Ex-commissioner named to board

But James D. "Big Jim'' Selvey, appointed to the Alafia River Basin Board, has seen his share of controversy.

By JEFF TESTERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 6, 2002

TAMPA -- Gov. Jeb Bush's latest Hillsborough County appointment to a government board is no stranger to politics, or to controversy.

James D. "Big Jim" Selvey, appointed Tuesday to the Alafia River Basin Board, was elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in 1985 and later served as its chairman. But he also made headlines during a state ethics investigation and in a pair of inquiries into his tax obligations.

"Back then, he was a Republican who did not play partisan politics, and that was a plus, because we didn't have the acrimony we have now," said County Commissioner Jan Platt,who served with Selvey.

"On the other hand, there were considerable ethical problems and he was viewed as a special interest commissioner," Platt said. "'It makes you wonder if the governor did his homework on this appointment."

Subject to state Senate confirmation, Selvey was appointed to the basin board for a three-year term. Selvey, 65, now a real estate broker from Riverview, succeeds Earl S. Haugabook as an unpaid adviser on the basin board, which oversees a budget to deal with various water resource management issues concerning the Alafia River.

Selvey's political career withered after a series of stories by the St. Petersburg Times beginning in 1989. The stories about Selvey's undisclosed relationship with a prominent east Hillsborough family sparked an investigation by the state Ethics Commission.

The commission found that Selvey violated Florida's Constitution by failing to disclose his debts to the C.E. Leisey Jr. family. Beginning in 1982, Leisey loaned Selvey $438,000, but Selvey voted on several issues benefitting Leisey anyway while failing to list the debt on financial disclosure forms.

A lawyer for the Florida attorney general criticized Selvey for depriving his constituents of "the right to know," but said his votes stopped short of violating conflict-of-interest rules since the loans were to Selvey's company, not to him personally.

Selvey also got into hot water involving a questionable "greenbelt" agricultural exemption he enjoyed on a quarter horse farm and his failure to pay equipment taxes on equipment owned by his farming company, Diamond Jim Packers.

Property Appraiser Ron Alderman stripped Selvey of his greenbelt exemption on 7.6 acres of land he owned in Brandon after learning Selvey hadn't sold any horses in several years. Later, Selvey's attorney convinced officials that the exemption was appropriate.

Selvey, who lost a bid to remain on the commission following the controversy, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Platt, one of three commissioners to cast dissenting votes against Selvey for commission chairman in November 1989, said, "I hope he's learned some ethics lessons."

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