Slats Murphy, Senior SCW columnist

Seminole County poltics being what it is, there is not often opportunity to commend one of our elected officials for their actions.

As much as anyone, County Commissioner Randy Morris has often caused consternation and concern over the years.

Perhaps that is why it is such a welcome change to extol Morris for his behavior during last Tuesday's county commission meeting.

In discussion about a proposed one-cent increase in county fuel taxes to fund transportation for the handicapped, Morris took a clear and unequivocable stance in support of increasing the tax and guaranteeing a fixed funding source for the program. It was an example of what public service and leadership should always be yet too often fails to achieve.

Whether one agrees with Morris on his position, one must afford him the respect he earned with his firmness of stance and consistency of beliefs on the issue, both during the debate that took place at last week's meeting and during the time leading up to it.

The pleasure derived from Morris' admirable position, however, was mitigated by the performance of Commissioner Brenda Carey. Under other circumstances, one might say she was disappointing, but, based on her history, Carey behaved exactly as one would expect.

Back when she was running for office, Carey espoused the virtues of cooperation between the county and the seven cities within. In fact, she was quoted in the October 24, 2004, edition of the Orlando Sentinel as saying, "Most citizens don't know or care where the cities end and the county starts, nor should we."

The Sentinel explained that "Carey thinks the county must do better in terms of regional planning. For too long, she said, Seminole officials have tried to dictate to cities, which has led to parochial approaches to regional problems such as stormwater, water conservation and transportation."

Evidently, Carey no longer believes in the words she espoused to help become elected. Consider her comments at last week's commission meeting, during discussion of the one-cent increase on motor fuel, which requires approval from four of the five sitting commissioners:

"Maybe we need to stand before their city commissions as county commissioners and say to their citizens, 'It's incumbent upon your city commissioners to provide these services to the city residents' . . . the cities are gonna have to understand that if they want the service, that they're going to have to figure out a way to pay for the service. . . It costs $58 a mile to run the buses. If you want it to come to your city, you pay the price, and if you don't want a route through your city, OK."

Hardly sounds like the words of a county commissioner who thinks the county should stop dictating to the cities because doing so creates parochial concerns. Yet parochial concerns is exactly what is driving this debate, and the victims are handicapped residents of Seminole County who depend upon the transportation in question as a means of being able to get around the county.

Carey ignored this central aspect of the issue in her comments, choosing to focus on the secondary issue of fixed bus routes during her dictatorial diatribe detailing city obligations. She also ignored that, as she herself said when trying to get elected, these citizens do not really know or care where the cities end and the county starts. What they do care about is being able to have transportation to their medical appointments and other essential activities.

Whereas Carey openly contradicted herself, Morris remained steady and consistent in keeping the proper focus on this issue.

"We lose sight of those people who get into these transit vehicles," said Morris. "I've been in the interviews with them, I've served on the committee when they came to testify before us. I know the value. Folks that are blind, folks that have lost their sight over their lives as they have gotten older, folks who have been told they can't drive any more because of medical conditions. Folks that are in wheelchairs. These are who we are talking about. That's what we are asking for."

In addition to knowing the value of the service, Morris knows the history of the issue, as he reminded Carey, a newcomer to the commission.

The cities have been partially funding the transportation service for the past several years, with the understanding that the county would seek and enact a permanent fixed funding source, which the additional penny on the fuel tax represents.

The County Commission's failure to now proceed with the penny tax increase is an open contradiction to the promise of cooperation the county has made to the cities over the past several years.  They very promise of cooperation on which Carey campaigned and is now reneging.

Carey's position is somewhat ironic in that she once served on the board of Lynx, the agency that provides the transportation service in question for the area's handicapped persons. Again, although ironic, Carey's stance is not necessarily surprising.

As the Orlando Sentinel noted last August, "Mrs. Carey used to be a board member of Lynx, the region's bus agency. During her tenure, the agency was plagued with budget problems, political infighting and shoddy service for the poor and disabled. She made headlines only after she and other board members were videotaped gambling, riding around in limousines and attending swanky meals paid for by special interests during a Las Vegas transit convention. Her mea culpa was too little, too late,"

Thus seems to be the sum of Ms. Carey's beliefs: the commitment of public funds for the needs of the area's handicapped takes a definite back seat to high-flying junkets for public officials that come at the public's expense in more ways than one.

Send an email to Slats Murphy