Public meeting assignment #1

On September 9th 2008 I was able to attend my first Board of County Commissioners meeting, with the subject up for discussion being the budget for 2009. While I had seen these hearing on television before I never really had any idea what they were all about. I quickly learned that this is a very systematic process that has good structure and energy, which helps keeps the public well informed. With this structure in place they first introduce the topic at hand, and then they give the commissioners an opportunity to say their piece on each topic being discussed. Once the commissioners say their piece the attending public gets a chance to have their say. Each member of the public must signup prior to the meeting and introduces themselves once they arrive at the podium. Once at the podium they can take about as many topics as they would like in the allotted amount of time. After the public’s time has elapsed the various commissioners flag different items they would like to discuss at the next county commissioners meeting. Lastly to wrap things up the chairman announces the date, time, and place of the next public hearing.

One major subject arose during the stage of the hearing where Eric Johnson, Director of the Management and Budget Department, stated that due to some road projects coming back under budget the county is left with an excess somewhere in the one hundred million dollar range. With that news being given to the commissioners several of them especially Jim Norman and Al Higginbotham quickly stepped up and noted that is it the responsibility of the board to find a way to get this surplus of cash back to its constituents. Most everyone on the board agreed with the exception of Ken Hagan, Chairman of the Board, who stated that the county might better off using these extra funds to finish off other projects that have been on the table for several years. Rose Ferlita closed this discussion by stating that the people would let them know what to do once they had their opportunity to speak.

Next it was the publics turn to bring whatever subjects they had on their minds to the forefront. Lead by Tracy Thomas, a transplant from New Orleans, the public came out one after another in support of Ms. Bernadine King, former Human Resource Coordinator for Hillsborough County. King had recently been let go and many of the people she has helped over the years came to this meeting in support of her regaining her position. These pleas led to some lively debate between the commissioners as all but one of them saw this as an opportunity to retain a special employee within the community. That one was Mark Sharpe, Vice-Chairman of the Commissioners, who stated that by taking such an action the board would be setting a dangerous precedent. The public also addresses the issue of the surplus of cash due to the lower than expected cost of road projects. Overwhelmingly the public stated that they wanted their money back but at the same time they wanted to also be told exactly how they would be getting the money so they could keep tabs that they were actually getting the money back. Several of the constituents stated they wanted the money back and at the same time wanted the board to see that they stop any and all layoffs. This prompted Sharpe to react again by stating that money is either going to be given back or used to pay the salaries of the employees that are retained, both cannot be done.


I had the opportunity to speak one on one with two different people while at this hearing. First was Tracy Thomas of New Orleans, who was very helpful and forthright with why she was present at this hearing. Her entire family was displaced to Tampa as a result of Hurricane Katrina and it was because of the efforts of Ms. Bernadine King her life is now back in order. Both Thomas and her mother spoke on behalf of King and became emotional when speaking about what they had to go trough and all of the wonderful things King had done for them to get back on their feet. Today Thomas is going strong by owning a her own marketing form called T-Squared Marketing and she even told me she hosts Woman’s Symposiums on the side to help empower women. I also was able to grab a few moments with Mark Sharpe to ask him about his stance on King and why he thought giving her job back was a bad idea. In our conversation he stated it wasn’t about King rather about making this something people come to expect from the board. In fact he stated that he has gotten many E-mails to support her and has heard nothing but good things about her but restated that he does not want to open a can of words and start something the board might not be able to stop.

In closing this was a tremendous experience for me as I was both intrigued and entertained. I must say I had the impression that I would go into this meeting and they would be talking about items that had no relevance to me and I would be bored for two to three hours. Much to my surprise I was able to be mentally involved in the ongoing conversation and even thought about a few comments I would like to have made, if I was properly prepared. I now look forward to my next public and I can only hope it will be as good as my first.