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Hernando Today

Focus groups to tackle budgets

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: October 29, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - With the county's last budget cycle now in the rear view mirror, it's time for the local business community's focus group members to focus on next year, which promises to be a bumpy road.

"There are going to be some tougher decisions being made," said Randy Woodruff, president of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce. "But the groups are geared up. They are excited and interested in getting involved in going over the budgets line by line."

And because of the success of the program, Woodruff said he and his group members are expanding their scope to include the school board budget.
Woodruff said he received the blessing of interim school superintendent Sonya Jackson and the school board to form a focus group to break down the district's huge budget into bite-sized pieces and determine how many members should serve on the committee.

"The school board is a large budget and we need people to help us out, probably about 40 to 50 people," Woodruff said.
Woodruff and other business leaders formed the focus groups this year to assist county government with its budgets. Members are from the chamber, Hernando Builders Association, Hernando County Association of Realtors and Hernando Progress.

Even though the committees got a late start, Woodruff said it provided a valuable learning curve for members as they prepare to tackle the 2010-11 budget cycle, which will be even tougher due to further revenue cuts and possible loss of services.

Right now, Woodruff said only business people are allowed membership into the focus groups. Down the line the group may accept residents without business experience, which he believes would add a new dynamic to the groups.

"I've been really pleased and surprised at the response from the community stepping up and wanting to help out," he said.
Woodruff said he has eight different focus groups, consisting of three or four people per committee, to examine budgets under the board of county commissioners.

Additionally, he has five focus groups of four or five members working with the constitutional officers.

So far the response has been positive, judging from the reaction to the recently completed jail contract and overview of the legal office. Three of that group's recommendations regarding jail operations were included in county commissioners' contract with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

County Commission Chairman Dave Russell said the group's latest report concerning the county's legal office carried much weight in the board's decision Tuesday to offer County Attorney Garth Coller a renewable one-year contract.

After meeting with Coller, Budget Director George Zoettlein and Legal Administrator Susan Bishop, that focus group determined that the office is staffed by "highly knowledgeable attorneys and support staff, and prides itself on succeeding in 90 percent, on average, of their cases."

"We find it to be a department, which is not lacking for direction, is comfortable in its perceived role and responsibility and confident with its performance," the legal focus group report concluded.

The group made two recommendations: that the legal office cut its support staff from, four to three, now that the number of attorneys has been reduced with the recent resignation of Kent Weissinger. That would save the department about $50,000, the group said in a report.

Also, because of the uncertainty of the 2010-11 projected tax revenue, the group recommended all employment contacts in the department be held in abeyance and reconsidered for budget years 2011-12.

While commissioners were heaping praise on the focus group's efforts this Tuesday, civic activist Janey Baldwin criticized business people for what she called "amateurs" delving into the legal office's operations and making recommendations.

"They're supposed to be helping businesses, not this legal department," she said.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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