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In a stunning move, Louis Miller, who has run Tampa International Airport for the past 14 years but has been under fire in recent months, announced he was resigning as the head of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, beginning April 23.

Under Miller's tutelage, TIA has grown to be considered one of the finest airports in the country. However, there had been criticism on several fronts lately, and Miller's previously impeccable reputation had taken a few shots in the process.

Perhaps the biggest issue was the proposed razing of a $4 million building owned by the airport that had previously been used as a reservation center by Continental Airlines. The decision to do so was made unilaterally by Miller, who had only consulted with Authority member Al Austin, who owns property in the Westshore District. That razing has been halted, as there may be the possibility of a tenant coming in and renting the building, bringing revenues into the airport.

That was followed by another story about Miller's unilateral ways that prompted the authority to bring in an outside attorney — David Smith from the law firm of Gray Robinson — to look at his dealings with the airport.

Also, as CL reported in December, there was frustration amongst some members of the community that Miller had been slow in trying to bring more direct international flights to Tampa.  That story was spurred on in part by an incident that occurred at the Authority's December meeting, when board member Steve Burton (who was unavailable for comment tonight) made a motion to create a committee on international marketing, and claimed Miller had been "stiff-arming" him in the process.

Burton's occasionally undiplomatic fashion in trying to push Miller in recent weeks led to criticism that he was in fact, a tool selected by Governor Charlie Crist last summer to somehow force Miller off the board, criticism that Burton has stridently objected to.

Miller is said to have been close to editors at the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times, and their editorial pages at times seemed to go out of their way to object to Burton's moves.

Recently in La Gaceta, editor Patrick Manteiga wrote that Miller had tried to get Burton thrown off the board. In the paper's February 5 issue, Manteiga wrote:

Rumor is that Tampa Airport Director Louis Miller called local friends to have them reach out to Governor Crist to see if the governor would remove Steve Burton from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority Board.  We hear these calls started a couple of weeks after Burton's term began.

This was not a wise move.  Burton and Crist are close friends, and the governor is an extremely loyal person.  Miller's chance of removing Burton is the same chance we have of Jim Norman offering to take us to the Super Bowl.

The second issue is that directors, whether at the Aviation Authority or Port Authority, shouldn't try to select or fire their bosses.  It just doesn't turn out well.

West Tampa local activist Jason Busto, who lobbied Miller to get more international flights to the airport and was named to a committee a few years ago to study the issue,  said Wednesday night, "I think it's a great opportunity for the community to go forward. Someone who understands the global economy and knows how to market this economic engine that we call TIA. " Busto also said Miller should be thanked for his service to the community.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio was unavailable for comment, but when asked last week about Miller and the recent controversies at the airport, grew serious and said,

"I suspect that the overall agenda here is to ultimately drive a good solid honest independent person like Louis Miller out of the job -- you know, someone who doesn't waste money, who doesn't go out and hire a lot of consultants, someone who doesn't cut deals with people... he's an independent agent. And my guess and prediction is that, once I leave the board, they'll probably make life miserable enough for our outstanding airport director and then, with a different board makeup, someone weaker and perhaps more malleable will be selected..."

Speaking to the Tampa Tribune today, Miller said he hopes that Deputy Executive Director John Wheat will be named to replace him on an interim basis. The Aviation Authority is scheduled to meet next Thursday, March 4.