Editorials

Once again Fasano shows his integrity

Hernando Today
Published: January 8, 2011

The issue: State Sen. Mike Fasano resigns from state redistricting committee.

Our opinion: Move shows Fasano has high ethical standards.

If it's true, and we certainly believe so, that people can't see above their own level of ethics, we're all lucky to have Mike Fasano as our state senator.

The announcement earlier this week that Fasano would step down from his seat on the state's redistricting committee shows what kind of person Fasano really is: He talks the talk and walks the walk.

He sticks to his high ethical standards, even when doing otherwise would likely favor him in an upcoming shot at running for Congress.

Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said earlier this week that there's no doubt the state's redistricting committee, which starts meeting next week, needs to realistically redraw boundaries. With two new congressional seats to add to Florida's districting mix, Fasano knows that sitting on the committee would only serve to promote the perception that he helped draw the lines to ensure he had a better shot at winning a seat in Congress.

After all, that's exactly what former U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite did when she was on the Senate redistricting committee in 2001. She had a major hand in helping draw up the boundary lines in the district she eventually won over Democrat Karen Thurman.

But that's apparently one big difference between Mike Fasano and Ginny Brown-Waite.

Anyone who looks at a map of how the state is divided into different congressional districts knows there's been a lot of gerrymandering going on.

What Fasano wants to ensure is that he had no hand in deciding how these districts are redrawn.

That's the kind of statesman we'd like to see in Congress.

Fasano's days as a state senator are numbered. He will meet his term limit at the end of 2012. If he wants to stay in politics - and we hope he does - he'll have to choose another venue.

A showdown in 2012 between Fasano and newly installed U.S. Rep. Richard Nugent would make for some interesting political debate - especially considering how Fasano was shut out of running last November when Nugent made a behind-closed-door deal with Brown-Waite and filed for her seat at the 11{+t}{+h} hour.

Hmmmmm ...