Tony Knox is a character. He has run for governor twice. He speaks his mind.
But mainly, he shines shoes.
Lots and lots of shoes.
He had a gig at the Tallahassee airport for more than a decade in the 1990s and 2000s before his contract wasn’t renewed.
The 72-year-old has shined the shoes of Jeb Bush and countless other politicians, lobbyists and members of the process. He’s worked the League of Cities convention every year since the year Ronald Reagan left office.
And last year, he tried to get back into the Tallahassee airport to provide his services to the members of the process and other businesspeople who fly in and out of town.
But Knox ran headlong into a lack of creativity and flexibility that have contributed to TLH being the most expensive airport in the country.
Knox spoke with a lot of Tallahassee leaders about this – from commissioners to City Manager Reese Goad and finally Airport Director David Pollard, who asked to see a picture of what his stand would look like.
The response from Pollard: it doesn’t match our new airport design.
“He didn’t like the stain on the wood,” Knox said. “He told me that have a beautiful airport and that the stand looks too bad. But they wouldn’t even tell me what they wanted the stand to look like.”
Knox sent him the picture, which you see as a part of this story.
Knox then asked if the airport wanted to design its own stand, but was told they couldn’t afford to do it. A recent piece in Red Tape Florida revealed that the airport has $1.5 more in revenue than expenses, with the excess shuttled off to the fire services fund or other unnamed general funds.
Knox says the typical shoe stand costs a couple hundred dollars to construct. “The chair costs more than anything else,” he said. “You’re basically just building a small porch with one step.”
But apparently the airport wanted something much grander and more expensive that would match TLH’s marble-heavy aesthetic.
Knox doesn’t know about all of that – he just wants to work and meet people, and perhaps most importantly, train new workers.
“Tony Knox isn’t going to stay there and shine shoes all day,” Knox said. “I teach a person how to work. I’ll teach you how to present yourself and shine shoes. Most people don’t even know how to talk to people.”
Ryan Cohn, EVP and partner at Sachs Media in Tallahassee, has been a Knox customer and proponent of independent airport governance. He says Knox’s story is another example of the missed opportunities that hold the airport back.
“Imagine if our airport actually felt like Tallahassee,” Cohn said. “Before your flight, you could sip a Lucky Goat latte while getting a shoeshine, browse local books from Midtown Reader, and buy handmade candy from Lofty Pursuits. That’s the kind of experience people remember.”
“But that takes vision,” Cohn added. “Instead, we got an airport bar named after Monroe Street.”
For his part, Knox says he isn’t giving up.
“I just want to shine shoes,” he said.