Regent may face state review
By From staff reports
Published: October 05, 2011
http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/oct/05/menewso5-regent-may-face-state-review-ar-262848/
TAMPA — Hillsborough County commissioners have asked the state Joint Legislative Auditing Committee to review funding and operations at The Regent, a controversial community center near Brandon.
Commission Chairman Al Higginbotham sent a letter last week to state Sen. Jim Norman, chairman of the audit committee and a former Hillsborough commissioner, asking for the review of the center. Built with county, state and federal money, The Regent was sold to government officials as a community center and hurricane shelter. After the building was finished in January, however, it was criticized because of its lavish decor and lack of accessibility for ordinary residents.
Commissioner Victor Crist, a former state senator, suggested at the Sept. 21 commission meeting that the audit committee look at the center. Crist made the suggestion after a county auditor reported that $35,000 in county money had been spent on consultants and other inappropriate uses during construction. Commissioners asked the board running The Regent to return the money.
“From the holistic perspective, we really need to have the full bird’s-eye view of what this deal is and what has really taken place,” Crist said at the meeting, “and the best way to do that is to send a formal request from this board to the state Legislature and ask that the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee look into this matter.”
Commissioner Sandy Murman is also scheduling meetings with The Regent’s board to discuss the future management of the center. Murman has suggested that Hillsborough Community College, which owns the building, also operate it.
Port director gets two-year extension
By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Sep 20, 2011 11:48 AM
TAMPA – Disappointing his critics, the Port Authority board voted today to extend the contract of director Richard Wainio by two years.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman first proposed a one-year extension. After her motion was rejected, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn proposed the two year extension, and it passed on a 4-2 vote.
Questions over Wainio’s future rose in July, when the Port of Tampa Maritime Industries Association called for the board to let Wainio go when his contract expires next March.
The group, which represents 47 companies doing business at the port, cited significant declines in cargo tonnage at the port since Wainio took over in 2006.
Operating income at the Tampa Port Authority was nearly $5 million in the black at the beginning of his tenure and was $1.1 million in the red last year, the group said. The number is misleading, port staffers insist, because it includes millions in depreciation from new construction. The authority isn’t actually losing money.
Much of the conflict is over personality.
Critics say Wainio doesn’t listen to their suggestions on port business strategy, has been disrespectful toward business leaders and creates a ”chilling effect” on public comment at board meetings.
Wainio says his critics don’t represent the views of the larger port community. In a recent e-mail, he wrote commissioners that morale at the agency is suffering from the attacks.
“My staff and I are irritated by the generally baseless, erroneous and repetitive accusations from several people who quite frankly have no particular knowledge or expertise regarding the issues,” he wrote ”
Wainio, 61, has served as the Port Authority’s chief executive since 2005. He earns $251,118 a year.