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Chairman of Hernando County Democratic Party resigns, cites dispute over finances

 
Published Sept. 2, 2015

BROOKSVILLE — After less than six months on the job, Jimmy Lodato has announced he will step down as chairman of the Democratic Party in Hernando County.

Lodato, a retired businessman who has run unsuccessfully for County Commission as both a Republican and a Democrat, wrote in an email to party members Monday night that his main reason for leaving was the shortage of funds, combined with the expense of maintaining the party's office on Deltona Boulevard in Spring Hill.

"Financially, we are not doing well as an organization, and most of our financial resources are depleted each month to support the office," he wrote.

The Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee has raised less than $5,000 since the start of the year, according to campaign finance records, compared to more than $67,000 raised by the county's Republican Executive Committee.

Lodato wanted to shift the expense of the office to the Hernando County Democratic Club. But club members — including former DEC chairman Steve Zeledon — sought to delay that move, said Jay Rowden, also a former DEC chairman.

Zeledon did not comment in detail on Lodato's departure but said the club would "redouble" its fundraising efforts and the DEC would meet this week to set a timetable for replacing Lodato.

Rowden said Zeledon and some other longtime DEC members also resisted Lodato's suggestions for fundraisers and challenged the results of elections for DEC officers. Rowden, who had previously planned to run for vice chairman of the party, said he decided against it as the disputes continued.

"They want to go into these endless debates about the bylaws, and I'm thinking — here you are, and you're broke, and you don't have anything better to do than try to figure out what the bylaws do mean or don't mean," Rowden said. "It's time to move on."

Lodato said in a phone interview that he's received many calls asking him to reconsider his decision.

"Actually, there's been a groundswell of people saying, 'No, you can't leave,' " he said.

Lodato has agreed to stay until Tuesday, he said, because he did not want his departure to interfere with the campaign for the Hernando School District's sales tax referendum scheduled for that day; he has served as co-chairman of the political action committee supporting the renewal of the half-cent tax.

After the special election, he plans to serve on a committee that will audit how the tax money is spent, if the referendum is approved, he said, and believes he should be free of political ties in that job.

"I want to devote my time to doing positive things with the schools," he said.

Contact Dan DeWitt at ddewitt@tampabay.com; follow @ddewitttimes.