By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                District 4 Levy County Commission candidate Charlene Watson Cavillo has worked for the past 20 to 25 years doing bookkeeping, auditing, accounting, office management, and budget management for private businesses.

            Responding to questions at the Levy County Republican Executive Committee candidates’ forum in Cedar Key, Cavillo said believes her background working in the private bookkeeping and accounting sector will be an asset when analyzing the county budget if she is elected to the county commission. She was asked to describe her experience with preparing or authorizing budgets.

            “I started bookkeeping in my early 20’s. I’m in my mid 40’s now, so for about 20 to 25 years I’ve been doing this type of work. I’ve worked for CPAs, construction companies, I’ve worked in property management with the roles of bookkeeping, office management, and budget management,” she responded.

            Stoney Smith asked her which county department needs help and which would be her focus as a commissioner.

            “The building and zoning department needs the most help. There’s a lot of input that goes into building and zoning. They have become overwhelmed. They’ve got to the point where they will not answer the phone. You have to email a request. Sometimes it takes a couple of days, sometimes you get a response the next day,” she said.

            Parks Wilson asked Cavillo if she would have a problem approaching a county elected official such as Elections Supervisor Tammy Jones and telling her, hey, “your budget is 20 percent too high,” or doing something similar to Sheriff Bobby McCallum.

            “I do not have a problem addressing anyone, especially with the budget. I’ve worked on accounting and auditing with big budgets,” she said. “The person that has to do auditing, bookkeeping, and the numbers for a business is usually the least liked because you have to stay on top of those things and you have to find a clever way to address those situations before going to those people.”

            Cavillo was asked by Smith how she feels about property special assessments which seem to hit everybody.

            “I don’t like the assessments. I have to pay the assessments. One of the ones I don’t like is for waste services. I pay to have someone pick up the garbage at my home but I also have to pay the special assessment for solid waste on my taxes. It’s kind of a double whammy. I don’t like it but I have to pay it,” she said. “Looking at the future, I can’t say whether the assessments should be removed or added unless I’m actually looking at that budget for that year.”

            Wilson asked Cavillo if being a county commissioner would be a full-time job for her.

            “This would be my main job. I also do writing and investments, which I do from home. If it’s a problem, I can do without them, because they are self-employed jobs,” she said.

            She was asked by Wilson if she would keep regular office hours if elected to the county commission.

            “I’m kind of open 24-7. I don’t really look at the county commission as being 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. Some things might happen on a weekend. Some things may happen late at night that may need addressing. Some people may not get off work until 5 o’clock so they may not be able to contact a commissioner or other county official Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, during business hours,” she said.

            Smith asked her a question about land use and permitting. Smith said he thinks the county has a good building official but he suggested there may be friction in the office. He asked Cavillo if she would be open to hiring an office manager for the building and zoning office to manage office staff while the building official goes out and visits construction sites.

            “Well, he needs to look at the budget to see if there’s enough funds to put on an additional person in the office without putting an additional strain on someone else’s money,” Cavillo said. “It would probably be best to resolve it if another person is not needed because once you hire another person you have to give them all the benefits,” she said.

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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt July 23, 2022; Posted July 24, 2022