The Political Whore

Update: Late Wednesday afternoon (4:37pm to be exact) the applicant pulled CPA 09-13 and CPA 09-14 from consideration in front of the Board of County Commissioners. The letter states in part “Please be advised that we intend to re-file these applications although we will make every effort to address issues raised in the process to further resolve many misconceptions regarding the project.” Nimby translation: Crap, we just didn’t have the votes so we will try again later. Don’t go to the hearing Thursday as it will not be heard.

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND activist

Is it appropriate for State Rep. Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg and shown above with President Barack Obama) to lobby Hillsborough County Planning Commissioners (and copy the County Commissioners on his letter) pushing sprawl?

He must have thought so, according to his letter. He openly advocated for a “multi-modal” center (nimby translation: big ass WAREHOUSE) out in the far corner of the county, where we purposely do not have urban services such as water and sewer and where the land use designation does not allow for this sort of thing. If Democrats are good for anything, isn’t it usually being anti-sprawl and pro-gay rights? Rouson appears to be neither, but then I found he used to be a Republican. Also interesting is the very tiny portion of Hillsborough that Rouson represents……………looks to me to be mainly underwater. How would this project help the fish in your district, Representative Rouson?

The California developers initially claimed that Port of Tampa needed this facility but then the Port said thanks but no thanks. Now, with a shitty economy proponents are claiming the project will bring jobs to the area. That is great but we can’t afford to breach the rural area with more sprawl so I respectfully suggest they find an appropriate site for this warehouse inside the Urban Service Area. The Ruskin Chamber of Commerce is pushing this project very heavily. Recall: your tax dollars help support the Chamber. Read the rest of this entry »

We have scandal after scandal here in Hillsborough County that go almost unreported, yet let the most respectable and professional person I have ever come into contact with at County Center do something like accept an offer to return to work after he is retired and watch the vultures pile on. The MSM has completely missed the boat here and they have fallen right into the trap of the of some of the most unsavory grease monkeys of the sprawl machine.

Bob Hunter is the former Executive Director of The Planning Commission and the current President of the American Planning Association. He is a giant in his field, and we were damn lucky to get him the first time around. As I wrote about in a post regarding his retirement, I have watched him stay cool in the face of constant verbal attacks of Commissioner Jim Norman as well as legislative attacks and dirty tricks from the likes of Kevin Ambler and Ronda Storms. I will begin by telling you that the Hillsborough Sprawl Machine hates Bob Hunter.

Read the rest of this entry »