Giving It Away

BROOKSVILLE - BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County Commissioner Diane Rowden loaded up her Toyota Scion and her husband's pickup with 100 electric blankets Thursday morning and headed to the Enrichment Center off State Road 50.

Rowden said Wal-Mart had marked down the price of full-size blankets from $59 to $13 and she couldn't resist a good deal and a chance to help needy seniors at the center.

Her colleagues, Jeff Stabins and Chris Kingsley, have also been busy on the charitable front. Both said they have written more checks to various organizations.

All three commissioners are fulfilling vows made at last September's budget hearing to donate their 1.9 percent pay raise to charity. The raises amounted to $1,144, hiking their annual salaries from $58,408 to $59,552.

"I followed through on my promise," Rowden said Thursday.

The state sets the salaries for commissioners and constitutional officers. Those salaries differ from county to county, depending on population and size of jurisdiction.

By state law, commissioners must receive their pay raises. But there is nothing that prohibits giving them away.

Kingsley estimates he increased his charitable donations by about $2,500.

Some of the charities he said he gave to include the Lighthouse for the Blind, the American Cancer Society, the Arc Nature Coast, the Boys & Girls Club of Hernando County and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Stabins said he wrote out checks to several charities, including the Hernando County Fine Arts Council, the American Cancer Society, Spring Hill Christian Academy and the Filipino-American Association scholarship fund.

"There are a lot of needy charities, and I'm going to continue to support them as the year goes on," Stabins said.

Commissioners Rose Rocco and David Russell did not make similar vows to earmark their raises to charity, according to the minutes of the Sept. 13 budget hearing.

But Russell said he and his wife routinely give to charity.

"I distribute to many, many charities and it far exceeds that ($1,144) amount," he said.

Rocco said she could not commit to giving her salary hike away because she had too many legal bills to pay last year.

Rocco's 2006 election challenger, former county commissioner Nancy Robinson, had filed a lawsuit against her, claiming she violated election residency laws at the time.

But the Florida 5th District Court of Appeals last month affirmed a 2006 ruling by Circuit Court Judge John Booth that made her election official.

Rocco said she was also paying two house mortgages and needed the extra money.

However, Rocco stressed she frequently contributes money out of her own pocket to various community fundraisers and benefits.

"I don't think anyone should be put in position to say they have to donate a percentage," Rocco said. "That's a choice."