Brian Blair plans to ask the court to weigh in on campaign fliers
Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, November 14, 2008
Political activist Marilyn Smith confronts outgoing County Commissioner Brian Blair at a news conference he called Thursday. A handful of activists showed up, including Smith, who wore a placard reading “Nobody likes a sore loser.’’
TAMPA — Departing Hillsborough County commissioner Brian Blair said Thursday he intends to pursue legal action against his opponent in last week's election for spreading lies about him during the campaign.
Blair, a Republican, claims that Democrat Kevin Beckner falsely accused him in campaign fliers of giving himself a pay raise. He also took issue with Beckner suggesting that he funneled taxpayer dollars to a cleanup of his private lake and supports the Confederate flag.
Beckner beat Blair, who was seeking a second term, by a 10-point margin Nov. 4.
In an unusual news conference at County Center, Blair said he is still weighing his legal options.
Afterward, he said Beckner violated Florida elections laws by making false statements about him, and that he is conferring with a lawyer. He said during the news conference that the statements amounted to libel and slander.
Blair said his intent is to define where the line is drawn on what political candidates can say about one another.
In a backhanded analogy, he said of Beckner, who is gay, "Can I say that his boyfriend gave him AIDS? I don't know." He went on to say that he does not know that to be true and wouldn't say it if he did.
Beckner dismissed the remark as "extreme and a typical Blair response. It's part of who Brian is."
Blair called the news conference ostensibly to thank supporters and county staffers, and highlight some of his accomplishments. He was flanked by his wife, Toni, Hillsborough Fire-Rescue Chief Bill Nesmith, Sheriff's Col. Greg Brown and county Hispanic liaison Tony Morejon, each of whom he singled out for praise.
Asked his political ambitions from here, Blair said he intends to run for the at-large commission seat Jim Norman will vacate in 2010, or the District 47 State House seat Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, will leave that same year.
Then reporters asked about assertions Blair has made about Beckner's campaign in news media outlets recently.
The Florida Elections Commission has already weighed in on a similar complaint from Tampa resident Jason D. Montes, filed in September. Montes claimed that a primary election flier from Beckner falsely claimed Blair "has pushed to give himself a pay raise."
In a response the next month, FEC Executive Director Barbara Linthicum said the complaint was legally insufficient. She said it could not be shown that the statement was made with "actual malice," meaning with intentional and malicious disregard for the truth.
And under the law, such a complaint must come from the aggrieved candidate.
Beckner made the pay claim repeatedly based on opposition Blair expressed to a 2007 proposal to freeze commissioners' roughly $92,000 salaries and roll back their $600 car allowances. Blair suggested at the time that the proposal would take food from his children's mouths.
But he never voted for or sought to raise his pay, which is set by the state.
Campaign fliers from Beckner also repeatedly claimed that Blair voted to spend nearly $1-million to clean up his private lake. The vote took place, but the amount spent, which went to clean up a chain of lakes including the one behind Blair's house, was actually much less.
Blair also has signed proclamations, along with other commissioners, recognizing a Confederate heritage group, the apparent basis of a Beckner flier that pictured his face against a Confederate flag backdrop.
Beckner said each of the assertions were fair critiques on Blair's record.
"Unfortunately for Brian Blair, there are many inconvenient truths about his service record," Beckner said. "He has consistently put himself and special interest groups before the needs of the community."
Beckner said the community responded by giving him a decisive victory, besting Blair by nearly 50,000 votes.
Blair, meanwhile, said he is not being a poor sport. He suggested he is performing a public service.
"We intend to find out where the line is and if he crossed it, through both the Elections Commission and an attorney," Blair said. "I think it will be a good thing for Hillsborough County and future voters."
His news conference Thursday was attended by a handful of activists. A couple of them toted moving boxes, volunteering to assist Blair in his departure next week, when Beckner is sworn in. Some wore placards reading, "Nobody likes a sore loser."
Terry Flott, chair of the group United Citizens' Action Network, took exception to the idea that voters were duped by campaign fliers. She said she never received any of them.
"It's an insult to the intelligence of average citizens," she said.
Bill Varian can be reached at varian@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3387.
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