Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Column

Churuti as scapegoat, and a huge wimpout

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published September 6, 2007

Let's sum up the aftermath of the scandal involving Pinellas County's purchase of land owned by Jim Smith, the elected county property appraiser.

The grand jury's report: criticism, but no criminal charges.

Smith's land: still bought by the county.

The taxpayers' $225,000: still Jim Smith's.

The County Commission: still in office.

The county administrator: reprimanded (whatever that means), but still employed.

The county attorney: fired, but with the cushion of six months' severance.

The county will review its "procedures."

And several members of the County Commission say they are very, very sorry.

But if you watch the replay of Tuesday's meeting, pay extremely close attention to the words of the county administrator, Steve Spratt.

In his 11-minute statement, here is the essence of what Spratt said:

We didn't do anything wrong in buying this land. In fact, it was a good deal, and I would do it again. I will issue an apology if you want me to, but it's going to be a nonspecific apology for "any" role that I "might have played" and so forth.

In Spratt World, all "procedures" were "complied with."

I would have fired him on the spot.

After the commission voted unanimously to fire County Attorney Susan Churuti, Commissioner Susan Latvala made a motion to fire Spratt too. Her motion died without a second.

That instant defines the Pinellas County Commission. They couldn't pull the trigger. They can't exist without him. They are hopeless. They are lost.

At the suggestion of Commissioner Karen Seel, the commission did agree to "reprimand" Spratt. It beats the heck out of me what that means.

Does he get a worse parking spot or something? Does he have to use a cheaper letterhead? Does he have to give back his last raise?

One of the commissioners, Bob Stewart, said it would be a bad idea to fire Churuti and Spratt both, since the government would then be a "ship without a rudder."

Good grief! The ship in question is sitting on top of a pile of rocks with a big dent in the hull.

* * *

As the grand jury pointed out, this was not the scandal of the century. It did not involve bribery, corruption, suitcases filled with cash.

But it was a smelly, insider deal that showed that the air has grown foul in the county building.

The county government's credibility has been damaged. And since the commissioners have decided to keep Spratt, all we can hope for is some marginal improvement.

A wedge of skepticism has been driven between Spratt and some of the commissioners - and that's a good thing.

So the next time Spratt is heck-bent on doing something that the public clearly and overwhelmingly opposes, let the commissioners be more aggressive.

Let them question more recommendations. Let them be more protective of the parks, the nature preserves.

Above all, let them be less patient with a bureaucratic vision of turning Pinellas County into a version of South Florida, while Spratt quotes Rule 27.B-(a)(x)(4) and declares that all "procedures" have been "complied with."

[Last modified September 5, 2007, 23:19:44]