Profile: Brian Blair

After thoroughly researching former County Commissioner Brian Blair, I’ve found more passionate opinions about him than facts. Whether people hate him or love him, Blair is definitely a noticeable figure in Hillsborough County. In order to understand Blair’s incessant need for the spot light, you would have to detach him from his public official title and see him as the fifty-four-year-old ex-wrestler republican whose faith in Christianity has blindly controlled every choice he’s ever made. The way in which Blair has lived his life has dramatically affected the community; some say more so than any other county commissioner in Hillsborough County history.

It all started in Gary, Indiana on January 12, 1954. Soon thereafter, Blair moved to Tampa, Florida where he began at Lake Elementary School. Blair then attended Webb Junior High School and Tampa Bay Tech High School. Here he grew into the self-proclaimed excellent athlete with “God-given ability”. Blair earned eight varsity letters for football and wrestling. Later he attended Saint Leo College in San Antonio, Florida for a year before going to the University of Louisville. Meanwhile Blair became known as one of the Killer Bees TV tag-team after making his name as a professional wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation, fighting well known wrestlers like Hulk Hogan.

Blair married Toni Sabella with whom he had two children. Blair became a very successful business man when he and his wife developed Blair’s Health and Fitness Gold’s Gym. Blair wrestled until 2001 when he blamed Carrabbas Italian Restaurant for ending his career. In June of 2001 Blair tripped over a tray in the restaurant and hit his head. He was quoted saying "It knocked the dog doo-doo out of me." He then sued the Carrabbas chain for the trauma his children experienced when they watched their father fall. Blair also claimed that the fall gave him a physical handicap that could impair his working ability. However, four months later Blair was caught on tape wrestling in Japan. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

In 2004 Blair was elected Hillsborough County Commissioner where he served for four years until he lost his position to democrat Kevin Beckner. Over the course of the past four years Blair has been recognized for an outstanding number of achievements. Blair has served on the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Florida Association of Counties Urban Caucus, HARTline, Juvenile Justice Council, Old Gandy Bridge Oversight Committee, Tampa Bay Partnership for Regional Economic Development, Hillsborough County Regional Transportation Authority, Tampa Chamber of Commerce International Committee and the Value Adjustment Board. Blair is also known for more than 6,000 hours of community service. Blair has volunteered for Florida Sheriff's Association, Great American Teach-In All Children's Hospital Telethon, Forest Hills Youth Baseball, The Children's Home, Florida Children's Wish Come True , Mary Help of Christians School, Make a Wish Foundation, Fraternal Order of Police, Faith Children's Home, Say No to Drugs Foundation, American Heart Association, SERVE Volunteer, Save the Children, Concerned Women of America, and was recognized as a Bay News 9 Every Day Hero.

However, Blair may be more famous for his controversial moral shortcomings. Since 2004 Blair has become known for discriminating against minorities, violating public meeting laws, banning books, stealing taxpayer dollars, and pushing his religious agenda. When Kevin Beckner questioned Blair about his prejudices against minorities in an interview with Flashpoint Blair replied;

I’ve coached black kids, black children stay at my home almost every weekend. For anybody to say, I was born in Gary Indiana, you know where Gary Indiana is Kevin. There was very few white people in my neighborhood And I didn’t know what prejudice was, probably the two white people in my neighborhood was myself and Michael Jackson. And those were. My friends were all black, so for anyone to say that I’ve been prejudice against African Americans is flat out wrong.

Later in the interview Blair said;

We’ve taken God out of our school, we’ve taken the nation, the pledge of allegiance out of school, look where our nation is headed to based on, and go back to when we recognized God, when we said the pledge of allegiance, those were times when people had more respect for our country, more respect for our creator, and this is a nation that was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and I have nothing against Muslims or any other religion, nobody has worked harder for the Muslim community and their school system and their traffic congestion on Sligh avenue at Sligh and Orient than I have.

In the same interview Blair said, “you can call me a lot of things, but one thing you can’t call me is being frivolous with your tax dollars.” There is clear evidence that his statement could not be farther from the truth. One example is when Blair tried to take $985,000 of taxpayer money to replenish the 8-acre lake in front of his house. Blair clamed that the county was responsible because there were drainage problems, therefore the county should pay to resolve the situation.

Another very interesting thing I found was that his house at 518 West 130^th Avenue in Tampa has major financial discrepancies. At first I was surprised to find that the assessed value of his home was only $124,502 as it states on the Hillsborough County tax Collectors website. I checked to see if there were other properties under his or his wife’s name and there were not. I did additional research and found that under the Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests his home was appraised at $425,000. The location for this home is undisclosed but it states that the house on 130^th Ave is only his rental property. It also reveals that he has $375,000 in stakes and bonds. As of December 31, 2008 Blair’s net worth was $1,333,000. (This information was given to me by Senior Assistant County Attorney DeBora Cromartie-Mincey with the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office 813-272-5670 and County Attorney Renee Francis Lee with the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office 813-272-5670)

After that, I collected emails sent from Blair concerning an event that outraged the entire community. In April of 2008 Blair surpassed his sleazy reputation when he sent mass email to public officials, the school board, and parents urging them to protest the “Day of Silence”. This annual event is not school sponsored and promotes students to take a day in silence in commemoration of a particular cause. This year the students from Blake, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Riverview, Tampa Bay Technical, St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Hernando and Lecanto high school chose to devote the day to Lawrence King, an eighth grader who was murdered due to his sexual orientation. The day was meant to teach about hate crimes and stop bullying. Blair’s email said that;

The observances are no more appropriate than noting the heterosexual orientation of soldiers killed in Iraq. I have always believed that all citizens are equal and should be treated accordingly. On the other hand, no group of citizens should be given government sanction and support to promote their social and sexual agenda upon the rest of us and especially, our children. Considering the fact that the same school system does not want to allow just one Minute of Silence in the classroom for God, this is preposterous.

Needless to say, people shouted out in anger against Blair’s comments. One would think that Blair, if for no other reason than because he would soon be running for re-election, would revoke his statement and play it off as a misunderstanding. However, Blair did the opposite. When asked about the incident on Flashpoint Blair said that he wasn’t discriminatory against homosexuals. Although, he firmly believed in passing the gay marriage ban Amendment Two, but he has a gay friend so it’s OK. Apparently Blair’s gay friend and his partner respect Blair for his decision- somehow I find this hard to believe.

Today Blair is no longer the Hillsborough County Commissioner. Now that Blair has been replaced by openly gay Kevin Beckner, there’s no telling what Blair will do with the rest of his time on earth. But regardless what he chooses, I have no doubt in my mind that he will continue to charm people’s hearts and piss people off.

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article447098.ece

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http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article860418.ece

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article765250.ece

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article765250.ece

http://www.hillstax.org/taxapp/property_detail.asp?pmid=3664496