Mike Wright
Inverness voters took the safe route Tuesday, returning 26-year veteran Jacquie Hepfer to the City Council.
Hepfer turned aside a challenge from John Labriola, who based his campaign on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and attacking the city’s one-month Cootertober celebration.
Hepfer won with 58% of the vote in Seat 2.
Voters also picked a fresh face in Seat 4: Tom Craig over Karen Esty by nearly the same margin to follow Cabot McBride, who did not run again.
Much of the campaign’s focus was on Seat 2, and especially Labriola. Dubbed “Library Guy” by blogger Just Wright Citrus, Labriola 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.
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.
Both Craig and Esty spoke highly of the current Council and City Manager Eric Williams. Both say they wanted 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.
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.
