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Brent Batten: Henning, county administration in 'turf' war
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How low have relations between County Commissioner Tom Henning and the county administration gone?
Right down to the ground.
Henning contacted news media to report that the county’s facility management department was replacing the grass outside the entrance to Building F at the Collier County Government Center with new sod.
Henning says when he first noticed employees digging up the lawn he thought they were getting ready to plant flowers to doll up the entrance for the arrival of state legislators coming for a joint meeting with local elected leaders.
Instead, he was surprised to see the turf being replaced by new sod. He views the replacement as wasteful and fuel to the argument that local governments have too much money to spend.
State legislators will meet in special session this coming week to consider tax cuts that would be imposed on county and city governments. “I think that this is some of the things the legislators are talking about,” Henning said.
But Skip Camp, director of facilities management for the county, says Henning is lost in the weeds — literally.
The sections that were dug up were dead grass that had been overtaken by weeds. “When grass dies we replace it,” Camp said. “They (weeds) just take over.
Camp said the county does the same for grass at parks and in medians.
The drought is responsible for the patches of dead grass around the county building, Camp said. The replacement covered a few patches ranging from 50 to 100 square feet, according to Camp. Sod is available locally for $160 for a pallet that covers 400 square feet.
Camp was exasperated at Henning’s critique of the sod replacement and said there is good reason to replace weeds with grass. “It’s frustrating,” he said. “We’re trying to protect the county’s investment.”
Henning said weeds or not, the stuff was green, it was on the ground and it was growing. He said he wouldn’t mind putting what the county dug up on his own property. “If I wasn’t a county official, I’d ask for it,” he said.
“From the third floor, it all looks good to him,” Camp countered.
Henning said last month that he has lost all confidence in Camp’s boss, County Manager Jim Mudd, and other top administrators.
Apparently he wasn’t kidding. He doesn’t even trust them to do lawn work.
* * *
On a turf war of considerably more significance, yes, that was former Assistant Collier County Attorney Patrick White on CNN and Fox News last week.
White is vice president of the group Families of Flight 93 and as such has been involved in the negotiations to purchase land surrounding the site for a memorial. The matter has made national news as one owner is seeking a price deemed exorbitant by the group and the U.S. Park Service.
White, now in private practice with the firm of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, had a bit of good news Friday. He said in spite of the controversy with one owner, negotiations are going well with the owners of another, larger, tract needed for the memorial, which will ultimately encompass more than 1,000 acres.
“It’s fair to say we’re close to a contract,” White said.
White, who lost a cousin on Flight 93, added, “It’s been a real privilege working on this.”
E-mail Brent Batten at bebatten@naplesnews.com
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