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Former Commissioner Challenging Johnson

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: October 19, 2008

Making sure all the votes get counted and reported on time won't be the only challenge facing Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson on Election Day.

Democrat Phyllis Busansky, a former two-term county commissioner, has raised more than twice as much money as Johnson in her bid to replace the incumbent Republican as the head of the county's electoral system.

Johnson, 56, is a former state lawmaker known for his conservative Christian beliefs and his role in creating BuddyFreddys, a restaurant chain. In 2003, then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to take over the elections office when Pam Iorio stepped down to run for mayor of Tampa.

One year later, Johnson won a four-year term, garnering 56 percent of the vote.

Since then, his office has presided over 23 elections. Some have run smoothly, but in others, Johnson has been criticized for a variety of problems, from the slow posting of returns to delays in mailing absentee ballots to moving polling locations without giving voters enough notice.

Recently, he has garnered unfavorable headlines for the frequency - and prominence - of his face and name in the voter-education campaign his office is conducting.

Hillsborough is one of 15 counties switching from touch-screen voting machines to paper ballots. The state required the change to produce a paper trail for elections.

In August's primary, the first using the new machines, results were delayed by more than an hour, but the owner of the new optical-scan machines quickly took responsibility for the problem.

Johnson did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.

Busansky, 71, has repeatedly questioned Johnson's tenure as elections chief and says her management background and political experience is what is needed to do the job right.

"We need to restore the confidence of voters in the county's election system," she said.

As a Hillsborough commissioner, she was instrumental in creating the county's indigent health care plan. Before then, she headed the county's aging services and personnel offices. She most recently ran for Congress, losing to Gus Bilirakis.

"I swore that I'd never run for office again," Busansky said. "It takes so much out of you."

Busansky said she got back into politics because Johnson needs to go.

"Buddy has been an embarrassment to this office," she said. "Voters deserve better."

In recent years, Johnson has faced a barrage of criticism questioning his effectiveness in running his office and detailing his personal financial dealings. This year, the headlines were about Johnson missing the deadline to pay his property taxes.

He also shaved thousands off his property tax bill on his home by allowing a farmer to graze a dozen cattle on his land and applying for and receiving an agricultural exemption. The exemption is permissible, though he has been criticized for taking advantage of a legal loophole.

Busansky so far has outpaced Johnson in campaign fundraising and spending.

Johnson has raised about $50,000 and spent $23,000 on his campaign, according to Oct. 3 financial filings. Busansky has raised more than $132,000 and spent about $81,000.

Johnson's first campaign treasurer, J. Floyd Hall, resigned in April after a newspaper story questioned the appropriateness of him also serving as president of a bank that approved a loan for the candidate.

The supervisor oversees voter registration, elections and candidate services, a budget of about $6.7 million and 32 employees. The job is a four-year term that pays $132,000 a year.

BUDDY JOHNSON

AGE: 56

EDUCATION: University of South Florida, bachelor's in religious studies

FAMILY: Divorced, three children

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: State representative for District 62, 1991-96; Board of Trustees of The Spring; director of Florida Real Estate Commission, 2001-03; Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor, 2003-present.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Co-founder and former CEO of BuddyFreddys

PHYLLIS BUSANSKY

AGE: 71

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Wheaton College; master of business administration, Heller School at Brandeis University

FAMILY: Married, three children, several grandchildren

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Former Hillsborough County aging services director, Hillsborough County commissioner for eight years

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Faculty member of the School of Public Health at Columbia University

WEB SITE: www.phyllis busanskycampaign.com

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