John Beck Rehired

Apparently, no amount of bad publicity can stop the corruption of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. The Authority approved an amended contract with John Beck.

The new agreement works out to the Authority keeping Beck on a monthly retainer and no longer paying him by the hour. Beck was charging $175 hr. The taxpayers were footing the bill.

Beck violated Sunshine laws by have private meetings with David Hendrix and Ralph Mervine. Jeb Bush has appointed Raquel Rodriguez to review the matter.

Authority board member Bob Clark's company, Tampa Steel Erecting Company, sold stell girders to the for the Crosstown Expressway project. To say this is a conflict of interest would be putting it mildly. General council Steve Anderson was advised to find girders elsewhere. He pressed on with Clark's company.

"Not illegal," Anderson said at the time, "but might have appearance of impropriety."

The deal started before Clark came on the Authority board and finalized after he started. "Appearance of impropriety." Indeed.