HIL CO 73 page 26

 them in [unincorporated] Hillsborough County, but the feeling was that the county
 could not furnish them the water and sewer and all those kinds of things that
 they needed, and the streets and so forth. It made it easier for it to come about.

B: Has it always been that way? When the city has wanted to grow into
 unincorporated areas, did the county always resist that?

C: The only one I can recall the county resisting was that, and that was recently.

B: So, in the older annexations, it had not been that big of an issue.

C: No, I do not recall there being any big squabble about it. There may have been
 some people who said, I do not want to be in the city because I do not want
 double taxation, but it never was a big problem that I knew about. At that time, I
 [would or would not have been?] in a position to know about it, I guess. I did
 serve as city attorney in 1978 and 1979.

B: City attorney or county attorney?

C: City attorney, for the city of Tampa. What happened is that Henry Williams, who
 had been the city attorney, resigned after a long time and retired. That was two
 years before [Mayor] Billy Poe's term was over, so he asked me if I would serve
 for that unexpired time and I did. It was interesting. We did a lot of bond work
 where we refinanced a lot of bonds and saved an awful lot of interest. They had
 issued these bonds at a time when the interest rate was fairly high. We got them
 refunded at a much lower rate, and it was good for the city. 1978 or 1979, I
 believe it was. Congress was getting ready to pass an act which would have
 done away with our right to refund under that type of refunding. We would have
 lost our ability to refund those bonds, so it was important that we get it done. I
 remember meeting in City Hall, and we had a fiscal advisor, Bill Hough [William
 R. Hough, municipal bond consultant and founder of the firm by that name] from
 St. Petersburg. A good Florida man and a good bond man. He was one of the
 real experts in the state. But he was representing a whole bunch of cities and
 counties and different areas on refunding. Everybody was trying to get it done
 before the shoe fell, and nobody knew when that was going to happen. I
 remember [listening to] him, and we had maybe a room this size. There were
 probably twenty of us. I said, whatever you do, now, I know you have a bunch of
 other things going on, but you are the fiscal advisor for this city and it is up to you
 now to get this done. And if you do not get it done, the mayor is going to be
 looking right down your throat, and so am I. So, whatever you do, it is goddamn
 important you get this done. And we did it. We only beat it by probably three or
 four weeks, but before the shoe fell, we got it accomplished. I guess I was the
 only person who ever served as county attorney and city attorney, but not at the
 same time.