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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 26, 2008

An Invalid Argument

Regarding "Hillsborough Could Use An Elected County Mayor" by Fred Karl (Commentary, July 20):

The primary thrust addressed in Karl's opinion, which endorses an elected county executive, is that at the state and federal level the powers of government are separated. Karl writes that lawmakers at the state level "were warned about all the terrible things that might happen" if they created a separation of power model.

Karl implies that there is no current separation of power in our Home Rule Charter; however, there absolutely is! The current charter has a provision that unequivocally addresses a separation of power:

III Separation of Powers:

Section 3.01 Separation of Legislative and Executive Powers:

"The power of the county government shall be divided between legislative and executive branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to the other branch unless expressly provided herein."

The separation of power argument clearly is not a valid one because it has been in the charter since 1983. I also agree that we should trust the voters to do the right thing, and they will, once provided with all the facts regarding the positive merits of county governance.

JOE CHILLURA

Tampa

Bucking National Trend
Fred Karl's article in the Commentary section on July 20 gives the public some bogus advice. He tells the citizens that they should consider electing our chief executive so we could be like our federal government with a separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Overall, the trend in local government throughout the United States shows an increasing number of cities have chosen the council-manager form of government over the mayor-council form. Since 1984 the numbers of cities with mayor-council governments have decreased from 56 percent to 43.5 percent (from 3,686 to 3,131) while those with council-manager governments have increased from 35 to 49 percent (from 2,290 to 3,520).

Incidentally, take notice that the Elected County Mayor Political Committee, Inc. has chosen to use the "initiative and referendum" process rather than the "legislative process" to change the Hillsborough County Charter. The initiative process doesn't bother with things like citizen input, public notices, public hearings, commission discussions, as are imbedded in the legislative process.

DON SAWYER

Tampa

Charter Fine As Is

I read with interest the article "Hillsborough Could Use An Elected Executive" by Fred Karl, who was the county administrator at one time. My question to Karl would be, "Were you of that opinion when you were the administrator?"

One former county commissioner was not in favor of a county mayor when they lived in the county, but flipped after moving to Davis Islands. Another gentleman who served on at least two Charter Review Boards along with me and who lived in Apollo Beach and Brandon during those years changed his mind after moving to south Tampa.

This county charter has been reviewed five times since its inception. Every time this county mayor issue has surfaced, it has been defeated.

Karl suggests we trust the voters to do the right thing. They might do the right thing if they had all the facts. I submit they do not.

The qualifications for this position have not been defined. Anyone can place their name on the ballot and, if they have the name recognition and charisma, they could be elected without knowing how to add two columns together. What then? They would have to hire another Pat Bean. All this position is going to do is add another layer of government.

Do we want to add a position to county government giving it the authority to enter into contracts and agreements out of the sunshine and, in addition, not subject to a performance bond?

This movement started out under the banner "Taking Back Hillsborough" and did not make it to the ballot in 2006. They changed the name of the committee this time around; however, a rose by any other name is still a rose. No matter what the name, the agenda is the same.

It concerns me this committee was allowed to use the names they collected to make the ballot in 2006. How many of those names are still valid? How many have died or moved? Were these names vetted to see if they are still valid?

With all this doubt out there, vote "no" to a county mayor. There is nothing there for people in the unincorporated area.

DEE WILLIAMS

Sun City Center

Writer's Motives Obvious

Regarding "Liberals Push County Mayor Effort" (Other Views, July 23):

In his column criticizing the effort to establish an elected Hillsborough County mayor, Todd Pressman of Clearwater neglects to mention one important fact: He is a lobbyist. Lobbyists love the current system with an unelected administrator accountable only to a board of commissioners. The administrator can't say no to her bosses. And because of sunshine laws, her bosses, the commissioners, can't speak to one another. This system is ripe for manipulation by lobbyists.

Because of excessive spending, Hillsborough County taxes nearly doubled in recent years. We need a conservative elected mayor with a veto who can say "no."

Mr. Pressman's column more aptly should be titled "Lobbyists Oppose County Mayor Effort."

ANDY GRAHAM

Tampa

The writer is former Tampa City Council member; countywide commissioner and 12-year member of the Planning Commission.

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