A tall order
Amy Moore, left, joins her supervisor Christine Kearney and barista Kelsey Mattox in welcoming Gov. Rick Scott to their Starbucks on State Road 54 near Suncoast Parkway during a recent visit to the area.
Pasco DEC elects officers … mostly
A new chair won’t be elected until Jan. 12, but in the meantime, the Pasco Democratic Executive Committee elected a new slate of officers unanimously Dec. 9 that included Karen Ford as vice chair, Nola Branche as secretary and Calvin Branche as treasurer.
Ford was a neighborhood team leader for Barack Obama in 2010, and is a founding member of the Trinity Democratic Club. She also worked on the two successful campaigns of Democratic state representative Amanda Murphy.
Nola Branche has been a teacher for 23 years, and served as a Democratic town committee chair. She has been the DEC’s secretary since 2006.
Cal Branche taught school for 28 years, and has spent the past 15 years as a licensed community association manager. He has served as vice chair of the DEC for nine years, and has been treasurer the past four years.
Pasco holiday closings
Pasco County government offices, including the constitutional offices and the courts, will be closed Dec. 25 and Dec. 26 in observance of the Christmas holiday season.
All government offices and courts will reopen Dec. 29.
The Pasco County Tax Collector’s office also will be closed Dec. 27, reopening Dec. 29.
Libraries run by the county will close at 5 p.m. on Dec. 24, but will reopen Dec. 27 at their regularly scheduled times. County parks and recreation centers will be closed Dec. 27 as well.
Pasco County Animal Services will have an animal control officer available for emergencies only during the holiday, with the adoption center reopening Dec. 27 from noon to 6:30 p.m. The administration office there will reopen Dec. 29 at 8 a.m.
Pasco County Public Transportation will not provide transportation services over the holiday, resuming service on Dec. 27.
The Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility and the East Pasco Transfer Station will be closed to the general public on Dec. 26, but remain open to licensed commercial haulers. All those stations will reopen to the public on Dec. 27.
Hillsborough selects CIO
The Hillsborough County Commission is expected to confirm Ramin Kouzehkanani as the county’s new chief information and innovation officer during a meeting Dec. 17.
Kouzehkanani has more than 20 years experience in organizational management and leadership of large-scale information technology programs. He is currently the chief deputy clerk for strategic planning and technology for Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom, and a Master of Business Administration from Western New England University.
If confirmed, Kouzehkanani would begin Jan. 5 with a salary of $175,000.
