Horrom is honored: Former ECWCD Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Neal Horrom, right, was given a special plaque showing the board’s appreciation of his leadership for the several years he served on the board. At left is Nate Stout, the current chairman, who made the presentation at last week’s regularly scheduled meeting. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Editor’s Note: East County Water Control District Chairman Neal Horrom lost in his bid for reelection to the board in November. During last week’s meeting, Horrom was given a plaque of appreciation for his work in the District. Fellow Commissioner Desmond Barrett offered the following after the presentation.

By DESMOND BARRETT

Henry Wordsworth Longfellow once said: “The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.”

Commissioner Neal Horrom has heeded those words written over a hundred years ago and while his service on this board (East County Water Control District) have come to an end. His services to others have not yet reached the halfway mark.

The race is long and this is not a sprint and I know he shall finish strong.

When Commissioner Horrom was elected to the board in 1997 the District was on the cusp of a new century. For 45 years the District progressed forward at a snail’s pace after the initial development. However the times were changing.

Like in the worlds of Longfellow, Commissioner Horrom did not set off with visions or dreams, but in active service to the community in which he was elected to serve. He would go on to become the longest serving member of the District, serving for six of those years as chairman of the board.

He would cast hundreds of votes in an effort to progress the District forward. He brought to the board years of experiences in the agriculture business which helped reduce chemical costs right off the bat. He would usher in an era of eight straight years of no new taxes, fiscal accountability and long term planning.

Commissioner Horrom led the effort to rebuild the aging infrastructure program which would lead to more than 65 culvert crossings being rebuilt, the rebuilding of more than 20 weirs the expansion of Harns Marsh for drainage, and he helped lead the efforts to construct Carlos Water Way which helped elevated years of flooding.

Along the way he supported his colleague’s efforts to open three environmental parks, stood against the Army Corp of Engineers when they tried to take land in a large portion of the district, and led the efforts to support incentives that brought in more than $7 million in grants to help redesign, and rebuild the District.

He began his 13-year term as chairman and he left as the chairman of the District. His leadership like the Chinese Proverb says: “If you want happiness for a lifetime, help the generation.”

Commissioner Horrom always voted for what he believed was best and in the interest of his children and his children’s children. He put politics aside even when he knew it would hurt him politically to support initiatives that were not popular with some, but was visionary in its thinking.

President Theodore Roosevelt said: “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even through checkered by failure – than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

Commissioner, when you look back on more than a decade of service to this District, I pray you look at the hundreds of votes cast to develop this District in which in your final year of leadership on the board, was named 2010 FASD District of the Year, and the 2010 District Budget Award awarded by the State of Florida.

One election does not silence your record of accomplishment, because in any direction you drive in this District today, your fingerprint can be found.

May God keep you and bless you and your family in the years ahead.

You have earned my respect as a colleague, but more on a personal spiritual level in watching your faith and belief in God.

Thank you for allowing me the privilege of serving along side of you for the past 10 years.

As the twilight of our service on this board dims, please know that it still shines brightly in my mind and heart for all that you have accomplished and desired for this District.