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Scott wants to change selection of road agency

Deciding who's on the expressway authority should be left up to local government, not the governor, he says.

By BILL VARIAN
Published October 12, 2006

TAMPA - County Commissioner Tom Scott would like local government to decide who serves on the embattled Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, instead of the governor.

Scott, who sits on the expressway authority, will ask his fellow commissioners to seek legislation to change the appointing power.

The expressway authority has come under a spotlight in recent months for alleged bidding irregularities and questions about how it hires and pays its outside counsel and its lobbyist.

The state Auditor General's Office, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FBI are also looking at the agency.

"It's obvious that this board does not have the best interests of the citizens - or is not willing to listen to citizens," Scott said. "This would provide local control, not Tallahassee control."

Under current state law, the governor appoints four of the seven members of the expressway authority's board of directors, which also includes a representative of the Florida Department of Transportation. A county commissioner and a Tampa City Council member round out the board.

Scott said he thinks the board should be structured similarly to the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, which regulates cars for hire and some ambulance service. It is made up of members of the County Commission and the governing boards of Hillsborough's three municipalities.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush said he was unaware of Scott's proposal and called it premature.

"We don't see how this in any way would resolve the issues with the authority," said Kristy Campbell. "The auditor general is performing an audit of the authority, and the governor looks forward to their findings and recommendations."

Scott will take his proposal to the commissioners on Wednesday. They may have other struggles.

Commissioners would have to agree to ask the Hillsborough County legislative delegation to join their cause, then get the approval of the full Legislature. Any change would take effect after Bush leaves office.

But state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and state Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, are planning to submit bills to create a regional transportation authority. Fasano said his bill would abolish the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, and Galvano is leaning that way.

Both said Wednesday that Scott's proposal to reconstitute the county board would do nothing to change that, though Galvano said he will be seeking the views of the legislative delegations of each of the eight counties that would be involved in a regional transportation authority.

"There's no need for two authorities," Fasano said.

Scott said he's just trying to address the problem at hand, and the county authority could work with a regional board.

The political timing is right, he said. With Bush on the way out, he expects that whoever replaces him will be happy to cut ties with the expressway authority.

"Do they want somebody else's trouble?" he asked. "I don't think so."

The state created the expressway authority in 1964 to build toll roads in Hillsborough County.

Expressway authority Chairman J. Thomas Gibbs, a gubernatorial appointee who has nearly eight years on the board but is not seeking another term, said he has no opinion about Scott's idea.

"I don't know where Commissioner Scott is going with all this," Gibbs said. "If he gets support, let it be what it's going to be."

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 01:16:39]