Bill Varian writes about Hillsborough County government and politics. He joined the Times in 1999 as a crime reporter in Citrus County after five years of writing about growth-related issues and city hall for the Tallahassee Democrat. A 1990 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., he also has worked at newspapers in Augusta, Ga., and Burlington, N.C. Between school and his first news gig, he had a bartending job that required him to dress like a monk. He lives in Tampa.

Phone: (813) 226-3387

E-mail: varian@tampabay.com