By Times staff writers
Published November 11, 2005
City Council member and Hillsborough County Commission candidate Rose Ferlita this week took a stand in opposition to the group she hopes to join. She voted against a proposal from fellow council membe r Shawn Harrison to officially ask the Hillsborough County School Board to reconsider its decision to remove religious holidays from the school calendar. The City Council vote came the day after the County Commission voted 6-0 to ask the School Board to reconsider.
Ferlita, who's running for the District 1 commission seat being vacated b y Kathy Castor, said she didn't think the council should interfere in a decision made by another elected body.
"It's not our job to tell them what to do," she said.
Ferlita will fac e Brad Swanson an d Gary Santti in the Republican primary.
Council member Kevin White, who is also running for a County Commission seat, cast the only other vote supporting Harrison's motion.
NO APPOINTEES, THEN: White, a Democrat, is running for Commissioner Tom Scott's seat . So far, White's only opponent in the 2006 race is Ken Anthony, a Republican insurance agent and member of the Hillsborough Aviation Authority. Scott is leaving because of term limits and is, in turn, planning to run for a Tampa City Council seat in the 2007 election.
Scott took umbrage with fellow board member Brian Blair's accusation of politicking on an important vote this week.
Scott has refused to appoint a representative to a study group the commission is forming to study the finances of the county's bus agency, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority. Blair, who is chairing the group, wants it to figure out ways the agency can better serve residents in unincorporated Hillsborough.
Scott had appointed former County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, an advocate of better transit, including rail, to the group. But at the last minute, Blair decided to require that all appointees live in unincorporated areas, bumping the Tampa resident off.
So on Wednesday, Scott announced he won't appoint anyone.
Blair said his move was in response to Scott's effort to get an additional person or two appointed to the board so that it would include at least one African-American. Besides, the group is evaluating bus service in unincorporated areas, so the residency requirement makes sense, he said.
He said he felt Scott was trying to stack the study group with people who might thwart his efforts, telling the Times that Scott's maneuvering was a result of his City Council race. Scott pointed out that his current County Commission seat largely represents people living in Tampa city limits, so it makes sense that he would appoint someone with the city's interests in mind. Then he dished a little back, making light of the fact that Blair often reads from notes or a written outline when making his case on issues before the board and was afraid of smooth-talking Turanchik.
"I think the issue is he didn't want to deal with Ed Turanchik," Scott said. "I saw Ed as a tiger in in Brian's tank. You know Brian can't debate issues. He's got to find someone to write his speech for him."
Blair said initially, "I don't even want to respond to that kind of gibberish."
He acknowledged that he often uses notes when making his case before the board.
"So does the president of the United States and every other politician. When you don't want to miss a point, you always write it down. I learned that a long time ago.
"I don't have a speech writer," he said. "Everything I say, I write on my own and take complete responsibility for everything I write or say."
Staff writers Janet Zink and Bill Varian contributed to this report.
