The Citrus County Commission today voted to halt the process that many in the county believe would lead to the privatization of all county utilities.

In a 3-2 vote, commissioners decided to halt the entire process after a citizen campaign, and citizen comments during the special meeting today. Voting against stopping the process were Commissioner Joe Meek and Commissioner John Thrumston.

In what appears to have been a process that would debate whether to privatize or not at the end of a selection process, county residents seemed to favor debate first, and then a process.

At the first special meeting of the commissioners on Aug. 17, county residents had told commissioners they didn't want what they saw as privatization to continue. At this meeting, they made it even more clear.

County Commissioner John Thrumston said that privatization of county utilities was not something he thought the county was going for - just the maintenance and operation of the county's five utility systems.

County Commissioner Dennis Damato said that he had discussions with a number of residents, and had received a number of e-mails. "The people don't want us to move forward," Damato said. "We all need to take a deep breath."

Commissioner Joe Meek said the county commission had previously voted 5-0 to proceed with investigating a possible public-private partnership to run the county's utility system. "I don't know why we're holding back," Meek said. "What is the fear?"

Meek said the purpose of this meeting was to hear from three companies that had been selected to make presentations to the board. Public and county commissioner debate would be held later in the process, Meek added.

County Commissioner Gary Bartell reiterated his position from the last special meeting that he was opposed to privatization, and that questions should be answered before the county could proceed further along in the process.

County Commissioner Winn Webb said that, out of fairness, perhaps the county should wait until the new commissioners from District 4 (Thrumston's district) and District 2 (Bartell's district) were seated to proceed with the process, and made a motion to that effect.

During public comment, a number of residents all had the same theme: Don't privatize. Period.

Meadwocrest resident Henry Locke said, "We're moving too fast. The public side is unsure of what's being privatized."

Resident Marco Wilson said, "This thing has gotten into a circus."

Lecanto resident Christopher Lloyd said, "Let's just cut this (meeting) short. "This is a dead idea."

Citrus County Council Theodora Rusnak said, "We don't want this. We are telling you, don't do it."

Citrus Springs resident Millie Sloaan said it didn't matter how many companies the county selected to investigation privatization. "We The People don't want it," she said.

Al Grubman said "It's a waste of time to fix something that isn't broken. I'm in favor of killing it (privatization).'

Resident Patricia Wade said, "Put us out of our agony."

In the discussion following public comment, commissioners decided to stop the process. Thrumston and Meek did not agree.

After thanking everyone for coming and speaking, Meek said that while residents made valid points, on some of those points he did not agree. He said that the county was trying to save money, and that investigatiing a public-private partnership "was a good thing."

Commissioner Thrumston said new commissioners from districts 1 and 4 did not have the experience or knowledge to vote intelligently on the issue, and that the current commissioners did. He recalled sitting in the "audience" in the commission's chambers when, he said, former County Commissioner Jim Fowler made a decision that cost him re-election.

"Once again we've seen a failure in consultant proposals," Commissioner Damato said. "The goals of this board and the community have not been clearly defined."

Commissioner Webb amended his previous motion with another motion to just halt the entire process. He said he didn't want to "jam anything down anyone's throat." He added, "I'm ready to get off the bull."

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