Partnership's USF nominee gets boost

By SCOTT BARANCIK

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 9, 2001

When Gov. Jeb Bush unveiled his slate of trustees for the University of South Florida last month, Stuart Rogel glowed with pride. Eleven of the 12 non-student trustees selected, including Tampa Electric Co. president John Ramil, were recommended weeks earlier by the Tampa Bay Partnership, Rogel's economic development group.

But the partnership wasn't alone in endorsing Ramil.

In a June 4 letter of recommendation, state Department of Environmental Protection secretary David Struhs called Ramil "honorable, intelligent and reputable." He also said the USF alum "demonstrated long-term strategic planning abilities, commitment to his community and good humor." That's quite a ringing endorsement from the state's top environmental official for an executive whose business produces pollution as a byproduct.

This is not the first time Struhs has given Ramil help at a key moment. After the Environmental Protection Agency sued TECO in 1999 for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act, Struhs attempted to help Ramil sidestep the EPA by negotiating a cleanup deal that would have allowed the utility to pass the costs onto customers. (The gambit ultimately failed.)

Though 11 of the partnership's candidates made it onto USF's new board of trustees, 30 others recommended by the group did not. Among the losers: Bill Habermeyer, president of Florida Power, and former Florida Progress chairman Jack Critchfield.

Perhaps a letter from the state's environment chief would have helped.

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