Mike Wright
Few saw this coming.
Janet Barek, a Citrus County Commission mainstay for years, stunned Commissioner Ruthie Davis Schlabach in her District 3 re-election attempt.
Schlabach held a slight edge in early votes, but Election Day voting pushed Barek over the top with 51%. Fewer than 800 votes separated them out of 37,000 votes cast.
Meanwhile, in District 1, voters returned Jeff Kinnard to office for his third term with 57% over Curtiss “CJ” Bryant.
Schlabach had far out raised and outspent Barek. Schlabach had $65,000 in contributions to Barek’s $3,200.
Oddly, the District 3 race garnered much of the attention as both candidates discussed the growth taking place countywide.
Bryant’s attempt to paint Kinnard as a rubber-stamping, pro-development Commissioner may have impacted the final numbers. Kinnard, whose re-election was unopposed just four years ago, angered pockets of the county with votes for developments that neighbors opposed.
Kinnard said he supports well-maintained growth. He often says he’d rather vote for a quality development that will add value to the community, than to deny a development based on fear of what growth may bring.
Bryant didn’t see it that way. He criticized Kinnard for approving development plans to upzone property, providing more homes than what’s allowed by right.
The District 3 candidates stuck to familiar themes.
Barek focused on residential road resurfacing. She has long supported a sales tax increase to repave neighborhood roads.
Schlabach campaigned on a record that included the Inverness Airport Business Park, a new animal shelter and pickleball courts in Beverly Hills.
For Barek, the conversation often started and ended with residential road resurfacing. As a resident of Citrus Springs, which has some of the worst neighborhood streets in the county, Barek said she has seen infrastructure deteriorate.
