At-large seats challenged

It's time to change how we pick county commissioners, petition backers say.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published October 30, 2007

Activist Doris Weatherford is pushing for smaller district seats.
	[Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times]

TAMPA - A newly formed political action committee proposes to change the way Hillsborough County residents elect commissioners.

Citizens for Equal County Representation wants to get rid of three county-wide commission seats and replace them with smaller district seats.

The group hopes to get 37,000 signatures on a petition in the next six months so the proposal can be put to voters on the November 2008 ballot.

If the county charter amendment passes, it would take effect in 2010.

It would divide the county into seven districts with equal populations. Currently, the commission consists of three at-large and four single-district seats.

Supporters of the proposal say it would provide a better geographic mix of representatives on the commission, make it less expensive to run a campaign and force commissioners to adhere to term limits.

Activist and author Doris Weatherford, treasurer of the group, says that, historically, residents in south Hillsborough County have not been properly represented on the County Commission. Six of the seven current commissioners have Tampa addresses, she said. The seventh lives in Plant City.

"At-large seats are an anachronism of the old South that was run by a white male elite who wanted to live close together and to the country club while making the rules for the rest of the area," she said.

Weatherford also said that only people with a lot of money or large contributions from special interest groups can afford to run a countywide campaign.

Smaller districts, she said, would make it easier to run a grass roots effort.

And Weatherford objects to the practice of commissioners getting around term limits by moving between district seats and at-large seats.

"They've been doing that and making a mockery of what the voters intended with term limits," she said.

La Gaceta publisher Patrick Manteiga is chairman of Citizens for Equal County Representation. He says the change would add diversity to the commission.

"You could make a very compact district that has anywhere from 33 to 38 percent Hispanic population, so that would make it easier for someone with a 'z' or a vowel at the end of their name to get elected," he said.

Manteiga said one district would likely carve out neighborhoods in West Tampa and Town 'N Country, which have large Hispanic populations, and another would focus on properties south of the Alafia River.

Former County Commissioner Jan Platt, who helped write the county charter in the mid 1980s, said the change is a bad idea.

"It diminishes the power of the voters," she said.

Currently, each voter elects four members of the commission: three countywide representatives and one for his or her district.

"I can't imagine any voter wanting less power," she said when speculating on the success of the measure.

Platt said when the charter was written, the idea of seven smaller districts was discussed and tossed out.

"The view was that single-member districts tend to be parochial," she said. "You need to have people on the board who are required to have the broader vision."

Mark Sharpe, who holds a countywide seat on the commission, agrees with Platt.

"As an at-large commissioner, I can't ignore any area," he said.

He does, though, believe that the current setup makes term limits irrelevant.

"I don't like term limits," Sharpe said. "But I will say that if they were intending to create term limits, they didn't do it. I can serve 18 years. That's too much."

Brian Blair, who holds a districtwide seat, said ethnic diversity is not essential for a commission to be fair.

"I don't think you have to be Hispanic to fight for Hispanic issues," he said.

Commissioner Rose Ferlita, who represents a single district, said satisfaction with the board isn't about its format.

"It's how people feel they are being represented," she said.

But she said she sees benefits to both formats, and ultimately it will be up to the voters to decide.

Times staff writer Michael Van Sickler contributed to this report. Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified October 30, 2007, 00:01:10]