By Jim Bleyer Craig Latimer sounds like an officeholder that won’t be seeking reelection in 2020. He’s served two terms not without controversy. His time is almost up. Worse, his recent actions, demeanor, and utterances prove he cannot be trusted to run the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office …
By Scott Myers, Contributor On May 15, 2018 Jeff Eakins, Hillsborough County School District Superintendent, announced that he would be exploring a tax referendum to increase revenues for the Hillsborough County School District. On June 15, 2018 the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer certified a petition and established …
By Jim Bleyer A veteran Tampa political operative totally blew his cool and embarrassed himself after Florida House candidate Susan Valdes was videoed stumbling and bumbling over questions regarding her donors and would-be donors. She made those remarks Saturday at a meeting of the Hillsborough Hispanic Democratic Caucus. Victor DeMaio, …
By Jim Bleyer The proposed $15 billion Hillsborough County transit initiative is primarily designed to rescue two failing private-sector entities and bring to fruition a taxpayer subsidized ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays. The fact that those bankrolling the petition effort are hiding behind a “non-profit,” tells voters all …
By Jim Bleyer The economically dying Tampa Bay Times, with former Sen. Bob Graham calling the shots on the board of the parent Poynter Foundation, continues to repeat unsubstantiated charges against a Political Action Committee (PAC) favoring gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum. This time the Times repeats a …
By Beth Eriksen Shoup, Contributor The Democratic Party of Florida, having already seen progressive support erode in several of the state’s most populous counties, continues to alienate a key voting bloc by accepting contributions from the predatory lending industry. Those companies, led by Tampa-based Amscot Financial, preys on low-income …
By Jim Bleyer I feel like Commissioner Gordon who resorts to sending up the bat signal in times of distress. And I’ve got plenty of company. The six candidates who have declared to run in 2019 for mayor of Tampa just cannot be the best a city of 385,000 has …
By Jim Bleyer Attorneys knowledgeable with civil rights law assert that Jane Castor’s admission of racial profiling under her regime as Tampa’s police chief opens up the city to a bevy of lawsuits. Damages could run into the millions if every victim of Castor’s “biking while black” targeting comes forward …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Transportation planning and progress have been dysfunctional and elusive in Hillsborough County for over 20 years. After three failed sales tax initiatives, from the Committee of 99 to Moving Hillsborough Forward to GO Hillsborough, and multiple unfunded Long Range Transportation …
By Jim Bleyer With approximately $100 million in debt and operating nowhere near profitability, the Tampa Bay Times is in its death throes as a viable, traditional newspaper entity, Tampa Bay Beat has learned. The pension plan is in jeopardy. Assets have been mortgaged. Filing bankruptcy could very well …
