[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by psgolf@comcast.net

Anybody go to POA MEETING LAST NIGHT WITH COMMISSIONER ARNOLD ???

Bradly Arnold is not a commissioner, he is the county administrator. He's an employee of the county and not an elected official. He is also the most powerful man in county government.

For lack of a better term he is the Spin Master of Sumter County. He sets the agenda for the county meetings and provides the information to the County Commissioners to help them make decisions. To put it more correctly, he gives them just enough information to make the decisions he wants. While our County Commissioners are not all knowledgeable on how the county budgets and operations work, he is, and he set the direction of the county. A professional bureaucrat.

This is the individual that is responsible for doing things like, reviewing the required 5 year budget projections for the county, establishing budget priorities and managing reserve funds that are set aside for things like road repairs, and for recommending the county budget each year. He leads the lambs to slaughter at the county meetings and yet has no fear of the knife himself because he's not elected.

How can a governmental body do a 5 year look ahead every year and not see the growth that has clearly been going on here in Sumter County for years and not plan for it? Road resurfacing wasn't a surprise either, it was known to be coming and the costs were easily determined, but yet not planned for. And now, SURPIRSE, we need a 25% tax increase! These and many other things show a clear course of misdirection within the county leadership, more interested in touting "no tax increase for 14 years" than addressing the requirements of the here and now and of tomorrow. Mr. Arnold's recent attempt to pass the buck and the blame to the City of Wildwood for approving the recent growth of The Villages clearly shows the lack of depth of integrity he possesses.

No I didn't attend the meeting, I didn't need to, I didn't need to hear more BS, deflections, and evasions of why this tax increase has come about. He may think he deserves 14 feathers in his cap for a job well done when what he really deserves is a good boot in the arse and shown to the door. The real question now becomes do are Commissioners recognize the root cause of the problem and do they have the intestinal fortitude to show him the door or will they continue blindly follow him to slaughter?