County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten faults rival Joyce Valentino, though it is from an independent group supporting her.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published October 30, 2004
INVERNESS - The hotly contested District 5 County Commission race boiled over Friday after a mailer from an independent political committee attacked incumbent Commission Chairman Josh Wooten by asking whether the Sheriff's Office should have arrested Wooten for domestic abuse and arrested his wife in a drug case. Wooten said he received nonstop calls Friday from supporters outraged by the ad. He called it the "low in Citrus County politics."
"It's disgusting and shows you the caliber of people we're dealing with," Wooten said. "These are the people who want to be leaders of this community? Give me a break."
Earlier in the day, Wooten had called another independent political committee - one that has been supporting him - to back off all advertisements. Most of those advertisements had been positive about him, but one put down his political opponent, Joyce Valentino.
After the mailer came out, Wooten took back conciliatory tones and responded harshly at Valentino - though she has nothing to do with the group and was not responsible for the ad.
"I think this did her in," Wooten said. "I think the citizens of Citrus County finally saw the real Joyce Valentino - the one that everyone knows."
The ad was paid for and written by a political committee known as Truth in Political Advertising, which supports Valentino. It is headed by environmentalist and Homosassa resident Jim Bitter, who is a Valentino campaign contributor.
On a large postcard, the mailer is entitled: "Had enough yet of the good ole' boys running Citrus County?" and features the picture of a jowly man chomping on a cigar and wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat.
The front of the card blasts Wooten for a vote on a controversial development project, his support of a "water theme park" and mandatory garbage collection.
The back of the card charges that Wooten and the "good ole' boys" put special interests ahead of the public interest, disregard public opinion and grant special treatment to themselves and their cronies.
"Do the good ole' boys give each other special treatment?" the ad asks before detailing two 911 calls to Wooten's home "for potential domestic abuse - but no arrest!"
The mailer also references a case earlier this year when Wooten's wife was found in the car of a man who was found with methamphetamine.
"He was arrested," the ad said, "she was not."
Featured next to the text are portions of four Citrus Times stories and one editorial that address those issues.
The 911 calls that brought deputies to Wooten's home resulted in no arrests because deputies didn't find evidence of a domestic dispute when they arrived, the Sheriff's Office said at the time.
The drug arrest resulted in the conviction of Lonnie Thomas Arnold earlier this month. The State Attorney's Office has backed the Sheriff's Office's decision not to arrest Mrs. Wooten.
Bitter said the ad never would have been mailed if the independent political committee backing Wooten - the builder-fronted Citizens for a Better Citrus - hadn't started its own campaign, which included at least three pro-Wooten ads as well as another calling Valentino a tax raiser.
Bitter said he released the ad after a long prayer.
"We didn't start this," Bitter said. "I didn't open up this committee until after the first shots were fired across our bow, and I don't know what Josh expected us to do, but we really thought hard about this whole thing. And what are you going to do? You fight fire with prayer."
On Friday, before the mailer had reached mailboxes, Wooten had called Citizens for a Better Citrus and left a message with its chairwoman, Linda Daly, telling her to stop putting out advertisements that sought to help him.
Wooten, who had initially supported the group, attracted controversy after a mailer the committee sent out said he "took steps to eliminate fraud and abuse" in county government.
Wooten called the statements misleading, while other county commissioners took a harsher tone against them. Citizens for a Better Citrus' chairwoman backtracked, saying the group meant Wooten "prevented" such wrongdoing.
Wooten said he came to the realization that the political committee needed to stop after he found several of its pieces in his mailbox on Thursday. "It's not small-town politics anymore," he said. "I felt like I didn't have control over my campaign because I have no control over a third party."
On Friday, Citizens for a Better Citrus said that it will cease all advertising in the District 5 race.
"It is a distraction," Wooten said. "Neither one of us can get our issues out. I think if we clear out the clutter, my message is better than Joyce."
He challenged her to a televised debate Monday to discuss the issues.
Valentino said Friday that she will not participate in the event.
"At this point," she said, "the damage is already done."
Just as Wooten blamed her for the Truth in Political Advertising mailers, she blamed him for Citizens for a Better Citrus ads. But, she said, from the outset, she has asked Truth in Political Advertising to stop promoting her and stop its attacks on Wooten.
She denounced Truth in Political Advertising's latest mailer.
"I think this campaign should have always been about the issues," she said, "and bringing up personal attacks - you shouldn't do that.
"I know that stuff like that could only hurt me and not help me."
At the Supervisor of Elections Office on Friday, Wooten and Bitter confronted each other while turning in campaign finance disclosure forms for their respective campaigns. A verbal exchange followed as voters filtered in and out for early voting.
"Jim, I think my father-in-law wants to talk to you when you get out of here," Wooten told Bitter.
"Oh, yeah," Bitter replied.
"He's the 350-pound guy out there," Wooten said.
"He wants to beat me up, Josh?" Bitter said.
"Nah, he'll bowl you over," Wooten replied.
Tines staff writer Amy Wimmer Schwarb contributed to this report. Justin George can be reached at 352 860-7309 or jgeorge@sptimes.com
