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Challenges Piled Up As Election Chief Begins

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: January 6, 2009

Updated: 01/06/2009 11:11 pm

TAMPA - Tuesday was her first day on the job, and Hillsborough County's new elections supervisor was faced with a $2 million deficit and voting machines that had misfired on election night.

Phyllis Busansky wasn't fazed, however. She made sure visitors saw she had already changed a lock at the Supervisor of Elections Office in the County Center that had forced visitors to get permission before being buzzed into the office.

"It means we're open; anybody can come in," she said.

It will take more than symbolic moves like an open door to restore public confidence in an elections office left in disarray by outgoing supervisor Buddy Johnson. During his tenure, Johnson oversaw an operation that mishandled elections and drew criticism for spending money promoting his image.

One of Busanky's first moves was to remove Johnson's chief deputy, Kathy Harris, from her office on Falkenburg Road. Harris, who has three months remaining on her $175,000 contract, will work at home on a report detailing what caused delays and long lines during last year's elections.

Today, Busansky's new chief deputy, Craig Latimer, will conduct the first meeting of an information technology committee that will investigate why voting machine problems delayed the Nov. 4 election results for days.

The office has contracted with Andrew Alexandre, a former finance director with the state Department of Juvenile Justice, to figure out why Johnson had to ask the County Commission for $2.3 million last month. A county audit released Monday could account for just $336,000 of the money.

Busansky said she thinks about $1 million was spent by Johnson on "outreach," ostensibly to educate voters about the new optical scan voting machines. She and other critics think Johnson used the program to promote his re-election. "I think if you're spending that much and it's all about getting your name out there, that's not good," she said.

The recent audit also could not determine how much the elections office still owes Premier Elections Solutions for the optical scan voting machines used in November's election. Busansky said she will try to get an answer from Premier in the next few days.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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