Jenn Bradley, Chuck Brannan hear Columbia County priorities

Legislative delegation meetings continue across the state this week, and stakeholders in Lake City and surrounding areas are being heard by their two veteran elected officials.

Sen. Jennifer Bradley and Rep. Chuck Brannan, representing Columbia County in North Florida, heard from various elected officials and others in what the Senator called “the start of this Session’s legislative dialogue.”

“These delegation meetings are not perfunctory,” she explained, with ideas filtering to Tallahassee from these and other discussions. She also noted that Senate President Ben Albritton promised a “rural renaissance” this year, which bodes well for this county and others in her sprawling district.

In his comments, County Commissioner Tim Murphy noted that his body supports President Albritton, who is “one of the most down-to-earth people we’ve met in politics.”

“This is the first time in a long time we’ve had rural representation in this position,” he said.

The county wants to improve law enforcement officers’ communication abilities. It is asking for more money for a tower, a $1.9 million request for water utilities in conjunction with Suwannee County, and money for radios in schools.

“As small rural counties, we have to pool our resources together. We can’t do it all on our own,” he said.

Bradley noted that the Commission’s concerns about Columbia County exceeding 75,000 people and moving beyond the threshold for “fiscally constrained” counties illustrate the need to “raise that threshold,” given the growth in rural Florida. She suggested that the number may be increased this Session.

School Superintendent Keith Couey reaffirmed the radio request, saying it’s about “keeping our babies safe.”

Clerk of Court James Swisher lauded funding in 2024 for offices around the state that boosted Deputy Clerk salaries and noted that this year, Clerks, Property Appraisers, and Supervisors of Elections seek pay alignments for the first time in years. They want a $5,000 base increase to salary using existing funds, in a “modest, overdue step.”

Supervisor of Elections Tomi Brown previewed priorities from her colleagues statewide, including requiring newly naturalized citizens to update their driver’s license information with the Department of Motor Vehicles within 30 days for election security purposes.

Supervisors also want poll workers’ personal information to be exempt from public records.

“The bigger problem is in larger counties where assaults have taken place,” Brown said.

Supervisors also want people to be able to keep vote-by-mail requests active. Special Elections in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts have shown the need for that, with people unintentionally being “disenfranchised” due to being scrubbed from records.

New Sheriff Wallie Kitchings is still in his agency’s “evaluation process” and will contact Brannan once he gets settled in office. Brannan noted that they had known Kitchings since 1987 and had a strong working relationship.

The State Attorney’s Office said it needed funding “help” to recruit quality prosecutors. Currently, it is short three lawyers, reflecting a statewide issue.

“You don’t just lose attorneys to the private sector. You lose them to other agencies in the state,” Bradley said. “It’s a matter of public safety across the board.”

Meanwhile, the Public Defender’s Office needs a new legal assistant in Columbia County. “It’s probably about $50,000 in funding total,” said Public Defender Cliff Wilson.

The Public Defender is one lawyer short as well.

Yet even when manpower is offered, there can be unforeseen consequences.

Brannan noted that a new judge was provided for Columbia last year, but he’s “working out of a conference room with no windows” due to space issues at the courthouse.