Slats Murphy, Senior SCW columnist

It does not happen often, but when it does, it has to be done:  it looks as if your humble correspondent may have been wrong about a few things, and, if so, needs to apologize.

The events of the past week have led to the conclusion that no matter what past events have established, people still have the ability to surprise you, sometimes in the most pleasant of ways. 

Seeing as how that has occurred this past week, it has become incumbent upon me to offer not one, not two, but three branches from the olive tree to those who may have been misjudged.

In no particular order, it is hoped this offering is accepted by the Longwood city commission, the Seminole Democrats, and interim appointed Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel.

When one is wrong, one needs to admit it and say so.  Are you listening, Longwood City Attorney Richard Taylor?  How about you, Longwood City Administrator John Drago?

As surprising as the actions have been of the aforementioned three parties to whom apologies have been extended, the actions of Taylor and Drago have unfortunately remained consistent with expectations.  Sad to say, but true.

First, the Longwood city commission and all five of its commissioners did the right thing this week, contrary to expectations, when they did an about-face and decided to keep the early voting option for residents within city limits during municipal elections.

The prediction from this corner had been they would not do so, and that prediction was wrong, for whatever reason.  Regardless as to why they did it, the commissioners retained the early voting option and deserve to be applauded.

Despite not knowing their true reasons, and without inferring any aspersions upon such, it is known that the commissioners did their 180-degree turnaround in response to the presence at their meeting of Seminole County Democrats, who pressed the case strongly for keeping early voting as an option for Longwood residents.

The past has led to aspersions being cast upon the Seminole County Democrats for their absence from the local political scene, but this week they emerged with a flourish, appearing not only at the Longwood City Commission meeting on Monday evening, but also at the Altamonte Springs City Commission on Tuesday.

In both cases, they stood up for voters of all parties, beliefs and affiliations as they persuaded the commissions of both cities to retain the early-voting option for their residents.  Those who were present to hear the Democrats offer their persuasive arguments say that at times, one could actually hear the pleasant sounds of fifes and drums in the distance, harkening to all what is right with our great nation and its representative form of government.

It is time to stand up and say to the Democrats that their actions have now shown past comments to be errant.  There are Democrats in Seminole County, and, this week at least, they did well for themselves in protecting the rights of others.  As a comparative aside, it should be asked where the representatives of the Seminole Republicans were while the Democrats were engaged in selfless civic duty.

There you have it, an admission that Democrats exist in our fine county.  The evidence speaks for itself.

Finally, interim appointed Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel pleasantly surprised everyone in the county, other than perhaps some of his associates who wear only Republican-striped pajamas, when he appeared at both city council meetings in support of the Democrats' cause.

As has been written often in this space, Ertel achieved his present position through his merciless partisanship and loyalty to the GOP, giving rise to grave and sincere concerns over how he would execute the duties of the office given to him as a "thank you" gift from Governor Jeb Bush.

Ertel had a choice to make in both commission settings:  to side with the Republican-laden commissions, or endorse the view of the Democrats.  To his credit, at least in this case, Ertel had the sense to stand up for what was right and cast his vote in the Democratic column.

One time does not make a career or a legacy, but it could be a start.  Although we will continue to look over his shoulder, it must be said that Ertel's actions are hopefully the start of a positive trend.

Finally, we come to Taylor and Drago, the Longwood city attorney and administrator, respectively.  Let us hope that their future actions lead to further apologies in this space for having misjudged them, as has been done for the Longwood commission, the Seminole Democrats, and interim appointed Supervisor of Elections Ertel.

Here is the rub:  had Taylor not made an offensive comment last month about "Democrats" with capital D, they likely would not have been at the prior Longwood City Commission meeting, at which they learned of the commission's intent to cancel early voting.

Had Taylor apologized to the Democrats for his comment when they asked him to do so, they also likely would not have been at that meeting.  By stubbornly refusing to admit to a mistake in having flippantly let his tongue fly, Taylor opened the door and invited further constructive action and positive effect from the very group he had been seeking to malign.

City Administrator Drago misled and misinformed his commission about the background of the early voting situation, steering them down the path to opting out, for whatever personal reasons he may have had.  By doing so, he opened the door to a "he said, she said" volley between himself and interim appointed Supervisor of Elections Ertel, in which Drago was shown to have the least amount of supportive evidence on his side.

When one is wrong, one needs to step up to admit it, so again, a tip of the hat in acknowledgement to the three parties whose actions, as mentioned, have spoken well for and about them.

There's always the possibility of a future column extending the same applause to City Attorney Taylor and City Administrator Drago, but on this one, if such becomes the case, I would literally be willing to eat my hat.

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