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He loves a parade© St. Petersburg Times published March 25, 2002 We should all pool our pennies and buy Tom Scott a crown and convertible. That way, the Hillsborough County commissioner won't go into a snit the next time he's not invited to a parade. He could tool around town whenever he liked, throwing cheap beads and extolling the virtue of the developers and contractors who are pouring money into his campaign. Scott criticized Commission Chairman Pat Frank for delegating her spot in an Ybor City parade to Commissioner Stacey Easterling. By tradition, that perk would've passed first to Commissioner Jim Norman, and then to Scott. As far as scandals go, Parade-gate is about as narcissistic as they come. Even if one believes that Frank's election-year protocol smacks of political intrigue, it hardly was worth a half-hour of the commission's time or the hard feelings such a petty debate caused. Any politician worth his salt knows how to elbow his way into a parade. And most politicians are smart enough not to waste their time and political capital on selfish pursuits that have nothing to do with the lives of the people who put them there. Maybe Commissioner Scott has been to too many parades already.
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From the Times Opinion page |
