By Jim Bleyer The Jeff Vinik-inspired Hillsborough County transit tax is in deep trouble judging by the actions of his band of mercenaries. Rena Frazier and Christina Barker, members of the failed team that could not sell the regressive tax increase to NAACP members two weeks ago, are begging voters …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay It is unfortunate but hardly unexpected. The school needs and the transit greed tax hike campaigns joined forces to push both tax hikes over the finish line on November 6th. Both are now in jeopardy of failing. Over the summer …
By Jim Bleyer When the so-called “leadership” of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club publicly endorsed Tampa developer Jeff Vinik’s proposed Hillsborough County sales tax scam this week, it “forgot” to consult the membership. No debate. No discussion. No agenda item. The deceitful maneuver reflects the baksheesh tactics employed …
By Tom Rask, from the Tampa Bay Guardian In its fiscal year which ended September 30th, so-called revenue passenger trips on the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s (PSTA) network of buses dropped 4.5% compared to the previous year. PSTA’s ridership is thus now 13% lower than it was 10 years …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The billionaires are entitled. They buy off the media. They bankroll a deceptive advertising campaign for a massive tax hike that never mentions the word “tax”. They want to shut down any debate about their $16 Billion rail tax boondoggle in …
By Jim Bleyer Sure, the legendary Wall Street misanthrope Gordon Gekko is more chiseled and less rumpled than Tampa wheeler dealer Jeff Vinik, but there is no argument the duo share many characteristics. Both are charming, manipulative people whose goal of enhancing …
By Jim Bleyer There is one group in Hillsborough County that Jeff Vinik can’t buy. The Vinik-inspired sales tax referendum came under heavy fire Thursday night when Tampa’s African American community attacked it as vague, promoting unwanted gentrification, and a bailout for development interests at the expense of the working …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Despite the $2 million and growing advertising campaign for All For Transportation and the 1 cent, 14% sales tax increase proposed as a county charter amendment in Hillsborough County, the plan will increase congestion and not relieve it. The evidence is hidden …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization is dysfunctional and in need of a big housecleaning: a new Executive Director and new staff. The MPO earlier this year sided with proponents of the proposed one pecent sales tax increase as it began its …
By Tom Rask, Tampa Bay Guardian It was after 3 P.M. in County Center on a hot Friday in September. The previous evening at 6:15 P.M., Hillsborough County Chief Financial Administrator Bonnie Wise had requested that “errors” be corrected in the Transit Tax performance audit report delivered by the auditing firm McConnell & …
