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Coogler gets into commission race

The 53-year-old Republican says he is sick of the waste and indifference in county government.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published May 20, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - The 2006 Hernando County Commission races are on.

Thursday, county native Vi Coogler, who has toiled for years as an operative in local political races, decided to become a contender himself. Coogler, 53, filed to run as a Republican for the District 4 seat now held by County Commissioner Robert Schenck.

"I want to be there for the people of this community," Coogler said after visiting the Supervisor of Elections Office and becoming the first commission candidate to file for 2006. "My door will always be open to anybody at any time 24 hours a day."

County Commissioner Jeff Stabins said Coogler, who made and posted signs for Stabins'campaign for the state Legislature in the 1990s, was a dogged worker.

"The best damn sign man in the state of Florida," Stabins said.

That Coogler would make the leap to candidate, however, surprised the commissioner.

"He has threatened to run since I met him," Stabins said. "I can't believe that he actually did it."

Coogler said he had finally decided to run for office because he was sick of the waste and indifference to the public that afflicts county government. He said he plans to leave one of the two part-time construction jobs he holds to dig into county records and prepare for his campaign.

"I want to go in and do some undercover work," Coogler said. "There is a lot of waste in this county."

Coogler said he is a member of Landmark Baptist Church. The church's leader, Pastor Mike Frazier, is involved in a code enforcement dispute with the county that revolves around whether state religious freedom laws exempt ministries from land use regulations. Coogler declined to comment on that dispute.

He said he worked on Schenck's County Commission campaign in 2002 and had considered him a friend. But recently, Coogler said, he got a chilly response from Schenck when he called him about the need to begin some road repair near his home.

Coogler said Schenck hung up the phone after saying he could not help, typical of the unresponsive attitude of county officials that he says must end.

Schenck was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Will Van Sant can be reached at 754-6127 or vansant@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 01:06:18]