County sees cleanup as a personal issue

The NAACP president says the project was for the neighborhood; county officials disagree.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

BROOKSVILLE -- The Hernando County Commission's support of a south Brooksville neighborhood cleanup devolved into angry finger pointing Tuesday amid allegations that local NAACP president John Wallace had used the county's generosity for personal gain.

Two weeks ago, the commission waived about $150 in landfill tipping fees to support the NAACP's neighborhood cleanup at Josephine Street and Summit Road. But the contractor hired by Wallace delivered eight dump trucks filled with trash, totaling fees of about $1,950. Concerned, staffers investigated and discovered Wallace owns property being cleaned.

"It just kept getting worse and worse," County Administrator Paul McIntosh told commissioners Tuesday. "What was represented as a community event to you . . . turned out to be improvement of personal property. We've declined to have any further participation."

Wallace angrily denied the accusations, countering that the county had little concern for the success of its poorest, most predominantly black neighborhood.

"They are trying to make it a personal issue," Wallace said, moments after fielding a phone call from Deputy Administrator Dick Radacky. "I am prepared to pay for anything that has to do with the property I own. However, I must insist it is a public issue."

People have used the land as a public dump for years, he said, and the county has done nothing to keep it clean. Wallace said he bought the land only recently, and he was doing his part to improve the long-ignored neighborhood.

"This issue is not a John Wallace issue," he said. "It's a south Brooksville issue; that's what it is."

Commissioner Nancy Robinson offered a different view of the situation. The commission should support a public effort, she said, backing a motion not to enforce parking restrictions Friday on Summit Road when the NAACP office has its grand opening.

But the county should not finance someone's private business, she said. "I don't believe we started out to clean someone's personal property."

That's what seemed to be happening, Radacky said. So Wallace must pay for any of the fees exceeding the county's donation of about $150, he said.

It has nothing to do with race, McIntosh said, and everything to do with misrepresentation of a project.

Wallace said he wanted the commission to revisit the issue and complained that he was not told the matter would come up Tuesday so he could defend himself.

"They need to get on the bus and see," Wallace said. "What they need to do is come out of those chambers up there and come out and look."

Less than a month ago, the commission faced a similar problem with debts owed by the Millennium Event Committee, a private group. Commissioners absolved the committee of the $1,229 and asked the administration to draft a guideline for granting fee waivers and other gifts to organizations. The policy is not yet written.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.