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 …
By Jim Bleyer A Tampa media entity suffered amnesia last week, denying three city mayoral candidates the opportunity to participate in a Jan. 9 debate it is sponsoring. Spectrum Bay News 9 forgot its major responsibility of fully informing the public and its viewership, …
By Mark Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Sharon Calvert exposed for the first time the impact of the All For Transportation tax hike on commercial leases. What are some of the implications for the owners and renters of commercial buildings? Let’s take a look. Commercial lease taxes money …
By Jim Bleyer Florida will be taking two giant leaps forward in order to erase its stigma as the poster child for botched elections. The timing of the reforms remains nebulous, however. Responsibility for the revamping falls to Governor Ron DeSantis and a Republican-controlled Florida Legislature. Don’t expect immediate action: …
By Jim Bleyer Major League Baseball’s near decade-long attempted extortion of Tampa Bay taxpayers is over. It culminated with Tampa. Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan whiffing on their misguided effort to relocate the Tampa Bay Rays to Ybor City. Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg’s earthshaking announcement …
By E. Eugene Webb PhD, from the Bay Post Internet The ongoing saga of the next home for the Tampa Bay Rays continues with Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill throwing down the gauntlet…. er maybe a bat, when he declared, “there will be no …
By Mark Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Curiously, the Tampa Bay Times recently started reporting the All for Transportation tax hike in Hillsborough County will raise $15.8 billion over 30 years, while they consistently called it at $280 million per year, $9 billion tax before and just after …
By Tom Rask, from the Tampa Bay Guardian On Monday, 10News reported that Hillsborough County commissioner Stacy White filed a lawsuit to kill a recent sales tax hike for transit. The measure adds 1% of sales tax, was passed with 57% of the vote among county voters on November 6th and is …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay All for Transportation’s $16 Billion tax hike was created by a few urbanist transit advocates over drinks. Their campaign funded by special interests sold their creation as a 30-year “plan” to fix transportation in Hillsborough County. But there is no plan …
By Scott Myers, Contributor Do you work in a profession where the most elite of your peers get paid substantially more money as their skills precipitously erode with age? If you are a Major League Baseball player, the answer is …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay After the $16 Billion Vinik funded rail tax passes, the Vinik bailed out Tampa Bay Times is now asking questions they should have been asking before the election. The Times began asking what happens to the 10-year $812 million road funding …
By Jim Bleyer You must win before you can govern. Easier said than done, especially it seems for progressives. Andrew Gillum, who exploded onto the national political scene with a meteoric victory in the 2018 Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary, was the immediate favorite to win it all on Nov. 6. …
By Jim Bleyer Forget the old saw that the long-suffering, brilliant, starving artist achieves fame only after death. Yayoi Kusama, at age 89, sits on top of the international art world. Her nearly 3-year “Infinity Mirrors” kaleidoscopic feast at five North American museums has drawn multitudes of art lovers. The …
By Jim Bleyer The li’l ole Polk County Museum of Art on Lakeland’s Florida Southern College campus brims with visitors. The reason: a display of works by Belarus-born Marc Chagall (1887-1985), one of the world’s most pre-eminent modernists. The “Chagall: Stories into Dreams” smash lures residents from …
By Jim Bleyer Developer Jeff Vinik’s six-month, multi-million dollar propaganda campaign aimed at hoodwinking Hillsborough County residents into voting themselves the highest sales tax rate in Florida passed by a large margin Tuesday. Voters by 57-43 approved the $16 billion, 30-year transit tax that will bring the county’s …
By Jim Bleyer Jeff Vinik has always been a big con, from his student days at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx to his career as a hedge fund manager in Boston to his reinvention as a sports team owner and developer in Tampa. His latest con is …
By Tom Rask, TampaBayGuardian Just as citizens vote on a 1% sales tax to fund transit in Hillsborough County, the county’s transit authority reported that its bus ridership is down 10.3% for the fiscal year that ended September 30th (FY2018). The steep plunge calls into question the “need” …
By Jim Bleyer Despite assurances from Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer, there are literally thousands of skeptics who believe an honest vote count faces stiff odds Tuesday. Most of the mistrust emanates from opponents of the special interest driven transit sales tax increase. Anti-taxers are certain that …
By Jim Bleyer Less than two weeks after it came out against a proposed Hillsborough County transit tax, the Tampa NAACP was targeted with a hate letter that included death threats. The threats were leveled at all African Americans. Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum was specifically mentioned. Addressed to NAACP …
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 …
