The Political Whore

We have scandal after scandal here in Hillsborough County that go almost unreported, yet let the most respectable and professional person I have ever come into contact with at County Center do something like accept an offer to return to work after he is retired and watch the vultures pile on. The MSM has completely missed the boat here and they have fallen right into the trap of the of some of the most unsavory grease monkeys of the sprawl machine.

Bob Hunter is the former Executive Director of The Planning Commission and the current President of the American Planning Association. He is a giant in his field, and we were damn lucky to get him the first time around. As I wrote about in a post regarding his retirement, I have watched him stay cool in the face of constant verbal attacks of Commissioner Jim Norman as well as legislative attacks and dirty tricks from the likes of Kevin Ambler and Ronda Storms. I will begin by telling you that the Hillsborough Sprawl Machine hates Bob Hunter.

Mr. Hunter is intelligent, professional and the consummate gentleman even in the worst of situations. That is why when I saw him being completely trashed I couldn’t help but contact him to get his thoughts on this issue. I didn’t really see the media getting both sides of the story here, as every report was sensationalizing his return (which is perfectly legal by the way), yet they were painting him as a criminal. Knowing the quiet calm that Hunter possesses, I suspected maybe he was rising above it all and not stooping to their level of mud-slinging. I was right. Hunter relayed his concerns to me that the issue is being sensationalized due to misinformation and comments of one Planning Commissioner (referring to Edward Guinta, who is also a developer). FYI-Guinta is the consistent pro-sprawl vote on the Planning Commission, along with engineer Hung Mai.

Must be a really slow day at the St Pete Times for this to be a story. The real story is that there is NO story at least regarding the possibility of Hunter’s return. Hunter, 66, who recently retired, was called by the Executive Committee of the Planning Commission, which was considering doing a search for the new executive director, and asked if he would return. He said yes. He was well within the law to do this. I asked Hunter why he retired in the first place “I had to,” he replied, explaining that he was nearing the end of his 5-year limit on the DROP program. [DROP allows public employees to phase in their retirement.] It looked like legislation could possibly change his retirement package, so he retired a few months early. AGAIN LEGAL. This guy earned his pension so let’s not forget that. He explained his intent was to do some consulting work and said he was going to be busy with his role at the APA. After the announcement was made regarding his retirement many people inquired as to if he would return. According to my research, to return to work after one has retired the requirement is that they must be gone at least one month and that no pre-arrangements can be made for their return.

I asked Hunter about Guinta’s claims of a set-up. Hunter explained that when people asked him about the possibility of coming back he refused to even entertain the notion in conversation. Even discussing the issue might give someone the wrong impression, so Hunter’s standard answer was “I can’t talk about that.” Sadly, developer/Planning Commissioner Guinta spun that into making this whole thing look preconceived and the reporters are buying it hook, line and sinker. I usually like what Mike Deeson presents but I think he was way off on this one, way off. He tried to blame Hunter for asking in an e-mail what the rule was back in 2006. What is criminal about knowing the rules? I want to know what my health insurance says but it certainly doesn’t mean I am planning to get sick. Spinning this into being about money is also not plausible since I think someone with Hunter’s qualifications could get a fat job in the private sector any time and not have the hassle of people like Norman or the dirty politics constantly trying to undermine his work at keeping our Comprehensive Plan intact.

Are there scandals surrounding this issue? You bet. Is the possible return of Hunter one of them? I certainly don’t think so. The truth is we need Bob Hunter more than I can accurately describe. With a developer-driven Hillsborough County Commission who thinks it might be a good idea to give our planning duties to special interests such as One Bay, keeping Hunter retired would give them just the foothold they need. The uneducated media are not only barking up the wrong tree they could just be sealing the fate of every tree left standing by trying to ruin Hunter. Kudos to the Trib since at the time of this submission it appears they haven’t been fooled. In fact a recent editorial shows they are clearly educated about the value of Bob Hunter. In my opinion, we can’t afford NOT to hire Bob Hunter.

What can you do? The Planning Commission is having a special meeting Feb 18th at 9:30. You can attend and support the executive committee’s recommendation to rehire Hunter. If you go or watch it on TV pay careful attention to who wants Hunter back and who doesn’t. My guess is that educated residents will fight hard in support of his return and the monied interests in suits will fight hard against it…..that should speak volumes. You can send a letter to your planning Commissioners here.

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