Friday, November 9, 2007

People of Hillsborough County Lose; Cronyism Wins Over Competence in County Commission for Port Issues

IT'S JUST A -- THAT'S ONE OF THOSE FRIENDLY
THINGS.
--Commissioner Jim Norman

Hillsborough County commissioners ousted Commissioner Rose Ferlita on Thursday from a coveted seat on the Tampa Port Authority, electing Commissioner Brian Blair instead.

Commissioner Ferlita is elected from District #1. The District encompasses the shores of Tampa Bay. SEE the map of Hillsborough districts:
Hillsborough County Government Online - BOCC - Districts

Ferlita did not go quietly. She implied that the law had been broken. She noted that the port and most of Hillsborough's shorelines are in her district. As vice chair of the Port Authority, Ferlita has worked on problems involving canals and a gas pipeline that's proposed through the area, she said.

Brian Blair gloated:
I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT IF -- SINCE I'VE TAKEN ON ANOTHER BOARD, THAT IF ANYBODY WOULD LIKE ONE OF MY BOARDS, THEY CAN LOOK THROUGH, AND IF SOMETHING -- IF IT'S SOMETHING DEAR TO THEIR HEART, I'LL GIVE UP ANOTHER BOARD.
==============

READ THE TRANSCRIPT
Ken Hagan replaces Jim Norman as commission chairman

Mark Sharpe replaces Ken Hagan as commission vice chairman

Al Higginbotham replaces Brian Blair as chairman of the Environmental Protection Commission

Brian Blair replaces Rose Ferlita on the Tampa Port Authority

Jim Norman keeps his Tampa Sports Authority post

1 comment:

gatordem said...

This is of concern to Pinellas as well. We are so interdependent that we really do rely on good governance in each of the Counties and Cities in the Tampa Bay area.

One area to look at in that regard is TBARTA. Composed of elected officials and Gubernatorial appointments from a 7 county area around Tampa Bay, it is charged with finding transportation solutions for our region.

For our transportation based economy to continue to prosper, it is essential that we get good governance over all our transportation modes including the port, airport, roads and rail.