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New Revelations About Johnson Show Why His Credibility Is Shot

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 14, 2008

Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson is seemingly incapable of giving a straight answer to a simple question. Still, it's discouraging to learn he can't even describe the basic functions of his office.

In two stories published over the weekend by The St. Petersburg Times, Johnson's incoherence shines through. The first describes how over 18 days, he avoided a process server seeking to issue a subpoena from the NAACP, which sought his testimony in a lawsuit challenging Florida's voter registration law.

According to the Times, the process server was repeatedly told that Johnson wasn't in the office and no one knew how to get in touch with him. The server said this happened for 18 days.

Kathy Harris, the attorney for the election's office, disputes the Times' accounts. She says Johnson never tried to avoid the process server and even if he did, the server could have gone to court if he thought he was being avoided.

Perhaps, but the process server's account adds validity to long-circulating rumors that Johnson is hardly ever at his office. If he was there, why would his staff say otherwise? Does Johnson encourage a culture of deceit? Or does he not want to answer questions from the NAACP?

The second story described Johnson's wholly inadequate testimony in the case and how he couldn't answer dozens of questions about the way his office works. It also described a voting rights trial in South Florida, in which he flatly contradicted what he had said in a deposition.

How can Johnson, who regularly sends out e-mails bragging about his voter education efforts, teach others when he can't answer simple questions? And what should black voters think of his efforts to dodge an accounting by the NAACP?

Harris says Johnson could not discuss the minutiae required by some questions. But according to transcripts, Johnson couldn't describe the details of the voter registration process in Hillsborough County - far more than minutiae. Neither could he describe the most common verification problems confronted by his office.

Nor could he keep his answers straight. When asked during a deposition whether accepting late voter registration applications led to voter fraud, he said no. But during trial, he said yes. Johnson also changed his tune when asked whether the voter registration process interfered with his ability to conduct an orderly election. During the deposition he said no. At trial, he said yes.

This is not the first time Johnson has had trouble with a simple yes-or-no answer. Two months ago, a consultant working for him sent a letter to the editor of the Tribune, defending Johnson. Before the letter was printed, the Trib asked the supervisor if the man worked for him. Johnson said no. The next day, when it was discovered the letter writer did indeed work for him, Johnson said he had been confused by the question.

The Times' latest revelations add to the spate of bad publicity facing Johnson during his re-election bid, including that he was delinquent paying property taxes for several years and that he sought an agricultural tax exemption on 20 acres he owns near Plant City. Johnson says he deserves the greenbelt designation because he's leasing the land to a rancher who is grazing 12 cows there.

It's one thing to shrug your shoulders at paying your taxes on time or defending your tax loophole because everyone else tries it, too. But it's quite another to treat the election process so cavalierly.

Shortly after former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Johnson to fill former Supervisor Pam Iorio's term after she quit to run for mayor, Johnson traveled around the country spending taxpayer money to become certified in his job and, theoretically, good at it. For a while, he even wore a two-inch lapel pin that proclaimed his certification.

Judging by the ignorance he recently showed in sworn testimony, it appears taxpayers got little value for his travels.

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