Rose Ferlita vs. Stephen Dibbs, Round 2
August 16, 2007 at 2:49 pm by Wayne GarciaDespite her fashion faux pax (she wore a red jacket not knowing that red was the chosen color of the pro-development forces in the audience), Rose Ferlita seems the last outspoken critic against dismantling the EPC wetlands division and protections today as the rest of the County Commission appears to be falling in line with the so-called hybrid plan that will speed development.
But this is not the first time she has done battle with the pro-development forces pushing for the abolition of the local wetlands rules, even if she didn’t necessarily realize it at the time.
In 2006, Ferlita found herself in a nasty GOP primary battle with Brad Swanson. Much of the coalition that is today pushing wetlands division abolition, led by developer Stephen Dibbs, was working to elect Swanson and defeat Ferlita back in 2005-2006.
Take Ron Bent, for instance. After the lunch break today at the EPC meeting, Bent appeared in front of commissioner wearing a red shirt, opposed to the local wetlands rules. “Our wetlands are safe and they are protected.”
Two years ago, on Sept. 20, 1995, Bent’s construction company wrote a maximum $500 check to Swanson’s campaign. On that same day, the Swanson campaign recorded checks from Dibbs, his family and his various corporations he controls, at least $2,300 worth. Also weighing in with campaign cash that day was Mosaic Fertilizer, an EPC hater going back to when the agency didn’t let the phosphate miner destroy 200 acres of wetlands that the state had already permitted it to, and the Florida Phosphate political committee.
A $500 check from Dibbs’ lobbyist on this issue, Todd Pressman, was recorded three days earlier.
Swanson lost in the primary, and Ferlita went on to win a County Commission seat. Ironically, her Democratic opponent in that election was Mary Mulhern, who lost and later ran successfully for a seat on the Tampa City Council. On Thursday, Mulhern and Ferlita found themselves on the same side of the save-our-wetlands issue, chatting briefly in the crowded media room after the meeting started.
Full disclosure: I didn’t work on Ferlita’s 2006 campaign, but I was her political consultant when she first ran for the Tampa City Council in 1999.
