was not threatening me, just giving me a heads up I am playing in the big leagues.

The other comment I hear a lot is... "If you are desiring to run for county commissioner again, you are certainly making the people with the money for the campaign upset."

My answer... good. If campaign contributions are tied to things that I am outing, then I do not want them. If anything, I am proving I am not afraid to stand up for what I think is right.

I suppose it is good that I am shaking those trees. Maybe this helps change the political climate in Citrus County and lessens the influence of a select few. People are starting to see through it.

There was a little "shade" thrown at me by Commissioner Davis and I've seen it online as well. Davis said.. "We have an attorney in the audience (Batsel) and someone who thinks he's one (me)."

It was said as a joke and I took it as such, laughing about it after, but for the record, I have NEVER told anyone that I was providing legal advice. Ever. If I have a conversation with a commissioner, I tell them they have an attorney and to ask her. Do not simply rely on me saying there is an issue or my interpretation of it. Talk to your attorney.

They did that and she said there was an issue with this contract. People get frustrated that I know how to read and piece things together. I know where to find information. I can point to it, I just cannot say I am providing legal advice.

That said, let's talk about Betz Farm and what happened yesterday.

In short, the BOCC voted 4-1 to cancel the sales contract and keep the property. Win for the people of Citrus. I have not seen anyone, aside those close to the developer, state that they now want to sell the property now that it is not tied to the shelter being built. Find me someone (aside from Jimmie Smith), who wants it sold. They are few and far between. So the BOCC listened to the citizens.

Not sure what Commissioner Jeff Kinnard is thinking. He has been all in on this since the beginning. He was the one that brought the amendment of the contract to the board in the first place, that allowed Dicks essentially an unlimited amount of time to close. And there he was yesterday stating he was against cancelling. Read the tea leaves. He didnt and voted as the lone person against cancelling.

We knew Commissioners Diana Finegan and Janet Barek were likely against this contract. I had them down for solid "cancel" votes before we even started. Finegan had mentioned previous support for cancelling and Barek has never liked selling Betz, even before she was on the board.

The wildcards were Commissioners Davis and Bays.

Let's start with Davis. She came out and admitted she took money from Dicks for her campaign previously. She said she would not be doing so going forward. Then she went on to talk about the decision and sounded like she had decided to vote against cancelling. She stated all the bad reasons that exist to not cancel. She shockingly mentioned something about a trade of property... Dicks had some land that he would sell to the County if we closed on for Betz or something like that. No clue what she is talking about as that has never been brought up before, so kind of shocked that she would mention it now.

Ultimately she said she came into the vote able to go in either direction and ultimately sided with the cancel side. Shocked there as I had her in the "don't cancel" camp, but she may have jumped late to not be on the losing side and staying on a sinking ship. Regardless, surprised to voted to cancel.

Bays did political maneuvering. She came prepared to ask county attorney Denise Lyn to fully explain why we could cancel this contract and why there was a violation. Lyn cautioned about providing too much information in a public forum, but explained the violation of the contract and other issues that will arise.

Bays played the political card and played it well. She likely knew she was the swing vote before coming into the vote. She likely did not expect Davis to vote for it. I whispered to someone seated next to me that if Davis voted to cancel, Bays would be crazy not to agree and vote to cancel. That would have been political suicide.

But she came prepared and went the route of... "This is a horrible idea and when it backfires, I will say 'I told you so', but for now, I will vote to cancel and see what happens".

Not those exact words of course, but the gist of it. She made it clear that if it back fires, it was a bad idea. She wanted that on the record... but if it doesn't she wanted to be on the record for voting to approve the cancellation.

Remember, it is an election year. Keeping the contract in place is political suicide. Cancelling it with the option to say "I told you so" is the election year move. Politics at its finest.

But that got us to 4-1.

Personal opinion here.. I think part of the delay in getting this project moving is the election. Remember, Dicks has said he regrets putting up the Pine Ridge golf course in 2024, during an election year. He got it passed after the election, with commissioners who voted against it previously before the election now voting for it post election.

I think there as a bit of that here. Let's not being it to the BOCC before the election as we need to make sure there are no contentious votes that can hurt our candidate... Ruthie Schlabach lost in part due to the first Pine Ridge vote. No need for Dicks to run that risk again.

Next, let's address social media rumors. After the news broke, a few people chimed in and said that the county will now pay tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and other damages, potentially bringing it over $100k.

Well here is the truth according to Ms Lyn. The county has insurance. The deductible is $100k. That means the county pays up to $100k in attorney's fees to fight a potential lawsuit by Dicks. That is it. That is all the county is on the hook for. Further, the contract removed the clause about paying attorney's fees. So if we lose, we pay nothing other than what we pay out legal council, up to $100k.

If we win, we keep Betz. If we lose, Dicks still controls the process with Betz and still has to present his project, which could be denied. So really, nothing changes. We are not talking millions of dollars here. While $100k is significant, as I said at the meeting... $100k for 350 acres of Conservation/Recreation land is dirt cheap. Dicks is under contract for $6 million. We get to keep it for $100k... or we lose and he continues, gets approval and we get $6 million.

Seems like not much risk to me. Good job commissioners for getting this done. Now we wait and see what happens.