Local

At the March 26 city commission meeting, a resident alleged that candidate Barbara Hendrix did not meet the residency qualification requirements for the Newberry election.

Sandra Marin filed an affidavit at the meeting citing that Hendrix removed her homestead on her property in the city of Alachua too late to meet the qualifications to run in the upcoming city of Newberry election.

Marin cited four exhibits, which included records from the Alachua County Tax Collector’s Office.

The Newberry City Charter mandates that candidates should have maintained a primary, principle and physical residence within the city for six months immediately preceding the date of qualification.

Hendrix, the program manager for Newberry Main Street Organization, said she has had a primary residence in Newberry since 2008. She further said she had changed her primary residence so she could serve on the Planning and Zoning Board in 2009.

According to records from the Alachua County Property Appraiser’s website, Hendrix owns property in Alachua. The records also say she does not own the property in Newberry that she listed on her website as her primary residence.

Hendrix said she is renting the property in Newberry, which she currently claims as her permanent residence, but owns property on 915 NW State Road 45. Records from the Alachua County Property Appraiser’s website affirm that she has been an owner at this site for more than eight years.

Hendrix said she checked with the Alachua County Property Appraiser’s Office before she applied to run for the commission seat. When Hendrix saw that her homestead had not been removed from the property in Alachua, she notified the office. According to Hendrix, the Alachua County Property Appraiser’s Office acknowledged this as a glitch.

Hendrix has lived in North Florida since 1990 and began volunteering with the Newberry Main Street Organization in 2006.  She is running against incumbent Lois Forte in the Group 2 commission seat in the election on April 10.

The residency allegation and affidavit presented by Marin was provided to Newberry City Attorney Scott Walker for further review.

A Candidates Forum will be hosted by the High Springs New Century Woman’s Club, 40 NW 1st Ave., High Springs, on March 27, 2012 at 7 pm. The event is for the candidates running for the vacant seat on the City of High Springs Commission. The special election will be held on April 10, 2012.

Participants in the Third Annual Run for Haven Hospice show their St. Patrick's Day spirit as they take off from the starting line on Saturday.

It was St. Patrick’s Day, and these residents chose to spend the day on a charity run for Haven Hospice.

The Third Annual Run for Haven 5K and 10K began at 4:30 p.m. Though it rained toward the end of the day, Susan Follick, director of marketing and communications for Haven Hospice, said some still finished in the pouring rain.

There were 610 runners in this year’s race, Follick said. Each runner paid a registration fee that went to the non-profit hospice care center. According to a press release from the hospice, the race doubled in size from last year, making it the second largest race in the Gainesville area.

The overall 5k fastest runner was Donny Monteau, who finished at 16 minutes and 15 seconds. The fastest 10k runner was Shane Stroop, who finished at 37 minutes and 10 seconds.

Domino’s Pizza, Blue Highway Pizza and Right Path Transport were just some of the vendors at the event. The annual run also featured live music from Dottie South and the Slackers and cheering from the Newberry High School cheerleaders.

Higman finished the race with her two dogs, Pitch and Norma Jean, by her side. She was given a plastic gold medal, but her two canine companions were not as lucky.

“They didn’t give him a medal, and that was a shame,” she said.

She gave Pitch her medal instead.

Higman and her dogs weren’t the only ones dressed up for the race. St. Augustine resident Joanie Selph, 62, and her daughter Stephanie Jarnol, 38, of Gainesville, were decked out in green tutus and necklaces.

Jarnol was part of Giggle magazine’s Big Weight Loss Challenge. The six members of that program had to run a 5k to complete the program.

Still others had creative ways of incorporating green into their ensemble. Taren Delisle and her son, Ethan Drew, 11, sprayed their hair green for the St. Patrick’s Day run.

“I’ve always wanted to dye my hair green,” Ethan said.

Their motivation was more than just exercise, Delisle said. Delisle’s grandfather had died in a hospice, so running for Haven Hospice was special to her.

Haven Hospice is a non-profit care center that has facilities across Florida. They have inpatient care centers in Chiefland, Gainesville, Lake City and Palatka.

One thing that makes Haven Hospice unique, Follick said, is the fact that the organization has licensed doctors on staff.

The organization has been licensed as a non-profit hospice since 1980 and offers end-of-life care for those without insurance. The organization also offers free grief counseling programs for those who have recently lost a loved one, even if they were not at Haven Hospice.

Follick said the reason behind running was one thing that brought people to the race.

“I think part of it is who they’re running for,” she said.

The Public Health Fair will feature a full day of free, supervised health-related games and activities for children ages 5 to 17, as well as free breakfast, lunch and snacks. The event is sponsored by the Woodland Park Boys and Girls Club and Delta Omega, the public health honor society at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions.

 During the morning session, children will be divided by age group for activities designed to teach them about healthy eating, healthy behaviors, and hygiene and sanitation. An outdoor public health fair in the afternoon is open to the public and will include educational games, face painting and prizes.

 Parents may drop off their children at 8 a.m. at the Woodland Park campus of the Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County, 1900 S.E. Fourth Street, Gainesville, and pick them up when the event ends at 5:30 p.m. To register or for more information, call 352-377-8003. Space for the morning session is limited to 150 children.

Representing Popoli, Attorney Linda Rice Chapman addressed the commission regarding her client during a commission meeting Tuesday, March 20.

“Your recent actions in creating a city engineer position, as it relates to my client, violate your charter,” Chapman told the commission.

“Mr. Popoli has whistle-blower protection against retaliation under Chapter 112 of the Florida Statutes for his reports of illegal activities by some, not all of the commissioners,” she added.

Chapman also said her office has been filing and will continue to file documents and complaints with the State Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Governor, the United State Department of Labor and the Alachua County Circuit Court.

Popoli cited concerns of retaliation and being fired as early as Sept. 22, 2010, when he wrote a letter on the matter to then High Springs City Manager Jim Drum.  In that correspondence, Popoli wrote, “I understand that Commissioner [Dean] Davis has made comments regarding my employment, or termination there of.  I believe that, based on my complaints, I am covered under the state’s Whistle Blowers’ Act.”

Popoli is presumably referring to an ethics complaint filed in 2010 against Davis by a private citizen.  The complaint stemmed from concerns that Davis was violating the City Charter by pushing city staff to approve permits for a particular business.  Although the Florida Commission on Ethics did not address the city charter issue, it did not find probable cause to believe Davis violated Florida state law in that matter.

In a Feb. 24, 2012 email to City Manager Jeri Langman, Popoli noted that he was recently informed that Mayor Davis told a local business person they should not be too upset about an issue surrounding their permit because the City was going to fire one of the people involved in the permitting process.

“I realize you have reassured me that you had no plans to fire me,” Popoli wrote to Langman.  “But if you don’t, I wish you would put an end to the threat of it from the commission.”

Popoli noted in an email to Langman on Tuesday, March 20, that she had verbally informed him that his last day of employment would be April 6, 2012.

In a February meeting, Vice Mayor Bob Barnas first proposed adding the staff engineer and information technology positions during a budget amendment hearing.  Although both positions were included in the overall amendment package, Barnas said he was not proposing to fund them.

By the March 8 meeting, however, Barnas urged the commission to vote to direct City Manager Langman to hire a city engineer.  When asked how the new city engineer position would be funded, Barnas said it should be taken from City Planner Popoli’s position.

An advertisement for a new city engineer has since been placed.  The City posted a salary of $21 hourly, the equivalent to $43,800 annually.

Following Chapman’s comments Tuesday, commissioners had little to say, although when questioned, City Attorney Ray Ivey did say it was expected that Popoli would continue his duties while employed.