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Senators Differ On Need For Transportation Lobbyist

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

Previous Coverage: Legislators Blast Tollway Authority

TAMPA - Two state senators who came together last year to criticize the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority have opposite views over the authority's recent effort to hire an outside lobbyist.

State Sen. Mike Fasano warned the bid could turn into a rerun of last year, when the agency got into hot water for paying lobbyists $1.5 million from July 2001 to June 2006. The agency doesn't need lobbyists, he said.

"If I was a taxpayer of Hillsborough County, I would be questioning that," said Fasano, R-New Port Richey and chairman of the powerful Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee.

But state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, said the authority's proposal demonstrates restraint because the lobbyist would work on a temporary basis while a search is conducted for an in-house "government relations manager."

"I don't have a problem with that," he said. "If they bring on a lobbyist for special or strategic reasons, that could be acceptable."

The two senators were more closely aligned last year when they called for significant changes at the authority after a succession of problems sparked investigations by the governor's office and state auditor general.

A report in December by the auditor general says hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on lobbyists, though a state law prohibits using public money to hire outside lobbyists.

"To my knowledge they still don't have the statutory authority to do so," Marilyn Rosetti, an audit supervisor at the auditor general's office, said Tuesday.

Patrick Maguire, attorney for the authority's governing board, disputes the auditor general's interpretation and noted other authorities regularly use lobbyists, including the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority and Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.

"There's a gray area here," he said.

Interviews are scheduled for next month, and the authority's board could vote to hire a lobbyist at its next meeting, Nov. 19.

Joe Waggoner, the authority's executive director, said the agency needs a lobbyist because he can't keep traveling to the state capital while running the agency. He has suggested hiring an outside lobbyist for six to nine months until the agency can find an in-house government affairs manager.

Crist was cautious but agreed, saying, "It's good to have someone watching out for the agency's interests."

A year ago, he introduced a bill to reconstitute the authority's governing board to give more control to Hillsborough's elected officials after reports showed how much the authority had paid lobbyists and other contractors in recent years.

Most of the board's members are appointed by the governor, and Crist wanted those positions appointed by Hillsborough's elected officials, including those in Temple Terrace and Plant City.

Fasano, meanwhile, was backing a bill to dissolve the agency and fold it into the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, which wouldn't be created until June.

Both senators pulled back after the authority's interim executive director, Stephen Reich, introduced reforms at the agency and committed to following the recommendations of the auditor general.

Now the two are in disagreement.

Fasano disputes whether the agency needs a lobbyist, saying it could turn to local elected officials for help in Tallahassee, "and they won't charge you anything." Unlike the last dispute, though, he hasn't proposed dissolving the authority.

Crist said a lobbyist is a legitimate expense and could protect the authority by monitoring transportation funding.

The authority, which operates the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, is teaming up with the Department of Transportation and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise to build a $600 million connector road between Interstate 4 and the expressway.

"Things can change fast and at the last minute," Crist said. "Their job is to constantly be working with elected officials at the state, national and local levels."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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