The long delay in Rick Scott replacing Sam Rashid‘s replacement on the Hillsborough Aviation Authority is over.
After months of being shorthanded, Scott announced the appointment of Arthur “Chip” Diehl III to the agency on Monday.
Diehl, 62, of Tampa, is the managing director of Diehl Associates and a retired Air Force brigadier general He ‘s a member of the Florida Defense Support Task Force, the Hillsborough State College District Board of Trustees, and the Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding. He is also the vice president of the Tampa Bay Defense Alliance. Diehl received his bachelor’s degree from the Air Force Academy and his master’s degree from the University of Southern California.
Diehl replaces Rashid, who stepped down from the agency in October. His resignation came over a month after Scott said he should step down after Rashid profaned Tampa public relations consultant Beth Leytham.
The remark sparked a firestorm in Tampa politics. Rashid, an influential Hillsborough County Republican, made the remark in reference to Leytham’s work on the Go Hillsborough transportation tax plan. He alleged on Facebook that Leytham had “several million dollars” as an “unregistered lobbyist by having an intimately close relationship with three of our local elected officials.”
Diehl fills Rashid’s seat until the end of its term, July 1, 2019.
