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Forged Signatures Slow Road Project

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By HAROLD VALENTINE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

Updated: 12/13/2007 07:12 pm

LAKE MAGDALENE - A Hillsborough County traffic calming project was halted a month ago because of forged signatures on a petition.

The project included three raised intersections on Lake Magdalene Boulevard at Smitter Road, Clark Road and Cherry Creek Drive at a cost of $10,000. The county's project manager Buzz Barbour said the intersections would have been raised three inches.

"It's more of a visual effect than it is a physical effect," Barbour said. He said the calming measures would have already been implemented had the project not been stopped.
Barbour said the process included two public meetings for resident feedback and a petition that covers at least 90 percent of the homes affected - about 280 - 75 percent of which needed to approve.
Barbour said the county received a complaint that a resident got the petition and found their signature already was signed to it in favor of the project. The county then asked residents with their signatures on the petition whether they actually signed the petition. Barbour said nine more said they did not sign the petition.

"This is the first time since 1998 that we've had any allegation of this," Barbour said.

He said the petition passed through the hands of at least 195 residents, and no one can know for certain who forged the signatures.

"We don't have everybody's signature in the county on file," Barbour said. "We don't have somebody to pull the file and study it like a hanging chad."
Barbour said they compare names on a petition to names that should match the property appraiser's list. "We just don't have another way to verify it," he said.

He said he's waiting for guidance from the county attorney's office as to how to proceed with the project.

"One of our options is to mail a petition to each household," Barbour said. "That way we'd know what house it went to, how many got them and whether or not it came back and what they voted."

Meanwhile, other road projects under way in northwest Hillsborough include two on Anderson Road involving guardrail repair, one between Arbor Ridge Drive and Elmfield Drive and between Crenshaw Street and Tampa West Boulevard. Both projects are due to end Dec. 21.

The makeover at Anderson and Waters Avenue, scheduled to last until Feb. 13, has seen significant delays due to southbound lane closures on Anderson.

Lane extensions on Gunn Highway between Hixon Road and Keystone Crossing Boulevard have slowed traffic for Sickles High School traffic. The construction is scheduled to finish in August.

On Lake Magdalene Drive's cul-de-sac from Armenia Avenue the road will be open to local traffic only until Jan. 2.

Bridge maintenance on West Waters Avenue between Montague Street and Redbraes Drive may hamper traffic on eastbound lanes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nearby on Waters, between Royal Sand Circle and Beasley Road, installation of a water main will keep workers busy from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Work to add on Linebaugh Avenue between Racetrack Road and Countryway Boulevard continues until Dec. 29.

On Bearss Avenue, between Lake Magdalene Boulevard and Palencia Drive, median reconfiguration in front of the Jimmie B. Keel library will continue until Dec. 21.

On Hutchinson Road, between Pennington and Carey roads, new telephone poles and wires could complicate traffic until March 30.

Reporter Harold Valentine can be reached at (813) 865-1526 or hvalentine@tampatrib.com.

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