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Experience Counts In Conservation Races

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 18, 2008

If you are one of the thousands of Hillsborough County voters who get to the end of their ballots this election and are stopped in your tracks at the Soil and Water Conservation District race, you are not alone. This easily is the most obscure race on the ballot, and the candidates the most unfamiliar.

The district board - whose origins are in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression and his creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps - works with local farmers who are seeking to make their water usage more efficient and also runs a popular education program that aims to connect school children to the county's agricultural heritage.

But its services also are available at no cost to suburban homeowners who want to use water efficiently in their landscaping. The annual budget for the agency is a modest $250,000, and nonpartisan board members serve without compensation.

Typically, candidates for board seats run unopposed because outside of the agriculture community, few know what the board does. But this year, veterans are being challenged by two politically active newcomers.

For the District 2 seat, engineer Richard Van Epps, who has served on the board previously, faces A.J. Brent, a political activist who says he decided to run for the seat in part because it was so unclear what the position entailed.
Van Epps is serious about conservation and has a background in agriculture that makes him the obvious choice. He currently works as a water and soil engineer in Manatee County and understands that the role of the conservation district is to give landowners incentive to conserve water usage and minimize soil erosion, but not act as a regulatory agency.

Brent, a Libertarian who ran against then-state Rep. Gus Bilirakis for the Florida House in 2002, does have a point that that the district needs to be more transparent in its activities. But he was too quick to declare the agency's activities wasteful and unimportant when self-admittedly he had little actual knowledge of what it did.

The Tribune endorses Richard Van Epps.

For the District 4 seat, district Vice Chairwoman Betty Jo Tompkins is being challenged by Jeffrey Ross Garbus, a business consultant who was approached by the local Libertarian Party and encouraged to seek office. Garbus - who says he would have an eye on reducing spending and making the district board the best it can be - also admits he knows little about agriculture.

Tompkins, meanwhile, has a long history in Hillsborough's agricultural community and has earned her stripes as an advocate for farming. A member of the 4-H Foundation's board of directors and active in many civic organizations, Tompkins' love of farming and enthusiasm for conservation is evident.

She agrees that the board needs to raise its profile in the community beyond a poster contest that is popular in local elementary schools. Rather than being upset that challengers have targeted the board as an entry into political life, she is enthusiastic in welcoming their interest.

The Tribune endorses Betty Jo Tompkins.

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