He took office in 2008, a time that was in some ways the inverse of the current political epoch.
Foes of then-president-elect Barack Obama were shouting "not my president" and were getting ready to embark on the tea party insurgency — the reverse of a very vocal anti-Donald Trump movement that currently appears to be assembling.
The first openly gay elected official in the county, Kevin Beckner, a Democrat, was elected to his at-large Hillsborough County Commission seat the same day as Obama won his first presidential term. Perhaps underscoring what seems to be recurring schizophrenia among Florida on Election Day, Beckner also shared the ballot with a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, passed then but is now defunct.
Beckner served two four-year terms — the voter-approved limit — during which he butted heads with Republican commissioners, who overwhelmingly outnumbered him.
Just one other member of the commission, Les Miller, is a Democrat.
As avid tea-partiers and their allies at the dais railed against government spending — especially investing in environmental protection, expanded public transportation options and even helping protect low-wage workers from employers who don't want to pay them, Beckner offered thoroughly researched arguments to the contrary in defense of such proposals.
Nearly a decade after former homophobic commissioner Ronda Storms banned county support of LGBT pride events, Beckner in 2014 successfully urged his colleagues to reverse that decision.
Wednesday was his last day at the dais.
He bid lighthearted goodbyes to each of them, he said, “until we meet again.”
As a sendoff, he and his colleagues spent part of Wednesday morning joking lightheartedly about their differences — a far cry from the division and acrimony currently defining the aftermath of both the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections. He presented each with gifts, many of which poked fun. He gave ultraconservative Commissioner Stacy White books on climate change and green infrastructure. He offered Commissioner Ken Hagan a small replica of a baseball stadium — a reference to Hagan's aggressive efforts to wrest the Tampa Bay Rays from their current St. Pete home.
Beckner's GOP colleagues said despite their differences on issues like the environment and public transit, they respected his work ethic.
“I've had the opportunity to serve with a number of commissioners, and without question you are the hardest working commissioner I've had the pleasure of serving with," Hagan said. "We were at times on the opposite sides of issues, but I can tell you that you made me a better commissioner because of that. Because I knew that if you were on the opposing side, I had to do my homework and come in prepared in order to debate with you. So I thank you for that.”
“Even though we haven't agreed on all the issues, I respect you and consider you a friend,” White said. “No one can deny that you have been an incredibly effective commissioner, and you're to be commended for that."
Commissioner-elect Pat Kemp is set to take over for Beckner.
Kemp, a progressive Democrat like Beckner, has said she hopes to champion similar causes at the dais.
It's unclear what's next for Beckner. In August he lost a bruising primary bid against incumbent county clerk Pat Kemp.
There are already calls for him to run for mayor of Tampa.
