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By STEVE HUETTEL
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 9, 2001
Soon after he put on that Hawaiian shirt and announced his diminished role with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Vince Naimoli set his sights on a new job: one of two open seats on the five-member board that oversees Tampa International Airport.
His qualifications?
"Forty-five years of flying, including about 7-million airline miles traveled," Naimoli wrote on his application to Gov. Jeb Bush, who appoints the unpaid board members. He also listed extensive business and community experience and service on more than 20 other boards.
Among the job's perks: a free parking pass at TIA. Naimoli had asked for one back in 1995, pointing out that he brought a Major League Baseball franchise and two Fortune 500 companies to the Tampa Bay area.
Naimoli later said his 1995 request was a tongue-in-cheek protest over the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority's gift of free lifetime passes for former board members and other friends of the airport.
Then-executive director George Bean turned down Naimoli. The agency has since stopped granting the lifetime "gold cards."
When Bush named his choices for the board last month, Naimoli didn't make the cut.
One seat went to Kenneth Anthony, an insurance agent and one of the few prominent local African-American Republicans.
The other choice was Stephen Mitchell, a well-connected Republican lawyer who serves on the boards of the Florida 2012 Olympic Group, the governor's energy study commission, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100 and the University Club.
At least Naimoli's in good company. Other also-rans included TECO Energy general counsel Sheila McDevitt and Hillsborough County School Board member Jack Lamb.