City Should Turn Over Candidate Filing, Council Member Says

BROOKSVILLE - The city should ask the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections Office to handle filing duties for city council candidates, a council member recommended Monday.

Elections Supervisor Annie William's office could centralize the process, make it more efficient and eliminate any perception of bias on the city's part, Councilmember Lara Bradburn said during the council's regular meeting at City Hall.

The council agreed to put the issue on an upcoming agenda for discussion.

Currently, the city clerk's office accepts candidate filing information, which is then turned over to the county elections office. That office puts the candidates on the ballot and tracks their campaign finance information.

Handing over the filing duties would remove any worries about favoritism on the part of city staff for a certain candidate, Bradburn said.

"We're giving the public a perception of biasness that shouldn't be there," she said.

Bradburn cited an error printed last month in another local newspaper that declared a winner in one of the council races. The qualifying period doesn't end until Aug. 29, however. Bradburn contends the confusion could have been avoided if the county elections office was processing the filing information.

The city, with residents who pay county taxes, is entitled to the extra service, she said.

Councilmember Richard Lewis said he wouldn't support the move.

"This is a function the city's always had, and I'd like to see it preserved," Lewis said.

Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Rey said the city charter and code would allow the transfer, but the city would have to modify its existing agreement with the county elections office.

Mayor David Pugh Jr. was absent due to illness. Council member Joe Bernardini said he would support the idea if it wouldn't cost the city any extra money.

"If she's going to charge us another two, three thousand dollars, we should keep doing it ourselves," Bernardini said.

Williams could not be reached Monday night.

Wall generates desire to negotiate

Mr. Pierce, scale down that wall.

That's the order from city council members, who told Public Works Director Emory Pierce on Monday to find a way to lower the estimated cost of a decorative wall to hide the giant generator on City Hall's front lawn.

Pierce will go back to Brooksville contractor Ressel Inc. to get the price tag down to $23,000 or less. That's the amount left over from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant used to install the generator. The balance of the grant can only be used on the generator project, Vice-Mayor Frankie Burnett told a resident who suggested the money be used to fix potholes or add streetlights.

The sole bid for the wall came from Ressel, which said it could build 10-foot high wall and a smaller section with a decorative facia. The bid: $65,500, or nearly three times the city's budget.

Pierce recommended the smaller second wall be nixed and that brick be used only on the outer portion of the main wall. To further reduce the price tag, Pierce said city workers also should do work that would have been left to the contractor, such as cleaning up the site after the installation and putting down sod. Lewis suggested a stucco wall with a faux-brick facade. A skeptical Bradburn shook her head and said she was worried the wall would fall apart and become unsightly.

"How much would it cost to move the wall," Bernardini quipped, an obvious joke about lengthy discussions the council has had on that subject. Pierce has said there is no other location on City Hall property that wouldn't add tens of thousands of dollars to project.

Lewis got in his own one-liner: "Can we paint the generator to look like brick?"