TAMPA -- Doug Guetzloe, founder of the Orlando-based group, Ax the Tax, says he may play a role in opposing a proposal to raise the sales tax 1 cent in Hillsborough to pay for new transit, roads and buses.
Guetzloe, a Tampa native who has a political consulting business and his [...]
TAMPA -- Doug Guetzloe, founder of the Orlando-based group Ax the Tax, says he may play a role in opposing a 1-cent sales tax hike in Hillsborough to pay for new transit, roads and buses.
Guetzloe, a Tampa native who has a political consulting business and his own conservative talk radio [...]
TAMPA -- Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham has voiced concern that the county's baby step approach to a rail referendum would enable stealth campaigning for the initiative.
But a postcard landing in mailboxes this week underscores that opposition forces can play the same game. The return address is listed as 8%IsTooMuch, in Hillsborough County, [...]
South Tampa mom, travel consultant and environmental activist Julie Jenkins says she'll run for the District 4 City Council seat in March 2011. That's the seat now held by John Dingfelder, who's running for county commission. Jenkins made her first run for public office in 2007 when she made a [...]
She's not an official candidate for state attorney general, but Pam Bondi gave a sense of what she might be like on the campaign trail at a meeting of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans Tuesday night. She spoke to about 20 people -- including state house candidates Irene Guy and [...]
An attorney for the Pinellas County Housing Authority has ripped former mayoral candidate and authority board member Deveron Gibbons in a report on the canceled project to build a joint headquarters with the St. Petersburg Housing Authority. The report criticized the city authority, too.
SEMINOLE -- City Council member Dan Hester closed out Tuesday's meeting by announcing he won't be running again in March.
Hester, 54, cited his heavy workload as president and CEO of the Florida Capital Bank Special Assets Department as the reason for his decision. Hester, [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Who's to blame for Kathleen Ford's failed mayoral bid?
The St. Petersburg Democratic Club sent out an e-mail Tuesday that named plenty of potential culprits:
DEMOCRATS DISUNITY DOOMED FORD
Message matters. Campaign themes count. And a candidate’s off-the-cuff comments can be fatal.
Those are the some of the lessons that the [...]
Tampa police chief Jane Castor will be the featured speaker at the Hillsborough County GLBTA Democratic Caucus meeting on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. at Perkins Restaurant, 612 N. Dale Mabry Highway. When Mayor Pam Iorio tapped Castor to lead the police department in September, she became the city's first [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council member Karl Nurse is trying to stop Mayor Rick Baker and the City Council from adding to the city's healthy reserves.
Here's the e-mail he sent out to social service groups:
Folks,
The St. Petersburg City Council will hold a public hearing Monday at 6 PM [...]
In the past week, chatter ratched up about Rep. Rick Kriseman's draft bill that would end the life of the Pinellas Planning Council, which oversees growth management and advises the county on development issues.
It wasn't always complementary chatter, and today Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, sent officials a letter saying he's yanking [...]
TAMPA -- Republican Congressional candidate Eddie Adams Jr. recently earned an appointment to the Hillsborough County Hospital Authority and has quickly asserted himself.
As a member of the authority, which oversees Tampa General Hospital's lease of government land on Davis Islands, he's been asking questions about the hospital's hiring of minority contractors. Leadership [...]
TAMPA -- Republican Congressional candidate Eddie Adams Jr. recently earned an appointment to the Hillsborough County Hospital Authority and has quickly asserted himself.
As a member of the authority, which oversees Tampa General Hospital's lease of government land on Davis Islands, he's been asking questions about the hospital's hiring of minority contractors. Leadership [...]
She can't get her boss, Public Defender Bob Dillinger, to back her, but Democrat Nina Hayden has announced that 40 assistant public defenders want her to be a state senator.
“As an Assistant Public Defender working in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, these are the professionals I work with every day,” said [...]
Pinellas County Democrats will have their Kennedy-King dinner on Feb. 27 at the Hilton hotel in the Carillon Park area of St. Petersburg.
No speakers have been confirmed, though CFO/governor's candidate Alex Sink is expected to be the speaker, chairman Ramsay McLauchlan said. She still has to confirm. The party is [...]
The Tampa City Council on Thursday scheduled a vote on the police union contract for Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m. Mayor Pam Iorio and the union have been at an impasse in negotiations since July, largely over raises, so the council has to settle the dispute. But even scheduling the date [...]
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has endorsed fellow Republican Jack Latvala as Latvala seeks to return to the Florida Senate. Latvala faces Democrat Nina Hayden, a Pinellas School Board member, in the 2010 race.
"Jack Latvala has valuable experience that will benefit our region in Tallahassee. He accomplished many things for [...]
By a 5-1 vote, the Tampa City Council today voted to expand its human rights ordinance to protect people from discrimination based on "gender identity and expression."
Charlie Miranda cast the lone dissenting vote after expressing concern about disruptions at work caused when someone comes to work dressed as [...]
Florida Sen. Victor Crist, chairman of the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, hosted a workshop in Tampa today to gather information on how to cut costs in the criminal justice system. The emphasis was on programs to keep people out of prison or keep them from going back. "Criminal justice [...]
With the Tampa City Council set to take a final vote tomorrow on expanding its human rights ordinance to protect "gender identity and expression," opponents of the move are sending a barrage of e-mails to council members. Council member Mary Mulhern has received more than 1,891 e-mails blasting the measure [...]
Pinellas County Commissioners' decision to stick a moratorium on new digital signs -- the latest front in long-running billboard battles -- "surprised" Clear Channel, said lobbyist Todd Pressman on Wednesday.
Without putting the issue on the published agenda, the board voted 5-2 for the moratorium Tuesday. Pressman learned of the [...]
CLEARWATER -- County Commissioner Karen Seel was chosen unanimously as the new chairwoman of the Pinellas board today, succeeding Commissioner Calvin Harris. Seel moves up from vice chair.
Commissioner Susan Latvala got the nod as the new vice chairwoman.
The posts are largely procedural and ceremonial, but provide a bit of a [...]
CLEARWATER -- Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock has scrutinized the county utilities' plans for recycling, rate increases and spending, but we're not saying that's what prompted this email Monday.
After trying to deal with the county's ultra-low flow toilet rebate program, Bostock wrote to County Administrator Bob LaSala and assistant county [...]
It's going down 8:30 p.m. Friday at BayWalk.
Meanwhile, organizers called out council members Karl Nurse and Herb Polson in their weekly e-mail blast Tuesday.
"Nurse, Mayor Baker, council member Polson and others rationalized their approval of the sidewalk giveaway by saying protesters' rights were maintained because they could still protest [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor-elect Bill Foster will join a group of newly elected mayors at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics for a three-day leadership training seminar starting Wednesday.
Topics include the economic crisis, transitioning from the campaign to City Hall, and education.
Cristina Silva, Times staff writer
UPDATE: Pinellas County Democratic Party Chairman Ramsay McLauchlan weighs in. "I am hopeful that if there is a full story written it will make it clear that the Democrats oppose the drilling and that this legislation will only pass if the Republican leadership in the house has its way. I [...]
During the Hillsborough County Democratic Party meeting last night, Florida Sen. Charlie Justice outlined bills he's introducing. One would cap contributions to committees of continuing existence at $500, the same cap for donations to candidates. Another would stop corporations from giving to candidates. That would prevent one person from getting [...]
The Hillsborough County Commission stuck with the status quo today, re-electing Republican Ken Hagan to an unusual though not unprecedented third consecutive term as chairman. Republican Mark Sharpe was re-elected vice chairman.
Commissioner Rose Ferlita made the motion to keep Hagan as chairman, stressing the need for continuity as the county [...]
PINELLAS PARK -- Anyone who wants to run for a seat on this city's council needs to run on down to City Hall. The qualifying period closes at 1 p.m. Thursday. The seats up for grabs are mayor, currently held by Bill Mischler, and the council seats held by Ed Taylor and [...]
As Florida lawmakers spar about whether to hold a special session on transportation to increase the state's chances of winning stimulus funding for high-speed rail, one of the most vocal advocates of the project says they misunderstand what would really help the state's chances. Ed Turanchik, co-founder of ConnectUs, a [...]
Newcomer Stanley Gloster last week hosted his first fundraiser for the District 5 City Council seat in 2011. The seat is being vacated by Tom Scott, who is running for mayor in 2011. Many of the folks who turned out for Gloster's event said they first became familiar with him when he [...]
Glenn Beck is scheduled to be in Tampa for a book-signing from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Borders Bookstore, 909 N Dale Mabry Highway. After that, he's headed to the Villages for a book-signing and rally where he reportedly is going to make "an announcement about his plans [...]
TAMPA -- Task force members considering the future of Cone Ranch oppose the outright sale of the property to private interests.
Six of the seven members of the Cone Ranch Environmental Advisory Panel have submitted their thoughts to the county in advance of what may be its final meeting Monday. Of the six, [...]
Mayor-elect Bill Foster thanked his supporters in an e-mail today:
To the entire Foster Family:
Wow. It seems like only yesterday we were all at Ferg’s celebrating an awesome victory. Since November 3, I have become reacquainted with Wendy and the kids, spent numerous hours meeting with city staff, and have actually resumed the [...]
First-time Tampa City Council candidate Seth Nelson today announced two endorsements: One from Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner and another from former City Council member Shawn Harrison. Nelson, an attorney, previously worked at Harrison's law firm. He also volunteered for Beckner's county commission run in 2008. City Council races are [...]
ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor-elect Bill Foster wasn't too excited about the 1,100-square-foot wing on the mezzanine level of the Municipal Services Center City Hall had roped off for his transition office.
He wanted to be in City Hall.
Not surprisingly, city officials responded to the next boss' wishes.
Foster now has an office on the first [...]
Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate campaign didn't take long getting back to state Sen. Mike Fasano. "Thank you for your letter regarding Governor Crist's strong support for the Obama Stimulus. Or should we say his former support for the Obama Stimulus?" the campaign wrote in a letter to Fasano distributed [...]
Last Thursday, the Tampa City Council preliminarily approved expanding the city's human rights ordinance to offer protection to transgendered people. Other than a discussion about whether the new law would protect the occasional cross dresser, the vote came with little opposition, passing by a 7-0 vote.
Every speaker at the meeting spoke [...]
Christopher Mitchell, a Democratic candidate for the District 47 state House street, is launching a petition drive this weekend to get his name on the ballot in 2010. Mitchell will face Michael Steinberg, former chair of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party in the primary.
In a news release, Mitchell said [...]
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch says he's got no regrets about not running for St. Petersburg mayor, despite being tagged by our sister blog the Buzz as runner up loser of the week Sunday for not doing it.
Welch said he has serious measures with countywide effect to pursue, such [...]
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch says he's got no regrets about not running for St. Petersburg mayor, despite being tagged by our sister blog the Buzz as runner up loser of the week Sunday for not doing it.
Welch said he has serious measures with countywide effect to pursue, such [...]
Democrat Nina Hayden, a Pinellas School Board member, announced four endorsements today for her State Senate campaign for 2010: St. Petersburg City Councilman Karl Nurse, Councilman-elect Steve Kornell, Pinellas School Board Linda Lerner, State Rep. Ronald Brise, D-North Miami.
“Nina Hayden is exactly the right person for us in these challenging [...]
State Sen. Mike Fasano has fired off a letter to U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio over comments he recently made about him to the St. Petersburg Times.
At a Pasco County fundraiser last Saturday, the Times asked Rubio what he thought about Fasano's support of his U.S. Senate rival, Gov. [...]
Pinellas County Commissioner Neil Brickfield has followed ally Tony DiMatteo to support Marco Rubio over his Pinellas neighbor, Charlie Crist, for U.S. Senate.
Brickfield said he actually decided a few months ago, but confirmed the decision this week. Attention has focused on Pinellas Republicans' choice for the Senate nomination because of [...]
SEMINOLE -- Larry Ahern, candidate for the State House 51 seat, is holding his first fundraiser this Sunday at Shelter 8 in Lake Seminole Park. The shindig will go from noon to 3 p.m. Ahern is one of two Republicans who has announced a campaign against incumbent Democrat Janet Long. [...]
As expected, perennial candidate Norm Roche has filed to run for Pinellas County Commission in 2010 for the seat held by Calvin Harris, Democrat. Roche, previously a Democrat, is now running as a Republican in the race, which also include former sheriff's candidate Greg Pound as Constitution Party candidate.
Read Roche's [...]
As expected, perennial candidate Norm Roche has filed to run for the Pinellas County Commission in 2010 for the seat held by Democrat Calvin Harris. Roche, previously a Democrat, is now running as a Republican in the race, which also includes former sheriff's candidate Greg Pound as a Constitution Party [...]
Nearly 30 people turned out Tuesday night for a Hillsborough County Young Democrats meeting at Streetcar Charlie's in Ybor City. President Jennifer Fenn told the group it was the largest crowd ever, even though it was a rainy night. Guest speakers were former Congressman Jim Davis and Florida Senate candidate [...]
In their latest spat, the Pinellas County Housing Authority wants Attorney General Bill McCollum and State Attorney Bernie McCabe to investigate the St. Petersburg Housing Authority for violating the open records law.
Or at least charging too much: the city agency wants the county to pay more than $19,000 for records, [...]
East Hillsborough County activist and businessman Sam Rashid has been less visible on the political front in recent years than he has in the past. But that may be changing.
Rashid sent an email to four of the county's Republican commissioners this week warning them that the board's vote last week [...]
