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Brown A Good Choice For Courage Award

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By STEVE OTTO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

Last week, the Gang of Five that controls the seven-member Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners, defying a line of protesters, voted to name its annual Moral Courage Award after the same developer who fattened every one of their campaign chests. For a board that has raised arrogance to an all-time level, it was still a spellbinding moment of shoving it back in the public's face.

Somewhat lost in the spectacle was this year's winner, David Brown, who is supposed to come downtown on Oct. 15 to pick up his plaque. Since he will be the last recipient who won't have to deal with the stigma of the new name on the award, he'll probably show up to take it home

"I'll bite my tongue and just say thank you," he said. "I'll leave the commentary to you."

OK. I think the award was probably a bad idea from the beginning. Expecting a group of politicians to hand out an award to someone who challenges their decisions was always suspect.

Brown was a good choice. A retired computer programmer, he lives in Sun City Center with his wife, Jean.

A Tinkerer And Activist

Brown is a tinkerer. He likes to invent things and is one of those people who are constantly looking at objects, wondering if he could make them a little better.

He is also involved. I think a lot of us believe that those people out in Sun City Center don't do anything but drive around in golf carts. The truth is they are into any number of volunteer organizations, from working with small businesses to making wooden toys for schools.

He was nominated for the award over two issues. One was a flood plain mapping plan that came up when a neighbor questioned why their home was in the flood plain but not their neighbor's. After doing his own research, Brown discovered that the FEMA/Hillsborough County maps were inaccurate. The result was the county going back in and redoing the maps. "I think a lot of people saved money on flood insurance they didn't have to buy after we had more accurate maps," he said.

The Backflow Controversy

But what has become his personal crusade is the "backflow valve controversy." Yeah, I know; nothing stirs the soul and fires up passions like a good backflow valve controversy, does it?

It began when Sun City Center residents began receiving citations from the county for watering from ponds or wells without the valves and the $600 installation and annual inspection charges.

The more Brown looked at the aboveground valves, the more problems he discovered, including how easily they were to be tampered with or stolen. After continuing his assertions on his own Web site, county personnel informed the FBI, which investigated whether the information could be used to tamper with the water supply.

Eventually the county revised its policy, and next year it is expected to not only reduce the initial cost of valves to homeowners, but to take responsibility for the test, maintenance and replacement.

I don't know if all of this is a result of moral courage as much as it is someone using his talents to take on a community responsibility. Whatever you call it, I wish there were a few more David Browns out there willing to stand up and say we can do better.

Keyword, Otto Graphs, to read and comment on Steve Otto's blog.

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