Bill Foster wasted no time in getting the Times recommendation on his website

The drumbeat that the St. Petersburg Times was considering an endorsement (errr, recommendation, as the Times will always let a candidate know its preferred term) of Bill Foster. On its surface, it seems ludicrous. After all, Foster is the same guy who wrote to the school board a few years back making a strong pitch against teaching Darwinian evolution alone in public schools, hoping it would mix in a bit of “intelligent design.”

But the lack of an emerging alternative to Foster left the Times in the inexplicable position of endorsing an anti-gay rights, anti-evolution mayor of St. Petersburg. More to the point, however, the editorial board chooses a candidate based on who will play ball with it. Which candidate will kiss the ring over on 1st Avenue S? That’s what gets you the recommendation. Disagree with the Times on a core concern at the paper — say, firing Police Chief Chuck Harmon, as Scott Wagman as vowed to do — and you are at a disadvantage, to say the least.

It is OK to disagree with the Times on social conservative issues, as long as you play your cards right, promise not to let those views play out in public policy at City Hall and generally keep your wingy-ness in the closet. After all, the Times’ former editorial chief, Phil Gailey, was totally tight with Rick Baker, who was also a social conservative who refused to recognize gay pride parades or appear in them.

From its recommendation today:

As mayor, Foster would offer comforting continuity. He recognizes Baker’s considerable efforts to improve public education and pledges to continue them. He would maintain the conservative approach to building city budgets, offering neither wild new spending plans nor drastic cutbacks but a methodical effort to make government more efficient. He has been measured and responsible on the campaign trail, avoiding the rashness of other candidates who have called for the quick removal of the police chief, the hiring of dozens of new police officers and the spending of city reserves on recurring expenses that would risk St. Petersburg’s fiscal stability.

Yet Foster would chart his own course as mayor. He recognizes there is the public perception, at least, that police do not go after drugs and nonviolent crimes in Midtown as aggressively as they would in more affluent neighborhoods. He calls for the police to pay more attention to drugs, prostitution and burglary. He would shift police resources to where they are most needed, seek a gradual return to community policing, stress crime prevention and give Chief Chuck Harmon an opportunity to embrace his priorities.

As for Foster’s right-wing bent? The Times explains it away:

At times, Foster has spoken in haste and escalated the rhetoric rather than cooling passions. We also have disagreed with his conservative social views, including those in his intemperate letter to the School Board last year promoting creationism. Those views have little to do with being mayor. Foster makes a convincing argument that he recognizes the weight his words and tone would carry if he is elected, and his campaign reflects that maturity. He has articulated a reassuring commitment to civil liberties and constitutional rights, and that would be the yard stick to measure his performance.

Next, Scott Wagman’s from last week:

Finally, Deveron Gibbons in “He Knows This City:”

That item on the consent agenda even got past me but not Beckner. He pulled the item for discussion and said he would not support giving taxpayer money to them in light of the reservoir concerns until they had redeemed themselves. He got some arguments from Commissioner Jim Norman and even a county attorney, but Beckner stood strong. While he couldn’t get the support to completely blackball the company, he did get everyone’s support to send the item back to staff for further review.

Last week during budget talks, he presented fellow board members with an idea to save the Victim’s Assistance Program and the Consumer Protection Agency which were both on the budget chopping block. Beckner asked why should the cost for these programs be borne by law abiding citizens? He suggested that the officials charge criminals more for booking in order to support the Victim’s Assistance program and the Consumer Protection Agency. After all, it is the criminals supplying the need for these programs so shouldn’t they be funding them? Ultimately the sheriff has to approve these increases in booking fees that Beckner suggested. Beckner told the board “Crime doesn’t pay but I believe in Hillsborough County criminals will.”

I am just afraid that this guy is way too good to stay very long in Hillsborough’s little backyard game of politics. Might as well enjoy him while we can.

By George Niemann
PoHo contributor and R-LAND and UCAN activist

Wednesday’s proceedings were like riding a roller coaster. Here’s the highlights:

• Alyssa Ogden’s mother cries as she tells about learning of the sexual harassment.
• White’s father badmouths the alibi-busters who didn’t corroborate White’s story.
• Alyssa’s sister tells about how White lusted after her, also.
• Whites lawyers file a motion to throw the case out of court.
• White goes back on the stand, and his testimony causes a firestorm of protest from Alyssa’s attorney, as well as the judge.

The details:

First to testify was Alyssa Ogden’s mother, Diane Kaulave. Alyssa’s mother heard about the sexual advances from the guy who had arranged for White to interview Ogden for the job originally, Gerry Bowles. When she got the call from Bowles, she was on her way to bankruptcy court, where the family had just filed for protection from creditors. Bowles is a friend of both the Ogden and White families. Kaulauve said she was supportive of her daughter filing the sexual harassment complaint, even though she never personally witnessed the harassment. She was very tearful while on the witness stand. As the lawyers argued points of law in one of the sidebars that occurred, she looked intently at her daughter as if to say, I’m here for you.

Alyssa’s sister, Crystal Lauren Ogden takes the stand. She tells how she accompanied her sister to lunches with White and to some special events. She tells of one incident at the Bamboo Club Restaurant where she walked up to the table and White exclaimed, “WOW!!!” He then comments how her pants are so form-fitting and he asks her to turn around once more so he can see it from all angles. She claims she rebuffed him and did not turn around. At the next lunch at Jackson’s Bistro on Harbour Island, she said he gawked at her the whole time. He then started discussing their breasts sizes and asked Crystal if she was bigger than her sister and if she had a “C” or a “D” cup. At the next lunch at La Terrazza, she said White gave her a box of chocolates. He continued to tell her that he would like for her to work for him.

Crystal said she feared for her life and for her family. She had heard her sister talk of White’s boasting, on occasion, of being in the Black Mafia and having killed people when he was a police officer. Alyssa also told her sister of an instance when she was in White’s car and — during a cell phone conversation with someone about a deadbeat that owed him money — he said that if the person who owed him money didn’t pay that he’d kill him and they’d have to bail him out of jail.

Then between witnesses, the plaintiffs (White and Hillsborough County) filed a motion with the judge asking for a summary judgment to throw the case out of court. They claimed that Ogden didn’t dispute the fact that she couldn’t do the job, along with the fact that she hasn’t established sufficient evidence to show that the sexual harassment was to the level of being “severe and pervasive.”

Judge Lazarra called their claim preposterous. He said he would make a ruling later in the proceedings, though.

White’s wife, Jenny Navarro White, took the stand. She said she worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital as an RN and was always on call. When asked if she ever saw her husband make any advances toward Alyssa Ogden, she said, “My husband would never do that in front of me.” That made me wonder if they should have asked her if she thinks he might do it behind her back.

Next up was Gerald White, Kevin White’s father. Being a big man (6’2”-plus and probably close to 400 lbs.) he lumbered slowly to the stand. White’s father tried to refute statements made by Blythe Andrews that implicated his son. He said that Andrews wanted to avoid being implicated in this scandal, implying that Andrews lied in his video testimony. He also said that he saw Andrews hand wads of cash to Alyssa Ogden on three separate occasions, totaling approximately $700. He denied that his son ever told him that he loved Ogden and wanted to have a relationship with her.

Kevin White was put back on the stand by his attorneys. He gave some of his background to the jury – He was born out of wedlock in New York City but was raised in Tampa, mostly by his grandparents. His mother worked full time for Verizon. He knew who his father was but had little to do with him and rarely saw him.

He said he never looked at Alyssa in a sexual context. He claims he even took issue a few times with the fact that her attire was not appropriate for the office (low-cut blouse, skirts with slits up the thigh and 5″-6” spike heels). When asked why he seemed to do a lot of interviewing and personnel management while dining at restaurants he said, “when you look at the White family, you can tell that our lives evolve around food.”

As his testimony was coming to an end, all hell broke loose in the courtroom. Here’s why — his attorney was setting him up so that he could give a parting speech to the jury. The attorney asks him to tell the jury how he has been affected by this case. Well, White proceeds to give a long rambling statement about how his life, his family’s lives, the taxpayers, and his constituents have been irreparably harmed by this lawsuit. He adds that he has never broken any laws.

Following that long-winded dissertation, Ogden’s attorney jumps up and wants to cross-examine. He begins to question White’s admission of guilt in the now infamous Florida Elections Commission campaign finance case. In that case White admitted that he wrote checks in the name of a fictitious company (Robins Consulting) to hide the fact that he was illegally using campaign funds to buy personal items, such as custom-made suits. Objections are now flying around the room like a developer chasing a land-use approval. The judge rips into White’s attorneys for letting their client make broad sweeping claims that he never did anything wrong in his life. During his tirade the judge comments, “You should not have opened that door.” Now that White has made those grandiose statements, the plaintiff’s attorneys can dredge up his past in detail to show the jury that he’s not as pure as he says he is.

More to come tomorrow.

Join me and other CL writers tonight starting just before 7 pm here as we live blog the Bay News 9/St. Petersburg Times mayoral forum from the Palladium Theater in downtown. i love the title: “Conversation with the Candidates.” I seriously doubt it will be anything that approximates a real conversation.

Watch along on Bay News 9 and throw in your comments, as well. It runs from 7-8:30 pm.

We’ll be providing live fact-checks, analysis and satirical snide comments in the comment section below.

It was a horrible choice in the first place, and the idea that Shelton Quarles was going to be the happy face of a regional tax referendum to pay for rail transit was pretty ludicrous. So today we hear that Quarles, the former Tampa Bay Bucs linebacker, will step stepped down. Bay Buzz reports:

Shelton Quarles, the former Bucs linebacker turned transportation authority chairman, is resigning from the board, vice chairman Frank Hibbard said today.

“I was just told yesterday that Shelton had resigned,” Hibbard said, saying the resignation was effective immediately and he would begin overseeing the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority board.

Read my story “Tackling Transit,” on Quarles when he was first appointed and the controversy about his selection.

And read Quarles PR statement released late today after the news already broke. Good job getting out in front of it, TBARTA:

Shelton Quarles, Chairman of the Tampa Bay Area Transportation Authority (TBARTA), informed Florida Governor Charlie Crist in a letter this week that he will not seek re-appointment to the TBARTA Board.

In the letter he writes, “I regret that I will not be able to serve another term; I finish my current term knowing this region is on its way to implementing and building a world class transportation network.”

“My continuing and growing responsibilities with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are such that they need more than my full-time attention. I have always prided myself in the fact that when I commit to an endeavor, I give it my all. I do not want to be in a position where I am not able to carry out all the required and necessary responsibilities of a TBARTA board member,” Quarles said.

Quarles was named Chairman of the TBARTA Board by Governor Crist in September 2007. In the two years he served as Chair, TBARTA created a transportation vision for the Tampa Bay region by developing and adopting a Regional Transportation Master Plan. Development of the plan included engaging more than 47,500 people in the region during the process.

“Shelton has been a tremendous asset to our organization. His leadership has helped us to come this far in just two short years,” said TBARTA Executive Director Bob Clifford.

Quarles term expires on September 20, 2009. However, he will remain a member of the TBARTA board until such time that the Governor names a replacement.

By George Niemann
PoHo contributor and R-LAND and UCAN activist
The second day of Commissioner Kevin White’s sexual harassment trial covered a lot of ground.

Two very important things happened today. White himself testified. In addition, the video depositions of his uncle, Andre Moses White, and his longtime family friend C. Blythe Andrews were entered into evidence and viewed by the jury.

The bottom line on White’s testimony: His testimony was far from plausible.

The bottom line on the Andre White and Blythe Andrews testimony: They blew away White’s alibi.

Before all this happened, Alyssa Ogden’s psychiatrist testified. Dr. Walter Afield, MD took the stand in the morning. He said he started seeing the 23-year-old Ogden in September of 2007. Dr. Afield diagnosed her as having suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, following her ordeal working for Commissioner White. She had suffered trauma before, he said; her father molested her when she was between 8 and 9 years old. The molestation involved inappropriate touching, but not intercourse. According to Dr. Afield she shoved these horrible feelings “under the rug” for many years. Then when White, using his position of power, tried to manipulate her, it brought back all those feelings of guilt and depression. He said she was profoundly depressed and confused. She had thoughts of suicide but he didn’t think it was profound enough to hospitalize her.

She also feared that White might kill her or members of her family if she exposed him. She told the psychiatrist that one day she went into White’s desk to retrieve a work item and saw that he had a gun in his desk. That heightened her fears.

Then White himself got on the stand. Ogden’s attorney asked him why he told Alyssa not to tell anyone, not even her mother, that they were going to Atlanta. White said that he didn’t want to give the wrong impression to anyone. He said that Alyssa told him that she was going to Atlanta to be with his friend, C. Blythe Andrews. He inferred that she had made separate arrangements with his friend to have a rendezvous in Atlanta. When asked why he went to Atlanta that weekend, he replied that, “It was a boy’s weekend.” So his claim is that Ogden went to Atlanta not because he asked her to, but because she was going to have a relationship with a 75-year-old man with terminal cancer that she previously arranged on her own. He then asked White why cell phone records showed that he called her three times between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. that night, if he had nothing to do with her and she just happened to be traveling to the same city at the same time as he was. He responded by saying that even though she was on her own in Atlanta, he still wanted to make sure she was safe. He had told her to call him to let him know how she was doing and when he didn’t get a call from her, he had to make sure she was safe so he called her on her cell. Yeah, but three calls, and at 2:30 a.m.???

Nothing he said made sense. He said he paid for her ticket but got reimbursed by Andrews. When asked about a record of reimbursement he said he was paid in cash by Andrews, so of course there was no record.

Then came C. Blythe Andrews’ testimony, recorded on January 28, 2008. Andrews looked to be very sick on the video. His voice was barely audible at times. Andrews testified that he had no interest in Ogden whatsoever. He said that White brought Ogden to Atlanta to be with him. At one point he questioned the logic of what a 75-year-old man with terminal cancer would do with a 22-year-old girl anyway. He seemed disappointed over the fact that White was trying to implicate him in some kind of sex affair. He said he never paid for anyone’s airfare but that White paid for his own and Ogden’s. Commenting about the whole affair he said, “I had no interest in that girl…nobody can put it off on me because of my high status…my wife is hardly talking to me over all of this nonsense…I never even touched her hand.” His testimony blew White’s alibi out of the water, for sure.

Then came the video testimony of White’s uncle, Andre Moses White. If you recall, White claimed that he never went to Alyssa’s room at the Airport Marriott in Atlanta. He claimed that he spent the night at his uncle’s home in Stone Mountain, Ga., so he couldn’t have been with Ogden. Well, Andre White blew that alibi out of the water. There was a discrepancy over a statement he had signed earlier saying that Kevin White stayed with him, but he fully recanted that previous testimony. He said that his nephew never stayed with him that night. Here’s another interesting comment he made. He said that Kevin White referred to Ogden as a “lady of the night.”

So far, it appears to me that White’s version of what happened in Atlanta is a bit of a stretch (no corroborating witnesses).

What’s on tap for tomorrow?

More video testimony from White’s uncle; some video testimony of White, and two new witnesses: Alyssa’s mother and sister.

Stay tuned…

Construction might be down but Commissioner Kevin White (D-Shovel-Ready) just keeps digging. He is currently in the middle of a trial for a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former aide. This article not only describes White’s history but indicates that taxpayers are on the hook for $100,000 of his in legal fees so far, and the article says that was approved by our current commissioners this past June……..WTF? His trial began Aug. 17 and the jury was picked Monday.

After this year’s budget brawl is over you will probably pay more for parks, dog tags, and other services and now you can add this costly lawsuit to the tab. That’s because the county has been named a defendant in the lawsuit, as well, so it is spending tax dollars for legal defense of its own interests, outside of White’s personal legal tab.

White is no stranger to controversy, most recently his involvement with a security contract he lobbied for (against staff recommendations) was questioned. The lawyer representing the security company in question, David Mechanik, recently hosted a fundraiser for White’s upcoming campaign. Uh-huh. As it turns out that same lawyer was also pushing that controversial sprawl project billed as a “multi-modal” center which was pulled at the last minute last week.

This article from the Times shows White’s laundry list — make that dirty laundry list —of other questionable activities. Can we afford Commissioners that cost us more in legal fees than they actually make in a year? You can decide whether to bury this one or not during the next election. Until then it looks like White will keep shoveling.

Unrelated but I had to tell someone………… last week during budget talks White appeared to be lobbying fellow Commissioners regarding a budget item and he cited a white paper recently done by staff. He wanted to make sure his colleagues on the board knew the “white paper” was not named after him. You just can’t make this shit up.

(This is installment one, which coincides with day one of the trial. I plan to provide day-to-day coverage of this trial in installments until the day that it goes into the hands of the jurors for deliberation, which is expected to be Friday.)

The civil trial in Ogden v. White began Monday in US District Court-Middle Trial District of Florida-Tampa Division. Judge Richard Lazarra is presiding. Alyssa Ogden is accusing Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White of firing her for not agreeing to have a “relationship” with him, thereby creating what she is calling sexual harassment.

White has two lawyers representing him and Hillsborough County has two lawyers representing the county’s interest in defending the case.

Alyssa Ogden, had one lawyer, Ronald Fraley, presenting her case.

The courtroom was large but with a small viewing gallery. The viewing gallery was filled with members of the press on one side and what appeared to be supporters/family of White on the other side, including White’s wife, Jenny.

It took the morning to pick the jurors. Six women and two men are on this jury. It might be that the preponderance of women may give the plaintiff the edge as far as favorable jurors go.

In the afternoon the case began. In his opening statement, Alyssa’s attorney told the jury that his client was so distraught over what happened that she was traumatized and had to seek help from a psychologist to cope with it. The cost of therapy so far is $15,300. The anticipated damages being sought so far is $100,000. He said he would prove that she was hired for one reason — that the commissioner had more interest in her than her ability to answer phones and maintain a schedule.

White’s primary attorney, Steven Wenzel, began his opening statement with the words, “It didn’t happen.” He said he was going to prove that Ogden couldn’t do the job and after she got fired decided to make a sexual harassment case out of it. According to Mr. Wenzel the motivation for this case was money. In an attempt to question her credibility, he says that she had the opportunity but never told County Administrator Bean or County Attorney Renee Lee or Commissioner Rose Ferlita (all strong women that might be supportive of a harassed female employee) of her ordeal.

Then came Ogden’s testimony, which was sizzling.

Some interesting background about Ms. Ogden:
• She was born in 1984 and grew up in Key West.
• As a young girl, she was a cheerleader.
• Her parents were divorced in 1996. Following an injury that left him immobile her father became addicted to pain killers. He committed suicide in 1998
• She has worked on and off for 3 years as a nanny for a Tampa family with an oil business. As a nanny she has traveled with that family to Europe, among other places.

Here are some tidbits from her testimony:
• There were numerous incidents where White fondled her and/or came on to her
• Before hiring her, White told her to meet him at an Outback Restaurant for an interview. She didn’t bring a resume but I guess she didn’t need one. She claims that White told her he was supposed to interview two more people but decided to hire her, and “go with his gut.” He brought her back to county center the same day to meet Cedric McCray, White’s other aide.
• She only asked for $32K as a starting salary, but the salary ended up being $43K.
• She started work on April 2, 2007 but only filled out an application on April 10, 2007.
• Throughout her employ he continued to ask sexual questions of her — such as, what cup size was she; was she a “B” or a “C”? He made numerous comments about her body and made it clear, in her mind, that he was attracted to her.
• He put a chair next to her desk in the office so he could sit next to her as she tried to work. On one occasion when she went to the copy machine and when she returned he was sitting next to her desk. As she approached the desk he grabbed her by the hips and asked her to kiss him and to give him a chance.
• He asked to kiss her on numerous occasions. Each time she refused he would ask her to just give him a chance.
• She said she was afraid to go to lunch with him so she began including her sister, Crystal, to lunches that she had with White. She says White came on to her sister also. He asked her to turn around to give him a good look at her body (he wanted to get a better look at the pants she was wearing). He commented to her sister that her cup size must be at least a “C” or a “D.” He also asked Crystal if she would work for him.
• He made numerous sexual remarks at functions they attended outside the office. Incidents occurred at the Bamboo Club, Jackson’s on Harbor Island, at a Bucs game, at a Lightning game, and at Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant.
• The second week she was working for him he asked her to go to Atlanta on a “business trip” with him. He said she couldn’t tell anybody about it, but that it was important for her career that she go. He told her not to worry about the expense, it would be taken care of.
• The night they got to Atlanta he asked to sleep in her bed. He said the hotel was booked and he couldn’t get a room. She ended up letting him sleep in the room in a separate bed. He had showered in her room and when he came out she pretended to be asleep. He woke her and she refused his advances. She says she didn’t sleep at all that night although he slept across from her.
• She said White’s father asked her to give him a chance. He said that his son was in love with her.
• She also said that Jarvis Glover, a county employee that chauffeurs Pat Bean around all of the time, had told her that White was in love with her..
• White took her to Outback to give her the first work review. He told her that she had great potential but she had to work with him. After she said she wouldn’t have a relationship with him, he told her that he could be a dick and fire her if he had to.
• At a restaurant visited after a public hearing, he told her that he hired with no experience because he thought she’d work with him. And if she didn’t give him a chance, she’d end up regretting it.
• On another occasion at Miguel’s restaurant he told her that there were hundreds of women that would do anything to get the chance to have her job. He told her he would have to find a woman that would work with him.
• Following the firing she began taking sleeping pills and Nyquil. She began having thoughts of suicide.

White’s attorney Steve Wenzel began his cross-examination of Ogden late in the day.

More to come in the next installment, as the trial progresses.

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND activist

Regional parks came up during budget talks last week at the Hillsborough County Commission. County Administrator Pat Bean’s budget proposal would close them down two days a week, much to the dismay of well, almost everybody showing up at the last budget public hearing. Looks like they will now remain open seven days a week after all. Several commissioners voiced their concerns and wanted parks to be kept open! Nimby translation: Get this angry mob of voters off our backs already and give them their damned parks!

There will be a new fee, which sounds like most likely to be $2 a car. It isn’t official yet, but commissioners voted unanimously to proceed with the idea that Mark Thornton, parks director, came up with for them. I wouldn’t ordinarily complain about $2 except I know what they are spending in other areas and things like the Sports Authority funding appears completely intact.

I know you are comforted that the stadium and three golf courses will be maintained as always (using an existing tax that could go to parks instead). Don’t forget the County Commission only charges developers 37 percent of the legal limit regarding impact fees for parks. Oh and lets not forget this is a “fee” not a tax after all, no politician wants to be tagged with increasing taxes. Since the voters spoke loud and clear on amendment one which was supposed to lower taxes no politician in their right mind would raise them right now. So instead of decreasing their pork barrel spending they are just raising “fees” on things that your taxes used to afford you. Other fee increases looking like they will be approved are dog tag fees and your water rates recently went up. Good thing they didn’t raise your taxes though.

How fiscally conservative of them.