Fowler assails opponent's past

LECANTO -- Audience members couldn't believe their ears.

The debate was heating up between County Commissioner Jim Fowler and his opponent, nonparty candidate Scott Adams, with Adams criticizing Fowler's support for franchising the garbage service and his reluctance to discuss the problems raised in two county internal audits.

And then Fowler said it: At least I have never been put in jail or used drugs.

The audience of about 75 people at the Crystal Oaks Civic Association's candidate forum began booing, jeering and giving the two-term commissioner the thumbs-down.

"The audience got emotional, not necessarily that they're for Scott, but they're not for slinging mud," said Crystal Oaks resident Lyn Serianni. "That's what it was. It was like, "My background is lily white and yours is kind of tainted.' "

Gus Krayer, the event organizer, said, "Scott Adams looked like he was about ready to slide off the chair onto the floor. He was really humiliated by that sort of a personal attack."

Adams has a 1987 conviction in Sumter County for driving under the influence. He pleaded no contest in 1993 to charges of battery on a Crystal River police officer, reckless driving and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

More recently, Adams spent a day at the Hernando County jail in January 2001 for contempt of court after he briefly reopened his logging operation, which a judge had shut down because he lacked county permits.

Aside from that display of civil disobedience, Adams, 36, said his run-ins with the law were youthful indiscretions, but he has cleaned up his act now that he has a family and runs his own stucco contracting business.

If drugs are a concern for Fowler, Adams said, the county should go to mandatory drug testing for commissioners and employees -- and Adams said he would gladly take the first test.

"I don't care what Mr. Fowler's done in his past. It's what's happening right now in Citrus County, and we want to change it," Adams told the Times Thursday. "If he was doing a good job with Citrus County, I wouldn't be running. I looked at him and said, I'm not a thief or a liar. Can Mr. Fowler say that?"

Fowler did not return calls Thursday for comment.

Krayer said the exchange between the candidates for the District 4 seat was disappointing.

"(The forum) was not intended to be inflammatory or to raise controversy. It was intended to enlighten," he said. "We were there to learn the candidates' views and to be able to make an informed decision at the polls."

Fowler has faced a tough road to re-election, partly because of his controversial vote in February approving the Halls River Retreat condominium project. In the Republican primary, he slipped past Heatherwood community activist Joyce Valentino with just 27 votes after the manual recount, making it the closest Citrus County Commission election in four decades.

"It was a character attack, getting off the subject of answering the questions put by the public," Krayer said. "It wasn't appropriate and it certainly didn't enlighten, other than here's a man who was obviously frustrated and was lashing out."

-- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com .

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