In my opinion, the race for worst Hillsborough County Commissioner was virtually a five-way tie between Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Al Higginbotham, KevinWhite, and Brian Blair; but this latest stunt by Norman has him crossing the line in front by a hair (actually a double chin).

The announcement last week that Norman proposed changing the name of the Moral Courage award to include the name of the late political puppet-master/power broker Ralph Hughes had many people quite riled up ... at least those who were not, ahem, influenced by Hughes.

The item came up for discussion at a BOCC meeting last week and there were plenty of people to weigh in on the subject. Every citizen speaking on the issue was against it except former Commissioner Joe Chilurra. Among those citizens against the idea was Cam Oberting, who was the first recipient of the award.

Citizen after citizen gave laundry lists of reasons not to use Hughes' name in something associated with morality or courage; one even graphically described the crimes this man has committed which were downright scary. I, too, attended the meeting because I  nominated a wonderful person for the actual award this year: Mariella Smith. Ralph Hughes was also nominated this year to receive the award but the CAC chose David Brown as this year's winner.

So now Norman recommends that since his buddy didn't win the award they name the whole thing after him? I didn't know Ralph Hughes but I am concerned that the guy heavily contributed and in turn influenced 6 of our 7 current county commissioners.

Only Rose Ferlita said "no thanks." That sure explains all those 6-1 votes going against the citizens, against the Planning Commission and in favor of sprawl and developers. Ferlita is often the lone vote on the side of citizens and common sense and after Norman got done singing Ralph's praises, Ferlita told the audience, somewhat reluctantly, the other side of the story. She described how after meeting with Hughes she knew his financial support meant he wanted something in return so she said no. Blair reported how he hadn't seen Mr. Hughes in a long while ... uh, did anyone break the news to him yet? Sharpe said how doing this would taint Mr. Hughes because of the controversy so he would not support the change. When controversial votes are not 6-1 they are 5-2 with Sharpe and Ferlita against the gang of 5 and that is what the case was yesterday as well.

I told them that if they want to open up the award for a name then bring it on and let the best candidate win. I suggested Mariella Smith among other fine citizens who fight for the greater good of our whole community rather than someone who benefited financially from the outcome of the commission's actions.

A video tribute to Hughes was produced, according to an article in the Times last week, and I couldn't help but wonder, was that on the taxpayer's dime? As it turned out, it was to the tune of 7 hours of county employee time and a cost of $200. So Mr. Norman spent your money to honor a lobbyist. I was informed in an e-mail from managing attorney Mary Helen Farris that it was not a "tribute," just rough clips to back up the agenda item.

I think my candidate list deserves the same attention. I mentioned Mariella Smith, Terry Flott, George Neimann, Pam Clousten, Pam Prysner, Viv Bacca, Marcella 'this dog won't hunt' Osteen, Dee Layne, Joe Redner and finally Grandmother at Large, Marilyn Smith!

For this commission to saddle the award with such a name is very telling about who they are and who they work/worked for. Hughes was seen by many as a lobbyist who benefited financially from his influence. Proponents say he worked to lower impact fees ... as you sit in traffic on congested roads that should have been funded by impact fees or wonder why parks are overburdened you can decide if lowering impact fees was a good thing.

I am only sorry that the worst commissioner award can only go to one commissioner because truly all five candidates were worthy. But the winner has to be Norman. Hey, I know: Instead of just giving him the award I think I will also name it after him! Norman, who never even looked up during public comment, stated at the end of the discussion how he thought the citizens were rude and said, "I wish we would see some class here". So do we Mr. Norman, so do we!

Some color commentary I almost forgot to mention: In the first few rows sat several people sporting Kevin Beckner t-shirts (Beckner is running against Blair). In the middle of them sat Beckner himself. At the end of my speech I couldn't resist asking if they had any extra t-shirts because I would be happy to wear one from now on. Please pay attention and please vote!

After the vote which showed neither morality or courage on the part of Norman, Higginbotham, White, Hagan, or Blair, many concerned citizens milled around the lobby in true disbelief. I turned to another citizen standing next to me and asked her, "how could they get away with this, how?" She calmly looked at me and said, "the same reason a dog licks it's own dick; because it can." And that pretty much sums up many of the actions of this gang of five at least since I have been paying attention. It was one of the worst displays of government I have ever seen but it showcased what this group does best: push their own agendas with total disregard for citizens.