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Who said that?
Florida's quote of the day
"Even if he was carrying out bags at a Publix market, you could relate to that, because people used to do that."
Bob Graham, who died Tuesday at 87, left a legacy of legislative accomplishment across Florida during his nearly 40-year career in state and national politics.
Some of it can still be seen in Tampa Bay.
As a state senator in 1972, Graham authored a bill empowering the state to purchase environmentally sensitive land for managed growth and conservation.
A decade later, he was governor when the state completed its years-long acquisition of more than 400 acres on Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, allowing for the creation of Honeymoon Island State Park.
He personally accepted the final deed from the city in a ceremony highlighted by a pipe and drum corps.
Legislation on managed growth and planning that Graham backed in the ‘70s and ‘80s proved prescient given the development on the horizon across Florida, former Pinellas County Commissioner Steve Seibert said.
Whether it was his background as a developer or his formative years in fast-growing Miami, Graham had an idea of what might be coming to areas like Pasco and east Hillsborough counties, and pushed for more state oversight of how Florida evolved.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times
