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New Elections Chief To Open Up Office's Finances

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

TAMPA - Earlier this year, Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson took over control of payroll, billing and other financial responsibilities from the clerk of the circuit court in a move that raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the elections office.

But those functions are expected to return to the Hillsborough County Clerk's Office as part of a reshaping by supervisor-elect Phyllis Busansky, who defeated Johnson in last Tuesday's problem-plagued general election by a margin of nearly 18,000 votes.

Busansky also plans to replace several top managers in the elections office, including Johnson's chief of staff and legal counsel Kathy Harris; David Parks, chief information officer for the election's office; and Stacie Poppell, Johnson's finance administrator.

Retired Hillsborough sheriff's Maj. Craig Latimer, who ran Busansky's campaign, will head her transition team and take over for Harris as chief of staff, she said.

"We're clearing the slate," Busansky said today. "But we've got a lot of work ahead."

This week, she is headed up to New York to attend a briefing on the best practices for running elections offices at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Busansky, a former Hillsborough commissioner, takes over the supervisor's post on Jan. 4, and one of the first orders of business will be requesting a financial audit of the office.

"We need to find out what we're working with," she said. "Right now, we just don't know."

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679

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