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Two county commissioners spar over bus agency study

Scott is upset over changes. Blair says Scott is playing politics.

By BILL VARIAN
Published November 3, 2005

TAMPA - Angry that his first appointment was booted, Hillsborough Commissioner Tom Scott says he won't nominate another person to replace him on a group studying the county's bus agency.

Scott said he is objecting to a last-minute change by Commissioner Brian Blair, who advocated creating the study group. Blair wanted to ban city residents from participating.

Scott called the last-minute change appalling.

Blair accused Scott of pandering to voters whose support he will need as he runs for Tampa City Council in 2007. He said Scott's decision to leave one seat empty will do nothing to undermine the panel's review of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority.

"He was against this thing to begin with," Blair said after Wednesday's discussion. "Plus he's running for office in the city."

The study has already come under some criticism since Blair sought and won support to have the county hire John Dausman, a former HARTline planner, as a consultant to the panel. Dausman previously sued the agency, a dispute that has since been settled. He claimed he was fired for raising questions about alleged financial wrongdoing there.

Blair asked to create the study group to analyze ways that HARTline could better serve residents in unincorporated areas. During a first attempt by board members to appoint the study group, Scott noted that it included no minorities, and asked to expand the group so they could be included. Scott had appointed former Hillsborough Commissioner Ed Turanchik, who is white.

After tabling the item briefly, Blair came back with a new rule barring study group members who live in the city of Tampa, effectively eliminating Turanchik and at least three other appointees. He said he wouldn't have done so if Scott hadn't tried to add more members.

Either way, he said, any recommendations from the group will have to come back to commissioners for their approval.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:06:17]