Mike Wright
The Inverness motto is “Small Town Done Right.”
Inverness for years has conducted the public’s business with very little public involvement. Thirty-minute City Council meetings were the norm. Contested elections for City Council are rare. Two in one year is practically unheard of.
Yet, that’s exactly what city voters face this year.
Much of the focus is on Seat 2, where incumbent Jacquie Hepfer faces John Labriola.
Labriola is the headline-grabber. Dubbed “Library Guy” by blogger Just Wright Citrus, Labriola has made a name for his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and attempts to restrict library materials.
He most recently called the city’s one-month Cootertober event a celebration of the occult and accused an organizer of being a witch.
A lobbyist with the Christian Family Coalition, Labriola came within 39 votes of winning a City Council seat in 2022 in a three-candidate race.
During that campaign, Labriola had an unusual reason for railing against affordable housing apartments: Democrats.
“We don’t need the moral degradation that Democrats bring,” he said. “Let’s not do things to attract more Democrats.”
Labriola opposes Citrus County marketing tourism to gays and lesbians. He said that Hepfer, as the city’s appointee to the county’s Tourism Development Council, approved a $55,000 diversity, equity and inclusion plan.
Hepfer has served 26 years on the City Council. She was a part of the City Council that revamped the downtown area, reopened the historic Valerie Theater, redeveloped Wallace Brooks and Liberty parks, and created the heralded Depot District.
Hepfer said the Inverness charm continues to shine.
“I have lived here most of my life, love this town, and want to keep its small-town atmosphere,” she said. “Growth is unavoidable but can be managed carefully to maintain why folks come and stay.”
Tom Craig and Karen Esty are competing in Seat 4 to replace Councilman Cabot McBride, who did not run again.
Both Craig and Esty speak highly of the current Council and City Manager Eric Williams. Both say they want to improve on what’s already there.
Craig is a Director of the Inverness Fine Arts Festival, and a Board member for Friends of the Withlacoochee State Trail. He and a business partner write books on kayaking, biking and hiking.
“Inverness is more than just a place to live — it’s a community with a unique character that we all cherish,” he said. “My commitment is to preserve our small-town charm while guiding responsible growth.”
Esty takes on numerous community advocacy roles. She is a member of the Hernando-Citrus Metropolitan Planning Organization’s advisory committee, and the city’s Zoning Commission.
A Florida native, Esty came to Citrus County from the rural Miami-Dade County community of Redland, where she was active in transportation planning.
“In 2012, I moved to Inverness and soon started attending City Council meetings,” she said. “I realized Inverness has a charm worth preserving.”
