By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 19, 2011
TAMPA —
A proposal to restructure the current makeup of the Hillsborough County Commission won enough support from commissioners today to go forward for further debate.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to hold a workshop later this year on changing the current board makeup of four single-member districts and three countywide seats, by adding another single-member district and reducing the countywide seats to two.
Commissioner Les Miller, the board’s only black member, proposed the change, saying it would bring government closer to the people.
The current system was set up in 1983 and was partly a reaction to a scandal that saw three commissioners jailed for taking kickbacks.
But Miller said the county’s explosive growth since that time — from 650,000 residents counted in the 1980 census to more than 1.2 million people now — has made the single-member districts unwieldy. The four current commission districts average 307,000 people. Adding a district would reduce the average population to 247,000 people.
“We need to have smaller single member districts so people can get closer to their commissioners,” Miller said.
Adding a district would also make it more likely that one district would tilt toward a Hispanic representative, Miller said. A coalition of Hispanic groups pressed the commissioner earlier this year to increase the Hispanic population in District 1, represented by Sandy Murman, to 36 percent. Commissioners rejected the idea.
Miller was supported by two board members who served with him in the Florida Legislature: Murman and Victor Crist. Murman noted that all 40 state senators and 120 House members serve geographic districts. She said she found the commission structure, with countywide seats, “odd.”
Crist said reducing the geographic size and population of commission districts would reduce the amount of money candidates would have to raise to run a campaign.
“I just appreciate smaller government because it gives greater access to your elected officials,” Crist said, “and frankly a process where it’s easier for the everyday person to run for office and get elected.”
Other commissioners expressed concerns. Kevin Beckner, the only other Democrat on the board besides Miller, said he appreciated the current structure because it allows voters to cast ballots for a majority of the board: the voter’s district representative and three countywide commissioners.
“By changing to that system, we’re looking at diluting the voice of the majority and the representation of the majority,” Beckner said.
Commissioner Mark Sharpe said a board dominated by district representatives could lead to a “Balkanization” of policy, with commissioners fighting so hard for their districts that they ignore the welfare of the county as a whole.
Commissioner Ken Hagan, who also expressed concerns, said he would second a motion to hold a workshop to discuss the matter further.
Restructuring the commission would require a referendum to amend the county charter. Managing County Attorney Mary Helen Farris said an ordinance calling for a referendum during the November 2012 election would have to be ready by May or June of next year.