Oldtime Politics

Steve Otto's column in the Trib today pondered the thought of creating a monarchy for Hillsborough County, crowning a King or Queen and naming the other officials, Lords and Ladies. This brought to mind the election in Lutz of an honorary Guv'na. When we lived there, it was an old fashioned event that led candidates to deliver their campaign speeches at schoods, storefronts, and libraries. Large fund collecting jars could be found in the local establishments. The person who garnered the most funds, was elected to office. The money was alloted to charity and to fund local projects.

Scott believes we should have a similar event. Since Seminole Heights has the ambiance of a village unto itself, why not elect an honorary official? This area is always fighting for money to fund projects. We could use the election money for the Garden Center restoration, improvement of Giddens Park which was sadly underimproved by the misguided Mayor's Beautification Project, or to buy landscaping with the purpose of screening houses from I-275. The number of possible projects is endless. I think there are plenty of potential candidates out there, who would be excellent fund raisers and have the personality to carry on a lively campaign. We could end the event with an old timey celebration, something that would fit in with the history of this area. Now, what would we call this official? Queen, May'ah, Wizard, Poobah, Village Idiot? Or should we have a Grand Referee as Mr. Otto suggested, to keep those chair throwing candidates in line?