What with all the headlines, controversies, animosities and advertising dollars associated with top-of-the-ballot candidates, it’s even easier to overlook the low-profile candidacies of those running for the Soil And Water Conservation Board of Hillsborough County. Well, A.J. Brent, who’s running in S&W Group 1, has managed to be heard. It happens when you make it known that, if elected, you would eliminate your own job.
If chosen, Brent says, he will urge the board to “request that Hillsborough County eliminate funding of the Board.” He says such boards “do not do much of anything.” He also points to next year’s budget recommendation ($265,510) and notes that $244,211 of it is for “personnel services,” the rest for operating expenses. The latter, he adds, could be raised through donations.
“The first thing I’ll do is try to get two other (uncompensated) members to join with me and tell the county we don’t want the money,” says Brent. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll go to the county commissioners and request that they stop funding the board.
“Soil and water districts across the country are bureaucracies in search of a mission,” states Brent. “Until they are eliminated, their funding should be withdrawn and applied to essential services or returned to taxpayers.”