New county assistant attorney hired

BROOKSVILLE –
Hernando County’s newest assistant attorney, Shaun Amarnani, is still getting used to his new surroundings in the county government building in downtown Brooksville.

But he is excited about the challenges and looks forward to his colleagues’ help in settling in and expects to be up to speed on the big issues in no time.

County Attorney Garth Coller said one of the first items on Amarnani’s to-do list is to work on the county commissioners’ request to look into disabling red-light cameras on county-owned intersections in the city of Brooksville.

Amarnani will specialize in land use, real estate and environmental permitting. He will attend planning and zoning meetings.

Coller said he wanted to get someone on board as soon as possible because of the work crunch in the legal office. Even with Amarnani’s hire, Coller said he remains short-staffed and plans to include a provision in his budget for another attorney

Amarnani, who started his duties as the county’s newest assistant attorney April 29, will make $60,000 annually and joins Coller and senior assistant county attorney Jon Jouben.

In all, 16 people applied for the job of assistant county attorney, a position that opened following the resignation in January of attorney Richard Appicello, who took a new job in Oregon.

Amarnani is a former real estate attorney for AgroTrade America Inc. in Tampa, which has since closed.