Late last month I picked up on stories that Shelton Quarles won't be seeking another term as Chair of the TBARTA board which is sad news.   In my opinion the man turned out to be stellar in his role and few can deny his role in local history as the man who kicked off Southwest Florida's urban rail movement.  It seems my head didn't blow up during his tenor (take that conspirators!).

The Business Journal piece points out the skepticism and perhaps even criticism his appointment by Governor Crist initially caused, but Mr. Quarles hung tough and navigated the TBARTA through its dicey origins.

Photo from Shelton Quarles's IMPACT foundation.

Under his organization TBARTA demonstrated an uncanny willingness to engage in outreach (which even included guest commentary here at TR), which paid off in TBARTA developing its accomplished Transportation Master Plan, its initial start-up funding, and managing to smooth over a potential light rail political rift between Hillsborough County and the authority.  Why, it's safe to say that at a personal level he single handedly convinced me football players may not be so bad after all, and in fact, what works out there in the field really does have value in the rigmarole of getting things done in real life.

Way to go Mr. Quarles!  Some day in the future, that light rail ride from Hillsborough to Clearwater beaches will be a monument to your efforts.