Citizens Deserve A Voice

By MARIELLA SMITH
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/19/na-citizens-deserve-a-voice/
Published: September 19, 2007

Today our Hillsborough County commissioners will appoint two people to the City-County Planning Commission which makes recommendations on the comprehensive plans for growth in our county and its three cities. Developers are pushing for two of their own to be appointed, so they can gain a clear majority on the board, which already includes some developer-friendly members.

The stakes are high as these new appointees will review a rash of new growth plan amendments, which the Tribune rightly cautioned against in Sunday's editorial. These proposed plan amendments will only line developers' pockets while putting taxpayers on the hook for expensive infrastructure, and sticking us with more traffic-jamming sprawl.

The Planning Commission is supposed to be independent of political forces so it can impartially review plan amendments like these without considering whose pockets will be lined.

These new commissioners will help direct growth for the next four years. The process of appointing them should be open and deliberative. But county commissioners do not interview the applicants publicly, as the Tampa City Council does, and the appointment doesn't even appear on Wednesday's published agenda. This is too important to slide in under the radar.

Insiders say a majority of county commissioners have already committed to appointing the two candidates pushed by developers. Indeed, to people who have written in support of other candidates, Commissioner Ken Hagan has been replying that 'several weeks ago, I pledged my support to other applicants.'

We'll soon see to whom he pledged his support.

I'm told that the builders' two favorites are Jeffrey Ewing, president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association; and Hung Mai, an engineer for developer Stephen Dibbs, who spearheaded recent attacks on local wetlands regulations. Last spring, Hung Mai himself spoke out against a Comprehensive Plan amendment that would strengthen wetlands protections with better buffers.

As references on their applications, Ewing lists other officers of the Builders Association, while Mai lists these three prominent supporters of the builders' agenda: Ralph Hughes (a major campaign contributor to most county commissioners, he sells concrete and promotes a pro-builder agenda), Todd Pressman (he represents developers like Stephen Dibbs, in land-use issues including Comprehensive Plan amendments), and Judy James (a land-use attorney who often represents developers seeking Comprehensive Plan amendments, she is a director of the builders' association).

When judging a developer's proposal in a public hearing, could these applicants impartially weigh the interests of their colleagues against the interests of other citizens?

Several of the other applicants are also tied to the development community, and should be passed over. But there are a few who are unaffiliated with special interests, such as Pam Prysner, who is knowledgeable about planning and transportation from a community perspective, having worked on these issues for years as a concerned citizen and member of various civic associations.

If county commissioners stack the Planning Commission with development interests, so it becomes simply a rubber stamp for every change to our comprehensive plan that is proposed by any builder, citizens would lose confidence in the process and in our elected officials who rigged the system.

At the recent EPC wetlands hearing, County Commissioner Jim Norman railed against the public perception that most of the commissioners are unduly influenced by developers saying, '... So we're in the pockets of developers. That's hilarious to me.'

Well, we're not laughing, so here's a perfect opportunity for commissioners to prove developers are not pulling their strings. County commissioners should put people who will speak for the citizens' interests on the Planning Commission, which already has plenty of strong voices for the builders' interests.

Mariella Smith is a director of United Citizens Action Network (U-CAN), a new group of Hillsborough residents for accountable government & responsible growth. www.u-canhillsborough.net.