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Mourners praise Busansky as true leader

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune
and WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2009

Updated: 06/26/2009 02:04 pm

TAMPA - Phyllis Busansky's life and career were celebrated today by a crowd of nearly a thousand people – all of whom, according to one eulogist, probably were among "her five closest friends."

The mourners filled parking lots in and around the Temple Schaarai Zedek in South Tampa, and took their seats to the sound of reggae music – some of Busansky's favorite – where they heard the irrepressible civic reformer described repeatedly as "a force of nature."

They shared stories of the woman they called a true leader, a lifelong friend, a devoted mother.
"For me … she was and is and will always be mom," said her son Alex Busansky. "I am my mother's son. If you've met her, you've met me."

Busansky, 72, who was Hillsborough County elections supervisor since January, was found dead in a St. Augustine hotel Tuesday during a conference of state elections officials.

Winning the elections office capped a long career of elected and appointed public offices for Busansky.

Attendees at her memorial service included a who's-who of local public officials, former office holders, political allies and opponents.

Running against Busansky for the 1996 Democratic nomination "brought us closer together," said Tampa lawyer Jim Davis, who ultimately won the nomination and the seat. "I knew why she was running, and it wasn't about her – it was about others."

One speaker after another described Busansky's political and civic career as devoted to the less fortunate, epitomized by her championing of a county health care program for the indigent when she was a county commissioner in 1990.

"She saw herself as an advocate for people who didn't have much … people for whom the system wasn't working," Mayor Pam Iorio, then also a county commissioner, who voted for the health care plan, said in an interview.

Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, a long-time Tampa resident, also attending, recalled that in 2007, Busansky produced a major report on human trafficking for DCF. The report led to legislation sponsored by Tampa State Sen. Arthenia Joyner.

Busansky was a lifelong Democrat, but the crowd was bipartisan.

"She transcended politics," said Gil Singer, a member of Congregation Schaarai Zedek who is active in the local Republican Party, when talking with a reporter before the service. "She got four Republican votes from my house last November."

Another Republican attendee was former Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson, who left office under a cloud of accusations of misuse of public funds.

Johnson, attending along with daughter Hannah, said he and Busansky "were very good acquaintances" for years prior to their sometimes bitter election campaign, and that he still has a Florida history book that Busansky gave him years ago.

But there may have been an awkward moment for Johnson when Rabbi Richard Birnholz recalled agreeing to endorse Busansky in the race – something he normally doesn't do, for fear of alienating members of his politically active congregation.

He made an exception because of Busansky's integrity, he said, and because, "If we had any chance of getting out of the mess that had become the elections office, she had to do it."

Davis, asked whether he was concerned about the future operation of the elections supervisor's office, Davis said, "I worry a lot. We need what Phyllis provided: strong leadership with the highest integrity."
The stories her friends and family told drew laughter and tears.

Tampa Tribune columnist Steve Otto, a long-time friend, reminisced about travelling through Boston with Busansky, meeting people who all called themselves her closest friends.

Otto said Busansky had told him he was one of her five closest friends, and he came to realize that group "numbered more like 500."

One of those friends, an inventor, told Otto he had invented an expandable shower cap. Riffing on Busansky's well-known afro-style hairdo, Otto recalled him saying, "Phyllis gave me the idea."

Otto said their friendship went beyond the normally suspicious journalist-politician acquaintanceship because Busansky "was more a force of nature than a politician – sort of a tornado with hair."

Jeannie McGuire, a friend of 40 years, reminisced about Busansky's flair for drama and showy wardrobe – "If you admired something of hers, she'd give it to you," she said.

"She's class, plus dramatic," McGuire said. "She'd swoop into a room, memorable always and elegant always. … She was larger than life, and she loved life."

Birnholz revived the crowd's memory of Busansky's reputation for fast driving. Once, when Busansky got lost chauffeuring her daughter to a crucial college admissions interview, she purposely sped past a traffic cop to get him to stop her so they could get directions, he said. She then talked the officer into escorting them to the school.

"She remembered well the lesson she learned from race driver Mario Andretti," Birnholz said. "If things aren't out of control, you're not going fast enough."

Birnholz and others noted the shock of Busansky's death, when she had been working as energetically as usual until her death.

As a thunderstorm drenched the area during the service, one attendee, Kevin Wright, joked that "you should report that Phyllis is still working. She's working on the water crisis today."

Reporter Lindsay Peterson contributed to this report.

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