Daily Loaf

For those of you that think we are not on a road to rationing with a government run health care program then please explain this recent study on breast cancer screenings (done by a government task force) uh-huh. What, no Boob Czar yet? The government group recommends waiting longer to start getting mammograms and more time in between each one. Even some big name liberals are having a hairy about what this study suggests. And the American Cancer Society doesn’t agree either! Is it disturbing to anyone else that according to this article the task force did not include any oncologists or radiologists that examine mammogram or biopsy results? WTF?

Read the rest of this entry »

Senator Mike Bennett-R of Bradenton, the politician that brought us SB360 [the bill that reversed what little growth management Florida did have] wants to increase term limits for state and local politicians to 12years. Aghhhhh……Nooooooooooo! I don’t think we can’t afford more time with State Senator Mike Bennett (or local officials like County Commissioner Ken Hagan for that matter!) In addition to repealing what little growth management Florida had, Bennett also introduced this bill to ban impact fees for developers. Yep, another Republican peddling developer welfare. Somehow, at least in Florida, many seem to have forgotten that fiscal conservatism is supposed to be one of their good points. Many state and local “conservatives” happily give financial help to developers and send the rest of the taxpayers the bill. Can’t sell your house? Don’t like sitting in traffic on congested roads? You can thank Mr. Bennett for his efforts to make that worse here.

CL contributor George Niemann and I had the misfortune of seeing Mr. Bennett in action recently when he was a panelist at the Sarasota Tiger Bay discussion on Florida Hometown Democracy (FHD). FHD is amendment 4 on the 2010 ballot that if approved by voters will give all of us a say in how Florida grows instead leaving it up to our local puppets for developers.…. ooops, I mean elected officials. The panel was supposed to have two panelists in favor of FHD and two panelists against FHD and they also had one “neutral”guest. (uh-huh) Interesting to note that Mr. Neutral sounded very much like the Chamber mouthpiece who was against FHD. It was later revealed that Mr. Bennett (also a panelist against FHD) was the one who had suggested that Mr. Neutral attend that day (shouldn’t Tiger Bay be more careful?) And another interesting note was that Mr. Neutral whose name is David Klement, had been recently appointed to the embattled PSC by the Peep’s Guv. Not related to FHD just interesting. I noticed Mr. Bennett also used to sit on the nominating council for the PSC according to his webpage. I wonder if Bennett nominated any of these characters now under fire for being a little too cozy with those they are supposed to regulate? McMurian (who recently resigned)  was appointed in 2006 by then Governor Jeb Bush and Mr. Bennett was on the nominating council in 2006 according to his webpage so he could have. Doing research for this post I stumbled upon this article about the dark scandalous past of the PSC that reads just like a mob movie so good luck with that position Mr. Klement! And now back to the discussion at hand.

Bennett sure wasn’t shy at showing his contempt toward opposing panelists that day. In fact, he was downright rude. You would think a politician might at least fake some manners but I guess you have to give him credit for being real. I only hope he acts that way on his next campaign trail. Oh, and he tried to paint FHD as Socialism. (uh-huh). Ummm, Mr. Bennett, letting the people decide for themselves whether you or your developer friends should get to build a strip mall in a cow pasture is not Socialism. Asking them to pay for the impacts to the community that the strip mall would cause instead of making the developers building the strip mall do it……………like your bill SB360 does, seems way more like Socialism to me. Try to come up with something better at the next debate, huh?

There are arguments to be made for and against term limits but the thought of any more of Mike Bennett’s anti-growth management bills make him the poster child to decrease term limits if anything. The fact that his new bill now includes local officials is also horrifying (although they seem to get around it by jumping seats from their districts to at large seats so what does it matter?) Still the best solution to bad politicians is an educated public. Please do your homework Bradenton and don’t saddle the whole state with Mr. Bennett again! You too Hillsborough, please don’t saddle us again with Commissioner Ken Half Truth Hagan, Kevin the Pimpin Commish White or term limited County Commissioner Jim The Athletic Supporter Norman. Norman now wants to be a State Senator (after what seems like an eternity of  pushing sprawl down at County Center since he too jumped seats to avoid term limits). And before you make the argument that this bill would mean we get to keep our good officials longer, I already thought of that and in my opinion we don’t have enough good ones to make it worth supporting.

Graphic credit: George Niemann

I attended what I hope was the last meeting of the Cone Ranch Advisory Panel (not so affectionately known as C.R.A.P. by some activists) Monday morning. Recall the panel was set up by our County Commission ( BOCC ) at the request of Chairman Ken Hagan to recommend how best to preserve Cone Ranch and save it from development ( by entertaining the notion of  letting brokers sell it to private investors so they could subdivide it and develop it into six smaller parcels) uh-huh. In case you are just tuning in, Cone Ranch was already owned by the public (under the water utility) and it is already listed on our Comprehensive Plan as PRESERVATION (details, details). Those pitching the idea to Hagan and the rest of the BOCC were big time Republican donors (uh-huh).

After five meetings of the panel, the citizens and even some of the panelists were calling bullshit on this idea. The brokers (FCEG) abrubtly exited stage right citing what appears to be a water grab by Commissioner Jim Norman but let’s save that potential scandal for another day. Read the rest of this entry »

I hate to derail this vision of a choo choo in Hillsborough before the tracks are even subsidized but somebody besides the anti-rail crowd has to ask the tough questions. The MSM sure don’t seem to be asking many.

Peeling another layer off this proposed tax to help developers pay for roads pay for rail is disturbing. Recall my earlier concerns that this 1% sales tax (which is a 14% increase)  for “rail” was going in part to fund road widening projects that were already supposed to be paid for by developers. Our county government do something that sneaky, something that dirty, something that underhanded? We are in Hillsborough.

That gravy train list of “non-transit” projects to be funded by the proposed tax not only included one very controversial and not yet approved project, it also contained six roads already on the books to be widened by developers for their DRI approvals. DRI stands for development of regional impact or in simpler terms a big ass subdivision. Here is the stinky part: all six of them are from the same developer, Newland Communities. Of the six road projects, two are associated with Lake Hutto, two with Southbend and two with Waterset and all of these are from Newland! In case that doesn’t smell bad enough for you, one of the members of the Transportation Task Force (TTF) [ the group that came up with the non-rail gravy train list of recommendations for the referendum] is none other than Scott Jones, Vice President of Operations-you can see this one coming can’t you……..of Newland Communities! Yes, as a matter of fact, County Center always has that fishy smell.

Terry Flott, Chair of U-CAN, brought up this little detail (about the six DRIs) during public comment at the last BOCC meeting and when the board had the discussion on the referendum for more developer welfare oops I mean “rail”, Commissioner Kevin Beckner asked staff member Lucia Garsys about it. She tried, quite unconvincingly I might add, to assure Beckner that developers would still have to pay their share. It just begs the question though: if developers are still to be held to their agreements then why put these projects on a list you are asking taxpayers to fund via a NEW TAX in the first place? And when pressed about the DRIs she relayed this to Beckner on the record: (my thoughts are in red)

>>LUCIA GARSYS: THE DEVELOPER PROJECTS WITHOUT THE –
GETTING TOO FAR IN THE WEEDS, DEVELOPER PROJECTS OFTENTIMES
PROVIDE MORE CAPACITY THAN THAT PROJECT CONSUMES, SO THE
BALANCE OF THAT IS PROVIDED IN IMPACT FEE CREDITS. (They get impact fee credits? If they “oftentimes provide more capacity” than needed then why are we billions behind in roads? Looks to me like just another form of developer welfare via the back door!)

Recall the current meager impact fees developers do pay puts taxpayers in the hole over $11,000 with every new rooftop that the Gang of Four approves. Yes, I told you it always smells that bad when you start sniffing around Hillsborough County government.

Also raising an eyebrow was the issue that Commissioner Higginbotham brought up about transparency during the rail discussion. The St. Petersburg Times mentions those shadows with this article. Higginbotham’s exchange during that meeting with County attorney Renee Lee (who CL contributor George Niemann has filed an ethic complaint against) is below:

AGAIN, IF WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS, WE NEED TO BE OPEN, WE
NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT, AND UNLESS THE COUNSELOR HAS
CHANGED HER MIND SINCE YESTERDAY MORNING, THE RESOLUTION OF
INTENT PROVIDES THAT CLOAK OF SECRECY AND DOES NOT ALLOW
THE PUBLIC TO SEE WHO WILL SUPPORT FINANCIALLY THIS EFFORT.
>>RENEE LEE: COMMISSIONER, THE RESOLUTION OF INTENT
EXPRESSES TO THE PUBLIC THAT IT’S THE INTENTION OF THE
BOARD TO PUT THE REFERENDUM ON THE BALLOT IN 2010.
>>AL HIGGINBOTHAM: RIGHT.
BUT MY QUESTION ASKED YESTERDAY, YES OR NO.
>>RENEE LEE: IT DOES NOT BECOME AN ISSUE UNDER THE
ELECTION LAW UNTIL THE BOARD PASSES THAT FORMAL LANGUAGE.
>>AL HIGGINBOTHAM: RIGHT.
>>RENEE LEE: SO THAT THERE ARE — THERE ARE ORGANIZATIONS
OR PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO MIGHT WANT TO SUPPORT THIS WHO HAVE
NO REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AT THIS TIME. (like who I wonder……maybe people or companies that stand to make a lot of money in county contracts if this is approved? And why not just word the motion differently to eliminate this? I don’t often get a chance to say this but it looks like Higginbotham was right on the money!)

A Daily Loaf reader brought to my attention that PB and HDR could be some of the silent backers of this proposal (Hat tip to David Boyett of Lithia for all the research he provided for this post) and also mentioned that HDR is responsible for doing a recent study with HART. Hmmmm, combine that with the fact that according to this article Mayor Iorio feels it is time for HART to take the lead on this plus the suggestion in that same article that says that HART will run the mass transit network and things start to take shape. According to this article PB Americas (who also seem to be know as Parsons Brinckerhoff) is also already involved in a study with HART on rail that looks like it is costing at least 2 million! Uh-huh, just wait and we will take a look at both HDR and PB and it isn’t pretty. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo credit: respres @ Flickr.com

Reporter Michael Van Sickler of the Times takes a look at the reasons for the area’s high  foreclosure rate in this article and explains that it isn’t just the banks approving risky loans and homeowners living beyond their means that are to blame. He notes that flippers and investors along with the help of local government may have contributed even more to our local housing bust.

The truth is that real estate speculators and revenue-hungry local governments bear just as much of the responsibility — and maybe more — for the collapse in the housing market.

And he switched yet another light on some of the expensive sprawl approval practices in Hillsborough County including approving huge subdivisions in rural areas along with waiving impact fees for developers.The numbers he offered are not pretty. He noted that 50,000 homes are still waiting to be built and he cites a 2006 county report that says waiving impact fees could cost the county 92 million. Recall my recent post showing that even when they do charge impact fees they don’t come close to covering costs and every new rooftop puts the county in the hole $11,000 with impact fees! But the fees were waived and the sprawl was still approved under the guise of increasing a tax base! Instead they created a shortfall of billions in roads alone.

Now our current officials think it would be a good idea if we increase our sales tax by 14% to pay for their past mistakes? That pig is still waiting for take off clearance kids.

Van Sickler also notes the relationship that the politicians voting to approve sprawl had with the late Republican power broker, Ralph Hughes:

Commissioners weren’t making their decisions in a vacuum. Powerful landowners and campaign contributors were pushing them to waive the fees. One was Ralph Hughes, a longtime Republican power broker.

Before he died last year, Hughes made himself rich selling building materials to developers. Among his customers: two of the large subdivisions that had their fees eliminated by commissioners.

Recall Hughes was a pardoned ex-felon that the majority of Commissioners later renamed the Moral Courage award after bringing Hillsborough local and then national shame. The Hughes name was recently removed from the award.

The Times article also named names of the past and even some current politicians responsible for approving that sprawl and many of them want your vote again for other positions. They include former County Commissioner now State Senator Ronda I hate gays Storms -R, County Commissioner Jim I hate gays more than Ronda but I love sprawl Norman -R (who is running for State Senate), former Mayor and possible candidate for Mayor again (and again) Dick Greco -D, as well as former County Commissioner, current City Councilman and now candidate for Mayor Tom Scott -D ( FYI – I did a quick search on the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections site and found that Hughes had contributed to Storms, Norman and Scott)

Remember what their past handiwork has done to our community, our traffic, our home values and our economic situation the next time you vote.

Photo credit: Anderson Mancini @Flickr.com

I have to give Commissioner Mark Sharpe credit for promoting alternative transportation options.  On its face, rail sounds like a good idea, but take a closer look at how our county currently operates and how we got here in the first place and that rail vision starts to blur.

Hillsborough County Commissioners put the county in the hole over $11,000 with every new rooftop they approve because they don’t charge adequate impact fees to developers. These figures came out in this 2007 report from the Planning Commission. As a result we are billions behind for things like roads.

What to do? They know! Ask us to tax ourselves to help pay for roads via a 1% sales tax for “rail” (of which only 37% really goes to rail). As my recent post pointed out, we wouldn’t be in this mess had this and past boards made growth pay for itself instead of shifting the burden to taxpayers to subsidize their developer welfare. Now they want even more of a bailout.

On the heels of their rail discussion Wednesday, commissioners had the chance to discuss the audit on impact fees (which are charged to developers to pay for transportation, parks, schools and fire). The audit was performed by the County Clerk’s office and presented to commissioners during their afternoon meeting. Some of the audit’s findings include:

Observation 1: The BOCC has not been assured that the impact fees were spent as directed by ordinance 96-29.

Observation 2: The current impact fee assessment for transportation, right of way, parks, and fire networks may not be covering a reasonable percentage of the cost of growth within the County.

But wait, there’s more:

Finding 1: The costs to administer the program are not fully funded by the impact fees.

Finding 3: Impact fees were incorrectly calculated and assessed.

Finding 4: Revenue from receipt of permitting fees could be lost or misappropriated.

To summarize, not only do they not charge enough to cover growth (or even the impact fee program itself), some of the money could be lost or misappropriated! If you attended or watched the meeting you wouldn’t know this because they didn’t even discuss it. Read the rest of this entry »

You probably already know that growth does not pay for itself and taxpayers are left holding the bill for things like roads, fire safety and parks despite what politicians would like you to believe. Impact fees should be funding these things, yet they don’t even come close. In fact, according to a recent audit done by the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office, they don’t even fund the program it takes to monitor them!

An audit to be presented to the Hillsborough County Commission on Wednesday had some disturbing findings including: (my thoughts are in red)

Observation 1: The BOCC has not been assured that the impact fees were spent as directed by ordinance 96-29. (WTF?)

Observation 2: The current impact fee assessment for transportation, right of way, parks, and fire networks may not be covering a reasonable percentage of the cost of growth within the County. (Ya think?)

Observation 3: The County’s Real Estate Dept does not charge a fee for their land appraisals. (Yet county staff suggests we should get an appraisal on Cone Ranch costing a fortune!)

Photo credit: .res @Flickr.com

Read the rest of this entry »

According to this article, many residents were surprised at the furlough days implemented because of the recent budget cuts down at the county. Hey, they have to pay for Commissioner White’s $500,000 sex trial and Pat Bean’s let’s give ourselves a raise award somehow, right? The additional upcoming furlough days are Jan 15th, April 2nd, June 18th and Sept 9th. (Sadly, none of those appear to be BOCC meeting days.)

Taking a handful of furlough days due to budget cuts doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it might be hard for commissioners to explain in light of the costs associated with Kevin White’s sex trial and County Administrator raises-for-my-friends attempt and one for herself too!

More disturbing to me was learning via the Planning Commission’s website ( in my opinion, the only objective planning agency in town) that they are now closed every Friday due to the absolute slashing that the BOCC did to their already lean budget.  So while the BOCC is supposedly getting behind this rail referendum, that one would think should include land use planning, our Planning Commission is crippled, having to close its doors to the public one day a week. Way to go, Hillsborough. Don’t worry, I am sure the Sports Authority is doing just fine with this year’s budget.

Commissioners should be ashamed at this development and citizens should be outraged at the way they spent tax dollars this year. And the County wants us to approve taxing ourselves for rail? Better start cleaning up their own back yard, because I think there might be some government trust associated with approving new taxes and let’s face it, that is not this county’s strong point.

You might remember in my latest post on Cone Ranch I thought it smelled kinda fishy that the Chair (along with our highly paid lobbyist) would have a private meeting with the campaign donors brokers, FCEG, who are pushing the sale of publicly owned land to private investors. A review of prior panelist meetings revealed that the Chair never got approval to from the rest of the panelists to meet on their behalf and I thought that seemed kinda sneaky.

Turns out one of the panelists themselves felt the same way. Below is a letter from Ms. Vivienne Handy to Edith Stewart, our highly paid lobbyist in charge of the Cone Ranch panel with her thoughts regarding the Chair, Heidi McCree and this private meeting. She also lists several other valid concerns in the letter. Chair Heid McCree is Commissioner Jim Norman’s appointee by the way.  And I gotta hand it to the Pimpin Commish, Kevin White for this one because Ms. Handy is his appointee to the panel. Looks like appointing her is the best judgment he has demonstrated all year. Thanks Pimpin Commish!

Here is Ms. Handy’s letter: Read the rest of this entry »

Well the advisory panel to evaluate a proposal to sell Cone Ranch (brought forth by County Commission Chairman Ken ‘Half Truth’ Hagan) is getting nowhere fast on just what should be done to protect the already preserved and publicly owned land.

This was the first panel meeting I have attended in person (they have had five) but I have been following them for you on the video on demand that the county provides. Most meetings have been filled with presentations from county staff, other agencies and even the big time Republican donors…er…… I mean the brokers behind this deal, leaving the panelists almost no time to discuss the actual task at hand and last Friday was no different. They once again reviewed mitigation banks, conservation easements and county staff plastered up more red tape regarding the bonds from the water utility and the water rights held by Tampa Bay Water (TBW).

Photo credit: *hoodrat* Flickr.com Read the rest of this entry »

You would think that when an elected body is proposing the idea to citizens to approve taxing themselves for something they might never even use that they would want to put their best foot forward. We are in Hillsborough though so keep your expectations low. Very low.

The upcoming ballot referendum question is very important to those true rail supporters in the county and how it is worded along with what other goodies are sprinkled on it to entice voters to approve it is very important its passage. I suffered through enough TBARTA meetings while fighting the bypass/beltway/green swath of death (or as TBARTA named it a “freight rail corridor”) to have learned while listening to many presentations on rail referendums that they almost never pass the first time they are on the ballot. Don’t worry, Hillsborough is out to make sure we are no exception.

Photo credit: jeffmcneill @Flickr.com

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, that bureaucrat watch is still on for embattled County Administrator Pat Bean but she is managing to stay afloat despite some very questionable activities. Since my last update on this even more issues have come to light: 1. She has a driver in spite of taking a car allowance  2. There seems to be no documentation of how her self given raise came to be (how convenient) and 3. Her former top aide, Wally Hill, has thrown her under the bus and said she gave herself the raise (recall she said she didn’t know who submitted her name for the raise award.) Uh-huh.

The Trib editorial board has called for an investigation and the Times has been calling for her head all along. Only Commissioners can clean this mess up (since Bean is not elected she is hired by the County Commission.) She is rapidly becoming the poster child for an elected County Mayor though. I was undecided on this issue or as Wayne Garcia once posed the question Seven knuckleheads or one? But at this point I am now in favor of an elected county Mayor or elected County Administrator whatever you want to call it. Read the rest of this entry »

As if giving double digit raises in an economic crisis to some of her faves wasn’t infuriating enough to taxpayers, it was recently revealed that County Administrator Pat Bean took an “award” herself. It was a 1% pay increase, really……..isn’t that a raise? The Internal Performance Auditor (IPA) uncovered this (after 300 hours of searching) and was professional enough not to send it to all of the Commissioners before it somehow got leaked to the press.

In her defense, Bean asked County Attorney Renee Lee if it was OK for her to accept the “award” and Lee gave her the green light. Guess who else took the raise award without the Board’s knowledge? Lee! The raise award in question was for saving the county money (isn’t that Bean’s job?) and according to this article it was designed for lower level employees (which is where Bean probably should be). Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first year I have really followed the county budget. While I have a lot of concerns about how politicians spend tax dollars I narrowed it down to the top ten for Thursday night’s final budget hearing. This is the message I delivered to the County Commission regarding my picks for wasting tax dollars:

10. $500,000 to study a rural section of Lithia Pinecrest which was not actually on any plans to be widened.

9. Cost of Pat Bean’s double-digit clandestine raises to some of her faves without your knowledge, including one employee without a college degree pulling in six figures.

8. Pat Bean’s raise to herself without your knowledge. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to another edition of “Can Hillsborough County Commissioners successfully preserve ‘preserved’ land?” Which, as it has unfolded, has actually turned into “Can Hillsborough County citizens successfully save publicly owned preserved land from the Hillsborough County Commission?”

Photo Credit: MariellaSmith at Flickr.com Read the rest of this entry »

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND; activist
Tampa Bay Water (TBW) could be slapped with some hefty fines for over-pumping ground water recently. They cited a drought and a cracked reservoir for breaking the rules on pumping limits. Anybody else think our elected officials have allowed too much growth without a thought in the world of how to quench the thirst of all these people? OK, they did think of dumping shit in the aquifer and in the river to increase our water supply, but other than that what have officials done to link water to growth? Nada. Read the rest of this entry »

We want to know who you think should pay for Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White’s indiscretions: The Pimpin’ Commish himself, Kevin White, or Hillsborough County taxpayers? The jury awarded his former aide $75,000 in a sexual harassment suit and the legal bills for her and the county are piling up.The bill is up to $500,ooo so far and you might be stuck with all of it. Vote in our poll and let us know who you think should pay.

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Photo Credit: wolfsavard at Flickr.com

Step right up! Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages anyone over 18. The circus comes to town again this Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., another three-ring event starring… The Pimpin’ Commish! The epic comb-over!  And one Brave Soul who can make other politicians fall silent just by turning up the sunshine!

But let’s turn the clock back and look at last Wednesday’s show, which may contain some hints about what we can look forward to on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND; activist
I was surprised to read Thursday that the meeting of County Commissioners regarding who will foot the bill for what could be nearly $500,000 of your tax dollars (for the financial mess in the wake of Commissioner White’s sex trial) would be behind closed doors. What? This board do something without the public involved? The initial assault on the wetlands comes to mind.

I really didn’t think that a meeting with more than one elected official from the same governing body was allowed to occur without public access according to the Sunshine Law, so I asked County Attorney Renee Lee. She quickly informed me that there is a provision  F.S. 286.011(8) that “allows the attorney to meet in private with the board to discuss pending litigation.” She went on to state that these meetings are often called shade or closed meetings or an executive session. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND; activist

Photo credits: MariellaSmith at Flickr.com

With scandals galore in Hillsborough County, I am a little late on updating you on the most recent Cone Ranch meetings. Recall the Cone Ranch deal was our County Commission bending over backwards at a questionable proposal to buy the publicly owned land by private investors. The idea was pitched to County Commissioners by their Chairman, Commissioner Ken Half-truth Hagan, R -Ridiculous, in order to “preserve” Cone Ranch. The brokers pushing the deal are big time Republican donors. Uh-huh.

After many months and several meetings I think they have finally established that a) The land is publicly owned, and b) It is already preserved, and c)  It wasn’t even for sale! I wonder how much that cost you in staff time from county employees? Here is a quick recap of what you missed at the August 14th meeting; I will cover the August 24th meeting in another post. Read the rest of this entry »

Since my last post on Commissioner Kevin “Pimp Daddy” White (where I thought it might be cheaper for taxpayers just to have paid for a hooker for the poor guy), I decided to do some research on what hookers in Tampa really cost. I thought they might get as much as attorneys (who charged the County $250 an hour to defend them in the case against White so far costing taxpayers $170,000). According to this article, I was wrong. These two prostitutes in the article offered services to officers for $150 and $100. So, lets go with the higher number for arguments sake.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND; activist

Photo credit: tom.arthur at Flickr.com

Good news: Not only do we NIMBYS and concerned citizens think that Commissioner Kevin Shovel-ready White should pack his bags, but both the Tribune and the Times are also calling for his resignation. If that doesn’t happen, then they think the governor should at least consider removing him.

White has cost taxpayers a fortune already since the county was also named in his sexual harassment suit. I heard back from the County Attorney’s office and was shocked to learn that the county was paying $250 an hour for their defense in this case. I don’t know what hookers make, but let’s just say they make the same as attorneys. By my calculations taxpayers could have bought Commissioner White a hooker for an hour a day for an entire year and still come in well under the $100,000+ that taxpayers are on the hook for so far. Read the rest of this entry »

In spite of pleas from environmental groups, local governments and bashings from editorial boards, Gov. Charlie Crist signed SB 360, effectively repealing Florida’s growth management, minus the usual ceremonial signing hype. Makes us wonder where he hid to sign the offending legislation … was it in a bathroom stall somewhere?

[About Daily Best of the Bay: Creative Loafing is posting writers' and editors' picks for Best of the Bay 2009 each day until the BOTB issue is released on Sept. 16. Vote now for your own BOTB choices in our Readers' Poll!]

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwalk628/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

I was very sad to read that Bob Hunter, the executive director for the Planning Commission, is retiring. In the short time that I have been paying attention, I have seen him stay strong in the face of constant verbal attacks and abuse ( usually from Commissioner Jim Norman), and I have seen back-door attempts to cripple his agency through state legislation (that failed).

Before I knew the difference between the county’s pavement-happy Planning and Growth Management Department and The Planning Commission, I attacked him myself via an e-mail when the Bypass mysteriously appeared in a Comp Plan amendment. Through it all he has always remained calm, professional, and the absolute epitome of a true gentleman.

It is Mr. Hunter who is responsible for our sensible Comprehensive Plan that is supposed to be the county’s bible for growth. If not for this plan there would be no urban service line that separates urban from rural areas. I know some of you are asking why do we have such sprawl and poor development patterns then? That is because Mr. Hunter and his agency do not have the final word on these decisions; that is left up to our elected Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). If we have a bad board that is controlled by developers then they often vote to violate our Comprehensive Plan. I have watched it happen many times over the past year. If we have a better board (or even a scared board) then I think this will improve. For now, starting Jan 1st, the county’s NIMBYs, activists, and concerned citizens have one more thing to worry about. Who will replace him? The recent movement of special interest groups disguised as planners, such as TBARTA and One Bay, are jockeying for the inside pole position in this horse race of development. The Planning Commission is this county’s last best hope for smart growth. I doubt anyone can fill Mr. Hunter’s shoes as it’s leader but I hope he can recommend someone!

Mr. Hunter is a giant in the planning world; he has guts, heart and does it all with a quiet calm, professional air about him that commands respect. Even when the dirtiest of shots are taken at him (because the developer driven commissioners hate it when the Comp Plan says no to sprawl) he always remains calm and responds objectively. He does stand up for the Comp Plan and has not tolerated the bullying by certain members of the BOCC. I applaud him for this and thank him for his service to our community. He will be missed. Thank You Mr. Hunter!

We don’t have enough water and our water management district Swiftmud has imposed tighter watering restrictions and is now prohibiting watering of new sod. We are in a drought so it is reasonable to think that tougher restrictions would apply. Other officials are also proposing a ban on the selling of fertilizer containing nitrogen in the summer months.

Credit: Editor B/flickr.com

So if there isn’t enough water for new sod and you can’t fertilize your old lawn, anybody else find it strange that Mosaic can still legally pirate 6 million gallons a day from the Alafia? Isn’t phosphate used for, ironically, making fertilizer? Seems to me like Big Phosphate can legally rape our environment and drinking supply while Swiftmud worries about sod.

Also disturbing is that officials don’t seem concerned about the water shortage when developers and their representatives are asking for rezonings to approve new rooftops. While the housing market is still in the shitter as far as building is concerned, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get huge tracts of land rezoned for massive future subdivisions appears to be in full swing.

I attended a Zoning Hearing Master (ZHM) meeting last week to speak in opposition to a rezoning proposal that could give the nod to more than 1,000 new rooftops. Much of the land in question is in the rural area (requiring the expansion of county water and sewer to allow development). In addition to the impact this would have on wildlife, preservation land, infrastructure or lack of it, did anyone address the water concerns? I didn’t hear any of the planning officials mention this as a criteria as they assured the Zoning Hearing Master that this ridiculous plan met the criteria in the newly amended Comprehensive Plan. Opponents to the plan were armed with information showing otherwise as the Planning Commission staff looked up the criteria again.

I usually have faith in the Planning Commission Staff but the representatives on this night were a huge disappointment. Residents speaking in opposition smacked this one out of the park and made the high-priced attorneys, professional planners and representatives look like fools.

We don’t know the recommendation of the zoning hearing master, Ms. Belflower, yet, but she seemed to be very detail oriented and I was pleasantly surprised at her intelligent questions (sadly, I was later informed that she just resigned … I wonder if it was due to Blair’s recent bullying during the vote on her job renewal this past October). Several activists at the meeting told me she was the best ZHM the county has … figures. After she makes her recommendations, the next stop is the County Commission. The new and improved Commission, so I hope commissioners think this is as foolish as concerned residents do.

This is where I usually tell you how to contact them but it is against the rules regarding a rezoning. To be able to speak at a public hearing you have to speak or turn in a letter at the ZHM, then you have to fill out more paperwork in a certain time frame to become a party of record, and then, and only then, can you speak at a public hearing in front of the BOCC regarding a rezoning. I visited the county’s website regarding zoning to find out the dates and process and I couldn’t find out. I did click on a .pdf file zhm-1 that has the info on the schedule and process for Nov. 2008 if you look long and hard enough.

You are not allowed to speak about a rezoning to a Commissioner unless it is during the public hearing. Of course this doesn’t apply to Comprehensive Plan Amendments and other public hearings just rezonings. NICE. If you want to attend and just sit in the audience, though, that would speak volumes. It is scheduled for Jan. 13 at the County Center, according to media reports.

Also worth mentioning is that when I was navigating the Swiftmud site, I looked up the governing board. I was horrified to learn that seven of the 13 members appointed by the Governor have direct real estate/development backgrounds and one other was a name I recognized from battling to save local wetland protections. Hugh Gramling, associated with the agriculture community, was trying to destroy Hillsborough wetlands protections … and he is on the regional water management board? Nice. That is eight out of 13, you do the math. I can’t imagine why water conditions don’t seem to be a part of the rezoning process. No wonder dumping shit in the aquifer is still on the table!

Would anybody dare whisper the only real solution to our future water needs? Limiting growth! How about letting voters decide on growth issues that will certainly drain our water supply instead of appointed boards and elected officials? I don’t want future generations to grow up drinking shit!

Oh, and if we ever did have enough water……could we ever learn store it safely?

I couldn’t believe reading about the stunt Blair pulled Thursday afternoon as he held a press conference to attack Kevin Beckner accusing him of campaign violations and threatening legal actions. Honestly, I would have been disappointed if he started showing any dignity or grace now but this was a new low, even for Blair. His words were absolutely despicable regarding his opponent Beckner. Also disturbing is that standing behind him during this meltdown was Hillsborough County Fire Chief Bill Nesmith and from the Sheriff’s office Col. Greg Brown. Ummm, aren’t these county employees? So what are they doing standing next to a political buffoon in uniform on the taxpayer’s time and the taxpayer’s dime? Didn’t look like the Fire Chief did a thing to put out the flames Blair was going down in.

I was almost sad that I missed the spectacle, but not to worry because Blair wasn’t done. I did attend the County Commission public hearing later that night on some of the proposed land development codes and spoke out in favor of better protection for residents regarding borrow pits. The good people of Balm showed up in force pleading for the County Commission to approve an amendment that offered them little (but still better than the current protection).

Among those people was Virginia Rutledge, 96, who’s charm and character I cannot accurately describe. She was speaking in support of the amendment that will not help her but will help the future neighbors of borrow pits. You know, I just couldn’t resist giving a little reminder to the board of the recent consequences of ignoring citizens in favor of special interests as I encouraged them to Step Awaaaay from the dark side. George Neimann of U-CAN was not as kind as he instructed the viewing audience to watch the board closely and take names. He then showed them the universal sign for We Are Watching You pointing two fingers towards his eyes and then back at the board as he sported a badge saying Gang of Five Four under it asking Who wants to be next?

This must have sent Blair into a tailspin because shortly thereafter Blair went on record berating citizens, calling them extremists and chanting his usual mantra of “if you live in a house, thank a developer.”

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While they don’t run the streets, the Gang of Five Four do run our county. Known for their environmental attacks, sprawl creation and developer-friendly wide stance, the Gang of Five has recently controlled the Hillsborough County Commission. That is, until its weakest link was picked off Tuesday by a citizen army fighting for a respectable candidate.

Kevin Beckner has beaten the incumbent Brian Blair!

The gang of 5 consisted of Blair, Norman, White, Higginbotham and Hagan. The board itself has seven members so while it still seems as if the gang will have a majority, the message sent on election day is certain to get through to even the dullest members remaining. The power of an unhappy constituency can still be greater than the dollars of special interest. Beckner and his troops have proven that.

Two other gang members were up for re-election but Hagan had only a questionable write-in and the other, Al Higginbotham, had unknown Pete Gifford to contend with. Gifford had almost no campaign contributions only $4,340 to Higginbotham’s $160,000+ yet he still garnered 30% of the vote without doing much of anything. That should send the message that if someone campaigned in earnest that Higginbotham is vulnerable.

While the war on this gang will probably continue, I have a feeling Beckner’s win might just sway a few of the gang votes in the direction of the community instead of over-developers in the near future. It might also convince them to take citizens a little more seriously instead of just disregarding those citizens willing to get involved. Just a hunch.

I read this recent article about acid mist from a Tampa chemical plant pissing off the neighbors and how the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) is deciding what to do about it. Hmmmm, I bet those citizens would be even more pissed off to know that the EPC board, which is one in the same as our County Commission, has canceled 40 percent of its meetings already this year! Yes, I said 40 percent!

I guess the more environment they pave over as the County Commission, the less environment they have to worry about protecting as the EPC. With the exception of Commissioners Mark Sharpe and Rose Ferlita, having the rest of this County Commission also sit as the Environmental Protection Commission is kinda like asking Rosie O’Donnell to guard the Twinkies.

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Looks like our water officials still have not flushed the idea of dumping shit in the aquifer. Tampa Bay Water told the BOCC last week it was still on the table (they called it aquifer recharge). I call it dumping shit in the aquifer.

Swiftmud is studying this idea at a cost of $500,000. I could have told them for free it’s still a bad idea… Read the rest of this entry »

I attended a BOCC meeting last week where a brave Eileen Hart, winner of the 1996 Moral Courage Award, gave her award it back during public comment due to that award’s recent name change. Ms. Hart was not loud or rude (although she sure had a right to be) as she explained why she was now returning it.

Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan tried to shut her up by repeating quickly and rudely “thank you Ms. Hart, thank you Ms. Hart,” as she plopped the award in front of him. It looked like he threw it down and the Times reported it was indeed thrown away and later retrieved from the trash. The bad press since then has been significant starting with the report that day on TBO. Wayne Garcia also reported on the subject.

Saturday was a grand slam of bad press for the morally challenged on the BOCC… Read the rest of this entry »

Judging by the comments at the end of this article in the Trib, everybody thinks it is a bad idea.

The article states the waste water that is evidently already dumped into rivers and bays would have to be treated to drinking-water standards before it could be put into the aquifer, which begs the question: Why not just use it for drinking water right after you treat it to be … drinking water?

Uh-huh, that is what I thought, because I am betting it isn’t truly drinkable at that point, but if any of you scientists or politicians want to prove me wrong then show up with a gallon of freshly treated shit and be my guest as you gulp it down. Read the rest of this entry »

In my opinion, the race for worst Hillsborough County Commissioner was virtually a five-way tie between Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Al Higginbotham, KevinWhite, and Brian Blair; but this latest stunt by Norman has him crossing the line in front by a hair (actually a double chin).

The announcement last week that Norman proposed changing the name of the Moral Courage award to include the name of the late political puppet-master/power broker Ralph Hughes had many people quite riled up … at least those who were not, ahem, influenced by Hughes. Read the rest of this entry »

A follow up on my post about the one horse town with no shortage of Jackasses, the verdict is in and the long ears win. Or at least it seems that way.

The Hickman City Council voted 4-2 NOT to adopt a new ordinance that would have grandfathered in old Peter Rabbit, 32, allowing him to live out his days in the pasture where he was born. All that national attention for the town of Hickman and it only swayed one more vote over to the horse. Their contact now button is up and working when I tried it recently and I kindly gave them my thoughts on the issue — kindly.

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Yep! Here are the stats: 16,462, to be exact. Blair has tried to kill our local wetlands regulation (as the chairman of the EPC), he has launched an attack on gays and he thinks the monkeys escaped from MOSI and evidently he has over 16,000 people who agree with him. Welcome to Hillsborough. At least he will face Kevin Beckner in the general election who won handily among Dems last night. Also of interest is that Hagan (who votes like Blair, only refraining from actually speaking………..maybe that is a blessing) was elected by 3,000 more votes than Tom Aderhold in District 2, a race where only 8,000+ voters weighed in total. A last-minute write-in blocked Dems and Independents from voting in that race excluding some 110,000+ voters………. so a handful of people have just sentenced the whole county to four more years of this puppet for special interests.

One can only hope that people will educate themselves before November!

Yet another post for the WTF category. Florida Hometown Democracy, the citizen’s initiative to let voters dictate growth, has suffered yet another blow on it’s way to the ballot. Not much detail found in this article regarding FHD other than Judge Kenneth Marra said that the case landed in the wrong court.

How come he couldn’t figure that out while the case was being heard and why didn’t the court figure this out before it was heard and sent to the appropriate district? The case was heard on Aug. 6 and this news was released on the 12th. Meanwhile time is ticking away with respect to getting it on the November ballot.

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Honestly, I was incensed when I read this article: A small one-horse town in Nebraska named Hickman wants its one horse gone. Looks like the town grew up (and got re-zoned) around this old horse, Peter Rabbit, 32, who was born there. Now the City Council wants to enforce the laws that prohibit livestock since it appears there is no grandfather clause to protect old Peter Rabbit. His owner, Harley P. Scott, 76, says the horse is too old to move and just wants him to live out his days on the same pasture he was born in well before the ordinance banning livestock was created. Only 4 acres remain of the once 40 acre farm, which by the way, should be plenty to house one horse.

Being a horse owner myself (who recently had to say goodbye to a 30+ year-old best friend) plus the constant fighting with our own County Commission to keep our neighborhood rural, this story pulled at my heartstrings (and yes, I have one). I found Hickman’s city council website, where the home page is taken up with their version of the Peter Rabbit Story. I clicked on the contact us button to give them a little input from Lithia but it has been “temporarily disabled”. Guess there are no shortages of cowards in Hickman, either.

I couldn’t help but notice their vote on this issue was 5-1 against the horse. That sure sounds familiar to those of us battling growth issues here at home. Wake up, Hillsborough! This could be us very soon if the sprawl is allowed to continue and if the majority of our board consists of mere puppets for the development community.