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County Seeks To Reduce Tampa's Power On 2 Boards

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By MIKE SALINERO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 8, 2007

TAMPA - Lawmakers from unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County used some legislative sleight-of-hand Friday to advance a bill that would reduce the city of Tampa's power on two important local boards.

The bill, sponsored by Lutz Republican Rep. Kevin Ambler, increases the county's appointments to the city-county Planning Commission by one, and gives the county one more representative on the Tampa Sports Authority while taking away one of the city's representatives on that board.

The bill also would give Tampa, Plant City and Temple Terrace representation on the county Environmental Protection Commission. The EPC is now made up solely of county commission members.

The bill is the latest attempt by county commissioners to adjust representation on local boards to reflect the differences in population. Two-thirds of the county population now lives in unincorporated areas, while about a third is in the city of Tampa. The county's budget and tax base far exceed the city's, and the major sports properties are owned by the county.
Tampa officials counter that the city is the county's economic powerhouse and generates up to 80 percent of sales and tourist taxes collected in the county.

State Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, whose wife was undergoing medical tests, did not attend the meeting. Normally, a local bill can't be filed in Tallahassee unless it receives support from eight of the delegation's 12 House members and three of the four senators. Ambler, however, passed a motion to change the rules so the bill can move forward with support from a majority of the members present.

Justice, who voted against a similar bill sponsored by Ambler in February, could have blocked the current version by joining state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, in opposition. With the changed rules, however, Joyner was outvoted by Republican Sens. Ronda Storms of Brandon and Victor Crist of Tampa.

Maneuver Angers Some

The maneuver outraged many in the audience who had come to oppose the bill. They also were angry that Ambler withdrew his own amendment that would have limited the changes in the bill to the sports authority and environmental commission. The bill he unsuccessfully tried to pass in February reduced city influence on the sports authority and the Planning Commission but did not include the EPC.

Ambler had agreed to take the Planning Commission out of this year's bill at the request of the county commission, which would not support the legislation otherwise.

Storms and Crist persuaded him to drop his amendment, however. Ambler agreed, telling the unhappy audience that the Planning Commission can be removed from the bill in Tallahassee. The opponents were not reassured.

"They're all over the board now," said Lutz activist Denise Layne. "Can you imagine what's going to happen if this bill goes to Tallahassee?"

Terry Flott, chair of United Citizens Action Network, called the parliamentary maneuvers "a shell game."

"To come here today and find out the game has been changed ... is not fair. It's not going to send a good message to the people of Hillsborough County," Flott said.

Layne said the legislators were meddling with local decision making and should not ignore the county commission's wishes to leave the Planning Commission alone.
Crist and Storms rebuffed the protests, saying the maneuvers were part and parcel of the legislative process. Crist said the original bill had been properly advertised in the paper and had not been changed.

"Any action by a local government prior to this meeting is irrelevant to the discussion going on here," Crist said.

Storms said it was unreasonable for members of the public to tell the legislative delegation not to make changes to a local bill.

"In this amendatory process, that's what you do: You debate the bill, then you make changes to it," Storms said.

Storms, Iorio Square Off

Storms and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, longtime adversaries, squared off over familiar issues of how much influence the city and county should have on local boards. Storms said the county is responsible for paying off $252 million in bonds used to build Raymond James Stadium and the St. Pete Times Forum.

Iorio countered that 77 percent of sales tax money and 81 percent of tourist tax dollars used to pay off county bond issues are generated in the city.

Bob Hunter, executive director of the Planning Commission, told the lawmakers he was disappointed. He said former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons, D-Tampa, had created the city-county planning board, the only such body in the state, to "step over political lines and plan for growth as a whole."

"I think this composition is good," Hunter said. "It's served us well for nearly 40 years."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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