Homer Hartage – The Wannabe Comeback Kid
- Details
- Category: Politics
- Published: Thursday, 07 August 2014 22:27
- Written by Hughey Watson
by Hughey Watson - Political Contributor
A special report to Community Steeple
The Rap on the candidates for Orange County Commissioner District 6
In a series of six reports I will lay bear the heart of each candidate in the Orange County Commission District 6 race. I will discuss the rap on each candidate and provide their patent responses to what people are saying. I will review the candidates in alphabetical order. I have done Lawanna Gelzer - The Perennial Candidate. Today is Homer Hartage's turn at bat. The Wannabe Comeback Kid is at the plate.
Homer Hartage – The Wannabe Comeback Kid.
Homer Hartage's day is done. He has been around and around. The first black man to serve on the Orange County Commission, Homer was elected in November 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002. Prior to that, Homer served on the Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment, and the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission as a board member and later as its chairman.
The Rap on Homer is that he had his chance and he didn't deliver. He has been there, he's old blood,
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and it is time for some new blood.
This is odd, because a read of his life paints the picture of a success story. He was born in Georgia and raised in Leesburg, Florida. His dad left his mom and five siblings when Homer was 6 years old. His mom moved the family to New Jersey where Homer later attended college and got his feet wet in student politics.
He made his way back to Florida, landing in Orlando to take a job with State Farm Insurance where he worked four years as a claims adjuster before leaving to open his own insurance agency. He met then Commissioner Mable Butler and she took him under her wings.
But trouble was brewing. In 1994, Homer surrendered his license to sell insurance after accusations that he mishandled premium payments. Then in 1998, a lobbyist accused Homer of being the bagman for Commissioner Butler's vote on a $15 million food-service contract at the Orange County Convention Center. Homer was paid a $95,000 consulting fee on the deal. The state investigated the claim and ultimately cleared Homer and Commissioner Butler of any wrongdoing.
That same year, Commissioner Butler, faced with term-limits, threw her considerable clout behind Homer. With her help, he raised $56 thousand, managed to shrug off lingering questions about his tainted business dealings and won with 62 percent of the vote.
Now Butler tells voters, "I'm sorry, please forgive me for creating Homer Hartage. He [Homer] has disappointed me." In Homer, Butler thought she'd found a protégé. Now Butler doesn't want him back in office. "Nothing personal," she insists. "He just hasn't lived up to expectations. I don't dislike him; I just don't think he needs to be there."
What really troubled Mable Butler about Homer is the fact that he is out of touch with the people. "I had to field eight or 10 calls a day from people who couldn't get through to Homer. People were begging me to get calls in to their commissioner. Every district needs a commissioner that's sensitive and knowledgeable," Butler says. "Homer was knowledgeable of the need, but he didn't do a damn thing."
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Butler isn't the only former ally to turn on Homer. Chick Fryar, who campaigned for Homer in 1998, complained that Homer ignored his constituents. "He doesn't listening to the voices of the people. The community doesn't matter to him. He's all about the deal."
In 2002, Homer took a job with Sprint (the communications company). The job raised conflict-of-interest issues given that Sprint bided for county contracts while Homer was on the commission. Homer promised that "he would recuse himself on votes involving Sprint." A Sprint spokesperson later explained that the company paid Homer a $25,000 consulting fee, mainly for his connections.
Homer said he took the job because, "I couldn't get by on the $60,000 salary I made as a county commissioner."
Homer patent response to Butler and other critics is that his mentor, Mable Butler, wanted a puppet in the District 6 seat. "Maybe she was against my cleaning up old neighborhoods and getting dope dealers off the street." he says. "But, I didn't do anything detrimental to the district." But the question lingers, what did he do?
Reviewing his own list of personal achievements, Homer takes credit for bringing the FAMU law school to Parramore. But that isn't true. The law school was created, funded and earmarked for Orlando by the Florida legislature.
He claims that he renovated older beleaguered neighborhoods such as Holden Heights to the tune of $24 million. He also highlights that he started the county's arts council and boosted AIDS funding.
But Butler says, "Many of the accomplishments Homer claims were started with her; he was just there to take credit for them."
Homer, who is an amateur photographer, says he made his mark as the county's biggest supporter of publicly funded arts. Yes, he said arts. And, he proudly states that "District 6 didn't get any worse during his eight years in office."
Granted, Homer may have held the condition of District 6 in the road. The problem is that the district didn't get the kind of improvements he promised or that it desperately needed.
During his eight long years in office, Homer did do some things. However, his critics of whom many of were former allies say it just wasn't enough to deserve a second chance at bat.
That is the Rap on Homer Hartage and his patent responses.
Note: the journalistic norm is to use the last name of a person, but you just gotta love the name Homer. No offense.
Next up, Victoria Siplin, Gary's Girl Friday.
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The OCPS Board voted to transfer over 2 million dollars away from Jones High School during school year 2013-2014. Over the last 10 years, OCPS Board has effectively transferred over 30 million dollars away from District 5 and District 6 schools. Save Jones High and save our community by denying the half penny tax extension. |