Blair's endorsements raise a few eyebrows
By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published September 6, 2006
TAMPA - Hillsborough Commissioner Brian Blair is facing questions about his ability to be impartial while serving on the board that oversees county elections after publicly endorsing two candidates.
Blair sent out a mass e-mail touting the credentials of Samantha Ward, a candidate for Circuit Court Judge Group 44 in Hillsborough. He has also stumped for Brad Swanson, who is running for the District 1 County Commission seat, including leaving phone messages with voters in the district over the weekend.
The elections canvassing board is made up of the supervisor of elections, a county court judge and the chairman of the county commission. According to Florida law, if the chairman is unable to serve, another commissioner can substitute if he or she "is not an active participant in the campaign or candidacy of any candidate with opposition in the election being canvassed."
Blair was picked by his fellow commissioners to fill in for Chairman Jim Norman, who is running for re-election.
Blair said he disclosed his endorsements of both candidates when the canvassing board met for the first time about two weeks ago. A Hillsborough County staff attorney and a lawyer for the supervisor of elections assured him there would be no problem, Blair said.
Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson and Mary Helen Campbell, a senior assistant county attorney who serves as the legal adviser to the canvassing board, sided with Blair on Tuesday. They said his endorsements don't constitute a conflict of interest.
But others, including a county judge who resigned from the canvassing board earlier this year because his brother planned to run for judge, said the situation could raise ethics questions.
"I don't think this was a wise thing for the commissioner to do," said County Judge James Dominguez, whose brother, Jesse, is running against Ward in Group 44.
"I think this opens the canvassing board to questions that don't need to be there," he said.
Campbell said the issue came up before when a county commissioner, Pat Frank, served on the canvassing board and held a fundraising event for a candidate. As with Blair's case, it wasn't seen as a conflict.
The canvassing board certifies elections. The three-person panel oversees recounts of election results when necessary, and decides whether absentee ballots are valid when questions arise.
Blair said he was asked to serve on the canvassing board as one of two commissioners not running for election this year, and pointed out that it takes him away from his family and other matters.
"This is more of a sacrifice, and I've been asked to do it and I will do it with integrity," he said.
Also, he said, the canvassing board's actions are open to scrutiny from party representatives and campaign representatives, and he is just one of three votes.
"You can have your campaign manager looking over the shoulder of every move I make," he said.
Swanson said he didn't know about Blair's position on the canvassing board, and that even if he had, he was unaware of any prohibitions on canvassing.
"I wouldn't have a comment on that. I wouldn't know what to say," he said.
Ward did not return several calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Mark Herron, a veteran elections lawyer in Tallahassee, said questions like this aren't uncommon because the law is vague on this matter.
"The problem with the law is that it speaks in terms of an 'active participant' in someone's campaign without any definition or specification in the law as to what that means," Herron said.
But Emily Peacock, who is running against Ward for Hillsborough Circuit Court judge, said she had concerns about Blair's ability to remain impartial, especially in a low-turnout election where every vote is crucial.
" 'Wow' is all I can say," Peacock said. "I'm really surprised. I don't like the idea of that at all."
Times staff writer S.I. Rosenbaum contributed to this report.