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A tin ear on conflicts of interest

People in private business who serve on public boards have an easy way to avoid embarrassing themselves and the agencies they represent - by showing a broad appreciation for Florida's conflict-of-interest laws.

Bob Clark Jr. should remember that during the remainder of his tenure on the board of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. Clark's steel fabrication company landed a contract for an expressway project just a month before he began serving on the board in 2003. Clark did not see a conflict then and does not today. Yet the authority's lawyer warned at the time that while the deal was legal it "might have (the) appearance of impropriety." Officials said the steel purchase was still being finalized when Clark's appointment was made. The timing alone should have made Clark extra sensitive to any perception he would mix his private interests with his public responsibilities.

Clark on Friday dismissed any concerns, noting the deal preceded his joining the board and that he played no role in hiring the contractor for the expressway project. Clark said his firm is one of only two in Florida qualified to supply the steel girders in question, that his public position has caused him to turn away business and that the deal, anyway, amounted to only 2 percent of his company's $18-million in annual business. All that sounds good, but Clark at times has shown a tin ear to the practices that differentiate public and private business. Governors need to do a better job filling these roles with people whose public and personal interests do not continually collide.

[Last modified August 29, 2006, 01:03:56]