This morning St. Petersburg Times transportation reporter Steve Huettel reports on the job status of Louis Miller, the executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. The story comes as Miller today is in Tallahassee, where as President of the Florida Air Council he is discussing with lawmakers the legislative priorities of the council going into the regular session next month (please read below for more details).
Miller has been under fire the previous two months, specifically after Channel 10 reporter Mike Deeson first reported that he had decided to demolish the former Continental Airlines reservations center at the airport unilaterally, without getting the board’s approval (at the last board meeting, the board’s counsel ruled that he was within his legal rights to do so). It was later revealed that Miller had consulted only with Authority chairman Al Austin, who just happens to also own commercial property near the airport. Among the reasons that the two agreed that it was wise to raze the building was the vacancy rate in the Westshore area being over 20%. But at the Aviation Board’s January 7th meeting, board member Steve Burton called for a delay in the demolition until the board could get a full report on what led to Miller’s thinking. But Burton was on the losing end of that fight, 3-1.
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2010.
