Christine Miller had some heavy homework over the weekend: reading through Hillsborough County’s $9 billion budget, which county commissioners take up later this month. And they’ll do it with Miller as their newest member, and a surprise one at that. “It’s sitting on my kitchen table,” Miller, 52, told the Tampa Bay Times.
“Some light reading.” It’s been a whirlwind in county politics: Miller, president and CEO of the Plant City Chamber of Commerce, was already running in a busy countywide commission race. In June, board member Michael Owen, whose east and south county district stretches from Plant City to Apollo Beach, for the state House.
Miller quickly switched to the race to replace him. His abrupt departure left the board, which tilted Republican with four GOP members to three Democrats, at a 3-3 split. Then Gov.
Ron DeSantis appointed Miller, a self-described conservative Republican, to fill the seat until the November election. So what will her personality be on a board already full of them? “I’d like to think I’m a collaborative leader. I’m definitely interested in consensus building,” she said.
“I’m willing to learn from those who’ve been there before, but I shouldn’t be underestimated.” Miller, who’s been meeting her new colleagues, said her work style is that if she commits to something, she’ll get it done: “If the toilet needs to be scrubbed, I’ll do it,” she said. She grew up in Land O’ Lakes.
Her father worked for .
