Daily Loaf

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 »

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 »

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 »