Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on EPC director:

POLITICS

Hillsborough picks business favorite as environmental leader

TAMPA — Janet Dougherty, a businesswoman and favorite of the development community, will be the next director of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission.

County commissioners voted 5-2 for Dougherty on Wednesday after interviewing her and three other candidates throughout the day. Dougherty will replace Rick Garrity, who is retiring June 30 after 14 years as director.

Two candidates got one vote apiece: Rick Tschantz, the EPC’s general counsel, and Mary Yeargan, director of Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s southwest district. Robert Musser, environmental projects manager at Port Everglades in Broward County, got no votes.

After she was selected, Dougherty sought to reassure environmentalists who were suspicious of her close ties to industry leaders.

“My No. 1 mandate is to protect the natural resources of Hillsborough County,” Dougherty said as she stood at a podium facing commissioners. “I will do that and I will make you proud.”

Dougherty’s selection seemed unlikely several weeks ago. She was not among the top three candidates recommended by a 13-member screening committee. But one of the three finalists, Scott Emery, dropped out for personal reasons. His exit opened the door for commissioners to add Dougherty and Musser to the final list.

Dougherty’s addition irritated some of the members of the selection committee, who felt their deliberations had been ignored by the commission. The committee’s top pick had been Tschantz, while Dougherty finished fifth in the committee’s rankings.

Also raising concerns about Dougherty’s potential appointment was the heavy lobbying on her behalf by business leaders, who are often at odds with environmentalists.

“She is going to pay a high price for this because she’s going to have to compromise her principles,” said former county Commissioner Jan Platt, a member of the selection committee. “It’s going to be very difficult for her to do the job she is legally required to do in light of the fact that she is so closely tied to the business community.”

For her part, Dougherty said her connections with industrialists, phosphate companies, farmers and the maritime industry are balanced by her past volunteer work on government boards that deal with the environment and growth management.

She has been a board member of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and the county Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee, among others.

“I want to leave a legacy of protecting the natural resources of Hillsborough County,” she said, in answering questions from commissioners during the interview.

At the same time, Dougherty made points with the pro-business Republicans on the commission by promising not to stand in the way of development as long as natural resources are protected. She claimed that a number of construction projects have gone to surrounding counties because of the multiple permits required by the EPC and other agencies. She promised to improve on Garrity’s efforts to streamline environmental permitting.

“We need a vibrant ecology that will lead to a vibrant economy,” Dougherty said, “but they work hand in hand.”

Commission Chair Sandy Murman, who made the motion to hire Dougherty, denied that business lobbying had played any part in her choice. Murman said she liked Dougherty’s “leadership, experience and passion for the environment.”

“We have an explosion of development coming,” Murman, a Republican, said. “We need the right person at the EPC protecting our natural resources, but being fair and firm with the development community.”

Democrat Kevin Beckner, who served on the selection committee, voted for Tschantz, but said in his final comments that Dougherty had been his second choice coming into the Wednesday meeting.

“She’ll do a good job,” he said after the vote.

Perhaps the most surprising vote for Dougherty was cast by Commissioner Al Higginbotham. At a May 6 commission meeting, Higginbotham complained about “inappropriate lobbying” on Dougherty’s behalf from business interests. But after the interviews Wednesday, Higginbotham said Dougherty had “cleared up the questions” he had raised about the lobbying.

“I thought she did an extremely good job in explaining her position,” Higginbotham said. “I see merit and value in the skill sets she could bring to the table.”

Dougherty, 53, said she developed her passion for nature growing up on a 3,000-acre cattle ranch in Lutz.

“I was constantly riding my horses through swampy marshes and pine forests and canoeing in the spring-fed lake,” she said in her cover letter to the selection committee.

Dougherty received a bachelor’s degree in public administration at Eckerd College with a minor in environmental policy. She has been the owner or part-owner of three companies: Sage Eco Solutions, HumiVerde LLC and Quiet Earth Consultants Inc.

HumiVerde is an organic fertilizer company. Sage Eco Solutions, like Quiet Earth before it, provides environmental consulting services to private businesses.

Dougherty described herself as a “hugger,” and proved it moving about the commission chambers after her selection, hugging supporters, EPC managers and commissioners.

Last year, Dougherty was defeated in her run for the District 4 county commission seat, which covers most of eastern and southern Hillsborough. She raised over $200,000 in campaign contributions, including nearly $28,000 from developers, contractors and real estate interests.

When asked about her plans for the environmental agency, Dougherty fired off a number of goals: attracting new talent, going “paperless” by expanding on-line permitting, and getting state and federal agencies to delegate more permitting responsibilities to the EPC. More delegation translates into “one-stop shopping” for developers and other regulated industries, she said.

The key, she said is striking a balance by helping businesses get what they need without compromising the environment.

“I’m about the carrot and not the stick,” she said. “I’m about where we’re headed and not about litigation.”