By a 4-3 vote, the Hillsborough County Commission on Thursday rejected a domestic partner registry for unmarried couples.
I echo so many of my colleagues sentiments, such as Benjamin Kirby’s at the Spencerian, that they are simply ashamed of our brothers and sisters across the Bay.
I’ll be writing a lot about this issue in the coming days, not in any particular order, so please forgive the scatter-shot nature of the postings.
My first thought about this vote are the political ramifications.
I can’t help but see a similarity between this vote and the vote last year in Pinellas County to eliminate putting fluoride in the public’s drinking water. In both cases, four county commissioners did not respect the will of the people and two of them suffered for it, losing at the polls in the next election.
I know, I know, Hillsborough is not progressive Pinellas, but this is the kind of vote that lights a spark in the electorate, which in turn, changes the entire political dynamic. Incumbents are no longer protected. Once safe seats are no longer that. Etc., etc.
And remember, Barack Obama just won Hillsborough County with 52.63 percent of the vote.
One of the four who voted against the domestic registry was Al Higginbotham, who wants to run for a countywide seat in 2014, may become the Nancy Bostock/Neil Brickfield of Hillsborough — an otherwise sensible public servant turned out of office because of one atrocious vote.
