HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Victor Crist, Republican, is known for his leadership over transformative statewide court and public safety initiatives, as well as Hillsborough County community revitalizations and economic growth. He is vying for the position of Hillsborough County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller. Incumbent Democrat, Cindy Stuart, is seeking re-election.
The two contenders held a debate on September 20 at the Cuban Club. The debate was spirited, but cordial.
Crist and Stuart worked together successfully in the past. But Crist, a former re-elected State Senator and House legislator, as well as a re-elected Hillsborough County Commissioner, declared that his official leadership over Florida’s statewide county clerk offices and judicial systems makes him best-suited for the job. He stated Stuart came into the position “cold” as a former member of the Hillsborough County School Board.
Among other court leadership roles, Crist was appointed by Senate leaders to plan and execute the nation’s first statewide, universal communications system that integrated attorneys, courts and Tallahassee for quick and efficient document and information exchanges.
To understand the significance of the Clerk and Comptroller’s position, the official job entails over 1,000 legally-established duties. Summarily, it maintains and protects the county’s vast volume of records and documents preserved for citizens, law enforcement and the county’s courts. It promotes public safety, access to justice and commerce. It establishes and collect fees for services and citations, and audits the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners’ use of taxpayer dollars to prevent fraud.
To Crist, these multitudinous duties require a Clerk who is well-connected in the public and private sector to guarantee a smooth court operation whose outcome is customer satisfaction. That public satisfaction includes efficient use and reduction of taxes on county residents, prompt and accurate information, and innovative ways to resolve problems.
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Among Crist’s numerous leadership roles in Tallahassee was that of Chair of the Senate Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations. Here, he crafted Florida’s budget for both public safety and the state’s court systems. Crist told Tampa Free Press, “I looked out for the court systems and local counties to ensure they were adequately funded. But since my departure from the Senate in 2010, Hillsborough County Clerks have unsuccessfully fought for more funding to at least keep up with inflation.”
During the debate, Stuart had complained that the money spigot from Tallahassee to Hillsborough County had run dry. Crist immediately provided a solution, stating the problem would be resolved if he is elected.
Unlike Stuart, he said he won’t have to fully rely on taxpayer-paid lobbyists to court Tallahassee. He said his former Senate chief of staff is in charge of budgets in the state’s capitol. Crist emphasized he brings a long list of public and private connections that help him get tough jobs done and that these relationships have delivered life-changing transformations to both the state and Hillsborough County.
In fact, Florida crime reduced to a 30-year low after several of Crist’s public safety bills were enacted while he served as Chair on the Committee for Criminal Justice.
Without taxpayer dollars, he engineered the funding for Tallahassee’s new $60 Million Dollar courthouse, Florida’s first environmentally conservative Leeds certified structure. Even though it’s architecturally beautiful, it’s a major, long-term cost saver.
After revitalizing University of South Florida’s five-mile radius – once known as “Suitcase City” – the downtrodden, blighted area became a new settlement for Hillsborough County citizens in need of reasonable rents, maintained roads and sidewalks, schools, doctors and businesses. Today, the area flourishes, with three new schools Crist planned and developed by leading the effort to raise over $137 Million Dollars of public and private funds. Those schools are Bowers/Whitley Career Academy, Muller Elementary Magnet School, the new Joiner Library and Hillsborough Culinary Arts Institute. Crist also lead the effort to raise funds for the University area Health and Human Service Center. He also acquired the land for the new Bill Poe Family Junior Achievement Campus.
Crist also served on the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, where he applied nearly 30 years of small business and community revitalization experience to help improve communities and foster economic job opportunities. Crist is an entrepreneur himself, with award-winning performance in the communications and advertising industry.
The list of achievements by Crist goes on and on, but it’s his relationships with benevolent leaders and people with specific areas of expertise that have supported Crist’s powerful drive to improve Hillsborough County and the State.
Crist’s good work and community leadership was recently recognized by Hillsborough County’s Dr. Martin Luther King Parade Foundation as their Community Champion of the Year.
As former Florida State Senate President, Ken Pruitt wrote, “Victor, I sure hope you win. You are one of the greatest public servants I have ever met.”
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