Calls For Prosecutor For Buddy Johnson Mess

The St. Petersburg Times editorial board is calling for a prosecutor to investigate Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson.

The curtain is finally rolling back on the rot left behind by former Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson, and it isn't pretty. The best way to clean it up is for Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint a prosecutor to investigate Johnson's handling of the public's money. A county audit and the elections office's emergency request for more cash raise serious questions about where it all went and why Johnson was so secretive about it.

Audit Director Dan Pohto told the Hillsborough County Comission that Johnson and his staff was stonewalling him.

"We were four days into the 14 days with three holidays and very little access to records," Pohto said.

Pohto could only verify $336,000 of Johnson's request.

Where does Johnson get the audacity to stonewall an audit ordered by the commision? Johnson failed to provide enough voting machines for the Marshall Center. Johnson is over budget by $2.3 million and refuses to go in front of the commision to explain his request for more funds. Johnson sent his attorney Kathy Harris and watched her presentation to commissioners live via video. If Johnson had the time to watch video then he has the time to explain why he needs an extra $2.3 million.

"I can't believe he's not here to answer our questions," said Commissioner Rose Ferlita, clearly infuriated. "It's inexcusable; it's unacceptable."

The audit failed to prove that $1.7-million went to Premier Election Solutions for new voting machines. PES says they have not been paid. Here is where things get fishy. The money for voting machines is gone. However, PES has not been paid. "The question is, what other expenses were paid for with the Premier money, and were those expenses legitimate?" said Court Clerk Pat Frank.

There is the matter of Johnson spending $200,000 of federal money on voter education. Those ads had Johnson's face front and center during an election.

Incoming Supervisor of Elections Phyllis Busansky has her work cut out for her.

“We have no idea as I stand before you, and I’m really amazed at it, how much money has been spent and what is left,” Phyllis Busansky said.

I agree with The Times. Appoint a prosecutor to sort through this mess. Johnson's lackeys will be compelled to testify under a subpoena.

Meet the New Supervisor of Elections

Via Kenneth Quinnell: Phyllis Busansky is the newly elected Hillsborough County Super of Elections.

“I’m absolutely thrilled," Busansky said from her home Thursday night. "I ran on restoring confidence in this office and that’s what we’ve done.” When asked what she planned to do her first day in office, she said, "I have no idea. Until two minutes ago I wasn’t at all sure I was going to win.”

"You may not have seen the last of Buddy Johnson," said the current office holder.

My hunch is seeing Johnson, in the political arena, will be as rare as Elvis sightings.

In related news: Kathy Castor asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate Johnson's handling of the election.

"The problems I witnessed firsthand and supervisor's inability to count the votes in a timely manner have shaken the public's confidence in fair elections," she wrote.

Even if Johnson won his race, it is hard to envision a scenario that would allow Johnson to keep his job. Johnson could not be found on the night of the election. That doesn't instill confidence.

Another Buddy Johnson Screw Up

Photo by the Miami Herald

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink put her foot down and got Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson to deliver more voting booths to the USF voting precinct.

"He said he's going to send more booths out there,'' Sink said after her phone call with Johnson. "But he said there's a space issue" and the university is going to have to expand the amount of space being used for student voting. Sink, a Democrat who has spent Tuesday working with the Obama campaign, said the Obama campaign will work with university officials to get the issue addressed quickly.

Student were waiting inline 2 to 3 hours to vote. That is inexcusable. Voters, please vote for Phyllis Busansky and Buddy Johnson packing.

Phyllis Busansky Fundraising Numbers

The St. Petersburg Times reports that Democratic Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections candidate Phyllis Busansky has fundraising advantage over incumbant Buddy Johnson.

Phyllis Busansky, who's running for supervisor of elections, raised $48,000 in the past three months, according to a report filed with the county.

Buddy Johnson, the current supervisor, raised only $11,300.

Busansky has raised a total of $82,196. Johnson is lagging behind at $42,460 Johnson downplayed his fundraising woes:

"I'm focused on this job. Not on fundraising," Johnson said, noting that it has been a particularly busy year, with the switch to a new voting system.

That is hysterical. Subpoena server Dan Neatherly could not find Johnson at either of his offices for 18 days. Johnson wasn't even accused of criminal wrongdoing. He was a witness called by the NAACP. Johnson's attorney Kathy Harris advised Johnson not to say if he was avoiding the subpoena.

Another fun piece of trivia: Johnson and Harris were both involved in Steve Holub being paid $24,142 of taypayers money. The deal was Holub would resign and not speak about his time in the Supervisor of Elections office.

Profile In Courage: Buddy Johnson Ducking Opponent

I can't say I blame Buddy Johnson. Hillsborough County's Supervisor of Elections has been getting hammered in the media. Silly bloggers are obsessed with covering Buddy's every mistake. Buddy has good reason to duck a Flashpoint appearance with Democratic opponent Phyllis Busansky.

After it became clear he wasn't going to sit next to his opponent, Phyllis Busansky for a side by side discussion, we tried to schedule a separate interview to no avail. We made a date for later in the month. We'll see.

But will we see Buddy in the same room with Busansky?

Florida Election News

Wayne Garcia covered a Democratic debate between Kevin Beckner, Joe Redner and Denise Layne. The candidates are vying for the Hillsborough County Commission district 6 seat. The winner faces Republican incumbant Brian Blair.

Garcia reports no local media covered the debate. The St. Petersburg Times can spare Josh Gillin to blog The Juice.

The candidates talk about transportation. As usual, Redner comes off the smart. Redner is a great policy wonk, but too crazy to be in public office. Denise Layne is an also ran. Beckner has the party's backing and will win the primary.



In related news: Meowmissy does a roundup of the Supervisor of Election races across Florida. She cites the Hillsborough County race between incumbant Buddy Johnson and Democratic challenger Phyllis Busansky as one to watch.

My question is will Johnson or Busansky implode first. The DCCC heavily backed her. She was a more experienced candidate than Gus Bilirakis. She still lost. The Tampa Democratic establisment love Busansky, but she hasn't won a race in years.

Johnson has been one media shit storm after another. I have blogged to death about Buddy and have trouble keeping track of all his bad publicity. Busansky should never run again, if She loses to the unpopular Johnson.

Lee Nelson Drops Out

I'm not sure when Lee Nelson made this announce. For those that don't know, Nelson has dropped out of the race.

When Phyllis Busansky announced her candidacy at the end of January, the goals and objectives of the campaign, along with available resources, were abruptly altered. As most of you know, there was an immediate split amongst activists along three lines – those who support me, those who support Phyllis, and those who could not commit because of their direct affiliation with the DEC. We cannot remove Buddy unless we all work together and as I cannot give 100% of myself to this campaign must withdraw.

Busansky can raise more money than Nelson and has the backing of the Democratic establishment. Nelson made an assessment and realized he didn't have the resources to win the primary. My understand is Busansky is crshing Johnson in fundraising.

Nelson has endorsed Busansky and offered to help her campaign.

The Helmet

The St. Petersburg Times editorial board blasted Hillsborough Couty Supervisor of Elections as "a poor public servant." The Times Jeff Testerman wrote two stories about how Johnson spent 18 days avoiding a subpoena. When it came time to testify, Johnson wore a football helmet in court. Perhaps Johnson is modeling himself after another famous conservative.



Johnson couldn't answer simple questions about voting registration. He protested to the NAACP lawyer, "I don't like these (questions)." Perhaps because he doesn't know the answers. Buddy was the kid in school that didn't study for the test and then complained about his grade.

Buddy used to conservative excuse about why he doesn't know a damn thing about election policy and office management. He is a big picture guy.

"My responsibility is the direction, the vision, and not the absolute minutia" handled by elections staffers, he testified.

It is hard for Buddy to convince people he understands the big picture, when he doesn't know where his office keeps the coffee maker.

Johnson refused to answer where he lives. John Poindexter's Iran-Contra testimony comes off as forthcoming compared to this shit. Ofcourse, Johnson may not want to declare where he lives because of his because of his tax problems. Johnson owns properties in Sarasota and Hillsbough counties. Johnson still owes $1,736.45 for his Thonotosassa Road property.

Not since Alberto Gonzales has a Republican come so unprepared to testify. Johnson's testimony illustrates he has been faking it. Buddy's level of incompetence gives would make Michael Brown cringe.

Johnson did not know how the county's database of registrations was sent to the state. He could not identify the most common registration verification problems at his office. He did not know if letters notifying voters of registration errors were sent in English and Spanish. He could not say whether a nickname, like "Buddy," would result in a failed match on a registration.

Is The Times editorial board serious about Buddy giving Jeb Bush a black eye? Bush appointed Buddy because he was a partisan hack that would disenfranchise voters. Johnson hired the pro-Republican law firm Broad & Cassel to work in the Elections office. Partner C. David Brown II worked on Jeb Bush's campaign. The Governor that made 95 calls to his brother's campaign team, during the recount, loves the work Buddy is during. The Times should not think otherwise.

Buddy Johnson AWOL

It took the NAACP 18 days to deliver a subpoena to Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson. The NAACP did not file a personal lawsuit against Johnson. Nor was Johnson a witness in a criminal case. The NAACP simply wanted to know how Johnson's office handled voter registrations. Republican election officials aren't known for their professed loved for civil or voting rights. But there was no reason for Johnson to duck the subpoena.

Subpoena server Dan Neatherly concluded that Johnson was avoiding him. Neatherly could not find Johnson at either of his two offices. There is good indication that Johnson ordered his staff to stonewall Neatherly. Johnson's Mercedes Benz was parked in his space. The St. Petersburg Times's Jeff Testerman attempting ask Johnson about how his car can be at work, but not him. Johnson stonewalled Testerman by refusing to comment on stonewalling Neatherly.

If we are to give Johnson the benefit of the doubt, The Supervisor of Election just can be bothered to go to the job. That is a horrible PR spin campaign. Voters can ask themselves why they should continue to pay Johnson's salary. It is troubling when legal council Kathy Harris (love the name for an election official) is brought forth to issue a denial. Why is Johnson acting like he is about to be indicted?

"Mr. Johnson did not evade service and was a willing participant in the proceedings,'' Harris wrote. If the NAACP lawyers thought he was evading service, they could have sought court sanctions against him.

Harris wrote that it's wrong to assume that because Johnson's car was in his parking space, he was in the building. "Often, he is out of the office educating the community about voter registration and voter participation and leaves his personal car at the office.''

Harris wouldn't make that statement under oath. Johnson was asked in court if he attempted to avoid the subpoena. Harris told Johnson three times not to answer the question.

Exactly who was driving Buddy to these education seminars? Someone in the Elections office needs to leak Buddy's schedule? Details from Neatherly's report indicate that Johnson's lackeys were instructed to stonewall for their boss.

Oct. 17: Neatherly found a silver Mercedes Benz in the parking space reserved for the elections supervisor at the Falkenburg office. He spoke with Kevin Connell, a former New York police officer working as a receptionist there. Connell said Johnson wasn't in.

Neatherly went back outside, verified the registration as Johnson's and returned to Connell. "I know that is Mr. Johnson's vehicle and need to see him." Neatherly wrote that Connell said he couldn't help, that he was "just following directions."

(Connell declined to comment to the Times.)

There is something about the NAACP case that scares the hell out of Johnson. Republicans were against the County Mayor petition. Johnson's office miscounted the petitions. Now there are questions about black voters being disinfranchised. Johnson's behavior would make Richard Nixon cringe.

For Your Reading Pleasure

Litbrit writes about Danica Patrick and her own racing experiences. The Litster will be running laps in a '61 Porsche 356.

Sue Carlton gives a timeline to Buddy Johnson's screwups. Tommy Duncan comes out and states that Buddy is "not fit to be the Supervisor of Elections." Sue and Tommy will miss Buddy when they realize they have less comedy material.

An exciting Ezra Klein post on why dental insurance is separate from health insurance. And yes, I actually read the post.

The market believes oil prices will go down. I doubt that because only a few major corporations control oil and OPEC will not increase production.

Jill Filipovic has started a thread asking people about worthy causes to donate to. Bitter Scribe suggests Veterans Village of San Diego. The organization helps homeless military veterans.

Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan of the Gutter Twins challenge each other to a one-on-one basketball game. They forgot the interview was about promoting their record.

Lindsay Beyerstein gives us the lowdown on the Maverick's temper tantrums.

Paul Westerberg is interviewed by Billboard about a possible Replacements reunion.

Farmer Buddy

Hillsborough County Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson is renting out his land at $1.00 an acre to a cattle farmer William Kenneth Grimmer. Johnson is making a whooping $20.00-a-year from this deal. The flip side is Johnson hopes to get a $12,000 tax cut by getting is land zoned greenbelt.

But with the Grimmer cows grazing on his new property, Johnson has filed applications for greenbelt tax exemptions that could reduce the assessment of his land from $614,428 to $5,855. That would lower his property tax bill from $12,626 to $120.

Grimmer only has 11 cow grazing Farmer Buddy's land. Johnson runs into a snag in attempting to get his property tax cut. The law states a cut can only be given if there is "bona fide agricultural use with a reasonable expectation of making a profit." Grimmer said, "He's not making any money off that property with a $20 lease, I can tell you that." Johnson would if he cut a property tax cut.

Johnson pushing for this tax cut while he is up for re-election is the height of chutzpah. He is hoping the voters are too apathetic to notice his arrogance. He refused to be interviewed by the St Petersburg Times about his potential greenbelt land status. So much for candidate Buddy explaining himself to the people.

Lee Nelson's Response To Phyllis Busansky's Candidacy

Lee Nelson released a statement to Pushing Rope on Phyllis Busansky's announcement she is running for Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.

***********

Hillsborough County Democrats have a choice this year on who they think can best "Buddy" Johnson and restore the competency that is required in our Supervisor of Elections Office. I know that I am the most qualified candidate to accomplish both of these tasks and we can be best served by an open and candid discussion about what we need our next SOE to possess, not only to get elected, but to perform the responsibilities of the position. If the voters really ask themselves what they want their SOE to do for them, they will see that I am the most qualified to reach their expectations. I have spent a lot of time during my candidacy, talking with people about this position, the problems we have seen in the SOE office, and the things they would like to see changed.

Administering and overseeing the activities of the SOE office, which primarily center on three activities: registering voters, administering elections, and providing candidate services, demands that the SOE not only be competent in the business and process end of these activities, but also understands the inner workings of the technological tools used to get the job done right.

Do you have confidence in the machines that record your votes? Of course you don't. We've been fooled time and time again with legislation from Washington or Tallahassee that mandates the manufacturer and the type of equipment we need here in Hillsborough. This upcoming primary we will be switching to an optical scanner system. Does this instill any more confidence in the voting process? Despite the added protection of a paper trail, the legislation didn't go far enough to demand rigorous testing of the actual machine that tabulates the votes. Fooled again. We know Buddy is part of the problem - is Phyllis your best option for ending this vicious cycle of 'problematic solutions' replaced by more 'problematic solutions'? This is what I hope Democratic voters ask when they go to the polls on primary day (August 26).

There are best business practices for acquiring and accepting new technologies into process (such as voting) and they all start with having confidence in the technology itself. What needs to happen is the machines need to be tested (1) by the Supervisor of Elections. If the code (software) on the machines is protected because of contractual agreements with the vendors or wacky legislation, then I will use black box testing methodologies. This testing will be entirely open to the public and if the machines pass, we can all have real faith in the system that is central to our Democracy. But if the machines fail, I will identify the best path to get us all out of this bind. Options include, taking the manufacturers to court, challenging the laws that protect the code, or acquiring systems that do what they are supposed to do. This isn't really rocket science here, we've been voting in this country for over 200 years. 1+1+1… doesn't confuse computers nor does it require proprietary code. This has to happen – we are talking about OUR right to vote. If your SOE doesn't do it, the state and federal legislatures that receive PAC money from the voting machine manufactures sure won't do it.

I'm a project manager for a software development team and work at the Verizon Tech Center in Temple Terrace. We have a team of over 150 people and our typical release size is 140,000 hours worth of development. I have an undergraduate degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in Management Information Systems and received my MBA in October of last year. With over 10 years of managing people and projects, and implementing technology changes within organizations, I will restore competency to the Supervisor of Elections office.


The Supervisor of Elections post should be unbiased and non-partisan but that is not the way the system is set up. Simply because this is a partisan race, being closely aligned with a 'Democratic establishment' doesn't make a candidate more credentialed. The SOE has to protect EVERY voter's rights. It's not about electing people for the sake of getting them elected, I think it's about getting people elected because they can do the job correctly

-Lee Nelson

Democrat Candidate for Supervisor of Elections, Hillsborough County

Supervisor of Election Race Gets Interesting

Phyllis Busansky confirmed to Wayne Garcia that she is running for Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. Busansky will run against Lee Nelson in the Democratic primary. It's rather obvious that both Democratic candidates view current incombent Buddy Johnson as vulnerable.

Busansky is part of the Tampa area Democratic establishment. My concern is her candidacies look better on paper than reality. She ran for Congress in 1996 and 2006. She was defeated both times. She would be a vast improvement over the scandal-plagued Johnson. Can she win a county wide vote? Busansky was backed by the DCCC and by the local Democratic establishment. She still manages to lose to Gus Bilirakis.

In Busansky, the District 9 seat has been held for years by Republican Mike Bilirakis. His son Gus had the advantage of name recognition.

Lee Nelson is not widely known to the public. It is extremely difficult to get voters engaged while the Iraq war and presidential race dominates the news cycle. Nelson has been effective giving memorable quotes dissing Johnson's record.

My hope is that Busansky and Nelson don't tear each other to sheds in the primary. Hillsborough County does not need another term of Buddy Jonson's incompetence and corruption.

Lee Nelson vs. the Vegetable Oil Expert

Here is audio of a WMNF story on Democratic Lee Nelson running for Supervisor of Elections. He is challenging Republican incumbant Buddy Johnson.

Money quote:

Buddy does not understand technology. He is a cook with a degree in religion. He is a cook with a degree in religion. Not someone with proper training. He may understand the differences between vegetable oils and if Mark wrote the Book of Mark in the Bible. He does not understand voting machines.

Johnson wasteed taxpayers' money by not using inhouse lawyers the pro-Republican Broad & Cassel to review the County Mayor petition. The cost was $69,322. Johnson screwed up the petition count. Now voters won't decide if they will have a County Mayor until 2008.

Brian Blair can't stand Johnson (which might work in his favor). Who does Blair like?

Donate to Lee Nelson's campaign.

Quote of the Day

"Buddy does not understand technology. He is a cook with a degree in religion, not someone with proper training."

Candidate Lee Nelson on opponent Buddy Johnson's qualifications as Supervisor of Elections. Johnson is the former co-owner of the BuddyFreddys restaurant chain.

Nelson has a Facebook group supporters can join.

Lee Nelson Running For Hillsborough County Super of Elections

Democrat Lee Nelson will official announce his candidacy for Supervisor of Elections tomorrow.

This Wednesday, August 29th at 11:00 a.m., I will formally announce my run for Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. The site for this announcement is the Town 'N Country Library, 5455 W. Waters Avenue, Suite 208, Tampa 33634.

This date was selected for its historic commemoration - the day Buddy Johnson announced he lost 245 votes in early voting in 2004!

Please come - we will have an area for live blogging, should you desire to do so.

Lunch will follow at Bucca di Beppo. Maps will be given out at the library.

Hillsborough County needs a responsible SOE. Buddy Johnson. Polling stations had violations under Johnson's watch. Johnson also screwed up the petition count for the Hillsborough County Mayor ballot. The list goes on and on.

There will be an area for liveblogging at Nelson's press conference.

Good luck to Nelson.

Good Intentions Result in Voting Hell

Sue Carlton wrote a superb op-ed about her problems when she came to the Korean United Methodist Church to vote. The church was closed and no polling workers were in sight. The only way Carlton found out the polling place moved to the Smyrna Baptist Church was a campaign worker taking a sign to another location.

Election officials moved the site after polling worker Lucy Lamy was hurt. Reports say the injury wasn't serious. The Korean United Methodist Church received a letter from Johns Eastern Co. of Sarasota, the insurance adjustor for Hillsborough County. The church was informed they maybe held liable. This is where things get strange.

Assistant Supervisor of Elections Jim Reed said officials tried to assure the church they carried no liability. But Kathy Harris, attorney for the Supervisor of Election's Office, said concerns prompted the church in January to no longer be a polling place, an account the church disputes.

Two people from the Supervisor of Election Office say they did and didn't want to move the polling location.

"The church never asked that the polling places be moved," said church member Jong Park.

The new temporary location was the Smyrna Baptist Church. The Voting Rights Act requires Hillsborough County to get approval from the Justice Department of the new location. The DoJ is famous for their late response. That is an issue for another blog post.

I have seen Tampa bloggers that don't cover voting issues not mention this. I'm no fan of Buddy Johnson, but his concerns on the matter are valid. If the DoJ finds him in violation of the law the election in those precincts could be voided. That doesn't excuse lack of proper PR in explaining the problem. The man really needs a good public relations person.

Johnson said the Korean United Methodist Church would not allow them to use the site as a precinct. They refute that. I have no idea who is telling the truth. It plays bad in the media for Johnson.

In fact, Johnson's office had sent letters to voters in seven other precincts concerning temporary polling locations, but had not sent letters to voters in 215 and 217.

215 and 217 was the Korean church. What this appears to be is Johnson did not know or was ignorant about whether he would break the 14 day law of sending out notifications of the moving of the polling place.

Johnson's office signed the new church as a polling place on Feb. 8, leaving 26 days before the March 6 election. Plenty of time to meet the 14-day requirement.

So why not send notifications? Johnson said the election really began with early voting Feb. 19, leaving only 11 days to notify.

I hate to say it. Johnson may have a point.

He could have bit the bullet and sent out the notifications or got around the law by going on tv and radio to inform the public about the move. Since this is Buddy Johnson we are talking about that is asking for much.

It seems Johnson was overcautious. He moved from the original church because he was afraid of possible insurance concerns. Then failed to send out the notifications because he might break the law. The results were terrible. Strangely from him trying to do his job correctly. That must be a first.

Buddy Johnson Is Busy

Hillsborough Elections Supervisor Buddy Johnson told Taking Back Hillsborough that he was too busy to review their petition. He did not return their phone calls or letters. What kept Johnson's time preoccupied was selling 22,500 shares of Star Buffet stock for a profit of $64,032.

Johnson did have a 27-year-old clerical worker, with no college education, to review every petition by herself. It turns out the count was screwed up badly. Petitions were lost and valid signatures were not recognized.

There is also the matter of Johnson hiring the law firm of Broad & Cassel. The firm is well known for donating to the campaigns of Republicans. Johnson is a Republican and GOP members of the Hillsborough County Commission have been firmly against the county mayor petition.

There is also the issue of County Commission candidate Al Higginbotham's company building Johnson's home. Higginbotham has worked on a Johnson campaign.

The Johnson-Higginbotham Connection

Democrat Lisa Rodriguez is running against Al Higginbotham for the District 4 seat in Hillsborough County, Florida. Rodriguez wants Buddy Johnson to step down from the Canvassing Board. The board's job is to authorize ballots. Rogriguez is concerned that Johnson will favor Higginbotham. There is good reason to be concerned.

Higginbotham’s company built Johnson's home.

Buddy Johnson's brother, Fred, was Higginbotham's college roommate.

Buddy Johnson ran Higginbotham's campaign for the Florida State House.

Higginbotham wrote a letter of recommendation to Jeb Bush for Johnson.

It gets even more silly. Higginbotham denied he had any ownership of the construction company that built Johnson's house. Reporter Jeff Testerman reminded him that 25 percent of the company.

"I guess I am an owner," Higginbotham said.

You think Al? If you don't even know you own a construction company - you have no business running for public office.

Buddy Johnson Blues

Tampa Bay's 10 News recently reported that severall polling places were found in violation of Florida state statute. Voters were greeted with signs and flyers at the door. The law states political signs and activists must stay 100 feet from the door. Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson maintains issues a nondenial of screwups.

"I won't deny we don't make a mistake here and there, but our people do a pretty good job."

A tape measure isn't needed when activists are blocking the door.

Hillsborough County had a low turnout for the primary. Candidate Chloe Coney had to wait hours to find out the result.

"It was really strange to me; the votes were coming in so slow," Coney said. "It was a light turnout. It was only a primary. We really couldn't understand."

Buddy Johnson was best known for being one of the owners of the restaurant chain BuddyFreddys. Johnson has become more known for the controversy in his office. The hiring of the Republican-leaning law firm Broad & Cassel to look over the County Mayor petition was questionable. Hillsborough republicans were against the petition. Johnson has lawyers on staff. Instead, he used a private companies with ties to George and Jeb Bush. The bill came out to $69,322.

Assistant County Attorney Ken Tinkler wrote a memo detailing Johnson's distrust of county lawyers. Johnson burned through two assistants: Dan Nolan and Helene Marks. Tinkler wrote that Johnson and Nolan's relationship was so bad "ultimately led to a long, awkward period of time where I was forced to serve as intermediary between the two individuals." Marks spent her last months working at home.

Johnson feels differently about people he trusts. Jim Reed started out at $50,000 in 2003. He quit and came back in 2005. Reed now makes $118,000. Reed is a high school friend of Johnson.

There is also the question of why Steve Holub was paid $24,142 to discuss or sue the Hillsborough election office. What is not up for discussion is Johnson running a dysfunctional office that can't perform basic duties. The precincts were poorly run during a slow primary. One can only wonder what the 2008 presidential election will be like.