In general, I feel that Hillsborough County runs a very good government. No government is perfect, and each one certainly has its low points, but overall I think they do a good job.
For the Sheriff’s Office and the Jail, there is always a lot of bad press. Especially this year when the paraplegic got dumped from his chair and Callaway made a mistake and said “My Bad”. But then the panel that reviewed the jail showed that they actually run a very efficient operation. All the agencies impressed me with the way they are moving into the 21st century with having good technology.
People tend to think Government is their enemy. These people usually think of it just like that, too: Government, with a capital G, as some monolithic entity that is after your money and out to make life inconvenient for you. And it is true there is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape in government. But it is there to help you, and really the issue is lack of involvement in government’s affairs. From the public meetings we attended, we noticed that the actual “public” was sparse or invisible.
The availability of public records may be hindered by the public officials’ issues with delivering them, and they do need more training. However, I found that my experience with doing my profile that the staff was more than accomodating. But even still, the people need to be more involved, tracking what their government is doing and how their elected officials are voting.
Because the volume of work required to do this would be too great for the average citizen, it falls on the role of the journalist. The government correspondents get paid to go and find out these things and report them to the citizenry so they can be better informed. However, lately media has fallen under the spell of sensationalism, the sound bite, and partisan-biased reporting. This has shaken the public’s confidence in the media. Also, the cost of newspapers is no longer worth the quality in cases such as the new Tribune format. The rise of the internet has also led to the decline of newspapers…who’s going to pay for what they get for free? But for local government reporting, newspapers are still the citizens’ best bet.
I think both the papers and the government could do better in advertising public meetings. Usually if there is an issue that may be important, it isn’t in the paper until the day it happens, which may be too late for some people to schedule going. And unless you have a good reason (like, say, a Public Affairs Reporting class), you aren’t going to be checking the Hillsborough County website’s calendar on a daily basis.
I think this class has given me a little more faith in my public officials than I may have had before. Seeing them in person, and not just newspaper photos, makes you see them in a different light. But I think the real changes for Hillsborough County have begun after this election. The defeats of Brian Blair and Buddy Johnson will hopefully restore some confidence in the County Commission and the Elections Office.
Robert Evan Turner is the Property Appraiser for Hillsborough County. This is an elected position, and he took office in January of 1997. It is a partisan position, and Turner is a Republican. The job of the property appraiser is to set the values for homes and other buildings. They do not set the tax rate, the County Commission does. They do not collect the taxes, the Tax Collector’s office does.
Turner makes $153,823 a year in his job as Property Appraiser. This is a raise of $640 more a year from last year. He lives at 69 Bahama Circle in Davis Islands, which is assessed at $483,284, costing him approximately $10,000 in property taxes, currently unpaid. Interestingly, unlike most homes, Turner’s value has actually gone down the past two years. It was $528,719 in 2006 ($11,800 in property taxes, and $514,236 in 2007 ($10,500 in property taxes).
Turner’s mailing address is listed at 2635 W Prospect Road in Tampa. Registered to him in 2005, it is now registered to Donna Lois Marino, his wife. He is from Virginia and went to University of Virginia. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Turner is a member of Toastmaster’s International, a nonprofit whose goal is to help instill public speaking and leadership skills.
The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s office has a budget of just over $13 million, a slight increase from $12.9 million last year. It employs 147 people, a decrease from 153 last year. They use 47 cars, including 18 Ford Escapes, 27 Ford Focuses, a Ford Explorer (Rob Turner’s car), and a 2001 Chevy Blazer, the oldest of the cars, used by David Webb, Senior Appraisal Manager of the Agricultural Team. Most of the cars are relatively new, half of the Escapes being 2008. They are all plain white.
The office spent a little over $1000 over the summer of 2008 putting locking gas caps on the automobiles.
Turner’s senior staff includes his Chief Deputy Warren Weathers, his General Counsel Will Shepherd, and his Executive Secretary Merary Gomez. My initial request was handled by Carolyn FIllipone, Director of Human Resources. It was then passed off to Sarah Herms, an Accountant III, and then Rita Skutnik, an Accountant II.
Mr. Turner incurred $675 in educational expenses last year. He attended a school for the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAOO) in Orlando in December of 2007, where he stayed at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Room 1048 for a cost of $99 a night. He also went to the Property Appraiser Association of Florida’s Mid-Winter Conference in Tallahassee in February of 2008. He stayed overnight at the Ramada Conference Center in Room 2257 for $79.95.
In addition to the educational trips he took, Turner also took several business trips in 2008. He attended the first Software Techniques Inc. conference in Orlando in March of 2008 (STI helped update the Property Appraiser Offices technology and bring them online shortly after Turner took office in 1997.) He stayed two nights at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in room 708 for $175, and paid $20 for valet parking each night. His lunch on March 27, 2008 was provided by the conference.
He went to a Department of Revenue Conference in Daytona Beach in May of 2008, staying overnight at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in room 994 which has 2 queen beds and a fridge for $99, and paid $8 for parking. He next went to a DOR workshop on Amendment 1 (“Save our Homes” homestead exemption and portability) in Lake City in July of 2008, where he stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn in Room 323 for $84.
Turner’s total gas and food expenses totaled $723.51. He apparently only gets reimbursed for $38 in meal expenses per day. His hotel stays add up to $949.95, making his total travel expenses for 2008 equal $1673.46, except for one flight to Nevada.
Turner stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada for the IAAO’s annual conference. The airfare for this trip was $961. He paid $40 for taxi service, $500 to register for the conference, and stayed with Donna Turner for $105 a night.
Turner’s travel expenses do not seem excessive. He stays in what appears to be modest accommodations, although I noticed he almost always uses the maximum food per diem. Does he really spend $8 for two meals and $22 for the third?
Turner was challenged this election cycle by Democrat Ken Ayers. In all, he raised over $73,000 for his campaign, over $4,000 in “In-kind” contributions, and spent a little over $70,000. Naturally, he spent most of his money on advertising and mailing, although his “qualifying fee” to the Supervisor of Elections was $9000. Curiously, he sent out seven refunds for contributions over the limit in August of 2009.
His big donors early on were farmers. In March of 2007, Deedee Grooms and Carl Grooms of Fancy Farms in Plant City both sent him $500, and then another $500 on behalf of their business. Berry Patch Farms, Inc. donated $250 and Astin Farms, Inc. donated $500. Builders, Insurance, and Realtors made up the majority of his larger contributions, as well as his employees.
Turner defeated Ayers by over 43,000 votes, a nine point lead.
The people at the office were very pleasant. They provided me with all the information I asked for with no problem, in a timely manner, and Rita Skutnik allowed me to inspect the records and pick which information I wanted copies of.