Another Reason Why Deveron Gibbons Should Go: SPC Trustees OK'd Unfinished Budget

I have been wondering for months why Deveron Gibbons is still on the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees, even though his term ended over a year ago.

Now, according to a story by Lorri Helfand, it's come out that Gibbons and the rest of his colleagues on the Board of Trustees approved a budget that apparently was less than complete.

In mid May, the St. Petersburg College board of trustees unanimously approved a $145 million operating budget.

But it took 58 days for the college to provide the St. Petersburg Times with a copy of the completed budget.

College budget officials acknowledge the document wasn't finished until July 11. None of the trustees saw a completed budget before they voted to approve it.

Say what?

What the hell else does the Board of Trustees have to do other than to rubber stamp the annual budget?  You're telling me they can't even do that correctly!

At least SPC president Bill Law Law reacted appropriately.

"Whoa," Law said. "Let me apologize. That's inappropriate." He vowed to make the budget more accessible to the public in the future.

Trustee Ken Burke, however, brushed off the inquiry into why the Board passed a budget it had not fully reviewed. "We're not supposed to be into the weeds with this stuff."

Remember, Burke is the Clerk of the Court.  I'd expect him to be exactly into the weeds with "this stuff."

No offense to Burke, but he and much of the rest of the Board no longer belong in their positions.  Nothing personal, it's just time the Board of Trustees was injected with some fresh blood.

Take Gibbons, who couldn't be bothered with replying to inquiries from the St. Petersburg Times about this issue, should be the first to go.

Last year, Gibbons applied for another term on the Board of Trustees and expected to be re-appointed, but then his personal life unraveled and Gibbons’ ally, then-Governor Charlie Crist decided to punt on whether to re-appoint Gibbons.

In the meantime, Gibbons, who desperately needs to stay on the SPC Board because it is last base of political power, has remained on the Board of Trustees for over a year after his (and fellow Board member Dick Johnston’s) term ended last May.

In May, two more Board members, Evelyn Bilirakis and Ken Burke, will see their terms expire.  That means, technically, there will be four vacancies on the Board of Trustees.