CITRUS CRUSADER

By John Labriola - The three candidates for the District 4 Citrus County Commission seat spent an hour discussing issues and answering questions at a candidate forum in Lecanto on Monday hosted by the Citrus County Republican Party.  Commissioner Rebecca Bays, who is up for re-election, is facing challengers Holli Herndon, a local educator, and Jennifer Grogan, who pastors a church with her husband Paul Grogan, a two-time independent candidate for county commission. Herndon, who spoke first, said she decided what positions to take in her campaign by asking residents whose opinions she values, but her answers made it clear that the people she values most are liberals. Herndon was asked if she would support the libraries having a temporary display of assassinated icon Charlie Kirk's books and if she would vote to name a county road after him as Sumter, Marion, Hernando, Lake and many other Florida counties have done. She replied that most of the people she asked told her they d...

By John Labriola - After months of debate and delay, an ordinance to prohibit future marijuana dispensaries in Inverness will soon be back on the Inverness City Council agenda. The issue came up in December after the Citrus County Commission voted to ban future marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Citrus County, as the Crystal River City Council had done a year earlier within its city limits. The Inverness City Council had imposed such a ban in 2017 which was repealed two years later, but council members agreed to bring it back this year after local residents, including Anti-Drug Coalition of Citrus County Director Renea Teaster, urged them to do so. When the ordinance finally returned to the council two months later, several council members had changed their minds . Led by liberal Councilwoman Crystal Lizanich, the council instructed staff to instead look into making marijuana dispensaries and pharmacies a special exception, which would require city approval on a ca...

By John Labriola - A discussion over the Betz Farm land sale descended into chaos this past week as Citrus County commissioners accused each other of being corruptly influenced by developers' campaign contributions, while an altercation involving Citrus County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Josh Wooten led Commission Chairwoman Diana Finegan to call for his arrest. The commission voted 3-2 for a motion by Commissioner Holly Davis to rescind its earlier cancellation  of the $6 million sale to Bravo Land Group, as both Davis and Commissioner Rebecca Bays changed their earlier votes, saying they were not aware that it could cost the county more than its $100,000 insurance deductible if there is a lawsuit, including $360,000 in commission fees to the listed realtor and over $1 million in damages that the developer is now claiming. Commissioner Janet Barek, who made the original motion on April 14 to cancel the sale to preserve the 350-acre property, based on County Attorney Den...

By John Labriola - Inspired by Citrus County's example, Hernando County has decided not to renew its subscription to the left-wing book review magazine BookPage. The decision was made this past week by Hernando County Library Director Cynthia Loftis-Culp, who reviewed the magazine after residents urged the Hernando County Commission to end the subscription. "I have determined that the funds currently allocated to this publication could be more effectively utilized to enhance our eBook collection, which continues to see strong demand from our community," Loftis-Culp wrote. Hernando County was spending $1,305 annually for about 150 copies a month of BookPage, which were available at its four libraries. The magazine consistently recommends titles with LGBT, CRT, pro-abortion, anti-Trump, and witchcraft themes while demeaning conservative viewpoints. Residents attending the April 14 Hernando County Commission meeting told commissioners BookPage promotes far-left and woke ide...

By John Labriola - The Citrus County Commission on Tuesday will be considering a motion by Commissioner Holly Davis to rescind the commission's earlier cancellation of the sale of Betz Farm. On April 14, Davis had joined all commissioners except Jeff Kinnard in voting 4-1 to send a notice of termination of the $6 million contract to Bravo Land Group, which is managed by James Dicks, founder of DIX Developments. According to Tuesday's agenda memorandum, her move to rescind that notice appears motivated by concerns that canceling the 2023 sale could cost the county more than its $100,000 insurance deductible if there is a lawsuit, including $360,000 in commission payments sought by Kevin Cunningham, whom the county had awarded the contract to sell the property. Commissioner Janet Barek had sponsored the move to cancel the sale so the vacant 350-acre property could be kept as conservation land, arguing that the developer had breached the contract by missing various deadlines, whi...

By John Labriola - Citrus County Commissioner Rebecca Bays last week tried to rebut Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia's March announcement that Citrus County is overtaxing its residents.  At a candidate forum in Lecanto, Bays presented a PowerPoint reflecting the county administration's talking points to justify Citrus County's budget, which Ingoglia had said contains $39 million in excess spending when indexed for inflation and population growth from a baseline of six years ago.  Bays, who is running for reelection on Aug. 18,  cast the deciding vote in 2023 for a massive 18 percent tax increase , which she claimed was needed to cover a constitutionally mandated employee pay raise and to speed up road resurfacing.  She said the average Citrus County taxpayer pays $1,279 a year in property taxes, the equivalent of $106 a month, which she said is less than the $140 average monthly phone bill. "That's not waste. That's value," Bays insisted. I...

By John Labriola - Divisions on the Citrus County Library Advisory Board (LAB) continued to grow last week as a revote for chair resulted in a bare majority for embattled chairman Justin Strickland.  The revote was necessary because Strickland had mishandled the vote for officers in February, when he improperly presided over the election and then immediately called for a vote after being nominated instead of asking if there were any other nominations. This time, Library Director Adam Chang conducted the election. Strickland's unprofessional behavior during that meeting, when he attacked the Citrus Crusader for covering his opposition to a Charlie Kirk book display (which Strickland falsely tried to reframe as an attack on his church) apparently alienated some LAB members. Two members who previously supported Strickland as chairman – Edith Ramlow and James Pirotta – voted against him this time, resulting in a 5-4 vote, with four votes for Pirotta. Rhys Campbell and L...