Expressway agency wants new lobbyist

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, Times Staff Writer
Published September 25, 2007

TAMPA - The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, criticized by state auditors last year for having a paid lobbyist, voted Monday to consider hiring a new one.

The board members who oversee Hillsborough's toll road agency say they know they're wading into potentially controversial territory and want to proceed with caution.

But the Authority's chairman says the agency needs a lobbyist in Tallahassee to protect its interests during next year's legislative session.

"While the Legislature does good things, it can be a reckless place that can do great harm if it doesn't have the proper information," said board chairman James Hargrett, himself a former state legislator. "We were very vulnerable and exposed in the last legislative session, because we didn't have anyone on the ground."

Last January the toll road agency fired its previous lobbyist, John Beck, who was a central figure in a series of controversies. It came to light that the Authority had paid Beck $360,000 in 2005, and an average of $242,000 annually over five years.

Beck's firing left Hargrett and the Authority's interim director to act as de facto lobbyists.

Last December the state Auditor General's Office said the Expressway Authorityhad no legal power to pay a lobbyist.

But the Authority pointed out that other similar agencies in Florida have lobbyists.

[Last modified September 24, 2007, 23:49:37]