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Johnson's Legal Woe Intensifies

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: February 5, 2009

TAMPA - Hillsborough County will ask multiple law enforcement and regulatory agencies to investigate whether former Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson committed prosecutable crimes before he left office last month.

County commissioners asked County Attorney Renee Lee on Wednesday to forward a copy of a recent audit of the elections office to law enforcement agencies urging them to investigate. Lee said she will send the audit to at least eight agencies, including the state attorney, FBI and Gov. Charlie Crist's office.

"We will pretty much cover the waterfront as far as agencies that might have investigative power or be able to sanction him for a violation of Florida statutes," Lee said.

The audit, conducted by financial accounting firm Ernst & Young, found that Johnson overspent his budget for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 and didn't report it to county commissioners in a timely manner, a violation of Florida statutes.

Lee said it is not clear what agency would have jurisdiction in such a case because Johnson is no longer an elected official. The state law the auditor said Johnson violated provides no penalties other than to suspend an elected official from office.

"As an elected official, we know the governor would probably remove him if he were still in office," Lee said. "Now that he's transitioned into private life, I am unclear if the governor still has any jurisdiction over him. But the governor will receive a copy of that packet."

Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who oversees elections, said he is not ready to launch an investigation of Johnson's tenure until he sees the result of a second Ernst & Young audit that will cover the period from Oct. 1 to Jan. 5.

"The reason we haven't audited Hillsborough County like gangbusters is I don't think it's the appropriate response," Browning said. "You've heard the saying: 'too many cooks in the kitchen?' I think all we may do is ratchet this thing up, and it doesn't need to be ratcheted up."

Johnson said he had not seen the final audit but said he doesn't fear an investigation.

"I'm not afraid of anything. The light on truth is the best disinfectant there is," he said. "There's nothing in there they'll find that's inappropriate."

Johnson said the furor over the audit and the calls for an investigation are "pretty nasty politics." But, he said, "I can handle this heat."

Johnson's former deputy, Kathy Harris, sent an e-mail to the media Wednesday saying the audit released Tuesday differed markedly in its conclusions from an exit audit she saw last month with Ernst & Young.

"At no time was there mention of any concerns about illegal activities or issues regarding lack of information, etc, for the audit period which ended Sept. 30," Harris wrote in the e-mail.

Robin Smalley, a senior manager with Ernst & Young, said the audit reviewed with Harris was a draft.

"The audit released last night was our final report," Smalley said.

The audit was more evidence of the financial morass Johnson left his successor, Phyllis Busansky. The new elections chief was forced to ask commissioners Wednesday for $2.18 million to cover the last payment on voting machines Johnson bought last year. The commission had appropriated the money for the machines, but Johnson left office without making the last payment.

Busansky also gave angry commissioners even more bad news: Only $300,000 was left in the elections office's operating fund on Oct 1. The commission had appropriated $3 million to operate the office through the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

"I'm sure you know I will be back again," Busansky said. "I'm going to need your help in making this office whole."

The audit criticized Johnson for not putting appropriate budgetary controls in place, but it did not address where the missing money went.

Records from the elections office show Johnson spent about $1 million from June through December on education and public awareness campaigns featuring his name and photo. Busansky and others claimed Johnson used the money to promote his re-election campaign.

Commissioners praised Busansky for her quick actions to right the listing financial ship. Since taking office Jan. 5, she has returned the office's fiscal oversight to the Clerk of Circuit Court. Johnson took control of his $13 million budget in June.

Busansky also won praise for negotiating a $500,000 reduction in the money owed Premier Election Solutions, the company that sold Johnson the voting machines.

"I appreciate your tenacity to go back and renegotiate that contract and saving that $500,000," Commissioner Jim Norman said.

Yet the newest disclosures of financial mismanagement in the elections office were a cold slap for commissioners facing mounting budget pressures. Earlier in the meeting, they had approved 28 layoffs in the county building department due to falling building permit revenue.

"I just don't think this is a good time to be laying off county employees at a time when we're correcting the financial mistake of a prior elected official," Commissioner Kevin White said.

Wednesday's job cuts are just the beginning, said Eric Johnson, assistant county administrator. He said the county faces a significant deficit across all county departments.

News Channel 8 reporter Josh Thomas contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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