Steve Burton, managing partner of the Tampa-based law firm Broad and Cassel and the chairman of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, has died from complications after a heart transplant.
Burton had been in the hospital for weeks waiting to get that transplant, which finally happened in the past week. It's why he was speaking via speakerphone at the Aviation Authority's meeting earlier this month. (That's where he joined his colleagues in voting to redo TIA director Joe Lopano's latest contract revisions.)
In fact, you could argue that if it weren't for Burton, Lopano might still be toiling in Dallas or at another U.S. airport. That's because Burton was a driving force in challenging longtime TIA head Louis Miller in 2009. Due to a variety of factors, Miller stepped down from the position in 2010.
Ever since he was named to the aviation authority in the middle of 2009, Burton was a catalyst for change, demanding that Miller explain why the airport wasn't pursuing more direct international flights.
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2013.