We had a very long conversation and I told him I would send him an email summarizing our conversation. I also mentioned that I would be sharing my email with others.

(Crist has introduced a bill in the state legislature banning the use of retreaded tires on Florida highways – Ed.)

A copy is shown below. As I stated at the end of my email, the ball is now in their court.

Harvey Brodsky/TRIB

Copy of TRIB’s e-mail to Bradley Rawls

Brad,

I enjoyed our telephone conversation and I very much look forward to further conversations with Senator Crist or representatives from his office regarding the problem of tire debris on Florida highways.

As I mentioned, it is NOT incumbent upon the Tire Retread Information Bureau to publish a statement informing the public that Senator Crist knew his proposed bill (S912) to ban retreaded tires on large trucks on Florida highways would not be passed. Rather, I believe this is his obligation since words have meanings, and although he may have known that his bill would not be passed, any reader of the bill would have to be a mind-reader to know the bill was going nowhere.

Therefore, although I do intend to send copies of this message to our Board of Directors and selected others, we will NOT put out an official TRIB news release stating that the bill was never intended to be passed.

As we discussed, I believe a much better approach would have been – and still would be – to call for a Task Force made up of representatives from the tire, retread, trucking industries and associations, as well as representatives from various Florida government agencies (Highway Patrol, Department of Transportation, etc.) to discuss the problem of tire debris and explore ways to help reduce the problem through education and possible other methods. Speaking for the TRIB, I stand ready to meet at a time and place mutually convenient for all parties to begin the discussions.

Although I cannot speak for our sister associations, I am fairly certain they would agree with my position and would be happy to participate.

During our conversation you stated that the FedEx package we send had never been received. Upon checking, we found that the package was indeed delivered to your office on Jan. 29. We will be happy to send another package if it has been misplaced, but we do ask that you check first and let us know.

As the saying goes, the ball is now in your court. We look forward to hearing from you and/or Sen. Crist.

Best regards,

Harvey Brodsky

Managing Director

Tire Retread Information Bureau/TRIB