Opinion: Elect commission with character

The big issue in Hillsborough County Commission elections this year will not be parks or taxes or fire stations or how often residents may water their lawns. The issue is electing people with character -- candidates who have the know-how and integrity to lead and work together. Nothing more unites people from Carrollwood to Sun City Center than the shared embarrassment of being represented by a board that collectively is defined by meanness, pettiness and paranoia.

This dysfunction has disserved residents in so many ways, and for so many years, that the very assumptions behind governing have become warped, to the point that board members think it's normal to ignore health care and transportation, to antagonize the business community, to pick fights with each other and belittle the staff and to alienate other governments rather than resolve local disputes over water and annexation.

Commissioner Ronda Storms has more than her share of these qualities, and her latest political trick underscores what's at stake in this year's election. Storms asked to debate a building moratorium, even though her main interest was to use the discussion to trash the county's watering restrictions. She wants to show that the south Hillsborough watering ban is the fault of regional suppliers and not uncontrolled growth in her back yard. Blaming outsiders is any easy way to pander for votes and divert criticism.

It might be different if the commissioners had ideas of their own, if they were driven by anything beyond re-election and if they had some respect for the democratic process. The board chairman, Democrat Pat Frank, has tried to keep the ugliness to a minimum, only to be unfairly criticized by partisans on both sides. This is a board whose members, after all, resort to name-calling and personal attacks in the course of routine public exchanges.

Having the board split between three Democrats and four Republicans is not the problem, because most local issues, to reasonable people, transcend party politics. The divisiveness instead comes from personal flaws -- a discomfort with listening to alternative views, inflated egos and a yearning for power over public service. It may sound trite, but what voters need to look for, with six of seven commission seats up this year, are candidates who project integrity and stature. We know what happens when you have a commission short on both.

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright