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Ex-official running again? I'll believe it when I see it

By C.T. BOWEN
Published April 23, 2006

Forget The Da Vinci Code and the newly restored Gospel of Judas. We've got the story of a resurrection of another sort taking shape.

A political resurrection.

Former Pasco County Commissioner-turned-lobbyist Ed Collins says he is considering a run for the Pasco School Board. The story circulated among school district, County Commission and political consulting circles over the past several days.

If he's sincere, Collins, who lives in Trinity, would run for the District 3 seat held by two-term board member Cathi Martin. It's a crowded field already with Martin and four challengers.

But, just like Dan Brown's fiction and Judas' makeover, people shouldn't take this outlandish tale too seriously.

"It must be a slow news day in Pasco," he joked at the outset of our telephone interview, but then detailed his potential platform and strengths as a candidate.

Teachers need better pay, he says. And there's the FCAT, too.

Collins' resume includes eight years as a county commissioner, work as a businessman, a four-year term as trustee at Pasco-Hernando Community College and work as a lobbyist with contacts in Tallahassee. He figures he is as strong a candidate as anyone.

But, let's face it. We've heard this before. Collins, who served as commissioner from 1990-98 until his defeat by an unknown Steve Simon, has tossed his name around as a potential candidate in the past.

Even if he doesn't remember doing so.

Collins once said he would move to east Pasco to run against fellow Republican Rod Neal in the 2000 County Commission primary, which was won by Ted Schrader.

"I didn't say that," Collins said Friday.

Yes, he did. To me.

"I don't remember that. What did Rod run for?"

Okay, we'll chalk that one up to the ex-commissioner's having a little fun at the expense of Neal, of whom Collins wasn't fond.

But, Collins also circulated his name in the 2000 campaign for tax collector. That was the race in which incumbent Democrat Mike Olson creamed former friend and former commissioner David "Hap" Clark Jr. Collins even picked up the candidacy papers for tax collector in the days before Clark entered the race just ahead of the filing deadline.

"No, I didn't," Collins said Friday. "I never pulled papers to run for tax collector."

There is evidence to the contrary. Here's an excerpt from a July 25, 2000, story in the Times:

Collins, who spent six years with Clark on the county commission, has said he had been thinking about running for tax collector himself and had even picked up the necessary paperwork to make it official.

Collins said he didn't want to give Olson "a free ride," but added he was just as happy to support his friend Clark instead . . .

There was the messy one-of-a-kind deal to buy a private road from a Hobby client, approval of a high-rise apartment building in a coastal flood zone, and the aborted attempt to have the county back a financing package for Lindrick Utilities. The daughter of a former county commissioner passed a polygraph test to verify her story that Collins told her he planned to vote for a gun range in Land O'Lakes in exchange for campaign contributions.

"That was then. That was eight years ago," Collins said. "I was accused of a lot of things, and nothing stuck. I was exonerated on all the accusations made against me.

"I'm older and wiser, and I'm not ready to throw in the towel."

Collins does recall a chat we had after he left office. He said he was very happy. He remarried. His income increased. His work load dropped. And, now, he has ventured into the ice cream business, opening a Marble Slab franchise in Trinity.

I reminded him of that conversation.

"I am happy." he emphasized. "So, why screw it up, right?"

His words, not mine.

In this instance, maybe we should all be a little like doubting Thomas, the disciple who didn't believe initial accounts of the Lord's resurrection.

We'll have more faith in Collins' attempts at a renewed life in elected office when he pays the filing fee.

Reach C.T. Bowen at bowen@sptimes.com or at 727 869-6239.

[Last modified April 23, 2006, 00:50:21]