Democrat Mariella Smith to challenge Victor Crist

Veteran environmental and community planning activist Mariella Smith, a Ruskin Democrat, says she intends to file early next year to run for the countywide District 5 county commissioner’s seat against Republican Commissioner Victor Crist.

Smith has backing from Commissioner Pat Kemp, who won her own countywide seat last year.

The race already includes three Democrats, none well-known — local party official Mark Nash, Jamela Passmore and Elvis Jamine Piggott.

Smith, 63, is a graphic designer from a prominent South Tampa family.

She’s a first-time candidate, but has worked for years as an advocate for environmental and community planning issues, including serving on citizen advisory boards and often opposing what she calls unregulated development. Her most recent cause was successfully opposing a plan for a sewage sludge dump near the Little Manatee River.

Her husband Tres Smith is active as a volunteer in disability and wheelchair sports.

She said it’s been 30 years since a south county resident sat on the board of commissioners, and sprawling development has left it “choking with traffic.”

“For more than 20 years, I’ve been bringing carloads and busloads of citizens to the county center to tell the commissioners what we need done. I finally decided I can do more good on the commission,” she said.

“What we have now is career politicians who play musical chairs” to circumvent term limits, she said. Crist, term-limited in his District 2 seat, is running countywide to restart his term limit clock.

“They’re just doing what developers and lobbyists and corporate sponsors want. They’re not making development pay its own way, they’re making the taxpayers pay for it,” Smith said.

Contact William March at wemarch@gmail.com

See this article in the Tampa Bay Times

This is a big victory for all of us who worked to defend the little Manatee River from this toxic pollution!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving week, with no public hearing!

(See my previous post for details of how this stinking project would have polluted our river with 100,000 gallons per day of dangerous toxic waste.)

If it wasn’t for the citizens who spoke out against this to our County Commissioners, Chris’s Plumbing’s original plan would be in operation right now — they would be dumping 50,000 gallons per day of raw sewage from septic tanks, porta potties & commercial sludge on the site which includes large wetlands that flow right into the river.

Because of our strong opposition, they were forced to modify their plan to remove the solids before spraying the effluent on the site; doubling the amount, however, to 100,000 gallons per day. They hired an expensive PR firm to try to convince us this would be fine, but we weren’t fooled — it was still dangerous for human health and toxic for the river (see why in previous post) — and we continued the fight.

Why did they withdraw? Several factors may have been considered:

• Despite their best PR efforts, and the dog-and-pony show they trotted out to the neighbors at a little meeting, and the many delays they requested, we did not buy their spin and we did not tire. They knew a big angry crowd was coming to their hearing, and we were loaded for bear.
• The public utilities dept. reviewed this proposal thoroughly, and provided strong negative comments.
• I sent a letter pointing out that the Land Development Code (LDC) has a 6-month limit on how long an applicant can continue delaying their hearing, which means their November 20 hearing date was 5 days past that deadline. Although the county attorney disagreed with me, several attorneys I  know did agree with my reading of the code. Chris’s Plumbing’s attorneys may have reasoned that even if they won at the hearing, the results could have been challenged on these procedural grounds afterward.

Chris’s Plumbing can try again, another day.

I hope our fight has convinced them that they cannot win on this site, or on ANY site that would impact wetlands or other sensitive natural resources, and so they should find another site to start with. I hope we have also convinced them that they need to process their waste (somewhere else) in a way that is at least as clean as the county’s own processing plants — or dispose of their waste in the city’s plant.

If they do bring this back, our efforts have won us several advantages:

• We are now organized, so mobilizing again will be much easier.
• As county commissioners responded to our concerns, county staff responded to the commissioners’ concerns — Commissioner Pat Kemp worked especially hard for us. So staff did a lot of work on this, and they’re now are ready to take a hard look at any future plans for sewage disposal .
• EPC determined this to be a “project of heightened public concern,” which means they would notify us of any intent to permit, and hold a public meeting, and take public comment, before their secondary permit is issued. (We’ll have to make sure this applies to any future proposal.)
• EPC changed their comment forms so they will no longer have the “no objection” checkbox which we took issue with. They also provided somewhat better, more detailed comments.
• The media has taken an interest, and has been solidly on our side.

Another big win for us is that the County Commission heard our concerns and has now banned the process of land application of sewage anywhere (except for the 2 or 3 plants currently operating which are grandfathered in). We can thank Commissioner Stacy White for proposing this, and Commissioner Pat Kemp for working really hard on it. This only prohibits spreading solid waste on the ground, like Chris’s Plumbing originally proposed. It does not prohibit effluent spraying, like Chris’s Plumbing finally proposed. Hopefully the county will consider regulating effluent spraying now.

Special thanks to:

• Sophia Ruiz for making, distributing and collecting hundreds of petitions; and for going on TV with her son to publicize the effort.
• Susan McMillan, Marina Welch, Lori Guidabonie, Kent Bailey (and me, Mariella Smith) for going to the County Commission’s public meeting to speak to the Commissioners against this during public comment (which also ended up on TV).
• Gus Muench for letting the TV crews film him at his riverfront home while he told Chris’s Plumbing to “take it somewhere else.”
• Experts who prepared valuable testimony for the hearing, and were ready to testify publicly: Dan Roberts and others (you know who you are — I don’t want to give away your identity in case we need you again!)
• Day Gibson who set up the Facebook event page to keep people informed about the hearing.
• Sam Hamrick for keeping the surrounding neighbors informed and being a liaison between the county & the neighborhood.
• Sierra Club leaders Kent Bailey for speaking to several Democratic clubs about this, and Paul Thibault for spreading the word to Sun City Center groups.
• Karen Michalsk, Sierra Club Conservation Chair Nancy Stevens, Sam Hamrick, and another man (and me, Mariella Smith) for speaking at the public hearing on the Land Development Code Amendment that now bans sewage land application.
• Several groups who rallied their members to speak out: Sierra Club, Sundance Homeowners, Tampa Bay Fishing Club (and Matt Manning!), Cast Away Anglers Fishing Club (and Vicki Franks!), and several other groups.
• Commissioners Pat Kemp & Stacy White for creating an atmosphere where staff understood the importance of this issue, and listened to constituents.
• News media who kept the public informed: Jeff Patterson of News Channel 8 TV, Isabel Rosales of ABC Action News TV, Seán Kinane of WMNF radio, Lois Kindle of the Observer News.
• Every single person who called and emailed the county!

One of my favorite things about being involved in efforts like this is that I get to meet and work with such great people: people who care about our community & our environment, and are willing to work together to protect both. Thanks, again, to all of you!

UPDATE #1:  Chris’s Plumbing has changed their application to sewage-effluent spraying (instead of sewage-solids spreading). It’s still horrible. In fact parts of the plan are even worse now.

• They doubled the volume of toxic waste to 100,000 gallons per day!
• They reduced the setback around the wetlands to a mere 30 feet.
• Their chlorine “treatment” is ineffective against many disease-causing organisms.
• Their new Special Use zoning permit would last forever, running with the land no matter who owns it.

This post has been revised throughout to address the new proposal.

Chris’s Plumbing Service is asking Hillsborough County to let them dump effluent from human excrement, commercial sludge, and restaurant grease on the banks of the Little Manatee River’s wetlands.

Chris’s Plumbing Service runs a huge commercial septic operation, pumping waste out of portable toilets, residential and commercial septic tanks, and restaurant grease traps. They have applied for a special use permit to spread 100,000 gallons a day (!!!) of sewage effluent across 36 acres of a site that sits on the Little Manatee River system. A large part of the site is wetlands that flow right into the river.

This toxic waste will obviously end up in the river — and from there it will flow into Tampa Bay. It can cause devastating fish kills and human health dangers.

Several disease organisms have been shown to survive the type of chlorine treatment that Chris’s Plumbing is proposing.

Cryptosporidium is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive outside the body for a year or more, and makes it very tolerant to chlorine disinfection.

Parasitic species that are not killed by chlorine treatment include Cryptosporidium, Endamoeba, Giardia, and eggs of parasitic worms. These microscopic parasites have a tough outer shell so they can survive for months in surface waters & rivers — fresh or saltwater, before infecting a human or animal. Some can survive long periods in soil before moving into water. These organisms make humans & animals sick. They mostly affect the intestines, but some can spread to other parts of the body, including the liver, lungs & brain. You can get these diseases by swimming in polluted water. Only ONE microscopic cyst is all it takes to multiply in your body and make you VERY sick. (See references.)

Chris’s Plumbing’s effluent treatment is far below the standard of our city & county wastewater treatment plants (contrary to the company’s claims).

The city & county plants treat wastewater to Class I “high-level” disinfection.

Chris’s Plumbing’s plant would treat his sewage wastewater only to Class III “basic-level” disinfection (according to county staff’s letter to the applicant, dated 7/26/17).

The county’s own reclaimed water (treated to Class I standard) “is not suitable for human consumption, nor is it allowed for use in pools or hot tubs,” according to the county’s Reclaimed Water web page. Contrary to the company’s statements, their effluent is not at all similar to the City’s gray water being sprinkled on a golf course where people drive golf carts and walk around in golf shoes. It is toxic waste being firehosed on the bank of a river where people swim and fish — 100,000 gallons a day. If Class I reclaimed water isn’t allowed in a chlorinated swimming pool, then Chris’s Plumbing should not be allowed to dump 100,000 gallons per day of Class III effluent near wetlands that flow into a river where people swim.

The county also notes that their Class I reclaimed water can be harmful to some plants, such as roses & azaleas. So it seems likely that Class III effluent will harm some of the river’s plants and fish, and the wildlife & birds that eat those plants & fish. Also, the chlorine used in Chris’s Plumbing’s treatment is harmful to the river’s aquatic life. The nitrogen, chemicals & dissolved solids in sewage effluent are also bad for the river & bay. Other concerns are pharmaceuticals in sewage, and heavy metals and other chemicals in restaurant grease and commercial sludge.

Effluent sprayed onto a site can enter nearby water bodies & wells in several ways:

• Stormwater runoff
• Flooding
• Underground migration

The Little Manatee River, and its associated tributaries, is an undammed, tidal river system that floods frequently. It overflows its banks with every summer storm, especially in the river’s upper reaches where this site is located. Hurricanes bring the floodwaters much higher.

Chris’s Plumbing’s site plan includes a ridiculously inadequate 30-foot setback from the wetlands. This undammed river system is extremely dynamic, so the shape of its wetlands are constantly changing, its oxbows and bends are constantly shifting, and heavy storms erode its banks. The regular floods, rainwater runoff, and the dynamic action of the river and its tributaries, along with the enormous amount of pollutants dumped daily, all but guarantee that the huge volume of toxic waste dumped on this site will wash into the river, and flow out to Tampa Bay.

Pollution will also leech into the river through the groundwater, which is very close to the surface. The county’s EPC inspection revealed that the water table is 8–10 inches below surface toward the west, and 18–20 inches on the eastern part of the site — (see this document). This refutes Chris’s Plumbing’s false statements in their application, and to the community at their meeting on August 1, that the water table is 60 inches below the surface. 100,000 gallons per day of effluent sprayed on 36 acres will quickly saturate the soil, then leech into the groundwater, and migrate into the river.

Miles of public lands, purchased, restored & maintained with taxpayer dollars, would be impacted by the toxic waste flowing into the Little Manatee River.

Click these images to view the site location larger.

My family & friends swim in this river. Children water-ski here. Many people, residents and tourists, fish in this river — and eat the fish they catch.

These waters provide important nursery habitat for many of Tampa Bay’s prized fish such as snook, redfish, blue crabs and tarpon. I’ve seen diamondback terrapins, seahorses, otters, manatees and dolphins here. Many species of birds wade & fish in the river and its wetlands.

The Little Manatee River is wonderfully wild and pristine. It is designated an Outstanding Florida Water, and many miles of it are included in the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve. It would be unconscionable to poison it.

3 things you can do:

1.) Contact your County Commissioners and ask them to insist that EPC oppose this.

Hillsborough County’s Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) is actually the same people as the County Commission.

Reference “Chris’s Plumbing’s latest plan for effluent dumping on the Little Manatee River” at the top of your message or in the subject line.

Talking points:

• Tell them you understand that Chris’s Plumbing has changed their proposal to sewage-effluent spraying (instead of sewage-solids spreading), and you are still adamantly opposed.
• Tell them that you are contacting them in their role as Hillsborough County’s Environmental Protection Commissioners, and you think the EPC ought to oppose this application. If the EPC does not object and provide strong opposing comments, it will be very hard for us citizens to convince the Hearing Officer to deny this.
• This site is not suitable for this use. Sewage effluent should be disposed of somewhere it will not threaten human health and harm our river and wildlife.
• See more points above. Include your own personal notes about the importance of protecting the Little Manatee River & Tampa Bay.

Contact Commissioners on their contact form.

Or email them:
Stacy White <whites@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Sandy Murman <murmans@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Al Higginbotham <higginbothama@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Ken Hagan <hagank@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Victor Crist <cristv@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Les Miller <millerlj@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Pat Kemp <kempp@hillsboroughcounty.org>

Or call them: 272-5660

You can also email the EPC staff.

2.) Email the Land Use Hearing Officer (LUHO) who will make the final decision.

The commissioners do not decide this matter. The LUHO renders the decision after one public hearing. Our best hope is that EPC, county staff, and other certified experts will provide comment that will convince the LUHO to deny this application.

Put this in the subject line, and at the top of your letter:
“Opposition to SU 17-0510 — Chris’s Plumbing”

Address your letter to “Land Use Hearing Officer for SU-17-0510.” Ask him/her to deny application SU 17-0510, for the reasons above, and/or any other reasons you may have — the more scientific & objective, the better.

Start out with something like this: “I understand that Chris’s Plumbing has changed their proposal to sewage-effluent spraying (instead of sewage-solids spreading), and I am still adamantly opposed.” This is important because the applicant will try to say that most of the letters were opposed to the original plan to spread solid sewage on the site, not the new plan to spread liquid sewage effluent on the site.

Sign it with your name & mailing address.

Your letter must be received 2 business days prior to the hearing, or presented at the hearing (Nov. 20).

Send emails to:
To: hearings@hillsboroughcounty.org
CC: Tom Hiznay <hiznayt@hillsboroughcounty.org>

Or mail your letters to:
Land Use Hearing Officer – SU 17-0510
P.O. Box 1110
Tampa, FL 33601

3.) Come to the Public Hearing — new date!

Monday, November 20, 6:00 p.m.
County Center, 2nd floor boardroom
601 E. Kennedy, Tampa, FL 33602

Agenda will be posted at this link.
Check this agenda before you go, to see any last-minute changes — look for SU 17-0510. (The date has been postponed before, and could be again.)

You don’t have to speak — your presence will speak volumes when we all stand up together for a moment to show how many of us there are. If you do speak, please be very brief (1–2 minutes) because they only allow 15 minutes TOTAL speaking time for ALL the people in opposition. We do have expert witnesses coming, and it is important that they get time to testify. It’s a good idea for everyone to bring your comments in writing, so you can make a very brief statement, then hand in the written details, without taking up time with a long speech — this is what I plan to do. Any group should designate one spokesperson. Factual testimony & evidence will convince the hearing officer more than emotional pleas.

More information:

Contact the County Case Planner for more info
Marshall Robinson, 813-276-8406, <robinsonm@hillsboroughcounty.org>

• Revised Site Plan — New
• Revised Permit Application Statement — New
• Facebook event page — mark “interested” or “going” to stay updated on the public hearing.

To see all the documents in this case file, go to pgm.hillsboroughcounty.org
Login/User ID is “public,” password is also “public.”
You must have popup windows enabled.
Click “logon.”
In the popup menu window, click “Document Repository,” then Click Query.
(You may get an error message here, just ignore & click out of it).
Where it says “tracking #,” enter the case number: 17-0510.
Click “query.”
Select the file, and click “open.”

County Commissioner Pat Kemp is working to kick-start safe cycling trails in Hillsborough. Here are 3 things we can do to help:

1.) Show up at Pat Kemp’s Community Conversation, “Safe, Scenic, Sensational, Shaded Trails.” Details are on the Facebook event page. There will be a great presentation by Dale Allen (he’s awesome!), a panel discussion with state & county agencies & cycling advocates (including me!), and a discussion period after to see how we can all support Patricia Kemp in her efforts to build more paved trails.

Community Conversation on Trails
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 @ 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library, in Meeting Room A
1505 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa, FL 33602

2.) Speak to the County Commission at their next meeting, where Commissioner Kemp has put Multi-Use Trails on the agenda, with presentations from Dale Allen, Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation; Anthony Matonti, TBARTA; and Wade Reynolds, Hillsborough MPO. The presentation will be at 10:15 a.m., but public comment can only happen at 9:10 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. Sign in when you get there, then you’ll get 3 minutes to tell them why you support trails, and tell them it’s high time to build the South Coast Greenway Trail from Ruskin to Tampa!

County Commission Meeting
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
9:10 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. Public Comment
County Center, 2nd Floor Boardroom
601 E. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33602

3.) Contact your County Commissioners. Reference Wednesday’s agenda item F-2 on paved trails. This agenda item says they will “ask staff to identify priority trail projects as part of the budget process.” Let’s tell them the South Coast Greenway Trail should be priority #1! This is the trail that will go from Ruskin to Tampa — if it ever gets built.

Contact Commissioners on their contact form.

Or email them:
Stacy White <whites@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Sandy Murman <murmans@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Al Higginbotham <higginbothama@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Ken Hagan <hagank@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Victor Crist <cristv@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Les Miller <millerlj@hillsboroughcounty.org>,
Pat Kemp <kempp@hillsboroughcounty.org>

Or call them: 272-5660

Talking points:

>  The South Coast Greenway paved bicycle-pedestrian trail has been on county plans since 1995. Many citizens and community representatives have shown up at many hearings and meetings, and written many letters to get this project in all our county plans, yet it remains on the drawing board year after year. It is time to fulfill the promises made when these plans were adopted, and begin building this project.

> The county commission recently found $812 Million to spend for transportation. This was almost all for road-widening, with $5 million for golf-cart paths, and $0 for bicycle paths. NOTHING for bicycle safety.

> Our area is one of the most dangerous in the nation for cyclists & pedestrians.

> See this Tampa Bay Times editorial from 2 weeks ago, saying that more people are commuting by bike than ever in Tampa Bay, and we need to invest in more safe cycling infrastructure.

If approved, these two proposals would have set terrible precedents of spreading urban densities outside the urban area, and seriously weakened our Urban Service Area boundary, which is our main planning tool for limiting urban sprawl.

Led by Keystone Civic Association, with Barbara Dowling Aderhold & Tom Aderhold, an overflow crowd of yellow-clad Keystone residents filled the County Commission chamber, and spilled out to fill a second area. Their many speakers were awesome: articulate, intelligent, and passionate about defending their community against developers’ assaults.

I spoke on behalf of Tampa Bay Sierra Club against the proposals. You can see my 2-minute speech in this video:

Our hero is Commissioner Pat Kemp, who made an excellent motion to kill these 2 proposals. Kemp, an attorney, skillfully crafted her motion to lay out evidence and reasoning that shuts the door on any further appeals. She gave voice to the citizens’ concerns, rebutted the developer’s claims, and showed her deep understanding of smart planning for growth & transportation, and her empathy for citizens and our community plans.

Kemp tossed aside the usual procedure of “transmitting” such Comp Plan Amendments to the state for rubber-stamping “review,” after which they come back for yet another hearing before the County Commission. This process wears out the citizens who have to leave work & families to attend hearing after hearing. Yet commissioners almost always do the red-tape transmittal thing, to postpone having to make a decision and to cater to the developers who propose this stuff. It was a mark of courage and leadership for Kemp to dispense with that SOP and simply kill these horrid proposals in one blow.

The commission voted 6 – 1 for Commissioner Pat Kemp’s motion to kill both Plan Amendments, with Commissioner Les Miller the lone dissenting vote.

Thank Commissioner Kemp

You can thank Commissioner Kemp, and the 5 who voted with her — except Commissioner Miller — using the commission’s contact form. (You can give Commissioner Miller a piece of your mind there, too.)

The 2 proposals in a nutshell:

Comprehensive Plan Amendment 16-05 would have increased the density allowed, from 60 houses to 340 houses, on a rural parcel of land in the Keystone area, outside the Urban Services Area boundary, with sensitive wetlands that flow into Brooker Creek. It flies in the face of the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan which seeks to preserve the rural agricultural character of their community.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment 16-06 was even worse, because it applied to the whole county, not just one parcel of land. It would have allowed any developer to multiply the density times 3 on any rural parcel that includes sensitive wetlands (!!!), if the parcel was outside the Urban Services Area (!!!), as long as the developer brought in urban sewage systems.

This would have conflicted with these 9 Community Plans:

• Keystone-Odessa
• Lutz
• Ruskin
• Balm
• Thonotassa
• East Lake-Orient Park
• Riverview
• Little Manatee South
• Seffner-Mango

Links to more info:

Video of the whole BOCC hearing. Use Safari browser with Silverlight plugin. The Comp Plan Amendments hearing starts at 1:57 (after the marijuana hearings).

CPA 16-05 Backup material & recommendation of denial by Planning Commission

CPA 16-06 Backup material & recommendation of denial by Planning Commission

The mission of the march was “To create an inclusive community regardless of gender, race, nationality, faith or sexual orientation for a common vision of freedom, equality and social justice.”

I created, designed and pasted my sign together for the Women’s March, using a photo of the Statue of Liberty by Michael Jones (aka smokeghost). After the march, I went to his Flickr page and thanked him for making his photo available, and showed him how I had used it, and told him I had also made a copy of my sign for a friend who marched with it in Washington, DC. Happily, he replied that he was pleased to see his photo used this way.

Here are a few snapshots from the St. Pete march:

And here’s a little video, to show a bit of the spirit of the event:

More photos & videos

Pictures from Women’s Marches around the world — New York Times

Aerial video of the Washington March

Aerial Video of the St. Pete March — You can see a mass of marchers at Demen’s landing, then a ton of marchers filling the street from Demen’s landing to the Vinoy, and just when the camera begins to turn back, you can catch a glimpse of MORE marchers, heading back up Beach Street from the Vinoy to Demen’s. for some time, both streets were full of demonstrators.

Women’s March St. Pete Facebook photos

The Women’s March in St. Pete is one of the many sister marches around the country that will march simultaneously in solidarity with the marchers of the Women’s March on Washington. The March is about inclusivity and human rights for all, so men are welcome to join this march too.

Women’s March in St. Pete

Saturday, January 21, 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Demens Landing
2nd Ave SE, Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701

Connect on the St. Pete March Facebook page, or register on EventBrite (free).

You can also support this all-volunteer grassroots effort with donations. The local march has expenses for permits, supplies, security, etc., and the national march is helping to pay bus fare to Washington for those who can’t afford it.

Support the Local St. Pete March:
http://tinyurl.com/womensmarchstpetedonate
Or mail a check to: Women’s March/Sojourner Truth Center c/o Judith Nelson, 1257 63rd Terrace S, St Petersburg, FL 33705

Support the National Women’s March on Washington:
https://www.fundraise.com/womens-march-on…/sponsor-a-marcher

You can also support the march by buying Women’s March T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, etc.

More information:

The national Mission & Vision statement.

Other Sister Marches include 5 in Florida.

Please vote NO on Amendment One. It’s just a sneaky trick by the utility companies — good for them but bad for solar energy. See Floridians for Solar Choice to learn more.

Pat Kemp for County Commission

YES on Amendment 4.

Don’t miss that amendment on the back of your mail-in ballot.

You can vote here.

While you’re at it, I recommend voting for Clark Brooks for “Best Local Blogger” because:

1. he is.
2. he nominated me for Best Local Activist.
3. he promises to give you a hug if he wins.

Check out his blog yourself — it’s hilariously wonderful.