Dade City's polarizing face
Residents wanted change, but now some think Camille Hernandez has gone too far.
By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, Times Staff Writer
Published August 13, 2007
DADE CITY - Roy Hutto and Milton Larsen are gardening buddies. The state-certified master gardeners mentor other green thumbs, spruce up greenery surrounding public buildings, and as longtime city residents, keep an eye on local politics.
In 2006, they were both impressed by Camille Hernandez, a political newcomer running for a spot on the Dade City Commission.
Hernandez, 48, knocked on doors, posted signs and even gave her phone number out on the campaign trail. Shortly before the April election, the city overflowed with yellow "Camille" signs. For a virtual unknown, she was suddenly the talk of downtown.
But a little more than a year into her term, a group of residents is trying to petition for the recall of Hernandez, the first elected official in Pasco County facing such action in recent history.
Hernandez did not respond to multiple attempts to contact her for this story.
Now, like many who voted for her, Larsen and Hutto fall into one of two distinct groups - those who still believe in the newest Dade City commissioner, and those who want her booted from office.
"I don't think that she's good for the community," Larsen said.
Hutto sees it differently.
"She still hasn't done anything that would make me change my mind, or say I wish I would not have voted for her, not yet," Hutto said.
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Hutto, 58, a Dade City resident for 30 years, learned about Hernandez when her daughter knocked on his door and handed him a flier.
"I was ready for a change," Hutto said last week. "I thought the City Commission had grown a little stagnant. I saw her as a fresh new face in Dade City politics."
Many in the city agreed.
"It wasn't so much a contribution to support her, specifically; it was to support change," said David Hevia, who gave $200 to her campaign on behalf of his downtown business, Kiefer Village Jewels.
Commissioner Steve Van Gorden even made the bold move of supporting Hernandez as she challenged one of his fellow commissioners, describing her at the time as removed from "old Dade City" influences and families.
Hutto said he called the phone number listed on the flier. Hernandez came over and they spent half an hour talking about sidewalks, sewers and traffic.
"She was very open. She seemed very warm and receptive," he said.
Hutto's gardening buddy, Larsen, 72, has lived in Dade City since 1980. He also first heard of Hernandez during her campaign. She seemed organized and efficient.
And she tried.
"She went around to everyone's houses and ran a really fine campaign, rather than lay back and say, 'Oh, they'll find me,' " Larsen said.
Hutto and Larsen and 343 others helped Hernandez unseat City Commissioner Bill Dennis, who served on the commission from 1982 to 1990, and from 1998 to 2006.
Lack of experience
Hernandez has a master's degree in public health from Yale. Her husband, David, is a medical consultant with a doctorate, owns commercial property downtown and serves as an alternate on the city's board of adjustment.
She was a stay-at-home mom with a background in health-care marketing, not politics.
"That was not a negative. Actually not having that political background was a positive as far as I was concerned. I didn't want the status quo to stay in effect," Hutto said.
Larsen would come to see it differently.
"The lack of experience showed up later in her actions," Larsen said.
Hernandez won on a campaign calling for openness in government. In a news release after her victory, she said the days when city business was carried out in private offices by a few people were gone.
But two weeks before being sworn in, Hernandez insisted she was not bound by Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, which bars elected officials from talking to each other privately about city business, outside public meetings.
After a tense exchange of e-mails between Hernandez, Harold Sample, the city manager at the time, and City Attorney Karla Owens, Hernandez agreed that the law did apply to her.
"That seemed to be a red flag," Larsen said.
To Hutto, such stumbles were expected.
"People can make a mistake. It doesn't mean they're a bad person," Hutto said. "When a person is newly elected, a reasonable person would expect there would be a learning curve."
As commissioner, Hernandez secured a $5,000 grant from Florida Medical Clinic in Zephyrhills to buy four defibrillators for the Dade City Police Department in October.
She also has acted as facilitator to the city's Youth Council, a mock city government for students.
"Her son was elected as chairperson for the Youth Council," said Laura Beagles, the city's Administrative Services director. "Mom treats him like everybody else up there."
But some of the ideas she touted in her campaign remain just that - ideas. Hernandez said she wanted the city to form partnerships with Pasco-Hernando Community College and Saint Leo University.
She mentioned these partnerships during city manager interviews last week, but other commissioners cannot recall any other actions taken to move the idea forward.
"I think it's a good idea," Commissioner Van Gorden said. "I would like to see it come to fruition."
She has spoken against the prospect of a new landfill proposed near Dade City. Yet records on the city's Web page suggest she has not taken any action on the issue.
"There have been comments," said Commissioner Scott Black. "I am not aware of any motions made."
Letter to Gov. Crist
In November, when it was time for Sample's review, Hernandez's views differed from her fellow commissioners. She criticized his personal integrity, personnel decisions and approach to long-term planning. She also said he didn't exhibit teamwork with commissioners.
The rest of the board was more complimentary.
Sample, who said when he was hired in 2003 that he planned to stay in the job just a few years, stepped down recently.
In July, Hernandez made her boldest move yet as city commissioner. She wrote a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist requesting an investigation of Mayor Hutch Brock "for his coercive practice, deceit, corruption, collusion, and confabulation directed against the City of Dade City Commission."
She wrote that having Sample serve as an adviser to the city was a conflict of interest because he had taken a position at the Dade City Business Center, which sometimes brings requests and issues to City Hall. She also accused Brock of talking the city out of buying a building on Eighth Street so his legal partner could buy it, and silencing the council on the proposed landfill.
At the following commission meeting, Brock passed out a 100-plus-page, tabbed compilation of city archives that he said categorically disprove each of her allegations.
The governor's office is still reviewing Hernandez's letter, said Anthony DeLuise, a spokesman for Crist.
Too much fighting
Larsen thinks she's taking too much time to fight and not enough to get things done.
"She's a rabble-rouser," he said.
His friend, Hutto, disagrees.
"Everyone needs to be challenged or they'll never be changed. Maybe nothing has been done that's inappropriate, but now that they know that somebody is looking over their shoulder maybe it will prevent something else from happening," he said.
Now, in response to her letter, a citizen group has begun the process to try to remove Hernandez from office, knocking on the same doors she did, asking for support of a recall.
What would Larsen and Hutto do if presented with the petition?
"I would sign it," Larsen said.
Not Hutto.
"I would not sign a petition, no. If the two folks were running against each other again," he said, "I would still vote for Camille."
Times staff writer Molly Moorhead contributed to this report. Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 521-6518 or htravis@sptimes.com.