Two longtime local officials, Jan Platt and Pat Frank, are leaving the Hillsborough County commission this year, creating a big hole in county government and removing from the scene two steady voices for civil rights, growth management, social welfare and open government. The winners this year should help to move a wide agenda, from making essential transit and drainage improvements to embracing smarter ways to plan suburban communities. The Times editorial board has studied the issues, the candidates and their backgrounds and makes these recommendations:
DAVID CUTTING
Democrat
District 2 (north Hillsborough)
No area of Hillsborough suffers from the effects of unchecked growth more than the county's northern suburbs, where the incumbent, Ken Hagan, has done little over his two-year term to improve the area's quality of life. Hagan has been AWOL, both as a commissioner and a candidate, avoiding campaign appearances to answer for his record as part of a strategy to keep his head low to skate toward re-election. He even voted this month against considering a hike in the county's meager stormwater fee, even though many of his constituents are still trying to recover from this year's torrential summer storms.
Democrat David Cutting has an agenda to make the county more livable. He would make developers pay for the public costs of new construction, such as the expense of providing roads and utilities. He believes the county should study whether light rail is feasible and do more to promote recycling and the use of water-saving xeriscape designs.
Cutting, a 63-year-old graphic artist, lacks much experience with the political process, and some of his ideas have little to do with the job of a county commissioner. But he at least respects the democratic process enough to defend his platform before the voters. The Republican Hagan, by contrast, puts his self-interests first, a dangerous seed in a 37-year-old politician with barely two years in public office. A write-in candidate also qualified for the race. The Times recommends Cutting.
RONDA STORMS
Republican
District 4 (east Hillsborough)
We can point to only a few occasions during her six years in office when Ronda Storms has pushed the county forward or improved its image. Her closeted views and penchant for playing people off each other harm the region and should embarrass her constituents. The Republican Storms, however, is more credible than her no-party challenger, Jean Batronie, a 58-year-old, self-employed hypnotherapist.
Storms, 39, has not brought about positive change, but she does work hard, is committed to the job and is accessible to her constituents. Her bombastic style has had the benefit of helping to open up Tampa's old-boy culture, and she has never shown the appetite of some of her colleagues for the perks that come with public office. These are small considerations compared with Storms' backward views on the role of government and the distrust she has bred in public agencies and employees throughout the region.
Batronie, however, has not offered a focused agenda beyond the promise of being an independent voice. Storms also deserves credit for voting this month to consider raising stormwater fees, a responsible move in the aftermath of the flooding that ravaged her district this hurricane season.
The Times recommends Storms.
BOB BUCKHORN
Democrat
District 6 (countywide)
Few candidates this year are as prepared to govern or have a record of being accountable to the voters as Bob Buckhorn. Throughout his long history in local government - first as an aide to then-Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, and then as an elected City Council member - Buckhorn has distinguished himself as a hard worker with a grasp of detail who holds himself to high ethical standards.
Buckhorn, 46, left government in 2003 after losing the Tampa mayoral race. Electing him to the commission would help fill the void after two seasoned commissioners leave office later this year. Buckhorn is a conservative Democrat who has made neighborhood concerns his focus. He is a strong supporter of the police - to the point this newspaper has criticized him for crafting overzealous "anti-nuisance" laws.
For all his sound-bite moralizing, Buckhorn would bring rich experience, sound judgment and a welcome sense of accountability to a listless County Commission. His strong interest in redeveloping urban Tampa is strengthened by his valuable grasp of how city politics works. Buckhorn can be a polarizing figure, but he is not afraid to lead, and he largely framed the agenda during his years on the City Council. He also has long been sensitive to concerns of minority groups.
His opponent, Brian Blair, a 47-year-old Republican, is a former professional wrestler who narrowly lost a commission race in 2002. Blair is a businessman and former gym owner who is widely involved with youth and civic groups. He has a commendable agenda - strong control over growth, job creation, a regional approach to managing water, health care and transportation.
Blair is a quick study, and his expressed support for indigent health care and the environment speaks to issues that transcend party politics in local elections. But what Blair promises, Buckhorn has done, whether creating jobs, fighting crime, improving neighborhoods or seeking to curb wasteful government spending. This race is open to all Hillsborough voters. The Times recommends Bob Buckhorn.
MARK SHARPE
Republican
District 7 (countywide)
Mark Sharpe has matured from the far-right upstart who lost three Tampa congressional races in the 1990s. He has done his homework on local issues, become more involved in the community and come to realize the valuable role government plays in providing health care to the needy, encouraging the redevelopment of older neighborhoods and protecting the environment.
Sharpe, 44, a Naval Reserve intelligence analyst and development officer for a Tampa private K-12 school, has a firm grasp of what is needed to improve Hillsborough County. He would work with the city to redevelop Tampa's central neighborhoods, curbing sprawl and making more use of existing utilities and roads. He knows how schools and job-development efforts fit into the county's long-range planning process. He also would be more discriminating about using tax credits to lure developers and corporations to particular areas of town.
Sharpe's support for working closer with city officials on redevelopment projects and for valuable countywide social services, such as the indigent health care plan, speak to his most valuable asset. He has a leadership quality this commission needs. Democrat Denise Layne, 49, a longtime community activist, knows the political process and the players well, and she would be a steady hand on transportation, the environment and growth management. Layne's long history of community involvement gives her a rich base of contacts and an appreciation for what it means to be accountable to the public. Layne can be preachy and at times difficult to follow, and while qualified to serve, she lacks Sharpe's more positive and straightforward demeanor.
No-party candidate Joe Redner, who made his name as Tampa's strip-club king, also is running. But public office is not the place for someone whose business is founded on sexism.
This race is open to all Hillsborough voters. The Times recommends Mark Sharpe.
