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An Inconvenient Voice Speaks Up For Environment

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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: January 11, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - A man whose car is decorated with a bumper sticker bearing an Adolf Hitler quote probably doesn't care what others think of him.

Clay Colson, the environmentally sensitive founding member of the local civic group Citizens for Sanity, is such a man.

Known for demanding accountability for Pasco County's explosive growth, the 53-year-old labor subcontractor has never cared who he offended as long as his message was heard.

"I look at tact and diplomacy as fancy ways of lying, and I don't like to lie," he said. "I want to be honest."

The Land O' Lakes resident was in the public eye for years, demanding environmental preservation, wildlife protection and sensible development.

Although his views were knowledgeable and passionate, the often-accusatory, battering-ram delivery of his messages routinely rankled local, state and federal officials, developers, fellow environmentalists and journalists.

His imposing stature - complemented by a flowing black mullet, grizzled goatee and eyes that train on a subject like spotlights - probably didn't help. Although his hair is shorter now, Colson's take-no-prisoners approach has mostly gone behind the scenes.

He told the Citizens for Sanity board "it was better if we put another face on the group, someone less divisive and less of a lightning rod," he said. "I figured it would help us more with fundraising and membership efforts."

That doesn't mean his involvement has waned or that he has ignored local and regional development plans.

"He used to be like Mel Gibson's character in 'Braveheart,'

" said Dan Rametta, a longtime Citizens for Sanity member. "Now he's camouflaged in the woods and he's a sniper. You won't see him unless you're a politician or developer and something has gone awry and someone is protesting.

"He draws up the battle plans. He still has a leadership role with Citizens, but it's below the radar. He's still effective and still working. His expertise is invaluable."
Colson was paddling a canoe recently on Cypress Creek, accessed near the State Road 54-State Road 56 apex.

While he rowed by three alligators beneath a never-ending canopy of trees and between logs that jutted from the water like pointed spears, his eyes scanned the banks.

"There's a shoe," he said with a snort.

Later, he saw an aerosol can stuck in a vine.

He came to a small bend, pulled his oar from the water and pointed it at a jumbled mass of silt fencing meant to keep runoff from the Cypress Creek Town Center project out of the water.

His face reddened with anger.

"I want to see Cypress Creek Town Center improved to the point that it doesn't pollute this creek," he said. "I never, nor did Citizens for Sanity, ever oppose the mall. I couldn't care less about the mall. The only thing we looked at was to make sure the regulations that were set up to protect this creek were enforced."

Rule Enforcement Questioned

Cattle rancher Hank King, who owns property adjacent to the project, complained that those rules had not been enforced. Photographs and YouTube video King took of the water eventually got the attention of Citizens for Sanity - and Colson.

"They started clearing and grubbing," King said. "Then there was a big rain and the water got all muddy. The more I looked, the muddier it got."

King, with help from Citizens, claimed that the Richard E. Jacobs Group, the mall's developer, had violated the federal Clean Water Act by polluting the creek, which flows into the Hillsborough River, a primary source of drinking water for the region.

Last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Southwest Florida Water Management District cleared the Jacobs group of wrongdoing.
Colson said he worries that the eventual 1.3 million-square-foot, open-air mall will not be able to handle all the litter it generates.

In addition to seeking thorough environmental oversight of the mall project, Colson continues to rally Citizens in opposition of the Ridge Road extension through the 6,500-acre Serenova Preserve, which the state purchased as mitigation for environmental destruction caused by the construction of the Suncoast Parkway.

County officials have envisioned extending Ridge Road in the Moon Lake area near New Port Richey to U.S. 41. The county submitted a federal application for the project about 10 years ago, but the extension is nowhere near a reality.

"If they do get a permit for Ridge Road it will be challenged, and we've got the goods," Colson said with a smile.

Just Getting Started

For 21 years, Colson, a Tampa native, worked as an automotive mechanic. He has said he grew tired of the dishonesty he encountered in that profession.

He has been a "labor subcontractor" for years.

"I subcontract my abilities, which are numerous, to anyone who wants them to accomplish whatever task they need," he said. "It could be tree stump removal, tile work, plumbing, drywall, painting, pressure washing."
Colson does not include among his skills an affinity for dealing with humans.

With Citizens for Sanity, he is the water-issues chairman.

"He wants to achieve goals, but he has to work closely with people," Rametta said. "But sometimes they come up with facts or opinions that are totally wrong, and I think that's frustrating to him.

"And he won't just go with the flow or compromise. The room for compromise is razor-thin. There's not much there."

Sometimes, it's as if Colson delights in the shock value he seems to effortlessly generate.

Take, for example, that bumper sticker on the back of his Mercury Cougar:

"This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!"

- Adolf Hitler, 1935

The sticker does not make the gun-owning Colson a Nazi sympathizer, but it does make him a fan of "The End of America," the Naomi Wolf book where he found the quote.

"My concern," he said, "is that I don't trust my government, not at any level. I've seen the political arrest that they've done at all levels. I've seen the militarization of our police departments with the SWAT teams and automatic weapons, and some of them have tanks now.

"I learned lessons that most people haven't because they don't involve themselves in the inner workings of our society. They allow themselves to be controlled and manipulated by the corporately owned mainstream media. The truth is out there, but you won't find it in the pages of the newspaper or on TV."

He was just getting started.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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