The St. Petersburg Times: Plan to hold private meetings was an insult to the taxpayers

EDITORIAL

Kudos to Hernando County commissioners who figured out the public’s business should be discussed in front of the public, not in private, closed-door meetings. We just hope Circuit Court Clerk Karen Nicolai will figure out a similar, sensible way of governing.

Nicolai, whose job also makes her the county government’s chief financial officer, helped arrange for Hernando’s five commissioners to have a sit-down —one at a time, supposedly — with Nicolai and other constitutional officers which would include Sheriff Al Nienhuis, Elections Supervisor Annie Williams, Property Appraiser Alvin Mazurek and Tax Collector Juanita Sikes. The stated purpose of said meetings was the county budget and Nicolai’s continued contention that commissioners have failed to devise long-term spending reductions.

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