Hillsborough County environmentalist Dee Layne announced on Tuesday that she has filed a complaint against Edward Giunta, II, the new chairman of the Hillsborough-County City-County Planning Commission, for violations of the Code of Ethics and Planning Commission By-Laws.
Giunta has spurred opposition after an e-mail he sent to Bob Hunter, the executive director of the planning commission, back on November 10. In it, he laid down three goals that he has set forth to accomplish, the first of which, "Reduce overall work load" lists Port Permits, Historic Preservation, Re-Zoning Review, and Zoning Hearing Master. Later in the memo he also calls for "Removing Community Plans from the Comp.Plan."
In her press release, Layne writes that having worked on growth-related issues for 16 years at all levels of government, and having worked with the Planning Commission, "what Mr. Giunta is espousing is NOT an independent view…it is a definite special interest one."
Layne adds that there is a direct conflict between Guinta's responsibilities when it comes to the Planning Commission, and his responsibilities as a licensed realtor, saying that his "intended 3 items are the same anti-regulation/pro-development agenda being lobbied at all levels of government." Layne charges:
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2010.