Today's Letters: New ideas needed in administrator

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published October 18, 2007

Larry Jennings, deputy county administrator, is required by job specification and is paid generously to deputize for the administrator when he is absent. That is, he assumes administrator's duties and responsibilities when necessary.

Hence, there was no need for Hernando County commissioners to spend time and money appointing Jennings to the higher-paying position of interim administrator. This fiscal extravagance is known bureaucratically as "streamlining government."

Further, Jennings ponders commissioners' strong informal invitation to accept the permanent position of administrator. His lukewarm interest in the job is not encouraging when the need is so great and urgent for restructuring of county government and work to cut unnecessary costs.

Hernando needs an administrator from outside county government with a background of successful, competitive business. This person could bring a fresh approach to problems, raise morale and incite staff routinely to reduce costs.

Such an administrator would need full support of the commissioners. This is something on which there is no reliance. Otherwise, the catered public reception to welcome a new administrator will become an annual affair.

James A. Willan, Brooksville

Re: "Great Brooksvillian' choice shows progressOct. 7 Times editorial.

Proof Sinclair deserves honor

Congratulations to the Times. We local African-Americans are truly delighted that the City of Brooksville made such a choice, although long overdue.

For the past several years, I have prepared the church history at Bethlehem Baptist Church. I am overjoyed to hear of another bit of information to add to the church history that Rev. Arthur Sinclair was one of the organizers of Bethlehem. Our forefathers passed on information by word of mouth that Rev. Sinclair was the first pastor at Bethlehem organized in 1861, that a white preacher, not named, oversaw the young church for one year.

Other research revealed the following during the 1860s and 1870s:

1. "Churches soon became the religious and political center for the black community. The black minister became more influential in the community than his white counterpart. Arthur Sinclair was one such minister. He served as a voter registrar (1867-68), county commissioner (1875-77) and was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the Legislature in 1872 and 1874."

2. "Between 1867 and 1877, the following black men were appointed to the county government: Arthur Sinclair, voter registrar; Henry Harper, Sampson Jordan, Arthur Sinclair and Jasper Mills, county commissioners; George W. Geiger, justice of the peace; and April DeLain, school board." From A Millenial History of Hernando County.

Hazel M. Land, Brooksville

Times reporteris a great asset

While I am not an avid newspaper reader, I do try to read the Hernando section of the Times daily, just to keep up with what's going on around town. I usually just peruse the headlines, read the first few lines of an article and see if anything catches my attention.

Recently I have read the articles written by staff writer Erin Sullivan and am very impressed with her writing. Instead of just giving the facts, she has drawn my attention by giving background information that really makes me feel for the subjects of her articles.

The story about the boaters who were rescued actually put me on the edge of my seat. I could feel Meagan Geer's fear as she waited for word on her husband, Josh, wondering if he was dead or alive, and her relief when she learned that he was safe.

The article on the death of Darrell Newberry brought tears to my eyes. Every moment of that horrible accident was vivid and every emotion that Sherri Collins felt was felt inside of me.

The Times is lucky to have on its staff a writer with the ability to not only tell the news, but to draw such a vivid and stirring image of the stories she reports on.

Kudos to Sullivan. I look forward to reading many more articles by this reporter and await the release of the novel she should be writing.

Dina Kundrat, Spring Hill

Your voice counts

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[Last modified October 17, 2007, 20:13:04]