By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND activist

If you think County Administrator Pat Bean’s recent double digit raises to a few of her favorite minions amid epic budget cuts were unbelievable you might want to take some Beano before catching a glimpse at her proposed budget itself. The millions thrown at special interest is enough to make anyone’s stomach turn. County Commissioners have the final say on her budget. Many of these same Commissioners renamed their Moral Courage award after a pardoned ex-felon last year, and they also think it might be OK to sell off sensitive publicly owned land to investors in order to “preserve” it, so I suggest you offer to help them in this budget decision making process.

Parks are what got me looking into this budget in the first place. When I heard my beloved Flatwoods Park was on the chopping block to be closed two days a week, (and knowing how much this Commission gives away each meeting on the consent agenda alone) I was furious. They pass out hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions regularly under the Consent Agenda without even discussion yet they now claim they have to cut public parks.

So, upon hearing about the proposed closing I contacted our Board of County Commissioners voicing my concerns. At the time this post was submitted I had only heard back from one Commissioner’s office and that was Commissioner Rose Ferlita’s office who is often the first to respond to my concerns. Strange though because Commissioner Ken “Half Truth” Hagan’s office is now claiming to be the first stop for any citizens in any district. So far, Hagan’s office isn’t living up to its claims. Isn’t the Flatwoods in Hagan’s district? Maybe he was just too busy campaigning handing out constituent service fliers in Ferlita’s district.

In my e-mail plea to Commissioners, I described the Flatwoods in detail since many times I’ve heard several of them say how much they support sports. I told them that many athletes such as runners and cyclists train for their individual sports out at the Flatwoods. Course I couldn’t help adding that there was no taxpayer funded suite for them to dine like Kings in as they watch me pedal by but it was about sports just the same…and kids, too. Maybe I should have mentioned the several covered water stops equipped with benches should they decide to become spectators.

Ferlita’s office referred me to Mark Thornton of the Parks Department. I had several questions for Thornton including exactly how much savings were attributed to the Flatwoods closing two days a week and his answer was $483,390. My other question had to do with accessibility of the Parks for disabled residents. While biking out there I have often seen motorized vehicles taking laps around the paved trail out at the Flatwoods and wondered how many other parks could offer this and if there was any special consideration given regarding accessible vs. non accessible parks. He indicated that of the 206 sites that 193 of them were generally ADA accessible and he also relayed that he is working on a volunteer program in order to keep the Flatwoods open. If our Commission didn’t heave such a fortune to special interests then I would think using volunteers to keep it open was just great but to continue to fund the pork but ask residents to run their parks didn’t seem all that honorable especially when some rangers face losing their jobs.

I don’t like to publicly bitch about something without offering a solution so knowing that several members of our County Commission have a history of supporting some hefty pork in past budgets I decided to take a look at their proposed budget in an attempt to find other ways to fund the Flatwoods. You might be amazed at what I found. These little piggies didn’t go to market they went to the bank…of Hillsborough County!  (This is just one NIMBY’s view of how I interpreted Bean’s budget which you can look through yourself here)

The first glaring red flag I spotted was that $500,000 is attributed to No Impact Fee Zones (page 341) that is developer welfare on the backs of taxpayers! Not to say that is the final number either because I stumbled across this little doozie of an amendment to the 2005 No Fee Zones where Bean asked Commissioners to increase it from $1.9 million to $2,349,000 in a budget amendment. So, they are proposing to close our public parks but still giving their developer friends (who are often campaign donors) a free ride with these waivers to slap up more rooftops. I will give you the county’s own definition of impact fees as found on page 81of their budget document: (note the relationship to parks that impact fees have):

Impact Fees - Impact fees on new construction were implemented
in June 1985 to finance capital facilities needed to maintain service
levels in areas of growth. The first of these fees was for roads and
parks, while the right-of-way portion of the roads impact fees was
implemented in February 1986.

You should know that this and past boards have been widely criticized for not charging developers enough in impact fees in the first place. According to this document from the Planning Commission every new rooftop built puts the county in the hole $13,133 more (some of which would have gone to parks) so to add a half of million dollar give-away on top of that is really throwing salt in the road rash. I hope you are still stinging if you go to the next meeting and speak to the Commission. This commission only charges developers 37 percent of the legal maximum allowed of the Parks portion of impact fees.

Next time you hear politicians tell you they don’t have money for roads or parks or you have to come down to speak in front of the Board of County Corruptioners Commissioners to save your favorite park remember their massive impact fee give-aways that help developers and short-change the rest of us. That report also shows us the staggering billions we are behind in providing roads to existing developments (thanks to their generous developer welfare practices) because they only charge 12 percent of the legal max for roads. So that means if they close your favorite park down you will most likely be pedaling on over-crowded roads! They also give away the fire portion of the impact fee by only charging a meager 27 percent of the legal maximum to developers for Fire and Rescue.

One of the best examples of Developer Welfare is found on page 371of the budget document where Bean flat out admits development does not even attempt to pay for itself with this statement: payment to the Fishhawk developer for improvements to roads previously constructed for which they are
being reimbursed from transportation impact fees.

So they are giving developers impact fee credits for roads that I bet the county told you and me were paid for by developers (yet they slyly give them back that money via the back door in the form of impact fee credits (meaning taxpayers are footing the bill). You can also see more forms of developer welfare in this recent post.

What else looks to be a waste of the public’s money in this budget? Well, I see the Sports Commission, no stranger to the public trough, even though they are a private group is not taking much of a cut at all as they are scheduled to haul in $700,000 from the County Budget (that’s only $200,000 less than last year) page 349. To put that in perspective for you  Bean has proposed to cut one single public park more than double what she cut a private group. The Sports Commission’s big claim to fame seems to be getting us major sporting spectacles brought to the area. If ever there was a spot for some good volunteers it would he here. I suggest asking current officials to volunteer to work together to show off Tampa as a potential host city. What else are politicians good for if they can’t glad-hand a few sporting officials while promoting their own cities? Using existing government officials and their staff shouldn’t cost us a thing. This fortune usually reserved for the Sports Commission can then be used where more of the public will see the benefit from it….like Parks!

Then we have the biggie, the Sports Authority. Chaired by one of our most common opponents when fighting sprawl in front of the County Commission, land use attorney Vincent Marchetti, whose fellow board members include one County Commissioner Jim Norman. It looks like the Sports Authority is scheduled to bank millions from taxpayers. Just how many I can’t be sure because the Sports Authority is talked about throughout the budget document and it is quite confusing to this NIMBY (was that by design so we wouldn’t really know exactly how much the Sports Authority costs taxpayers each year?) Best I can tell page 336 has 1,751,254 listed (property taxes and oper deficit) also on page 336 under Debt Service they have 2,042,476 for sales bonds and under that CIT distributions of 8,937,000. Just under that there is another $750,000this article pays between $140,000 -$190,000. Is that bacon I smell? Wayne gives us a great breakdown of just what a rotten deal taxpayers are getting regarding the listed for stadium renovations FYI - They are currently looking for an executive director of the Sports Authority which according to Sports Authority. This should be the first thing to be eliminated or streamlined as far as I am concerned.

More pork sidling up to the public trough this year is The Chamber of Commerce (a whole herd of them) are collecting a fortune from the county budget. The breakdown looks like this: (Pages 346/347)

1. Brandon Chamber $30,000 (no decrease from last year)

2. The Tampa Chamber of Commerce $361,000 (no decrease from last year)

3. Apollo Beach Chamber of Commerce $10,000 ($10,000) less than last year)

4. Plant City Chamber of Commerce $65,000 ($35,000 less than last year)

5. Ruskin Chamber of Commerce $5,000 ($15,000 less than last year)

6. Ybor City Chamber of Commerce $75,000 ($25,000 less than last year)

That adds up to $546,000 Why are they getting their Commerce from the taxpayers? Some of these groups actively push controversial political issues yet politicians are funding them (with your money!)

Other question marks include the Outback ProAM at $75,000 and the Tampa Bay Partnership $40,000 (same as last year)

Lets look at some other recipients of Bean’s budget. While it might not be pet pork it does raise some questions regarding priorities in lean times. Public Art looks to be slashed significantly in this budget but even in years where we can afford it I don’t think money can buy taste as evidenced by that giant slinky on Bayshore. The Performing Arts are getting a whopping $450,000 in this budget proposal (page 347) and the Arts Council is raking in $809,227 (down from over a million bucks this year) page 348.

Even though I occasionally like to attend a show it isn’t something that I think our tax dollars should subsidize (same with sports). A public park on the other hand has minimal entrance fees if any and is open to the masses. In my mind this should be a much higher priority for funding than the arts. If you can’t pay the light bill you certainly can’t afford to invest in art.

How about that $75,000 to a lobbying firm that let lawmakers saddle Hillsborough with even more debt?

Need more Beano? Me too! What we don’t need is more Bean. Will Commissioners finally come to their senses regarding Bean or will they continue to take the heat from the public over her bean-headed moves? Commissioners Ferlita and Higginbotham are outspoken in this article about her recent raises and Commissioners Kevin Beckner and Mark Sharpe voice their disapproval in this article (that’s 4 votes kids….if they are really serious) My suggestion to Commissioners is cut out the pork and the Beans!

Photo Credit: pheezy at Flickr.com

What can you do? You can contact your Commissioners here. You can show up and speak to the Commission at the budget public hearing Thursday, July 16 at 6 pm because nothing makes politicians do the right thing more than the angry masses showing up in force. You can Contact Parks Director Mark Thornton here.

Photo Credit: Eric Fink at Flickr.com

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Applicants Sandy Murman, left, and Victor Crist.
As Charlie Crist looks to appoint an interim replacement for the late Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Phyllis Busansky, the governor has trimmed a list of 22 applicants to six people — four Republicans, two Democrats — who will get job interviews.

The list includes some frontrunners for the position — Republicans state Sen. Victor Crist (no relation to Charlie) and former state House member Sandy Murman (full disclosure: both are past clients of my former political consulting firm). Others who will get some interview time with the gov and/or his staff are Republicans Chris Hart, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, and Earl Lennard, former superintendent of Hillsborough County Schools; and Democrats Craig Latimer, a former high-ranking Sheriff’s Office official and Busansky’s No. 2 in the current office, and Bob “Coach” Henriquez, a high school football coach, teacher, state bureaucrat and former state House member.

As I wrote in our print edition this week, I expect Gov. Crist to have to appoint a Republican, as he is embroiled in a primary election for the U.S. Senate nomination in 2010. If there is any good news for Latimer, a favorite among those who mourn the loss of Busansky, it is yesterday’s fundraising ass-whupping that Crist put on his challenger, Marco Rubio, that will take some pressure off Crist’s need to appoint a conservative Republican.

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Here’s a great opportunity for students in college or in the high school classes of 2010 and 2011 to get some serious civic education and training, courtesy of the Lawton Chiles Foundation: a two-day Leadership Corps Conference in Orlando, on Aug. 8-9. Download the application and read details of the conference after the jump:

DEADLINE APPROACHING: Applications Due July 20 For Leadership Conference in Orlando

College students and the high school classes of 2010 and 2011 are invited to apply for the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps conference, Aug. 8-9

Aspiring student leaders and organizers are invited to apply now for the inaugural class of the Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps, a student leadership group with the goal of educating, inspiring and providing hands on training in community leadership, empowering students to work for change. Chaired by Senator Bob Graham, students from across Florida will meet at a two-day conference in Orlando slated for August 8-9th. The Leadership Corps will engage in a continuing effort after the Leadership Corps event in their own communities and on their own campuses.

Applications are available at www.lawtonchiles.org and www.WorstToFirst.org, and should be received no later than July 20. Current college students and the high school classes of 2010 and 2011 are eligible to attend. All expenses to attend will be covered, with the exception of transportation to and from the event and a small registration fee, for which financial aid may be available. The students selected will receive community service hours required for Bright Futures Scholarships, and can list this leadership experience on their college applications and resumes. For more information, contact Geoff Chiles at lclc@worsttofirst.org, call (850) 385-7800 or (407) 902-8302.

Students will also have the opportunity to interact with leaders from various sectors: federal and state government, non-profit organizations and local businesses. Additionally, students will participate in brainstorming sessions with peers on strategies to effect change at a statewide level. The program is modeled after the nationally successful Truth campaign, a youth-driven effort that dramatically reduced teen smoking rates and created dozens of future leaders. The Leadership Corps will work to improve Florida’s performance on key indicators that affect young people. For example, did you know:

· As a state, Florida spends only 3.1% of its resources on education, 42nd in the country.

· Florida ranks 50th in spending on education, but ranks 16th in the nation in per capita spending on corrections.

· Florida students rank 48th in average composite scores on the ACT, a standard college entrance exam.

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Just getting back into the office today after six days off and getting caught up with stuff like this TV commercial from St. Pete mayoral candidate Deveron GIbbons. Yes, of course Charlie Crist is in the ad. As are Deveron’s parents. And footage of Deveron chatting with two old white ladies, evidence for nervous white St. Pete voters that it is all right to support a black candidate.

See the full video after the jump:

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he Florida Supreme Court has just approved the latest financial impact statement from Hometown Democracy petitioners, after rejecting their previous two submissions.

The high court has already approved the HD ballot question for the 2010 statewide ballot; the proposal would require voters to approve local land use plans. But without a valid financial impact statement, the question would have appeared with a notation indicating that no such information was available, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

The court rejected HD’s prior two impact statements on grounds that they were misleading and/or vague. The new one, according to a court opinion released today, is “clear, unambiguous, consists of no more than seventy-five words, and is limited to address the estimated increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to the state or local governments,” and therefore passes legal muster.

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By Chris Ingram
PoHo contributor

An Open Letter to Sen. Saxby Chambliss:

Dear Senator:

We have known each other for many years, and I have always admired your conservative values and principles.

However, due to your recent endorsement of Charlie Crist in the open Florida U.S. Senate seat, which is a contested race among more than one Republican (including Marco Rubio), I now doubt your sincerity for honest and fair elections, not to mention good leadership and responsible government.

While perhaps you may have been too preoccupied finding ways to get yourself re-elected and weren’t paying attention when Charlie Crist fully embraced President Obama’s reckless and fiscally unsound “stimulus” plan, Floridians were watching.

And while Obama and the Democrats’ plan stinks, I must admit you and your fellow Republicans in Congress did a terrible job controlling spending during eight years of Bush Junior. I have previously referred to Congress’ spending ways as the PIMP (Plan for Incumbent Member Protection), as most congressional spending bills are basically nothing more than pork bills designed so members of Congress (and governors like Chuckles who embrace them) can get re-elected. In any event Chuckie went down to Ft. Myers, Florida earlier this year and PIMPed with Obama where they hugged and kissed Obama and America’s children got screwed. For that reason alone, I question your judgment and commitment to conservative values for having recently endorsed such a fraud of a candidate in Charlie Crist.

Additionally, you may not be aware of the fact that Too-Tan Charlie has nearly single-handedly wrecked free-market economics with what he has done with the state of homeowners insurance in this state. Florida you see is a peninsula surrounded by warm waters and is frequently hit with hurricanes (which are basically large masses of rapidly spinning air that destroy most things in their paths). Most experts (those are people who know more than you or say, Charlie Crist) say if Florida experiences a strong storm that hits a major metropolitan area, the economic damages will bankrupt the state because of Charlie’s policies and reliance on underfunded “Citizens Property Insurance.”

Furthermore, our state’s economy and local governments are in shambles due in part because of Charlie’s support of a constitutional amendment called Amendment 1. This change to our state’s constitution (that’s the governing document of the state — the U.S. has one, too, and you should read it) has long-term negative economic consequences, which Charlie probably is too dumb (I’m told he failed the State Bar twice) to even be aware of. But his pal Jim Greer knows how to read a poll – and not just the kind of pole found in strip clubs, but that’s a different matter you wouldn’t be aware being from Georgia and all. So anyhow, I reckon ol’ Jimbo has been telling Charlie Boy he shouldn’t want to be governor much longer because he’s really screwed things up and probably doesn’t know how to deal with the consequences when they come to light.

In short, back-slappin’ Charlie has been a terrible governor and would make an even worse U.S. senator — although at least in the Senate he would only be one of 100 and arguably would do far greater damage than as governor. Trouble is, most of the rest of you in Congress don’t show much spine or leadership either, so collectively he would be a bad addition to an already pathetic body.

In closing, Senator, let me remind you that last year in your general election run-off I made a donation of $250 to your campaign (I also raised several thousand dollars on your behalf from friends in the Tampa Bay area). I regret it now. In fact, I hereby request you return my contribution. I will then forward the money to the Marco Rubio campaign, as I believe Mr. Rubio represents the type of leadership, backbone, and conviction our country and my state so desperately need in these challenging times.

My address is on file with your campaign. Send the check there.

Sincerely disappointed in you and 99 percent of the rest of the G.O.P. “leadership,”

Chris Ingram

P.S. If you’re having trouble reading between the lines, my message is this: Butt out! You and your ilk have created the mess we’re in and we don’t need you telling us we need more like you to solve the problems you got us in.

Chris Ingram is president and founder of 411 Communications a corporate and political communications firm, and publisher of Irreverent View. Ingram is a frequent pundit on Fox News and CNN, and has written opinion columns for the Washington Times, UPI, Front Page Florida, and National Review online. E-mail him at: Chris@411Communications.net.

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Why do I do this to myself? I get a call from perfectly nice people at the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club asking me to speak at one of their meetings (tonight at 6:30, to be precise) and I agree and then I am asked what topic, and I choose to speak on “Fixing Tampa Bay Politics.”

I should have opted for “Getting the Palestinians and Jews Together for Middle East Peace” instead. Tampa Bay politics are hopelessly damaged, so where do I even start?

You’ll have to attend to hear. And no, one of my suggestions will NOT be a plea for kumbaya-like bipartisanship or the like.

The social hour starts at 6 pm (let’s hope for the Club’s sake and listeners’ sakes that they’ve stocked a lot of vodka for me) and the meeting lasts until about 8 pm. It is at Banquet Masters in Pinellas Park, 8100 Park Boulevard. For reservations, call 727-360-3971.

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Rubio does have some interesting facets to his numbers. His campaign indicates he raised $144,000 through online donations, and contributors come from all 50 states. These numbers show a donor base that has clearly not reached its potential to give. Federal law limits campaign donations to $2,400 per person or political action committee for the primary and general elections. So most of Rubio’s supporters could give “again and again and again.”

Of course, if Crist reports $3 million this quarter, Rubio has to spend time asking “again and again and again,” while Crist can work to expand his donor base and reach out to more people.

The real problem

A recent poll indicated that Rubio can compete very well with Crist, polling in a virtual tie with the governor among Republicans who know both of them. But only about 2/5ths of Republicans in Florida have even heard of Rubio. And it will take a lot of money to raise that number substantially.

Florida has ten media markets where Rubio will have to buy advertising, including three of the top 20 in the nation. We are among the most expensive states in the country, and Crist will have enough money at his disposal to swamp Rubio on television.

To further add to Rubio’s problem, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has endorsed Crist, adding most of the national political action committees to Crist’s side of the ledger. Crist, as sitting governor, can also soften Rubio’s very strong base of groups on Tallahassee.

Rubio’s campaign is doing its best to make this sow’s ear look like a silk purse. He needed a strong first quarter and didn’t get it. I don’t think he will quit the race anytime soon, but if he doesn’t reach the $1 million this next quarter, he could be in for a very long, very brutal campaign that may not be good for the Republican Party.

In closing, I want to add that I like Marco Rubio. I personally wish Governor Crist had decided to run for re-election. If Rubio’s fundraising doesn’t improve, I hope he considers switching to run for Attorney General — a race without a strong GOP candidate.

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If you have not yet found the time to catch all of Sarah Palin’s now-legendary press conference, the helpful folks at HuffPo have provided an abridged version which captures all of her rhetorical flourishes (and dead-fish references) in just a minute and a half.

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Stay out of the water! That was the warning just prior to the start of this year’s 4th of July holiday about the Courtney Campbell Beach. Was it because of a bull shark attack? Nope. Maybe an invasion of rogue lionfish? Nope. Maybe a jellyfish convention then?

No, silly, there was just too much shit in the water. Course they said the high bacteria count could be due to several things including animal feces, stormwater runoff, and lastly they mention sewage. Uh-huh. Don’t forget there is a 14-mile-long algae bloom going on right now that’s also attributed to contaminated run-off. Oh goodie, let’s make it easier to build more houses!

Photo Credit: James Laurence Stewart at Flickr.com

When I was a kid the 4th of July meant going to the beach without a care in the world. Guess maybe I am showing my age, but I don’t remember any of my favorite beaches getting closed down because of excess shit, but then again I did grow up south of here where I don’t recall any of our County Commissioners being hauled off in handcuffs for taking bribes in exchange for approving land deals either.

On what planet does it make sense to encourage practices that contaminate our environment, destroy the very reason people make Florida a travel destination and degrade our quality of life? Yet that is what local and state politicians have done by gutting growth management laws, wetland and water permitting while promoting “economic development.” Let’s be honest; at least in Hillsborough when you hear the phrase economic development from a politician, think campaign fund development and do a little checking.

Take a look at this article that describes how the Little Harbor developers lost a land use vote when wanting to build in environmentally sensitive areas. They later contributed heavily to two of the NO votes and when their appeal came up for review those two commissioners changed their votes, handing the developers a win and dealing a blow to the citizens fighting them. Shows just how hard it is to argue with bribes oops, I mean campaign contributions.

Remember, we don’t have enough water as it is (and people scaled back due to restrictions that in turn caused water rates to go up). And now we often can’t even swim in the bodies of water surrounding our communities because of pollution. Yet our politicians think we need to make it easier to build. Anybody else think maybe it is time to re-think things? Stop swallowing the shit many of our elected officials and their staff are feeding you about growth paying for itself (it doesn’t ) before you really could have to drink shit.

What can you do? Well, if you don’t like the way elected officials pass out land use changes like candy to their shuga daddies then vote YES to Hometown Democracy (Amendment 4) now officially on the 2010 ballot. It doesn’t allow us to vote on everything (like re-zonings) but it does give us the final say in Comprehensive Plan amendments which are often the route that developers use to get bigass subdivisions approved. Do your homework on current elected officials and candidates seeking office. When they claim to be fiscal conservatives, ask them just whose pocketbooks they are looking out for — yours or developers’? If they say they support “sustainable” communities, which seems to be the politically correct buzzword right now, ask them to define sustainable and see if their definition includes so much shit in the water that we can’t go swimming.

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