WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
The quiet, rural community of Mayo was not as quiet as usual on Thursday afternoon.
Gov. Rick Scott visited the Lafayette County Courthouse to talk to around two dozen Lafayette County residents and gave them the opportunity to ask any questions they wanted. Residents packed the courthouse with a variety of concerns for the governor, including the federal government shutdown, education policies and the local economy.
Mayo resident Donna Massey brought up her doubts about the government shutdown to the governor.
“Floridians are being affected by the shutdown,” Massey said. “What is he doing to help alleviate the people in Florida?”
Scott addressed the people of Mayo for three hours in one-on-one sessions in the judge’s chambers of the Lafayette County Court Room. He spent about five minutes per person, listening to citizens’ concerns.
After the one-on-one sessions, the governor answered questions about how the shutdown affects Floridians.
“(Washington needs) to work,” Scott said, “The buck stops with the President. It’s his responsibility to get everybody together and figure out how to resolve this.”
Mary Koon, a Lafayette High School math teacher, said it was important for her to take the time out of her day to talk to the governor.
“Since our whole lives revolve around our jobs and our families who are affected by (the shutdown), it’s worth it for us to make the time to come up here,” Koon said.
The governor said the best way to help Floridians affected by the crisis will be for the President and Congress to negotiate a deal.
“The most important thing to do is to have the President do his job,” he said. “He needs to negotiate with them, compromise with them and help get this resolved. That’s the solution.”
