HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Victor Crist, the former re-elected State Senator who expects to become Hillsborough County’s next Clerk of Court and Comptroller, remembers the day he took on a three-year venture to ensure Florida’s courts provided equal access to justice. Even at the turn of the century, millions of Floridians suffered from impoverished courts that couldn’t afford to provide the contemporary services needed, timely trial court dates, well-trained staff, and court room space. Even shortages of judges were frequent.
Murder trials, domestic violence injunctions, foreclosure procedures and needed records and documents were subject to time delays or unavailability. These courts resided in low-income counties, dependent on limited county tax collections to conduct nearly all their operations.
Florida’s statewide Association of Counties decided something had to be done to remedy the inequality of access to justice. In 1998, they drafted a petition known as “Article 5, Revision 7” which Florida voters supported by a 67 percent vote. It required the state to take over the oversight and funding of the Courts, Clerks, Public Defenders, State Attorneys and Court Administrators.
Crist explained how he led this initiative after its passage. He was Senate Chair of the Justice Appropriations Committee at the time.
“I was appointed by senate leadership to make sure the requirements of Article 5, Revision 7 were implemented and operational for Florida’s 67 counties. I had three years to get everything done,” Crist began. “I worked closely with the Florida Clerks Association, Florida Court Administrators Association, and the various Florida Judges Associations. We launched expert teams and crafted the needed three-year plan, which included legislation to revise our Florida statutes, which I worked through the legislative process to passage. The whole process took about 18 months of research, six months to get enaction of the needed legislation and then a full year to put everything into action.”
Crist was thereafter awarded “Legislator of the Year” by the Florida Clerks Association and was given the title of “Honorary Clerk.” He was also recognized for outstanding legislative service by the Florida Association of County Judges, the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association and the Florida Association of Public Defenders.
Crist’s leadership over the state’s court system continued as he had the responsibility of overseeing the policy and budget affairs for the state’s Clerk Of Courts, the Court Administrators, the Courts themselves, Public Defenders, Judges, and State Attorneys.
“I could tell which Clerk of Courts were good stewards and what policies and procedures they maintained that worked well for them,” Crist explained.
Two of Crist’s chief advisers were long-sitting clerks in the state, Harvey Ruvin of Miami-Dade County and Richard Ake of Hillsborough County, who provided his Chief Executive Administrator, Helene Marks, to help. Crist said they were exemplary Clerk of Courts in Florida’s history with strong track records of service and outstanding management.
Asked his view of Hillsborough County’s current clerk of court, Cindy Stuart, Crist responded with disappointment.
“I think she is in way over her head and has turned her budget and community outreach into a self-serving PR machine. She admitted in our debate at the Cuban Club that she withdrew funds from the training budget to increase visibility among the community. She said it was to pay for such things as increased printing costs, however, she put a likeness of her face and her name on the Clerk of Court seal for everyone to see,” said Crist. “She threw out a century-old official seal and replaced it with a seal with her name and image engraved on it. The new masthead for mail and the official website has her name more visible than anything else. Who does that? According to my sources, self-promotion is at an all-time high and employee morale has been suffering. I also understand she has the highest staff turnover in the County. These are among numerous reasons why I feel I should provide leadership as Hillsborough County Clerk of Court and Comptroller.”
Crist has also served as a re-elected member of the State House of Representatives and as a re-elected Hillsborough County Commissioner. He is known for his transformative leadership which revitalized the University of Florida’s five-mile radius once known as “Suitcase City.” A school road and community center bear his name.
As a business entrepreneur, while still a student at USF, Crist established Metropolitan Communications, Inc., which became an award-winning, full-service advertising and publishing firm, serving a diverse group of non-profit and for-profit clients across multiple sectors. Later, he developed this business into a consulting practice focusing on organizational development, strategic marketing, and advocacy.
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