Tampa Is…?

After delaying his ouster for two days, SOE Buddy Johnson finally got around to counting the early votes.

In the race for SOE, most of those early votes were cast for Phyllis Busansky, ending Buddy Johnson’s reign as Hillsborough County’s worst SOE ever.  The Times sums up Buddy’s five and a half years nicely:

His tenure included a host of complaints, errors and delays for nearly every election on his watch.

He still refuses to discuss this election day screw-ups, but at least Johnson came out of his cave to admit defeat.  Brian Blair has so far refused to concede, even after Kevin Beckner was confirmed the winner over Blair in countywide District 6.

In addition to wins by Phyllis Busansky and Kevin Beckner, congratulations are in store for other Hillsborough races.

Rob Turner remains as Property Appraiser, while Doug Belden will remain as Tax Collector.

It looks like Carol Kurdell will stay ahead of Stephen Gorham in the race for School Board District 7.

… like a ten year old turd.

Here it is, two days after election day, and we still don’t have a full count of votes in Hillsborough County.

• “Hillsborough County stood out for Election Day miscues.“
• “To have more than 80,000 votes uncounted by the end of Wednesday and pushed into Thursday is a total meltdown of the system and incompetency on a level that we’ve haven’t seen around these parts in a while, at least at the Supervisors of Elections offices.”
• “Buddy Johnson’s performance was so flawed and suspect the federal government should come in, recount the vote and perform a thorough investigation.”
• “Johnson’s management of this election was a debacle and his behavior bizarre.”

Freakin’ pathetic.

AND after both dailies and Weekly Planet endorsed Phyllis Busansky, Johnson continues to lead in the race for Hillsborough’s SOE.

• “You have to wonder if the 198,249 citizens who voted for Johnson to manage their most sacred right - the right to vote - might want a do-over after witnessing his office’s breakdown”
• “There are 203,845 Hillsborough residents (so far, at least) who voted to keep Johnson as the county’s supervisor of elections.”
• As of 8:00 Thursday morning, the total for Buddy is 207,327 (page 3).

As I mentioned before, I’m not sure voters know what the hell they are doing.  And that’s REALLY freakin’ pathetic.

Check here to see if they have more than 377 of 384 precincts reported.  Go to page three to see the race for SOE.

Update 12noon:  Tampabay.com’s BayBuzz blog is on site at the vote-countin’ offices, and keeping us up to date on progress in Hillsborough County:  Counting began again this morning, Buddy nowhere to be found, SOE legal team assures there has been no tampering, local Senators ask Guv for help.

In his speech last night, President elect Barack Obama referenced a voter in Atlanta:

“This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta.  She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.”

Not only is she 106 years old, but it’s Ernest Hooper’s grandmother!

That’s all I’m saying.

Update Thursday morning:  More from Hoop.

Quite the historic night last night.

Four years ago, I commented on the fact that Dallas County, Texas had elected a gay Hispanic female Democrat for Sheriff:

… change is measured in very small increments. Changes so small, you don’t even notice. But once in a while, something happens that makes you clearly see that progress being made.

And now we have elected a man of color to be our Commander in Chief.

Closer to home, it looks as if gay Democrat Kevin Beckner will beat conservative Republican Brian Blair in historically conservative Hillsborough County.

Forgive me for being redundant, but I’ll quote myself from 2004 again:

I don’t think it means that discrimination has been beaten or even that inclusion is the norm. But I do view it as one of the incremental steps toward that…  Take note… It’s not often you glance at the clock, and happen to catch the exact changing of the times.

Congratulations to America and Hillsborough County for electing people based largely on the content of their character, rather than some sort of prejudice.

Hooray us!

We’ll leave this post as an open thread.

Which means you can use the comments below to tell us what you think about anything you see or do today.  And after you vote, go get some free stuff!

As time winds down to make your decisions for election day, the candidates become more desperate, and pull out all the stops.  The mantra becomes ‘win - no matter the cost.’

You have seen this on a national scale, with attacks on both Presidential candidates increasing in both the nature and the volume.  The SPimes chastised McCain for this behavior on Saturday.

Unfortunately, even our local candidates feel they must resort to such sickening tactics.  On that same day, the SPimes also rightly wagged a finger at Kevin Beckner for going too far in suggesting Brian Blair is indifferent toward domestic abuse at the same time a third-party group advertised a domestic violence complaint filed against him from over 20 years ago that was never substantiated.

I’ve already cast a vote for Beckner, and still feel he’s the better choice of the two.  But thanks to this late campaign strategy, I now have a queasy feeling to go with my vote.

Thanks a bunch, Kevin.  How disappointing.

It took Wayne Garcia 1 hour and 15 minutes to vote this week.  His masterful writing skillz make it sound as if it were a complete nightmare.

It took Kate more than an hour, too.  Her expressive writing skillz make it sound as if it were a trippidy acid trip.  With kids in tow.

My writing can’t compare at all, so luckily (for all of us) I was able to submit my choices in 20 minutes.

I went to the Fred B. Karl County Center in downtown Tampa on Thursday morning, rode up the elevator to floor 16, and got in line at 9:39am.  Once it was my turn, I handed my FL DL to the volunteer, and by 9:54 I was finished signing my name, and was given a ballot.  I grabbed an “I VOTED” sticker at 9:58, and was waiting for an elevator at 9:59.

Not a very exciting story, I know.  But then again, it’s just voting.  The exciting part comes after they count.  You know - when the lawsuits begin.

Now it’s your turn.  Vote and be bored heard.

 Loading ...

I’m sure you have heard about the crazy Jim Smith land deal over in Pinellas County.  (If not, check that link, or scroll on down past the jump for a truncated blow-by-blow).

Anyway, the latest is that a state commission on ethics determined that neither he nor former County Attorney Susan Churuti did anything illegal.  Which is not the same as saying all is well.  Among the complaints:

• The values of Smith’s land, as set by his office, and reported by him on his financial-disclosure forms.
• The county staff’s (County Attorney Susan Churuti, and County Administrator Steve Spratt) rushing of the deal, ignoring normal procedures and using shaky methods to come up with the purchase price.
• The county attorney’s pushing the issue and advocacy of Smith’s personal interests, while failing to make clear her role in the situation.
• The County Commission letting the thing sail through.

Allright… So, we have at least four culprits.  Let’s see how they have paid the price for not acting in the best interest of taxpayers.

Jim Smith

In addition to the $140,000ish overpaid to Jim Smith for the land deal, he continues to take a salary of $148,335.  He’s a participant in the DROP program, which gives him another $80,000 in pension annually, which he will collect for who knows how long.  He took home $423,157 in deferred compensation in 2006.  He also earns tens of thousands of dollars as a sculptor and a landlord that he allegedly fails to claim on some disclosure forms.

The St. Pete Times urged Jim Smith to resign, but he did not feel the urge to quit.  He later chose not to run for re-election.  I suppose it will give him more time for his artistry.

Susan Churuti

Susan Churuti was suspended for a month, during which she was paid her normal salary of $193,015 a year.  Then Pinellas canned her.

Steve Spratt

Assistant county attorney admin Steve Spratt first apologized, and eventually decided to move along.  He got about $223,000 in severance pay.

Ronnie Duncan and the rest of the Pinellas BOCC.

Ronnie Duncan decided not to run for re-election, because he wants to “spend more time with his family.”  In fact, only one of the four Pinellas County Commissioners seats up for election have decided to run.

Seriously?  ONE person was fired?  (And my guess is that she won’t have trouble finding a job - even in this down economy.)

So when there is hanky-panky (but nothing illegal!) in government, we get promises to clean it up, but none of those involved are really punished too much.

Except the taxpayer, of course.

Click below to read see a quick & dirty synopsis of the Jim Smith Land Deal, or read the St. Pete Times Special Report for the in-depth version.

(more…)