The Voices of Brooksville

by Natalie Kahler, Brooksville Main Street Executive Director At the end of Monday night's Council meeting, Mr. Battista shared his thoughts on the Main Street District and program. He invited us to either attend a meeting to address his ideas or do it another way. I certainly hope to be able to address Council in […]

Yesterday was a day like all days; only we were there and watched it unfold before us. We could see the demise of the train coming. After huffing through mountains high and valleys low, straining and failing on many levels, it arrived and blew its whistle one last time still claiming all was right when […]

There are so many puns to be made in this water tower story, you have to forgive me for plugging one into the headline. There is no predicting the outcome of Monday night's City Council meeting. Maybe City Manager Mark Kutney will resign. Maybe City Council will terminate him. Maybe Council will link arms with […]

Victim-blaming is a diversionary tactic used by those unwilling to take ownership of their behavior. So when I saw that in the Tampa Bay Times article on the accidental sale of the city's water supply, Brooksville City Manager Mark Kutney said the community uproar on the issue was just "sour grapes," I wasn't surprised. It's […]

That was never more true than yesterday when I got an education from the Tampa Bay Times.  https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2021/06/11/city-of-brooksville-accidentally-sells-its-water-tower/ So what did I learn? 1.  Bad government is offended at being exposed Remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls back the green curtain to reveal the all-powerful wizard is in reality a little man pulling […]

You probably grew up on Aesop's Fables like The Tortoise and the Hare and The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.  But have you heard of The City That Sold Itself?  It's a lesser known tale with a too familiar moral. There once was a beautiful city on a hill.  The air was scented with jasmine and […]

Have you watched the latest Brooksville City Council meeting online? The most amazing and rare thing happened: an elected official gathered information and changed his mind after listening to the people of the community! It was so wonderful and refreshing to see City Council Member David Bailey explain how he filled out the annual review […]

After speaking to some residents today I realized that many people don’t understand how truly citizen-driven the Brooksville Main Street program is and how they can get involved. It seems an obvious thing to those of us intimately involved in the various components of the program, so I hadn’t realized that this needs to be […]

City of Brooksville City Council member, Betty Erhard, in a now-removed Facebook message, has called to her Facebook “friends” for a boycott of Brooksville businesses that have shown support for revitalizing and growing their city. She is targeting some 109 or so businesses that have expressed support for Brooksville Main Street, the only existing organized […]

Try as we might, it’s taking some effort to get used to “attending” City Council’s virtual “Zoom” meetings, right? While I was uncomfortable at first, I’m beginning to discover some advantages. For one, you can really see facial expressions. From disdain, disagreement, and discomfort to occasional relaxed smiles, which unfortunately are few, Council meetings have […]

We have been so pleased with the outpouring of support shown by residents and business owners for the Brooksville Main Street program. They've said everything we'd like to say, ever so eloquently! Enjoy this video slideshow by Brooksville Main Street:

The members of the Brooksville City Council are not all that different from most other small towns the size of Brooksville, one would think. But after watching how some council members continue to disparage what Brooksville Main Street has done for the city and what the city itself has not is … the word escapes […]

WHAT LAST NIGHT'S CITY COUNCIL VOTE MEANS TO US: Obviously we're disappointed.  To say less would be disingenuous as well as demeaning to those of you who've joined our movement and spent your time, talent, and treasure alongside us. We believed our successes brought about by so many brilliant members of our community would mean […]

July 7, 2020 City of Brooksville City Council 201 Howell Avenue Brooksville, FL 34601 RE: Beautification Board/ BMS Dear Council Members: First off, I’d like to say thank you for my appointment to the City’s Beautification Board during last Monday evening’s City Council meeting. I feel strongly that I should support the City I live […]

You know something? There’s a difference between being outspoken because you’re a bully and being outspoken because you’re being bullied. And I guess my last post has some at City Hall feeling that my outspokenness was an attempt by Brooksville Main Street to bully them. Comments at their last council meeting suggested it was akin […]

If you Google “banner,” you’ll find among other definitions that it is a “a long strip of flexible material displaying a slogan, advertisement, etc., especially one suspended between two points.” You will also find they are typically used to refer to “something that represents a belief or principle.” I don’t know where Google gets its […]

Last week, Brooksville Main Street made its request for funding assistance to the City of Brooksville and Hernando County Governments for the coming year. These are difficult times for all, so we know there are going to be some tough discussions and hard budgetary decisions. It’s appropriate and we expect it.  So, with this in […]

Here’s a rundown on the “virtual” meeting held by the Brooksville City Council Monday evening (5/18). I told you we wouldn’t sugar coat it. _______ Well, Monday night (5/18) the Brooksville City Council graciously approved funding for the second quarter (Jan - Mar) of its grant to the Brooksville Main Street program. The amount was […]

You’re probably a bit surprised receiving this email from Brooksville Main Street so let me say up front, defenders of Brooksville Main Street have decided it needs to speak up. Yes, we want you to know what we’re all about. That’s important. But we also think you deserve to be informed of other matters that […]