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Let's not repeat mistakes of the past

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published April 21, 2006

County commissioners who opposed Ruskin's move to create its own city may have been singing a victory tune last week after the effort got stalled in the Florida Legislature. But they shouldn't be.

The truth is the effort rose from residents' lack of trust in the commission. More than one Ruskin resident will tell you they don't want their neighborhood to be another Brandon.

If our county commissioners had been better stewards of east Hillsborough growth through the years, Brandon wouldn't be a prime example of urban sprawl. And Ruskin folks wouldn't shudder every time they drive down State Road 60.

Given the lack of evidence that the commission can manage growth, the debate deserved to be played out. Certainly, many of the incorporation opponents had legitimate concerns about higher taxes and property rights. Maybe incorporation is not the solution.

However, the county's role in the debate should have been minimal.

Instead, the County Commission voiced its opposition and used its lobbyist to Tallahassee to oppose it. The commission was more interested in retaining power and less interested in doing what was best for the Ruskin community. The same can be said about the commission's opposition to the county mayor proposal.

Look at the conflicts in the county's role. After stating its opposition to the proposal, the commission asked County Administrator Pat Bean to serve as a point person and disseminate information on Ruskin's incorporation efforts in a nonpartisan manner.

Yet it was unfair to ask Bean, who answers to the commissioners, to be unbiased. If she distributed information that showed incorporation could work in Ruskin, she would be jeopardizing her job. Bean should have never been put in a position so fraught with conflict.

The incorporation move was stifled largely because of lofty financial projections about how much it would cost the new Ruskin government to contract services from the county. Given that Bean and her staff would have drawn the ire of commissioners if they came up with favorable numbers, is it surprising that the financial projections went against incorporation?

"They got sabotaged at the eleventh hour by the very people who refused to provide the information they needed to begin with," state Senate President Tom Lee told Times staff writer Letitia Stein last week.

Credit Lee for his candor, and hope that if the incorporation effort returns, some type of independent agency can be used to supply projections. If you could assign someone to the task who both opponents and proponents trust, the debate could rest on the merits of the proposal.

For now, the commission needs to offer a convincing argument that it will do a good job of overseeing Ruskin's growth, while not completely blocking the rights of developers and property owners.

It also would be nice if commissioners could help heal the wounds that have resulted from this debate.

Most importantly, the commission has to convince all concerned that Ruskin won't become another Brandon. Leadership shouldn't be solely about keeping power and asserting your will. It should be about building a consensus and crafting compromise.

It should be about doing the right thing.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper writes a column for the Tampa & State section of the Times. He can be reached at 226-3406 or hooper@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 20, 2006, 12:34:48]