Fix it now

The citizen’s initiative to take growth decisions out of the hands of politicians and give the decisions to voters is fighting back get on the ballot this November. The group remains a few thousand verified signatures short of having enough to be on a ballot, a predicament it blames on ” a hostile Legislature, well-heeled corporate opposition, erratic counting procedures by supervisors of elections, questionable emergency rules from the secretary of state and inexplicably blasé (or non-existent) news coverage.”

What exactly is Florida Hometown Democracy? Basically, it is telling our elected officials that they suck and we no longer give them the right do make growth decisions for us. Sounds like the American way on the surface: Citizens — fed up with politicians who are permanently bent over for big developers with no regard to the environment or our quality of life — start a grassroots petition drive to get an initiative on the ballot. Get enough signatures and, bingo, citizens get to decide if they want to continue to trust the politicians or if they would rather have vote directly on land-use decisions.

FHD gathered the required number of signatures (and then some) and turned them in. Not so fast, said the building lobby (and the politicians that they buy up easier than rural land). The excuses made by the state for not putting it on the ballot were pathetic and seemed downright dirty. FHD did not give up and is now in court to decide whether it will make the ballot.

Opponents of the initiative say it will stop growth … NOT TRUE.

Growth is dictated by local governments’ Comprehensive Plans and will continue as those allow. What Hometown Democracy does is gives the power to decide on whether that plan is AMENDED to citizens. For example, that Comp Plan hearing I attended last week where 6 of our 7 Hillsborough County Commissioners voted to increase densities in rural areas — against the Comp Plan and against the advice of the Planning Commission thus creating more sprawl — I would have had an actual vote on that and so would you!

Only Commissioner Rose Ferlita voted against violating our Comp Plan. Team Sprawl (Jim Norman, Brian Blair, Al Higginbotham, Kevin White,  Ken Hagan and — I am sad to report— Mark Sharpe) voted to violate it, making the perfect argument FOR Hometown Democracy. This isn’t about stopping growth; it is about stopping special interest, out-of-control growth. It is about telling our politicians that they clearly can’t be trusted so we will do it ourselves, thank you.

In my opinion, this is the best chance of saving what we have left of Florida for future generations to enjoy. I believe if the referendum is passed, our grandchildren will have Ms. Blackner, who started Hometown Democracy, to thank for saving Florida from certain demise (unless you live here for the concrete). She is a fearless competitor against a mountain of developers and their sea of politicians.

What can you do? Support Florida Hometown Democracy by signing the petition and spreading the word. Vote to approve it in November, providing the courts do the right thing and actually put it on the ballot.

I was unable to attend last week’s EPC meeting in defense of our wetlands but I did tune in to catch the end of it. I was very impressed with my fellow citizens as they fought for our environment and held our elected officials accountable for it to the dismay of developers. Seeing them in action is always inspiring, but in addition to their regular performances, there were a few I didn’t expect. As the motion by Commissioner Rose Ferlita to approve the staff recommendation was made and seconded by Commissioner Mark Sharpe, Commissioner Jim Norman jumped in and started to push for the staff to work on classifying the wetlands. This is something that the staff, the advisory committee, and the citizens were on record as AGAINST, yet the developer community wants it. Commissioner Brian Blair seemed like he was going to make a second motion to include this and tried to take his cues from Norman but fumbled.  Sharpe boldly intercepted Norman’s attempt to weasel this directive to staff and even EPC director Dr. Garrity showed a hint of a backbone as he told Norman that the staff was against classifying the wetlands. Blair, still looking like a deer in headlights (after it has been hit), finally just comes out and asks to hear Norman’s opinion but does not end up making a second motion. The staff’s and citizen’s recommendations passed unanimously and even though Norman and Blair voted for it their comments indicated to me that it was not because they wanted to. November is good for this county and so is public awareness.

So, kudos to  Sharpe for taking a stand and not allowing Norman to bully the staff. Thanks to  Ferlita for making the motion in the first place, and Commissioner Norman……….you might want to try clicker training with Commissioner Blair……it seems to work for dog trainers. Blair was still speaking when Commissioner Al Higginbotham adjourned the meeting……..the camera was on just long enough to see everyone get up and leave while Blair still continued on.

What can you do? Stay informed and get out and vote.

I know we have 10 categories to choose from in Fix it Now and usually my posts fit nicely under transportation or suburban sprawl but this one really needs another category, WTF will probably do it.

Boy, just a few short days to celebrate the death of the Bypass/ Green Swath of Death and then I read the July 1 front page of the Trib showing the cracks in the reservoir. Great, so I won’t have a road destroying my community but now I might need to don my scuba gear to get out to the barn. Tampa Bay Water (who look to me like the TBARTA of water with their regional board) are saying that the reservoir is safe (yeah and their inspectors said they had 12 inches of cement when it turns out there is only actually 3 in some places). Hmmm, claiming to have 12 inches while really only sporting 3…………. seems to me that overestimating how well-endowed the reservoir is could be disastrous. When it comes to holding back 15 billion gallons of water, I think size probably does matter and oh yeah, taxpayers paid for 12 inches! This photo is from last year’s report that I found on their website, so they have known about this for some time.

When we first heard these rumblings last year we were told everything is fine, and not to worry our pretty heads about it. I was busy fighting a road at the time and Ronda Storms said in the paper she would take care of it. (hey, give me some credit here for not making a comment about Storms). After reading the most recent article about the cracks, I contacted some of our BOCC (Commissioners Higginbotham and Sharpe are on TBW). Mr. Johnson, Higginbotham’s aide, replied promptly via e-mail and gave me some information about the reservoir. Mr. Johnson explained that the soil-cement was a less expensive alternative than other options such as rip-rap. He also made me aware that it was “essentially recycled material” since the native soil from the excavation was used. (Not a good case for recycling but I give him an A for effort on that one). He also provided parts of David Carrier’s June 20th report and describes Carrier as the state expert from FDEP on dams and reservoirs. Carrier reports his findings from the consultants Black and Veatch who are excavating the test pits. Here are the parts of his report that scare me: the B and V folks found seepage/erosion conduits in the soil beneath the geotextile. The diameter of the conduits varies from several about 8 inches; and they “evidently meander beneath the soil cement.”

Evidently meander? Hey, I am not a scientist or engineer but evidently meandering past the layer that of geotextile that is supposed to be keeping the water out of my neighborhood does not make me feel safe. It gets worse he is later quoted in the report: “In one of the conduits a tape measure could be pushed to a length of 12 feet, but presumably it extends even farther.” Presumably? How much money does this guy get paid to presumably inspect the reservoir that evidently has some meandering holes underneath the cracking surface? These types of descriptions from an expert beg the question………… Is he inspecting crack or smoking it? As you can probably tell, I wasn’t feeling too confident about this guy when I read the end of his report “In particular, the geomembrane deep in the embankment has not been breached and the safety of the dam has not been compromised.” Um……Mr. Expert, how long before those 12 ft (but presumably farther) conduits extending beneath the geotextile meander even farther? What happens when the dam has 15 billion gallons of water in it instead of just under the 4 billion gallons that it is holding now?

Why should you care especially if you don’t happen to live in rural Lithia? Because your tax dollars built this cracking mess and it is costing a fortune to fix it. After reading Wayne’s recent article on Ralph Hughes, concrete mogul, and his ties to 6 of our 7 current county commissioners I am surprised they couldn’t at least get us a deal on real concrete.

My question is how far does 15 billion gallons spread if the reservoir is completely breached? Can anybody presumably guess just how far that water will meander if it breaks through the rest of the barriers? TBW is proposing to put another reservoir out here. I say NO. Why should one little corner of the region assume so much of the risk for all the counties (Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas) that TBW supplies to? The land surrounding the current reservoir will be for hiking, biking and horse trails and it is scheduled to be opened next spring. This sounds great but adding another reservoir would decrease the land available for this and certainly increase the risk they have already imposed on our community.

TBW needs to FIX IT NOW but the question is how? The pictures in the Trib show them patching up the visible cracks where the reservoir is dry but I wonder how they patch those cracks underwater and how do they fix that tunneling that is described outside the cracks and in the mound itself? You can contact TBW here and ask them. You can contact our BOCC here and let them know if you have concerns. Mr. Johnson assured me that Commissioner Higginbotham will continue to monitor the reservoir very closely and remains committed to ensuring the safety and continued operation of the reservoir. I do hope that is the case but if living in rural Lithia has taught me anything it is that citizens need to pay attention and look out for ourselves.

UPDATE: Since this was submitted I heard back from Eric Larson, Commissioner Mark Sharpe’s aide.  I have found him to be accommodating and helpful anytime I have a question or request.  He provided me with more information (in the linked .pdf) regarding the structure itself and assures me that the safety of the dam has not been compromised.  He provided contact information to TBW and suggested I attend the next TBW Board Meeting on August 18 in Clearwater and put my concerns on the record.  I did email TBW on July 3 regarding this issue and have yet to hear back from them.  I also questioned what they were filling the cracks in with since it looked like real concrete and not soil-cement to me in the pictures.  Mr. Larson informed me it was grout cement.

I also heard back from Mr. Johnson who expressed confidence in the state inspector.  They both harped on the fact that the soil-cement is not what is holding back the water it is just a wave-attenuation (so I could have been surfing in Lithia if not for this wave-attenuation device?) and that the cracks have nothing to do with the integrity of the structure.  It is the “evidently meanders beneath the geotextile” part that is scary to me.  I am glad that I am a good swimmer just in case that meandering continues.

You probably know by now that I am not TBARTA’s biggest fan. When I was in Tallahassee earlier this year I stopped by Governor Crist’s office to try to tell him about my concerns but he was out. Anyway, I signed his book and said in it that I had concerns with TBARTA. I later wrote to Gov. Crist before he approved the budget to let him know I OPPOSED the state funding TBARTA. I outlined my concerns and asked him not to fund the agency at this time. He later approved their funding despite my opposition.

Here is the funny part - I recently received an e-mail from one Aundra Bryant from the office of the Governor. Charlie thanked me in the e-mail for taking the time to write to him in SUPPORT of the appropriations for TBARTA and proudly proclaimed that he signed the act that would support them. I was not the only one, as two others in opposition informed me they received the same letter back as I did thanking them for their support. Way to keep your finger on the pulse of the people Governor. This inability to differentiate opposition vs. support could explain a lot!

What can you do? Sorry no suggestions this time as I am still shaking my head and rolling my eyeballs.

 Well, it is finally over. After more than a year of fighting with local and now regional government officials, the ill-conceived Green Swath of Death, Bypass, Beltway, Sprawlway, and most recently “Freight rail Corridor” that would have cut through rural and preservation lands in Hillsborough bringing with them certain sprawl, is finally dead. TBARTA voted Friday morning to go with the recommendations of the revised Master Plan that does not contain Corridors C or D on Map 8. George Niemann of U-CAN delivered the eulogy during public comments, and I couldn’t resist dressing in all black for the occasion.

Lies, conspiracy theories and loss of government trust are all things that came with this experience of fighting the Swath. Massive citizen opposition has killed this idea many times over, including an EAR amendment, the BOCC, the South County Transportation Plan, and finally the MPO Needs Assessment Map. That is a lot of funerals, but it was dead at the county level.

TBARTA is regional, and for some reason it thought it would be appropriate to resurrect the Swath. So, should we have ever had to wage this war in the first place? No. The good news is that the power of the public prevailed in spite of the hidden agendas, political motives, and the powerful developers that wanted to make this road a reality. Mr. Neimann asked TBARTA to please nail the casket shut this time. Maybe now they can get on to finding transportation solutions where people already live……..INSIDE the URBAN SERVICE AREA.

Here is an interesting note……..before the final vote to approve the map with the remaining routes, commissioners, appointees on the board, and mayors spoke up about specific lines that did or did not make it to the next phase. They noted the actual placement of lines, some because it would never work and others because they don’t see the exact alignment they want,and this goes on for quite some time. I have attended the last three meetings, and I found it funny that I haven’t heard them speak out about this before now with the exception of Commissioner Nora Patterson of Sarasota, who is not shy about protecting her community. In other words, turns out - they are all just a bunch of NIMBYs like me. Finally, Patterson makes an amendment to the motion that includes everyone’s concerns regarding the remaining lines. (I know you are dying to know if our Hillsborough representative, Commissioner Ken Hagan, said anything about our county……………he wasn’t there). Mayor Pam Iorio gave them a lashing for their maps, though, since she didn’t see the part of the Tampa Rail line she wanted. Bob Clifford of FDOT assured her that it was there.

Oh and there is more promising news. Chairman Shelton Quarles, former Buc, knew where the meeting was this month, and there were two great presentations given by agencies in our county (I can’t believe I just said that). Was I just so excited that the Swath was removed that I actually enjoyed these presentations? No. Over the last year I have suffered through many presentations at the BOCC, the MPO, the Planning Commisson, TBARTA, and community meetings, so I know a good one when I see it, and these two were both excellent on Friday. The Hillsborough Aviation Authority gave a great presentation on how it is  ready for mass transit. Ray Chiaramonte of the MPO also gave an excellent presentation of Hillsborough’s plans for mass transit. Both presentations showed me that our area has done their homework with respect to their plans. I hope TBARTA will do the same.

I hope this is my last post about the Swath. What can you do? Go out and celebrate!

Remember when TBARTA came out with its proposed maps with routes C and D on Map 8 (aka the revisitation of the Green Swath of Death bypass highway)? It made about as much sense as the county proposing to give away our land use and transportation planning to special interests………NONE!

Recall I asked the question several months ago about a red dot (listed as a major employer) in the middle of the Green Swath just as it made the 90-degree turn to the east. That turn now avoids plowing over my neighborhood but still appears to bisect a state park. Who is employed there at that mysterious red dot, I asked in April……..a Park Ranger? Even though the map was vague and didn’t show environmentally sensitive lands or parks, it looked to me as if it was right in the middle of a state park!

Well, TBARTA has new and sort of improved maps on their website that now depict parks. Right where that red dot was claiming to be a major employment center…………is indeed …….A STATE PARK! If this confirmation wasn’t so sad I might tout I TOLD YA SO but I will refrain. You can see the other State Parks, wetlands, and environmentally sensitive lands these two corridors would destroy. I wonder how much this effort cost the state since FDOT provided the technical support and created these maps for TBARTA from a regional needs assessment study earlier this year.

Here’s the before and after versions of Map 8:

The good news is that now TBARTA, the regional transportation authority, is suggesting that both lines — which would destroy rural and preservation areas, bring with them unwanted sprawl and, oh yeah, have public opposition — be removed. Ya think?

In the meantime, looks like the Green Swath is sporting a new summer dress as she has gone from Green to Orange, and the Purple leg of the green swath of death is now Blue. Note to TBARTA: We can fill in the blank for whatever color you choose for your ill-conceived Swath of Death and calling it the Sprawlway covers just about the whole color spectrum…………although sprawl is usually the anti-Green.

Both lines are Grey on the map that has them recommended for removal. So, is the Green Swath of Death finally dead? At the county level….yes. At the special interest level……..that remains to be seen.

TBARTA’s next board meeting was today up in San Antonio. You can click here for agenda details. Should I wear black for the Green Swath’s funeral or does proper protocol dictate that I at least wait until the time of death is officially announced?

What can you do? Write to TBARTA and tell its leaders what you think. If you agree with those who want to protect what is left of rural and preservation lands then feel free to send in our letter from R-LAND. We made it easy for you. It goes to TBARTA, our BOCC, our MPO and our Gov. You can access it here.

Our Planning Commission recently proposed a Visioning project to our Hillsborough County Commission. In a nutshell, this would consist of coordinating land use with transportation planning. Historically, transportation drives land use; just drive along any toll road plopped down in an area that was previously rural in this state and you can see the Monopolyesque houses stacked up on either side of it — we call this sprawl.

Planning land use with transportation seems to make good sense. What doesn’t make good sense is handing over a project like this to a public-private partnership like One Bay, whose private business supporters could certainly benefit from its planning outcome. Yet this is what our County Commission was ultimately proposing. I got on One Bay’s website and clicked on to the Smart Growth button and, not so ironically, the first two articles listed that day were about toll roads.

Our County Commission has been accused of being blind to having a balanced vision for Hillsborough’s future, and sadly, they have proven this again and again. They denied the Planning Commission $100,000 it sought for its Visioning project. (which, by the way, had been allocated to it last year and lost on a technicality). Commissioner Mark Sharpe’s recent commentary suggested that One Bay be a part of the of this Visioning project along with the Planning Commission. To his credit, he tried to give it to the Planning Commission alone on two other occasions, but the rest of the boys on the board weren’t buying. I suspect that is because the Planning Commission is the only objective agency we have in this county that promotes smart growth and discourages sprawl.

In an effort to compromise, Sharpe suggested the Planning Commission work with One Bay since One Bay already had a vision. Why were we NIMBY’s, informed citizens, and activists so opposed to this? Because we know how developers can hijack a project and felt what little voice we do have would certainly be overshadowed by special interests. If I recall correctly, One Bay’s big claim to fame, Reality Check, was an exercise with Legos that people had to be invited to. Does this seem conducive to public input? Evidently that is what they are assembling their Vision from. Sorry, I just can’t see it.

I am not opposed to everybody having a voice, but I and many others feel that the Planning Commission should take the lead in the project. Its staff serves this community with pride, ethics and integrity. They provide an objective, balanced approach, taking into consideration all views. They have proven to me that their recommendations are in the best interest of the community and not driven by any political bias or hidden agendas.

As we watched what we thought was the beginning of the end of citizen’s voices on March 6 as Commissioner Al Higginbotham made a motion to have the County Commission participate in One Bay’s technical advisory meetings (and he mentioned they had already paid One Bay a consulting fee!) and come back in 30 days. Mark Sharpe made a substitute motion (even though I attended the actual meeting and read the transcripts, I could not find a clear statement of the motion because it was never clearly made in my opinion. Here is the best summary I could assemble of Sharpe’s motion:) Have the county as the lead facilitator and bring the rest of the interested parties into the mix keeping the Planning Commission involved but not solely giving the lead to the Partnership. So as the activists, NIMBYS, and informed citizens sat like deer in headlights I wondered…………are we just gonna get screwed by Sharpe’s motion or are we gonna get REALLY screwed by Higginbotham’s motion? The vote was 5-2 the outcome? REALLY SCREWED. Rose Ferlita voted with Sharpe and the rest of the board with Higginbotham. Another 5-2 vote; we all could have guessed that. George Neiman, a UCAN director, was not given permission to speak in the morning session due to time constraints and had to wait all day to voice his opinion but only after the actual vote occurred. In true George fashion, he made the wait worthwhile as he presented our County Commission with pretty wrapping paper and a bow so that the county would look nice as they gave it away to the Tampa Bay Partnership.

Well, the beginning of April rolled around and since it was nearing the 30-day mark, many of us looked at the agenda to see if the BOCC would again address this issue. It was not on the agenda but then in the late afternoon on April 1 we were informed that indeed it was a part of the next day’s meeting. This was at the very last minute and many of us myself included cried foul because we did not make the arrangements to attend and there are rules about how things are added to the agenda and it certainly seemed as if they had been violated. After a lengthy discussion on the subject they finally voted to hold off another 2 weeks before voting on their plan of action. As luck would have it, before the next vote a lot of information would finally surface about One Bay.

Some digging revealed that One Bay was created by the Partnership and is listed as consortium of business and governmental interests. Hmmm. TBARTA was also spawned from The Partnership, and it has been charged with coming up with a transportation plan (that scares us). So if One Bay is given the VISION and TBARTA has been given the Transportation Planning, it seems the Partnership will be dictating growth in Hillsborough. I don’t recall the Partnership being on the ballot, do you? How will local voices be heard on a regional level and will they be heard at all since not all of the officials on TBARTA are elected some are appointed and One Bay was being marketed by Amy Maguire, a lobbyist with ties to developers. She is associated with former House Speaker John Thrasher, who was part of the campaign to kill Florida Hometown Democracy.

So even in a time of upcoming budget cuts we can’t afford not to have objective planning. We also can’t afford to give it away to private interests. The county planning staff also got tossed into the mix and are now involved as well. Sadly, I trust the county transportation staff even less than special interests considering my recent battle over the Green Swath.

Think that is the worst of it? Think again because recently a Trib editorial broke the story that not only was Maguire a lobbyist but she was involved with a land project with 20 landowners in south Hillsborough County who own about 90 percent of the undeveloped land there, and it is outside the urban service area and……. right about where that ever-famous Green Swath resides. Should she be given a lead in this VISIONING project by our county? No wonder the same Commissioners so opposed to the project when it was just the Planning Commission were happy to support the project when OneBay was asked to join.

Sadly our BOCC remains blind to a vision other than the one special interests are more than happy to create for them and they don’t even appear to possess 20/20 Vision in hindsight! It remains to be seen what the final outcome of this will be. Amy Macquire has since stepped down but I wonder how our BOCC will handle this one since they haven’t had a final vote on the issue yet. What can you do? Contact them and let them know how you feel about special interests creating our Vision. I did and told them I thought our Planning Commission was the only choice for the job especially in light of recent events. I also attended the morning session of the BOCC meeting on 4-16-08 because this item was on the agenda. It was a hot topic during public comment and although I signed up to speak I was not given permission due to time constraints (glad I wasted that time to attend and then proceeded to feel sick as I watched them bicker about our ELAPP land among other things). Anyway, the item in question was A-12 on the consent agenda and it read: Receive follow-up report to Proposed Conceptual Plan of Action to Begin Visioning in Hillsborough County. I would have never thought that this would include a continuation of the item so I was surprised to hear from Ms. Garsys of the county staff later explaining that to me. Someone should really inform Mr. Marchetti of this development………putting his last minute continuations on the consent agenda would really save those of us opposed to them a lot of time and energy.

I have to say that Ms. Garsys of the county staff has contacted me regarding this issue several times and is more than willing to set up a meeting about it. Not sure what more we would talk about yet other than the fact that I don’t want special interest planning our future (and I already emailed my comments to their website regarding a vision and you can too. She sent me a copy of the BOCC agenda for 5/7/08 and this time the visioning issue was a time certain item and again the county staff is requesting more time. They cite lack of citizen input and do note what little input they have had list concerns about ONEBAY. Part of their recommendations include regaining public trust. I think if our BOCC truly wanted to re-establish public trust they would give the Planning Commission the lead in the project because they have never lost public trust. One way not to regain my trust is to put staff member Ned Baier on this project but the county staff suggested he be involved at the April 2nd meeting. I tuned in to the meeting on May 7th and several of the Commissioners (Higginbotham, Sharpe, and Ferlita) went on record wanting the public to be part of the process and finally Commissioner Higginbotham asks Ms. Garsys if One Bay is running this program?

Ms.Garsys: No, it is our program.

Higginbotham: That’s all I wanted to hear. That’s right. I just wanted to make sure they were on the same page because that has been my mantra from the very beginning, that this is being powered by the county, the county commission, and the Planning Commission.

Ms. Garsys was asking for a continuation and they asked her if she needed a motion she said yes and a motion was made by Commissioner Higginbotham and seconded by Sharpe but nowhere in the transcripts could I find any conditions on the motion (like how long this is continued and is One Bay still a candidate to help lead this effort?) I emailed our BOCC and asked them if this meant they were completely divorcing themselves from One Bay regarding Visioning but I only heard back from Commissioner Higginbotham. He sent me the link to the transcripts and then stated in his e-mail “As you will read, I was very clear on my stand regarding the visioning process.. Comparing his quotes to the March 6th transcripts, I have to say it did not sound like the same mantra to me.

So is the BOCC finally heeding citizen’s requests not to give away our planning to special interests or is this more like a bad DRI rezoning with citizen opposition…………………just continue the hell out of it until finally nobody shows up and they can pass it without many people watching? I urge you to contact them and let them know you are watching.

I attended the TBARTA board meeting last week. If there is a hell, then suffering through one of those meetings could be it! My concerns are with “Corridors” C and D on Map 8 Hillsborough Connections which would destroy rural and preservation lands and bring certain unwanted sprawl along with them.
The meeting started without the chairman, former Bucs star Shelton Quarles. When he later arrived, he explained that he went to the wrong location. In his defense, it sounded like he went to the location of last month’s meeting … not in his defense but… THEY CHANGE THE LOCATION OF THE MEETINGS EACH MONTH MR. CHAIRMAN!

Feeling good about regional transportation yet?

My first concern was that on the agenda it said ADOPT Conflict Resolution Plan. At last month’s meeting (which I confirmed with the transcripts from the April 25th meeting page 9 of 11, download it here: may-2008-tbarta-board-package.pdf) they said they would only PRESENT the final draft of the Conflict Resolution Plan in May. Why do I care about the difference? Because if Corridors C and D of map 8 don’t get removed, oh, will there be a conflict! Not only was it now on the agenda to be adopted, it was to be done BEFORE public comment. (Having attended enough Hillsborough County Commission meetings, I know that if an item is to be voted on then even they give us an opportunity to speak in a public hearing before they screw us). So what to do? Ask Commissioner Ken Hagan, who represents Hillsborough on that board, to bring it up? Considering the mountain of e-mails I have sent to the county commission (and have never received a response from him) combined with his actions on that board, I didn’t think he was the man for the job.

Protocol dictates that I should make the chairman aware of this before the meeting (oh yeah, he wasn’t there yet). Instead, I brought it up with Commissioner Patterson of Sarasota before the meeting. Last month, she asked for the future transportation line that would destroy environmental lands in her county to be removed, and it was clear to me from her comments that she isn’t afraid to speak up, so I relayed my concerns to her. Even though she didn’t have a problem with the Conflict Resolution itself she still raised my concerns about process and that the public should be allowed to weigh in BEFORE the actual vote (after some bickering from the board they agree to let us weigh in on the item). Dee Layne and I asked them to make provisions for citizen input regarding the Conflict Resolution Process but to no avail. Sooo, if TBARTA’s Master Plan turns out to violate our local Comprehensive Plan, then there is nothing you or I can do about it. Sounds like it will be between the local governments and TBARTA to hash it out, and according to Layne’s comments, this might be done behind closed doors and you and I will never know about it. Round One goes to The Partnership…………oops……. I mean TBARTA.

Recall that recently there has been some fingerpointing regarding the maps (or information on maps) that TBARTA put out for public comment. Commissioner Mark Sharpe blamed our MPO for inaccurate information on the maps containing the controversial lines back in April but strangely enough could not come up with the proof when asked at the May 6 MPO meeting if he had run down the source yet. Paying very close attention to these maps, I made him aware that they were from FDOT. How did I know? It said so in very fine print at the bottom! He still wasn’t buying it. Remember that conversation I had with Elba Lopez of FDOT that I thought was completely worthless? Turns out it helped me prove where the maps and info came from……..the Strategic Regional Needs Assessment done for TBARTA but…………done by (drum roll please) FDOT! They decide what goes on and what stays off of the maps they produce, so if something did not get on there ………check with them! I headed down to the MPO Policy Committee meeting armed with this information last Tuesday and brought it up, since it seemed they were still trying to get to the bottom of it at the last MPO board meeting and Sharpe’s accusations. I delivered my info and concerns about the wrongly accused and guess what? First of all, the FDOT representative sheepishly announces that indeed the TBARTA maps in question are from FDOT. As a bonus, Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena speaks up with a motion to have to the chairman of the MPO write a letter to TBARTA and tell them they don’t want the Sprawlway! Yes, she called it the Sprawlway! The motion passed. So while I went down there only to try to set the record straight………….I came away with a bonus for Green Swath opponents.

Back to hell — I mean the TBARTA board meeting. During public comments I bring up the concerns regarding this map debacle because I learned that there is not one member if our MPO or Planning Commission staff on TBARTA’s TMC (Transit Management Committee). It includes members of HART and transit officials from the various counties but no professional staff from our MPOs! If they had an oversight of these maps before they were released, maybe TBARTA wouldn’t need to worry about Conflict Resolution! I suggested that they put an MPO and Planning Commission staff member from every county on their committee to help resolve this issue and prevent similar issues in the future. There is some discussion like (we are only doing what the state mandate says)……..I bet you are boys, I bet you are. Later in the presentation by the TMC they assured us that the MPO is invited to every meeting. INVITED is not the same as having a position on the committee, but good try. One of the missions that the Transit Management Committee has listed on TBARTA’s website is: Provide technical assistance regarding the development and implementation of a multimodal transportation plan. Who better to give technical advice than those who know our Long Term Transportation Plan and Comprehensive Plan the best? That would be our MPO and The Planning Commission, yet the professional staff of these agencies don’t have an official seat anywhere on TBARTA as far as I can tell. I think this is important especially since now TBARTA is holding Land Use meetings ……..yes, I said land use……..I told you TBARTA’s motives were clear to those of us paying attention. Also of some concern to you Visioning fans, at TBARTA’s board meeting there was a presentation praising One Bay’s efforts with their “scenarios.” I know you are shocked.

I also questioned their process during public comments because they said the new maps would be revealed in April (they were not), and at that meeting Bob Clifford said wait until May….. and at this May meeting ………………you guessed it……NO NEW MAPS. I was attacked for my comments by Manatee Commissioner Amy Stein when she read the reply to my form letter from R-LAND and evidently thought that told me enough about the process. I agree it was encouraging, as it stated, “The committees will review the findings of the Screen One analysis, where preliminary results show that Options C and D in Connection 8 did not perform well and are recommended for removal.” My concern is the out they leave themselves in that last line…. “The committees will review consultant recommendations and make recommendations to the board in June.” Anyway, she waited to attack my comments and concerns until I was all the way back to my seat in the back of the room and sitting down…………..I wanted to reply but I would have been yelling out of order from my chair (I know, why let that stop me?), but I can wait until next month.

So while it certainly seems like these two corridors are on life-support, considering those behind TBARTA (the Partnership) have been pushing this BYPASS route since I had a bedtime, I am guessing they have a few curve balls still waiting for us. Our local opposition has been forced to go regional and our R-LAND form letter is getting good traffic from concerned citizens in many of the counties that TBARTA reigns over (these include: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Citrus, Hernando, Manatee and Sarasota). If you are so inclined to help preserve rural and preservation lands and SAY NO TO SPRAWL then the link to our form letter is here. It goes to TBARTA, Our BOCC, the MPO and even our Gov. Tell a friend (or tell 100 friends).

As TBARTA asks our Governor to give them that $2 million that the legislature set aside for them, I have to sadly say that they have not proven to me they deserve public funds. Their guise of using the promise of rail transit to gain credibility? Brilliant! Should our tax dollars be spent on an agency that can override local government, shut out citizens and benefit private companies? I don’t think so. If they want a state agency to run a regional transportation system then make them a bona fide state agency, not a quasi-state agency, where the lines are blurred and the public pays whether we benefit or not.

Ever since opponents of the Green Swath of Death [plans by local expressway officials to build a four-county beltway road through eastern Hillsborough County] thought we had at least mortally wounded if not killed the beast, many of us still worried what TBARTA might be capable of doing. Considering that TBARTA was born of the the Tampa Bay Partnership, which has been pushing this bypass for years, we suspected at first chance the Green Swath might indeed be resurrected.

Our worst fears were realized when several citizens attended a recent TBARTA workshop in Hillsborough. On Map 8 Hillsborough Connections there she was. This version is two separate pieces but appears to plow through the very same preservation and rural lands as the last ill-conceived “corridor” did but it is hard to tell since the map is vague and outdated.

Another interesting note is a red dot that appears as the Swath makes a sharp easterly turn, a dot that is listed as a “major employer.” Who is employed there, I wonder … a park ranger? The best I can tell that dot is in the middle of nature preserve. You can see how similar TBARTA’s path is to the much maligned South County Transportation Plan’s route was last year.

Could TBARTA really have been dumb enough not to have know the opposition to this road late last year? Many people doubt it. They had to have known. From last October to this past January, opponents had the Green Swath removed from every map it ever thought about making it’s home on including the transportation element of the EAR amendments, the South County Transportation Plan (which was pulled completely due to the massive opposition and public deception regarding the Swath) and the MPO Needs Assessment Map. That tells me that TBARTA either did not do its homework or just didn’t care.

Shouldn’t our elected officials and representatives on TBARTA have conveyed the message about the Swath? I think so. So is this just another case of poor leadership in Hillsborough or is this something even more sinister considering the tricks citizens have endured before regarding this Swath. Ken Hagan is the representative from the county commission and the staff representative is Ned Baier, who has been the target of civic complaints about the Green Swath.

You can contact Commissioner Hagan at hagank@hillsbouroughcounty.org and Mr. Baier at baiere@hillsboroughcounty.org. I did. I never heard from Commissioner Hagan but I did hear back from Mr. Baier. I also heard back from an e-mail to Commissioner Mark Sharpe through his aide, and he told me that he had spoken to Mr. Baier and was told TBARTA was aware of past concerns and they were not using an “old” plan. They were looking at transit possibilities to include rail, expressways, BRT, etc and they were working with FDOT. He also suggested I contact Elba Lopez of FDOT which I did … and I am still dizzy from the circles she talked in truly avoiding a solid answer to almost all of my questions … for example:

What year and make was the map you used?
Answer: Well, it was a modeling process.
Question: So you didn’t use a current map?
Answer: It was a modeling process for transit.

I could fill the entire page with these types of not-so-useful answers. I encourage you to call her and see if you can do better. FDOT’s number is 813-975-6000 ask for Elba Lopez. Good Luck.

While TBARTA might be crying poor when it comes to rail and maybe even asking you to vote on financing it, when it comes to toll roads I suspect they will have plenty of developers … errr … I mean investors willing to pony up the cash. Here would be where the public-private partnerships would come in handy. The reason informed citizens are so opposed to this Swath is because it is clearly not about transportation; it is about opening up land outside the Urban Service boundary to sprawl.

Finally, could they really have been dumb enough to have left it GREEN? Yep! Opponents had Planning Commissioners, MPO members and the papers alike calling the route the GREEN SWATH of DEATH last year and Wayne Garcia even used it for the title of his article Green Swath of Death.

So you might think, well, go out and be activists and let your voice be heard (AGAIN) and yes, that is a great idea except it doesn’t appear that they are listening. Many people attending the meetings say the usual suspects of big $$$ developer interests are there stuffing the comment boxes. How does the average citizen compete with that and how would most people even know what TBARTA is? Citizens feel they are losing what little voice they have in the county and question how local voices be heard on a regional level? See Mariella Smith’s post as well as the comments on Sticks of Fire.

TBARTA ,to many of its proponents, seems to be the Great Rail Hope, and many seem more than willing to overlook its obvious shortcomings if they deliver that dream of rail. If our county does not toe the line (the urban service line that is) and maximize densities within the urban service area, that little rail dream will most likely become a financial nightmare. Is TBARTA truly about delivering rail or is this about development? Read Mr. Jones (who is on the “citizens” advisory committee to TBARTA) recent commentary in the Tribune’s Bay Area Must Move On Its Transit Future. Note that this “citizen” is also the Vice President of Operations at Newland Communities, which you might recognize as Fishhawk and other massive developments around the area. Do you think he represents “citizens?” Common sense tells you we need transit solutions where people ALREADY live, not out in rural areas and through preserved lands.

Handing our transportation planning over to a regional authority to create allows local politicians to evade the heat on unpopular decisions such as toll roads and that goes for our land use decisions as well. The county has proposed to have ONE BAY (also spawned by The Partnership) take the lead in a Visioning Project, which would combine land use and transportation. Combining land use with transportation sounds good on the surface, but letting a public private partnership drive this diminishes what little role citizens have and puts this into the very hands of those who would profit from it.

I think a more objective route would be to have our land use and transportation planned by our Planning Commission and MPO (because that is what they are set up and trained to do) and hold our elected officials accountable for our growth plan. We can then use agencies like TBARTA to implement rather than create our plan.

What can you do? Make noise and a lot of it. TBARTA just held one round of workshops and they are promising more. This isn’t just about the psuedo-Green Swath of Death; they will have maps of all of their ideas throughout the region. Take a look at what might be planned in your neighborhood and tell them if you agree with it or not and give them your ideas. Will your voice carry equal weight with a developer’s voice? You might want to bring along 10 neighbors with you just in case. Or ask TBARTA to have a meeting in your neighborhood to discuss your concerns and leave them your comments online. You can access their website at www.tbarta.com

Interesting to note that on TBARTA’s home page had a map without the new and improved 2 headed green/purple swath of death on it. It says click here for the latest map so I did and again NO SWATH. I got very excited and put the word out that they must have just removed it. My fellow NIMBYS informed me that I had to go to the top of the website and click on Master Plan to see the Swath. Nice game of hide and seek.

(Since this was written, the green swath map has been removed entirely. TBARTA says it is updating all its proposed master plan maps.)

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Kevin Ambler has come under fire by many concerned citizens, specifically because of the inclusion of the City-County Planning Commission in the bill.

HB 723 is about a power shift of several local boards including the Environmental Protection Commission, the Tampa Sports Authority and The Planning Commission. The EPC board right now consists solely of the Board of County Commissioners. Yes, that same BOCC that tried to kill our wetlands last summer which is reason enough to decrease the BOCC’s power on the EPC.

I don’t have time to follow the Sports Authority so I can’t comment on that board. (But here’s an earlier PoHo piece on how that board spends your tax dollars.) The Planning Commission, however, currently has equal representation of city and county. Many concerned citizens, myself included, feel that our Planning Commission serves us well as is and do not want to see a shift in power giving the County the edge with more representation which is what this bill is proposing.

The three local municipal governments — the City of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City — have voted against a change on the Planning Commission. On Nov. 13, 2007, our own BOCC voted unanimously to support this bill ONLY if the Planning Commission was removed from it. That is why it was strange when on Dec. 7, County Administrator Pat Bean told Hillsborough legislators that the BOCC would still support the bill if Mr. Ambler left the Planning Commission in it.

These transcripts and a letter written by Commissioner Sharpe who clearly opposes any changes to the Planning Commission can be seen on Mariella Smith’s blog post on this subject at Sticks of Fire. Mr. Ambler waived the rules at the delegation meeting and voted on this issue without a quorum. It seems like the political agendas of a few politicians have overridden the will of the people as well as local governments.

Why then did Rep. Ambler push this bill without a quorum? Why did Pat Bean say the BOCC would support the inclusion even though they voted against it? That is what many citizens are asking our delegation. We are also asking that they hold another meeting due to the unfinished business of this controversial bill. R-LAND and UCAN members have posted a le