Fun Day at the BOCC

Today is going to be a fun day at the BOCC meeting. As I mentioned yesterday, expect to hear from quite a few citizens over the Fire Services MSBU that they received in the mail. Add that to Stormwater MSBU conversation that is actually on the agenda. Nothing gets people fired up like paying taxes. Buckle Up.

As for the agenda... There are a few things.

First up is a morning workshop about growth.

I talked to a commissioner a couple of weeks ago and asked what happened to the discussion on mobility fees. It has been mentioned a few times here and there, going back to 2012 when they voted to opt out of transportation concurrency, but then it largely disappeared. My guess is commissioners forgot about it and didn't direct staff to bring it back. But guess what was added to this discussion. Hopefully this time we get meaningful discussion and a path forward.

Then, at 1:01 or so (after proclamations) we have the lease with the City of Inverness coming back. As I mentioned before, not sure how it got back on the agenda after a 5-0 vote to opt out at the last meeting. This is staff bringing it back, not one of the 5 commissioners, which I think is the way its supposed to happen. I spoke with two commissioners and they have no clue how it got back on the agenda.

The judges, specifically Judge Falvey, has asked for time to discuss this. I can only assume they are not thrilled with the vote last week as they may feel it delays the badly needed renovations This will be interesting.

Then, 1:05pm (probably closer to 1:45), will be the public hearing on the Stormwater MSBU. That is followed by a public hearing on Utility Available Assessments for wastewater.

That brings us to the 1:07pm (maybe 2/230pm) presentation by North Florida Land Trust that may help commissioners go forward with the sales tax.

At some point, there is going to be talk from Representative Grow about the Campground on Chassahowitzka owned by SWFWMD. The idea here is for the county to lease it from the state. Far better plan than state selling it to who knows who.

Phew. And we haven't even gotten to the open to the public portion yet.

I expect quite a few people to get up and talk about the Fire Services Assessment they received in the mail. If 10 or so people talk about that for their 3 mins, there is another 30 mins on that single topic, not to mention the other issues citizens will talk about.

Then we get to the "boring" section of the meeting... Regular business and bids. Those typically go quickly.

I do expect some conversation about the "Non-Corporate Hangar", since I will say something about that. My mistake for calling it a corporate hangar this entire time. My issue here is the process used to select the company that will store aircraft here... there isn't a process. It was literally a commissioner telling staff (or telling Howard to tell staff) to "make a list and put Livewire on it as #1"

Not sure that is the best way to do business, but here we are. We will see if commissioners have similar concerns.

After all of that.. we have a Dispensary Ban and Pirates Cove on the agenda. Those will likely create some good conversations. I expect at least 15 mins for each, maybe 30.

Then we have a discussion of golf carts on roads in Homosassa. I don't expect too much push back on that, but sometimes they surprise me.

Now we are at 3 things I want to mention specifically. Two are sorta related, so I am tying them together. I mention these because I have been pushing for these changes and they are now on the agenda for discussion.

J1 is the Administrative Regulation for text messages. This will allow staff to use their county devices to text about county business. Currently the county devices cannot text.

This is coming up because I have done several public records requests for text messages. Many people don't realize that those are public records as well. The problem I found was that commissioners (and staff) were texting (A LOT) and it was never captured. It is up to the individual to capture those messages and provide them when asked via public records request.

Since they are being done on their personal devices, the records custodian has no access to those records. They would have to ask the person to provide them.

The problem there is that on occasion, the messages were not given to me. I had records from other people that indicated a text message, but then when asked about it, I would not receive the text message in question. I would question it and sometimes get the messages sent to fulfill the request. Other times, I was told the records don't exist, yet I had proof they did.

In any case, it requires the individual to maintain those records... even after they leave their position/office. Many records must be kept for years. What happens if they switch cell phone carriers or switch to a different brand? Those messages may be deleted... and that is technically illegal.

That is a huge issue and major responsibility. You can argue they shouldn't text, but that is the norm today. That is how people communicate. Why not make a way to capture those similar to county emails?

The 2nd item I want to point out are the ordinances and regulations pertaining to commissioners and staff. This is being brought up by Commissioner Bays

At the last meeting, I pointed out how the administrative regulation and the county ordinance pertaining to commissioners and their discussions with staff were in conflict. The administrative regulation made it clear. No direct communication with staff. Everything had to go through the County Administrator. The ordinance created a gray area. It allowed commissioners to ask staff about specific projects without going through the Administrator.

I have found that commissioners tend to stretch this provision and what starts out as a conversation about a project then ends up with some type of direction or idea by the commissioner. I highly doubt a staffer is going to tell a commissioner "No", so this has potential to be abused.

Some commissioners do this far more often than others so it will be interesting to watch this play out. We will see if they correct these to read the same or leave it as is.

The final thing I want to mention.. Commissioner Davis is bringing a discussion about the county harassment policy. I wrote a bit about this last week.

This one will be interesting. I hope that it stays on topic and addresses the board as whole, although they do need to mention Commissioner Barek's communication with staff.

In her Op-Ed to the Chronicle, Commissioner Davis says she wants to do a study with an independent 3rd party to interview upper management and give a report card to commissioners on what they can do better.

I think its always good to get feedback from your employees. But they have to be willing to take it and learn from it. It also has to be about the board as a whole and not target individual commissioners.

Further, I feel it needs to include Steve Howard. What does staff think about their boss? What can he do better, if anything? I mention that because the board dropped the ball on the 491 issue by ignoring the issue that Howard helped create and then played the "I don't know" card when asked about it. What does that tell county staff? Their boss is above the rules? Not a good look, so I would absolutely include Howard in this study, if passed.

The problem with all this is will staff be open and honest? Most people will not tell their boss how they really feel (or their boss' boss). Will they talk if it is guaranteed to be completely anonymous? Can that be guaranteed in their eyes? That is where the 3rd party comes in. I assume if the board goes in this direction that it will come back at the next meeting with what this looks like. I don't think it hurts to see what it looks like. We will find out.

Also, I want to point out an issue I found and addressed with a commissioner last week. The harassment policy the county has says complaints about commissioners need to go to the County Attorney, NOT the County Administrator. I believe the reason for this is to avoid them going to their boss, whom is employed by commissioners. The County Attorney is also employed by commissioners, but is not the boss of the employee. Removes potential issues and awkward conversation.

The complaint filed by Mr Cole about Commissioner Barek went to Steve Howard, NOT to Denise Lyn. I think that needs to be addressed and commissioners say publicly that the policy states any complaints regarding them go to the attorney.

After ALL of that.. We have a 5pm hearing on the Pine Ridge Golf Course. I am not convinced they will finish the regular meeting by then. If not, that likely finishes after Pine Ridge. Last time Pine Ridge came up in 2024, it lasted until 10pm or so if I remember correctly.

Today is going to be a long day.