Time for Smith to go

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published August 23, 2007

With a grand jury meeting today to continue its probe of the indefensible private land deal between Pinellas County Property Appraiser Jim Smith and the county government, the evidence only mounts that Smith used his elected position for personal gain and that county officials responded to the pressure by improperly giving him preferential treatment at taxpayers' expense. It isn't common for county officials to say, "How high?" after someone tells them to jump. As St. Petersburg Times staff writer Will Van Sant recently reported, regular folks who claim, like Smith did, that Pinellas County has damaged their property usually get their claims denied. Others may fight for years for even minimal compensation.

Not Smith. After he complained that county workers had wrecked his 1.5-acre property in North Pinellas while trying to open a debris-clogged creek, the county leapt into action. Within three months of Smith's complaint, the county had purchased his property for $225,000, though Smith's own office appraised the land for tax purposes at only $59,400. That $225,000 in Penny for Pinellas money was a mighty fine price for a vacant lot that Smith's office previously designated as submerged before part of it miraculously became buildable after Smith bought it.

County officials indicate that Smith's threat to sue the county compelled them to take drastic action. Yet Smith now contends he didn't really want to sue the people of Pinellas and would have been content if the county had just replanted some trees on his land. Someone isn't telling the truth. If Smith really didn't want the taxpayers' $225,000, why did he take it? He should give it back. Then he should plant his own trees.

There are still many nagging questions surrounding Smith's property - not only the county's purchase of it, but also Smith's acquisition of it. Times' reports have revealed that in 1994, Smith bought the vacant parcel for $15,000 and a nearby two-bedroom condominium in the golf course community of Tarpon Woods for $47,500. Each property was sold to him and financed for him by corporations headed by Lloyd Ferrentino, the prominent developer of Tarpon Woods and other Pinellas projects. Smith paid only $100 down each time. Were those attractive arrangements extended to Smith because he was the county property appraiser, or would the same deals have been offered to any member of the public? Did Ferrentino demand or receive special treatment in return? Ferrentino isn't talking.

Another troubling question is why Smith's own office drastically changed its designation of the vacant property after Smith bought it. Through 1993, the entire parcel had been designated as submerged land by the appraiser's office and valued at only a little more than $1,000. But after Smith bought it, his office declared that portions of it were not submerged. Of course, neither Smith nor his staff can recall why the approach changed.

At the very least, Smith's office should reappraise the land he says was so valuable, and he should pay the back taxes on the difference. The county has corrected similar errors on other properties, and there's no reason why it shouldn't here.

While Smith has said he believes the grand jury will find he did nothing wrong, that is difficult to imagine. He clearly took advantage of his position and his relationships with other county officials to get special treatment. His actions constitute a betrayal of the voters who elected him. No matter the grand jury's conclusions, he should resign immediately.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 21:01:42]