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Elected, Schenck looks to his pledges
By WILL VAN SANT On Tuesday, Robert Schenck won the District 4 County Commission race; now he has to make good on his campaign promises. "I'm definitely excited," Schenck said of the prospect. "I'm also a little nervous, to be honest." He should be. One political observer, himself a former commissioner, likened the job to sitting in an "electric chair waiting for someone to throw the switch on you." Former and current commissioners said that to avoid giving a helping hand to the executioner, Schenck may have to modify or even jettison some positions he stumped on, while delivering on enough of his platform to confirm his selection in voters' minds. "The community remembers," said commission Chairwoman Nancy Robinson, elected to her fourth term Tuesday. "They have a right to expect that you will fulfill the commitments you made during the campaign." A call for expanded economic growth was the central feature of Schenck's platform. The county, he told voters, must become more attractive to industry by staggering the impact fees paid by new businesses and offering tax breaks and land grants. In an interview two days after the election, Schenck, 27, said he plans to present his ideas to the head of the county's Office of Economic Development quickly after being sworn in Nov. 19. He said his longer-term goal will be to pass ordinances making the enticements to business and industry he promised law. According to Commissioner Betty Whitehouse, delivering on such specific campaign proposals is difficult, requiring persuasion and political savvy. It's wiser, she said, to run on broad themes and principles. "When you become commissioner," Whitehouse said, "you learn that things are much more complex than they look on the surface." She and other commissioners expressed an eagerness to hear Schenck out on his ideas and to cooperate with him. They also expressed satisfaction with the county's current economic development strategies. While luring some industry to the county is worthwhile, commissioners -- pointing to a 2001 University of Florida study -- said 80 percent of the county's economic expansion will come from the growth of existing businesses. Due to demographic and infrastructure realities, attracting industry to the area is a largely self-selecting process, Commissioner Diane Rowden said. She said she was skeptical about the need for and effectiveness of Schenck's proposals. "You just can't go out there trying to entice any manufacturer to this area," she said. "I don't think staggering the impact fees is going to change their minds." In addition to stirring up the economy, Schenck promised to make commissioners more accountable to the public. That could partly be achieved, he told voters, by giving each commissioner his or her own Web site. The sites, Schenck said, could include a voting history and explanation of the thinking that went into each decision. Garry Allen, the county's director of technology services, another department Schenck said he would soon propose his ideas to, said he supported the use of the Internet to expand public access to government and looked forward to meeting with the new commissioner. Allen also said his office works on a tight budget when it comes to such projects and that he needed more details. "From my standpoint, it just comes back to return on your investment," he said. "You just have to have enough need to justify the time and effort." Accurately weighing the costs and the benefits of a proposal, commissioners past and present said, is essential to getting a project started and keeping it alive. Len Tria, a former commissioner and one of the county's seasoned political veterans, had this advice for Schenck: "Learn the budget. The budget is the key to politics. In government, you must learn to set your priorities because we really don't have an unlimited tub of money." Present commissioners were lukewarm about the Web site idea, pointing out that records of commission votes and the discussions leading to them are in meeting minutes, which are available online. "Is that something we should pay taxpayer dollars on?" Whitehouse asked of Schenck's idea. "Is it something that is going to be well-utilized?" Tria doubts it. "As far as Web sites, I don't know how much political value that has, particularly for seniors unfamiliar with computers," he said. When it came to Schenck's idea of regular, informal night meetings with residents in different parts of the county, the reaction of experienced local politicians was uniform: good luck. "You can be meeting yourself to death," Tria said. "Meetings are not all that well-attended." "I hope that people show up," Robinson said. Some Schenck campaign promises are exclusively in his power; compromise and budget analysis are not needed. His plan to donate $25,000 of his salary over four years to a fund for senior drug prescription assistance is an example. Beginning immediately, Schenck said he would put $300 from each of his paychecks into a bank account dedicated to the prescription fund. After the holidays, he said, a nonprofit foundation will be formed. He said it will be staffed by volunteers who will base decisions on who gets assistance on "a debt-to-income ratio." Schenck said he knows he has much to learn about his new job, but that anything can be achieved through compromise, including his campaign platform. While a setback here and there is expected, Schenck said, that will not prevent him from trying to make good on his campaign pledges. "I certainly won't give up," he said. -- Will Van Sant covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6127. Send e-mail to vansant@sptimes.com .
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