Peter Schorsch
Air Force One rides, White House invites, gubernatorial endorsements. It’s clear Florida politicians have the ear of President Donald Trump.
That applies to all levels of government.
This week, the President invited Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey to join him on stage as he addressed more than 1,200 county leaders at a National Association of Counties gathering in Washington, D.C.
“It was a real honor to be called up to the stage,” Starkey said. “The Trump administration asked me to speak on the relationship building spearheaded by the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and to highlight how thousands of county commissioners from across the country have benefited from the administration’s phenomenal outreach initiatives.”
As Trump closed his 45-minute-long speech, he asked Starkey to share with the audience her experience interacting with the administration following Hurricane Irma.
“We’re joined today by Kathryn Starkey of Pasco County Florida — a good place,” Trump said about 40 minutes into his speech. “Kathryn, please come up and share your story about your community and recovering from a very big disaster that I know very well.”
Starkey, an active member in the Florida Association of Counties, recounted her experience with IGA following the storm. When she called, they moved quickly to resolve an issue that had been stalling other counties’ ability to secure debris cleanup contracts in the wake of the powerful 2017 storm.
Starkey thanked the administration for having an open-door policy with local governments.
Before Hurricane Irma, Starkey said, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs invited commissioners from across the country, regardless of party affiliation, to network with federal agency leaders.
“This opened a bridge for communication with federal agencies,” Starkey said, adding that because of the administration’s accessibility, she was able to quickly get high-ranking FEMA personnel on the line to tell them about the problem. FEMA quickly resolved the issue.
Starkey is deeply involved with state and federal county associations. She currently chairs the Federal Committee for the Florida Association of Counties and is the Chair of the International Economic Development Task Force at NACo. She is also the Vice Chair for the Workforce Subcommittee at NACo.
Each year, NACo hosts a legislative conference that brings together counties from across the country to amend NACo’s federal priorities and discuss trends, opportunities and threats facing local governments.
