Both the city of Brooksville and the county of Hernando are working diligently to reduce or to eliminate by month’s end a large backlog of their councils’ meetings minutes.
Hernando County public information officer Virginia Singer said this week that “it is just a matter of time before they (the minutes) go to the circuit clerk’s office in order to be placed online ” for the public. She said the multi-month delay on approving and putting online the county commission meetings has been due to staffing problems at the clerk’s office. Minutes through Oct. 3, 2017 meeting were approved at the BOCC meeting on Nov. 7, 2017.
The same sort of backlog problems have been inherited by the new city manager of Brooksville, who indicated that the new city clerk, Doreen Summers, and a new deputy clerk are working to resolve the backlog on approving and posting council meetings of the city.
Mark Kutney, 63, took over the reins of the city manager job Monday, Nov. 6 with more than the minutes backlog problem on his plate.
According to Kutney, previously town manager of Loxahatchee Grove from 2011 to 2014, “I am happy to be here to help Brooksville overcome some of its short term issues and to start work with city council on the three big issues.” Kutney is being paid $102,500 a year in salary with $3500 additional in relocation and car expenses annually to deal with those issues and more The top three priorities he identifies as the budget, the fire department and the police department, all obviously financial issues.
“City manager is a tough and demanding job,” said Lyndon Bonner, the interim city manager since last Spring when he took over for city development director Bill Geiger who was pinch hitting for Jennene Norman-Vacha whose contract was not renewed last February after serving in the post for 10 years.
Kutney is already living in Brooksville. His wife is a teacher in the Palm Beach County School District and they alternate commutes once a month.
A unanimous selection of the city council in October, Kutney touts that he is “a critical thinker and a problem solver who brings a candid honesty to the job.” He will need those attributes as he deals with such problems as possible budget cuts and whether or not to disband the city fire department and/or the city police department.
The transplanted Pennsylvanian graduated from Wilkes University and received a Master’s degrees from Penn State (Regional Planning) and Florida Atlantic University (Public Administration).