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Hernando Today

Williams Rebuttal

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Hernando Today

Published: November 4, 2008

Williams Rebuttal

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your endorsement of Shirley Anderson, candidate for supervisor of elections. For months I have been verbally attacked with insinuations and insults questioning my ability to perform my duties as supervisor of elections. For months, I've had to spend time defending my duties and the election laws of the state of Florida while also performing the job I was duly elected and certified to do.

Anderson does not have a clue as to what the duties of the supervisor of elections are, what the job entails and apparently what the election laws are. All she wants, as she once stated, is "Annie's job." She has done nothing to familiarize herself with the registration process, voter turnout, day-to-day operations of the elections office or the electoral process as a whole. Yet Anderson says she wants to become the next supervisor of elections.

Anderson thinks the supervisor of elections position pays too much. Yet she feels she deserves that same pay without any experience or knowledge. Her qualifications would equate to holding an entry-level position. Anderson promises a "money-back guarantee" because she knows she's not qualified, and she is certainly not exempt from making mistakes.

For months she has criticized my staff and me for mistakes made by my office. I know the buck stops with me, no matter who or how the mistake was made. I did not personally make the mistake, but, yes, I take full responsibility. That is what a real manager or, in my case, supervisor does. I analyzed the situation and repaired the mistake while still maintaining order and professionalism. Anderson stated she will form an elections assistance committee. That is no more than a layer of ineffectiveness because she apparently feels she requires help in running the office. I have worked my way up from the bottom to the top - always putting voters first.

Anderson stated that the poll workers are not "adequately trained." Just ask any poll worker about what their job is. They will tell you they are well-trained and in accordance with the election laws. Our poll workers are dedicated to the electoral process and take offense to the attacks that have been made on them by my opponent. Hernando County's 600-plus poll workers take their duties seriously, making sure that our elections are accurate, fair and legal. All eligible voters can be assured that they can cast their vote, know that their ballot was accepted and counted and that they have made a difference by letting their vote be their voice.

I, too, am proud to be an American who believes in the electoral process. I've dedicated more than half of my life in being an active participant in the electoral process and also in keeping with my mission to ensure the integrity of the process and empowering each voter through continuous education.

Patriotism is not how many signs or plastic flags you can stick in the ground all over the county. My husband is a Vietnam veteran. My brother served in the United States Army. My children were raised knowing their mother was always very late on election night because of her dedication to Hernando County residents and the democratic process.

It's not about your business connections or the amount of money you solicited. It's about the trust that the citizens place in the hands of the person they feel will ensure what so many fought and died for. I am asking the voters to join me in keeping our elections accurate, fair and legal. Join me in keeping cronyism and politics out of the elections office.

On Nov. 4, vote for Annie D. Williams, your supervisor of elections.

Annie D. Williams

Hernando County

Supervisor of Elections

Fixing Our Drug Problem

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?"

I replied: I had a drug problem when I was young:

I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.

I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.

I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profane four-letter word.

I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad's fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroin; and, if today's children and politicians had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.

Charles Fisher

Weeki Wachee

Coller's Private Practice

Re: "Attorney's Office Opposes Plan" in the Oct. 31 edition of Hernando Today.

The question is why? Hernando County commissioners sit at the top of the government hierarchy structure for all counties in Florida. Considering this, it means they have the authority to establish a chain of command according to what the commissioners believe is best for the county, not for Garth Coller and his staff.

I have always wondered why the county administrators were unable to make informed decisions and recommendations on certain issues that have plagued the county for years, one, namely, the contamination problems concerning the Department of Public Works site. Now it has become very clear.

I will refer back to when Richard Radacky was the county administrator. Having met Radacky on several occasions, he appeared to me to be an impartial individual when it came to doing his duties; he seems to relish the idea of representing Hernando in a most outstanding manner. But, this did not happen, and I wondered why, since he seemed to be such a very sincere and impartial individual. Now I know; it was because of major interference from the same county attorney's office that opposes the current county administrator's plan to change the chain of command. I personally believe that County Administrator David Hamilton's plan is right on cue. As a matter of fact, it has been late in coming.

It is no doubt in my mind that the reasons for the past exodus of county administrators, one after another, in only a short period of time, are related to the county attorney's office headed by Garth Coller. I can see major interference in the ability of any administrator to properly do his or her duties when attorneys are trying to run the county. I always wondered why the county administrators could not fulfill their obligations as the top administrator for the county, but this too is now very clear.

The county attorney's office made it very difficult for any administrator, using legal technicalities and sometimes illegal technicalities to present to the commissioners that often were technical enough to force the commissioners to ignore the thoughts and ideas of the administrator because of fear of legal retribution, even when there was none. Case in point: When Coller advised commissioners to cut off all communications with the taxpaying citizens of South Brooksville, because they had obtained an attorney.

The idea of cutting off all communication with taxpaying citizens who help pay his salary was pure hogwash, and an illegal use of technicalities that only helped the county attorney's office advises and represents the commission, as well as the county administrator and county departments," so what is the problem here? If commissioners prefer not to be involved in the day-to-day operation of a department, and the county attorney's office is a department, this is the choice of the commissioners, and it is no different than any other department of the county.

Actually, because commissioners are not required to report to work on a daily schedule, the commission is incapable of providing the proper oversight for the employees of the county attorney's office day-to-day operations. They may be attorneys, but they are also employees subjected to the same personnel policies and procedures as other county employees. They need to come to work on time, they need to perform their duties on a timely basis and this is a day-to-day operation and responsibility that cannot be properly controlled by the commission. Being an attorney should not give them any special privileges along with their higher salaries.

You are right on Mr. Hamilton, right on. If Coller wants a private practice, then he should set up his own private practice and bid on a contract to represent the county and not turn a county department into his private practice.

Richard L. Howell

Brooksville

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