Kuhl lashes out at Nugent

The outgoing county administrator says he's just had enough of the sheriff's sniping.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer
Published September 21, 2007

Outgoing County Administrator Gary Kuhl (center) said the Sheriff Richard Nugent's recent comments are "the perfect example of the approach sometimes used in this county that doesn't fix problems."
	[KERI WIGINTON | Times (2006)]

ADVERTISEMENT [MAURICE RIVENBARK | Times] Sheriff Richard Nugent puts much of the blame for Hernando's budget crisis on Kuhl. "The bottom line is that I hold him responsible for putting the commission in the position that they're in," Nugent said. "He said he wasn't capable of doing the job ... he quit because he couldn't take the heat."

BROOKSVILLE - Fed up with the ongoing barbs aimed at him and the county he leads, outgoing County Administrator Gary Kuhl this week called out his most vocal critic, Sheriff Richard Nugent.

Kuhl acknowledged using language that he said was uncharacteristic of him when he confronted Nugent at the annual Industry Appreciation dinner Wednesday evening to show his anger over comments the sheriff has made recently about Kuhl in the media as well as at last week's budget hearing.

"I've just had enough," Kuhl said.

Kuhl declined to repeat what he called Nugent, but he said the sheriff's recent comments are "the perfect example of the approach sometimes used in this county that doesn't fix problems."

For his part, Nugent said, "In a crowded room, things he said to me in my estimation were fighting words."

But Nugent chose not to engage Kuhl at that time. "I wasn't going to be baited," he said.

Nugent has blasted Kuhl for lacking leadership skills and for trying to blame problems with county spending on the Sheriff's Office. He said Kuhl hasn't done enough to try to address the widespread anger by taxpayers during this budget year.

"To me, it's a very low-liability political statement on his part," Kuhl said Thursday in a meeting with the Hernando Times. "There's just no excuse for someone in his position to do that."

Kuhl said Nugent has not complained directly to him but has instead gone through other people, on the radio and in the Hernando Times.

Nugent said Thursday that he's told Kuhl in numerous private meetings that he doesn't agree with him.

Kuhl said the ill will goes beyond last week's contentious county budget hearing, when the sheriff said the county government was not as accountable to the public as his agency has been.

From the time he arrived in the county early last year, Kuhl said, Nugent has criticized the way the county has run the jail and has monitored Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the facility.

While Kuhl said he offered to recommend to the commission that Nugent take over the operation, Nugent would laugh off the suggestions.

"Maybe he can run it better," Kuhl said. "But for him to just stand back and take pot shots at everyone else, that's unfair."

Nugent said his criticism of Kuhl is that the county has never held CCA accountable.

Meetings not enough?

As for the comments that Kuhl hasn't done enough to calm the citizen anger over county spending, the administrator said he totally disagreed.

He said he led numerous meetings with committees of people, including some of the county's biggest critics, to inform them of the budget details. He met with the board of the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce.

He provided other forums, including a recent live television appearance on the government television channel to answer questions.

"We've made a real effort to invite in the citizens," Kuhl said.

With the help of the County Commission and the county staff, he said, "I think it's fair to say that we're about the have the largest budget and millage cut in Hernando County history."

He credited the commissioners for meeting the state's legislative mandate to roll back property tax collections and going even further than required.

"To say we're the reason for the negativity in Hernando County is really an unfair description," Kuhl said.

Nugent said all of Kuhl's efforts to educate the public have come way too late.

"Doing all this stuff after the fact," Nugent said, "the barn's on fire and people just aren't hearing it now."

Nugent said he believes Kuhl should have offered commissioners a prioritized list of budget cuts, so they could make decisions about where money should have been trimmed from the budget. He said that may have saved Commission Chairman Jeff Stabins from asking citizens in a letter to the editor of the Times what to cut from the budget.

"The bottom line is that I hold him responsible for putting the commission in the position that they're in," Nugent said. "He said he wasn't capable of doing the job ... he quit because he couldn't take the heat."

Nugent said he boiled over after Kuhl announced his resignation. "He said he didn't have the tools to do the job," he said.

Not a power struggle

Kuhl said he didn't understand why anyone would see the public tussle of words as a power struggle between he and Nugent.

"Why would I want to be in a power struggle? I don't have any power. I'm a staff person," Kuhl said.

Nugent said he never called it a power struggle. He said he understands why Kuhl was stung by his criticisms but "the bottom line is that I didn't say anything that I hadn't said to him before."

He has even told Kuhl that he was too nice and needed to take a harder stand on a lot of issues. Instead, Nugent said, "he's been trying to appease everyone instead of making decisions."

Kuhl said he was stung by the animosity that exchanges such as the one with Nugent cause in the community. He said he hoped that somehow the community can find a way to come together and stop the sniping so that issues can be settled.

"Until the business community and the county and the citizens decide to work together to try to find solutions to all of the problems, we're going to be just mediocre," he said.

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at behrendt@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1434.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 21:21:13]