In my opinion...

Happy Tuesday.. or what I think is Tuesday. The thing about traveling is that you lose track of what day it is... especially when you go to bed after midnight and wake up around 5/6am each day for a week... then walk around cities all day in the hot sun... Woe is me..

In any case, it is around 11:30pm and I am writing this for an audience that will read it about 13 hours from now when it goes live around 6:30am. Lots of things can happen in those 13 hours, so who knows what will be relevant when this goes out... or if it will be outdated.

For instance, I know that there is a debate for District 4 County Commissioners tonight at the Crystal Oak Clubhouse. I was told Rebecca Bays originally declined, but then accepted after an email went out stating that she declined. I was asked to moderate it, but since I am out of town, I was not able to do so. I did submit some questions, but not sure if they were used or not.

So I am writing this not knowing how that went... or whatever else may happen while that side of the world is still awake.

Today, I am going to tell you who I am voting for in the two county commission races. Call it an endorsement if you want, but I am simply telling you who I am voting for and why. Do with that what you will.

It is now two weeks from the election. Early voting starts soon. It is time to draw a line in the sand. Some people are going to say that I am biased. That is ok. If you have been around here long enough, you will know that I challenge everyone. Some get challenged more than others because they do more stupid stuff. I am not afraid to challenge anyone. I have told several people that very thing... Do something stupid and you will see it written about on here. I am certainly not trying to protect anyone. The recent public records request will show you that where I asked all 5 commissioners to give me their blocked list on social media... knowing that most of them (minus Janet) had names there which they are not allowed to do. And the call logs because I know those happen too. All that will be revealed once I get all the information from everyone. I am still waiting on call logs from 4 of the 5 commissioners (Finegan, Davis, Bays, Kinnard) and blocked lists from two (Bays and Kinnard).

As all opinions go, someone is going to agree with me and others are going to disagree. That is ok. We are all certainly allowed to have our own opinions.

These are mine.

Commissioner for District 2: Diana Finegan.

This is simply about growth and development. Yes, she has done some things I simply shake my head at... Freedom Canal? Really? The fight over the baby box? I think there was something about homeless panhandling or something awhile back.

But... absent her voting on the Ozello glampground early in her term, she has been solid in holding developers' feet to the fire. Even with Ozello, she got some pretty big concessions in regards to blackwater tanks and stuff like that. She got concessions on Tuscany Ranch and tried to deny that but 3 others voted against that. She was a "no" on most of the major projects, even the stupid addendum on Betz Farm that the board signed in April 2024 allowing Dicks to hold it for years without closing.

She is not afraid to say "no" to a project if she feels the citizens do not want it.

I am not sure we can say the same about Stacey Worthington. I do like Stacey personally. I have used their business for repairs on my A/C and whatnot. I do think she has her heart in the right place in her desire to guide Citrus County... However, I feel that she cannot say "no".

Her PDC voting record is among the highest approval percentage of anyone on that board. She voted for everything... Not only some of the bigger projects, but things like the drainage retention areas being used as open space... setback deviations to allow people to build closer to wetlands and water front... land development code changes... and so on.

She has told me it would be different on the BOCC than what it was on the PDC, but I do not see how that is possible. Yes, the BOCC has the final say and ultimately can negotiate things, but the PDC is not powerless in that. They can add conditions.

And if we are following the rules... the PDC and the BOCC have to consider the same exact things. They vote based on the record and what is presented to them... not outside noise. Therefore, if she voted "yes" on the PDC, she should be voting "yes" on the BOCC... otherwise... why did she vote "yes" on the PDC when they have to consider the same things?

I'm afraid if she wins, it will be another rubber stamp on that board along with Kinnard and often Davis. Not sure Citrus County is prepared for that.

Further, declining my interview changed my mind a bit about her... considering that she knew more about that than anyone else since I talked to her in depth about it in March. She knew what the plan was and what the timing was. It was NOT a surprise. Let's just say I was disappointed. I will leave it at that.

Commissioner District 4: Holli Herndon

Going into this race, I knew that Bays would be vulnerable. If someone decent got in the race, they would challenge her despite her having a large financial backing, as expected. She has made too many mistakes recently.

491... Betz Farm... The airport... The dinner with Metro/Southern Group... Transportation Concurrency... Not sure how anyone overcomes those things unless they did something huge. We have not seen that something huge.

For four years we have heard her say we need a 5 year budget. Where is it? We have heard her talk about mobility fees, MSTU/MSBU, etc... where are those things? We have heard her say we need developers to pay their fair share, yet she continues to approve projects where they do not... and she voted against impact fees to include right of way acquisition costs... which would be forcing developers to help contribute to those as well.

Then we have the dumb decision to opt out of transportation concurrency in 2011 at the urging of a land use attorney and the Citrus County Building Alliance. She even said at the time that we needed a plan to replace concurrency... but we never got one. And we are where we are today largely due to that decision.

She has also been a developers dream. Voting to deny Pine Ridge one year and then the next voting to approve it... despite them not changing much... Flipping on Betz farm. Not voting for changing the Comp Plan back to 2022 to require developers to have more open space in projects.

Then you have her going out to eat with a developer and their lobbyist... along with 2 other commissioners... and then voting to approve their project a year or so later. Optics are EVERYTHING in politics... No clue what she was thinking.

Same with 491. Why was she working with those same lobbyists to push through a funding request, bypassing not only the fellow commissioners but the process in place to formally ask for those funds. I have NEVER seen a formal appropriation request go to Tallahassee without going through the BOCC first.

Then apologizing and saying "give me 50 lashes with a wet noodle". Really?

Or the time she told someone to move if they didnt like her votes... Or the time she went on and on about how she didnt want all this growth around her house, so she opted to build on acreage to protect herself from having to live around it... and then voting often to upzone land around other people's properties who did not plan to live next to those things either.

Then all the behind the scenes conversations and text messages about things like the airport, pushing to get a friend some hangar space at the airport despite other companies being interested.

I could go on, but you get the point.

She needs to go.

But I was skeptical of Holli Herndon. I think I was one of her first interviews when she announced and I asked her point blank.. Why the BOCC and not schools, where she appears to be a better fit. Her answer was that she felt called to that position and while county government may not appear to be a fit on the resume, she was confident she could learn what she needed to learn and guide this county forward.

I have seen that change from the beginning. Going into that first interview, she was clueless about most things. She knew the basics.. the budget.. the voting process.. etc.. but she did not know how development projects worked... or how the land development code works with the Comp Plan. Those technical things that most people do not have a clue about.

While she may not understand everything fully (who does), she has learned A LOT about it. The last time I spoke with her a few weeks ago was a complete change. We talked about different LDC things and why some projects should have been denied (Tuscany Ranch) due to this or that. She went into detail on aspects of the budget. She showed me that she had been working heard to learn those things.

She still has a lot to learn I think, but, she is willing to do the work. That much is clear... and we desperately need a change for this seat. She is the one that I am confident will be willing to say "no" when needed and "yes" when it helps this county. I have no doubt she will listen to what people want.

And well Jennifer Grogan... yeah.. no. She has not shown me that she knows anything about county government... just that we do not need data centers and we need a road named after Charlie Kirk. I am not sure her motivation for wanting to jump into this race, but something is up. Why this race? Why now? I will just leave it at that.

I will say this... I fear what this county will look like if Worthington and Bays both win. You will not recognize it in 2 years when its time to vote in 2028 for the other 3 seats. Expect to see 4-1 votes on most development applications that come to the board... based on prior voting records.

Well those are my opinions for what they are worth. I am sure I will get an earful from people, so excited to read all those.