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Hernando Today

Brooksville Native Seeks Council Seat

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: July 3, 2008

BROOKSVILLE Jason Sharp says his hometown means a lot to him.

So much, in fact, that he's ready to step into the political realm.

Sharp, 31, has filed to run for the Brooksville City Council's Group 3 seat. It's the seat currently held by Vice-Mayor Frankie Burnett. Burnett hadn't filed for reelection by Thursday but told Hernando Today he plans to seek reelection.

As the owner of a small yard maintenance company and the married father of three children, Sharp says he's "not a political mind," but knows what it means to stick to a budget and find ways to make ends meet.

"I feel like this is an opportunity for me to do something for this town and for people like me who need to have a voice," he said.

Sharp was born at the former Lykes Memorial Hospital to Dorothy and Ron Sharp. Ron Sharp still works at DynoNobel, an explosives company in Brooksville; Dorothy stayed home to take care of Jason and his two younger sisters.

The family lived in Hill N' Dale on the east side of the county until Sharp reached the seventh grade. He attended Parrott Middle School and graduated from Hernando High in 1994.

He attended Pasco Hernando Community College and then studied wildlife and environmental science at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Georgia, falling a few classes shy of a degree.

After working for a few years as a surveyor and well driller, Sharp took a job at the Southwest Florida Water Management District, doing construction and well drilling inspections. He left as a senior technician to open a well drilling business, but the downturn in the economy dashed those plans.

The lawn maintenance business he'd kept on the side is now a full-time endeavor. Sharp married in 1999. They have two daughters and a son, ages 14, 8 and 4.

Sharp said he would hold the line on taxes and said his easygoing nature would prove an asset in local politics.

He has watched Brooksville grow and said he's not opposed to that continuing, "but we have to do it so we don't outgrow ourselves." He said he has a "good name in this town" that he'd work to uphold. He added: "There are a lot of new people, too, and I need to meet them."

Burnett, who was elected in 2004, said he welcomes the competition but said he will tout what he called a proven record of acting "in the best interest of the citizens."

The seat is one of two up for grabs this year. Mayor David Pugh is seeking reelection to the council's Group 2 seat. So far he has one challenger, businessowner Cecil Davis IV, who made an unsuccessful bid for the council in 2006.

The qualifying period for the council seats is Aug. 25-29.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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