By Jim Bleyer To paraphrase former President Gerald Ford: “My fellow Tampanians, our long municipal nightmare is over.” That is unless potential voters were comfortable with hypocrisy, empty promises, and losing political strategies that defy comprehension. The seven candidates embraced Mom, apple pie, and transit while introducing themselves to low-income …
By Jim Bleyer Severe but not fatal—that’s the prognosis for the professional and political future of Donald Trump acolyte and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz after he verbally attacked government witness Michael Cohen on Tuesday. That was one day before Cohen gave damning testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform …
By Jim Bleyer The public has had enough. Mainstream media entities that purport to report unvarnished news must be held accountable for their transgressions—slanting coverage, contorting facts, omitting information. HAL 9000, the futuristic computer in the Space Odyssey series, would go haywire attempting to tally the mushrooming mountain …
Jane Castor speaks at Arts and Culture Forum By Jim Bleyer Tampa’s uninspiring mayoral race enters its final month with a clear leader, no spark from the seven suits seeking to succeed Bob Buckhorn, and a questionable process in reaching the average voter. The Big Yawn began in earnest …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Can a hand-picked cabal, unaccountable to voters, earmark one dollar, let alone 16 billion, of public funds for projects that were created to primarily benefit the wealthy and influential? It’s a question that should be asked throughout Florida, not …
By Jordan Kirkland, from RoundTable Politics Mob and gangster movies are a dime a dozen. From The Godfather to Goodfellas, the genre has taken the U.S. by storm since the early 1900’s. On a yearly basis, directors like Martin Scorsese churn out mafia sub-genre movies, allowing viewers to …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Times discarded its journalistic ethics in reporting on the proposed Hillsborough County sales tax hike for transportation that was spearheaded by the newspaper’s primary benefactor, former hedge fund manager and developer Jeffrey Vinik. The Vinik Tax passed in …
By Jim Bleyer There is no shortage of Tampa Bay media lackeys that gladly genuflect for Jeff “Transit Tax” Vinik. “Vinik to relaunch asset management firm: ‘The fire still burns in my belly” bleated the headline dutifully penned by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. This would be …
By Jim Bleyer The obsequious Tampa Bay media, never passing up an opportunity to genuflect to the local lords of professional sports, uniformly term the shrinking of Tropicana Field’s seating capacity as creating “an intimate fan experience.” The national press and fans of the Tampa Bay Rays know better: …
By Sharon Calvert from Eye on Tampa Bay All for Transportation (AFT) created the 5-page tax-hike charter amendment that led to Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White’s lawsuit, case #18-CA-011749. AFT recently filed to be an “intervener” in the lawsuit, filed against the county and other parties receiving the new tax …
