BROOKSVILLE – The Hernando County Commission spent nearly half of its Oct. 13 meeting listening to residents. Then it cleared most of its remaining business in a single vote.
The board heard about an hour and 45 minutes of public comment, much of it from Brookridge residents frustrated with the Alliance at the Grove commercial development. It also held a series of ceremonial presentations, including a proclamation naming Oct. 14 Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day. Commissioners then approved at least 17 items on one 5-0 vote. The meeting ran a little more than 3½ hours.
The brisk pace reflected the commission’s decision to move land-use items to separate meetings.
One vote, many items
Commissioners approved the 14-item consent agenda. At Commissioner Ryan Amsler’s suggestion, they folded other agenda items into the same motion.
The package included the $51,353 purchase of a tire de-rimmer, a technology agreement, acceptance of a Homeland Security grant and matters related to the municipal service benefit unit that pays for street lighting in Hill-N-Dale.
Commissioners also took action on matters involving the county’s community redevelopment agencies.
Tributes and a wooden flag
The Kirk proclamation came about a month after the first anniversary of his death. Kirk, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University. He would have turned 33 on Oct. 14.
Commissioner Steve Champion said the board had moved its Kirk remembrance to October so that it and the commission’s commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks could each receive the time they deserved.
Commissioners and several public speakers repeated tributes from earlier meetings, praising Kirk’s outreach to students and his willingness to engage in open debate. Commissioners noted that they had dedicated a stretch of California Street, which passes two public schools, in his honor.
Earlier, former fire Capt. Andy Bryant, who creates pieces with wood and a chainsaw, presented the board with a wooden replica of the Florida state flag as part of the county’s America 250 commemoration. A wooden American flag he made already hangs in a place of honor behind the dais, and the state flag will join it.
Bryant said many people don’t know what Florida’s flag looks like, and he wanted to change that. The flag represents “where we live and work and build our communities,” he said.
“I love doing these kind of projects because they represent something and they feel like something lasting,” Bryant said. “It was a real pleasure to make.”
The audience applauded, and Chairman Jerry Campbell thanked Bryant for his service as a firefighter and for the flags.
“Once things get on a wall here, they rarely get moved,” Campbell said. “Very, very cool. Great job. That’s fantastic.”
Commissioner John Allocco said the flags should hang there for generations.
“You’ll be able to bring your grandkids here at some point and say, ‘Hey, Steve Champion might not still be on the board, but these will be,’” Allocco quipped, drawing laughter.
The commission also recognized master gardeners with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension for beautifying the courthouse grounds.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the John Law Ayers County Commission Chambers, Room 160.