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Hernando Today

The Voters Have Spoken

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By JOHN HERBERT, From Where I Sit

Hernando Today

Published: November 12, 2008

Updated: 11/12/2008 10:01 am

It's a long way from Brooksville to Washington, D.C., as the proverbial crow flies. It's even farther, evidently, between ballot boxes and political philosophies.
While the Democrats were strengthening their grip on Beltway politics, Hernando County was voting heavily Republican back home in the county seat. The Republicans are now firmly in charge of the Hernando County Commission.
County officials have been handed a clear mandate to continue hunting for excess costs and for further opportunities to cut local taxes. We residents have spoken, resoundingly. Word will spread that essential living expenses are low in Hernando County, brightening long-term prospects for the region to grow again, both commercially and residentially.
While lower taxes will grow Hernando County's population initially, there's always the risk that newcomers accustomed to lavish spending will eventually begin to demand some of the taxpayer-funded goodies they had been taking for granted up North.
All the more reason for Hernando County to improve its cost-efficiency while the chief administrator can count on the commission's rubber stamp and original input. Make hay while the sun shines, and all that.
It should have been a no-brainer that Commissioner Diane Rowden was voted off the Brooksville Island, and by a substantial margin, at that. Rowden was known for her "slow-growth" positions ("no-growth," I'd call it); she paid a price, even though she demonstrated well-known sympathies for the "man (and woman) in the street."
A word of warning was slowly spreading around the nation, among developers and entrepreneurs, that Hernando County has been both slow and tough on issuing new building and business permits. Shopping for inexpensive opportunities, those developers and entrepreneurs would likely look elsewhere.
Whether she realizes it or not, Rowden was also doomed by her steady support for environmental activism. Environmental protection doesn't often leave much room for profitable growth. Another Super Wal-Mart trumps an obscure black bear, for example.
The lone Democrat left on the board of county commissioners, Rose Rocco, echoes many of Rowden's slow-growth sentiments. Rocco's mandate will be next to be reviewed by voters.
More stunning is the narrow loss sustained by Commission Chairman Chris Kingsley. Although he held a high-profile position, he no doubt suffered from a general rap against Democrats, that if you throw enough money at a problem, it will go away.
Kingsley's support for county pay hikes in these belt-tightening times was probably too much for many middle-income voters to stomach, seeing their once-untouchable 401(k) security vanish at the same time.
The voting majority was obviously defending its lower-tax approach to big government. Still, Kingsley was voted out of office by just 1,500 ballots, a slim margin, indeed. That's not enough to call it quits, though; I'm sure he'll be back for another try. After all, he's re-run before — and succeeded.
Kingsley should also give his further education at taxpayers' expense a permanent rest. It was obviously an added cost we were unwilling to bear. We cast our vote on what a candidate has to offer, not on his or her possibility to become more qualified at our expense.
What I do object, vehemently, to are Kingsley's daughter's provocative observations about her father's losing campaign. As a soon-to-be military officer, she should learn to keep her mouth shut unless called on, salute and bear in mind she has chosen a career that calls for dedication to the political leaders we elect.
Attending one of the nation's top military colleges, she should know better than to accuse Hernando County voters of unsubstantiated "lies and stories" about her father. Taking the word "failed" out of the mouth of our president-elect, when he paints a negative picture ofpost-9/11 America, has not done deposed Commissioner Kingsley any lasting favors.
I would have preferred to read a daughter's treatise on why we should continue to support the father. We don't want to read her vague charges that Hernando voters are "selfish and greedy."

A regular columnist for Hernando Today, John Herbert lives in Spring Hill.

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