Who Harassed Attorney General Pam Bondi

Local Progressive activist and transit advocate Tim Heberlein was part of the group who accosted and harassed Attorney General Pam Bondi recently at a movie theater in Tampa. As reported by this  Politico article

According to Bondi, she and a friend were confronted at least four times — while buying tickets, entering the theater, standing in line at the concession stand and then on their way out — and that activists were aggressive in each instance, with one yelling so loudly at her that he spit in her hair, either unintentionally or because he meant to expectorate on her. She said they also taunted her friend as “blue eyes” and asked him in a threatening manner if he was going to protect her, as though they wanted to fight. 

“Pam Bondi’s version of events is inaccurate and don’t reflect what happened,” said Tim Heberlein, Tampa Bay regional director for the progressive group Organize Florida. 

In talking to POLITICO, Heberlein said he needed to be cautious about his remarks because Bondi is the “top law enforcement officer” in the state and she had called the actions of his group an assault. Earlier, to The Tampa Bay Times, he had more swagger: “If you refuse to meet with us, we're coming to where you're at. We're coming to where you're watching a movie or eating dinner.” 

The Tampa Bay Times article about the incident, link also embedded in Politico article above has Heberlein's complete quote (emphasis mine):

Heberlein, who accused Bondi of refusing to start a dialogue with groups that work with at-risk communities like his, said he has no regrets about how the protesters acted. 

"If you refuse to meet with us, we're coming to where you're at. We're coming to where you're watching a movie or eating dinner," he said. "Sorry, not sorry."

Tim Heberten, Regional Director of
Progressive Organize Florida 

 Ironically, Heberlein had previously been lauded with this Meet Tim Heberlein — one of the “30 under 30″ rising stars in Florida politics

He has worked on legislative campaigns on the protection of Social Security and Medicaid, Senate Rules reform, Medicaid Expansion, and budget cuts; and now focuses his efforts on the Bay Area through amendment campaigns and local races. He organized the Awake Tampa progressive table, including an Awake the State rally in Tampa which was the largest of such in the state 3 years running.

I’ve [Heberlein] already worked on legislative campaigns ranging from the protection of Social Security and Medicaid, Senate Rules reform, Medicaid Expansion, the fight against state budget cuts and I am now focused on transit improvements in the Bay area.

Heberlein was previously associated with the Progressive Florida Consumer Action Group and was an ally and an activist member of the now defunct local transit lobbyist organization Connect Tampa Bay. They were advocating for another sales tax hike in 2013 and supposedly credited with the county commission creating the 2013 transportation initiative.

We all know how that transportation initiative started and ended. It started by inviting all the 2010 rail cartel cronies to their very first meeting and ended with the corrupt crony Go Hillsborough debacle under a law enforcement investigation. Unfortunately, while the sheriff's investigation admitted they were unable to get all the evidence they asked for, they refused to do a forensic investigation that would have led to capturing much more of the communication trail and the money trail associated with the crony effort.

Heberlein was also featured in the Progressive New Leaders Council (NLC) 2014 list of NLC Fellows (emphasis mine)

Tim Heberlein is the Political Director for the Florida Consumer Action Network, and organizes his community to advocate for economic and social justice. His activism has focused on grassroots organizing and field campaigning for progressive issues and candidates. 

He will also be a speaker for a national webinar in January focusing on assisting advocacy organizations in preparing for transit referendums.

Heberlein, representing the Young Democrats gave public comment at the public hearing the county commissioners held on May 13, 2010 regarding putting the 2010 rail tax on the ballot in support of the rail tax. He stated (emphasis mine):

MY NAME IS TIM HEBERLEIN, AND I'M THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY YOUNG DEMOCRATS.THE YOUNG DEMOCRATS ARE IN FULL SUPPORT OF THIS INITIATIVE TODAY, AND — BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT WHY WE'RE HERE. TODAY WE'RE MERELY TALKING ABOUT GIVING THE VOTERS A CHOICE….

The choice of the voters on a 14% sales tax hike for outdated costly rail boondoggles in 2010 was overwhelming defeat 58-42%.

Heberlein is also the regional director for Organize Florida Education Fund, both Organize Florida entities are partners of the Progressive Center for Popular Democracy (CPD). Organize Florida is also known as Organize Now. According to Influencewatch.org:

CPD’s largest donor is activist billionaire George Soros. Its network also includes former chapters of the controversial and now-defunct Association of Community Organizations and Reform Now (ACORN).

As the Time article above reports, Tim Heberlein and his band of screaming ranters were having a public temper tantrum yelling at Bondi "You're a horrible person" at a movie theater because they disagree with her politics.

Threatening to go after people in public places to engage them in abusive temper tantrums is unacceptable. Most people consider that kind of behavior to be "horrible".

Progressive activist and transit advocate Tim Heberlein is simply a bully not a "rising star".

And no such bullies should be dictating transportation policy in Tampa Bay.

School board limiting choice

Progressives want choice on only one issue – and we know what that is. On other issues, well the Progressives want their choices or else. They want to tell us what we can eat, drink, drive and even smoke. They tell us (or must coerce us) where we can live, where we can develop and what we can do with our own property.  The Progressives tax code is a social engineering nightmare and their regulations strangle private sector innovation and entrepreneurship. So we are not surprised they want to continue dictating what is taught in our public education system -- what, where, and how we educate our children.  Now, however, the policies and curricula are coming more and more from the federal government. If the State of Florida enacts the disastrous federal “core curriculum” in conjunction with the Department of Education, the Feds will be in control of our state and local education since all the standard testing would be created to support this curriculum, affecting charter schools, private schools and home schooling as well.

Today's Tribune highlights current bills in our state legislature that would empower parents to petition to have a charter school take over a failing school if more than 51% of the parents sign the petition aka parent trigger act.

Passed last week by the Florida House, the bill would allow the parents of a failing school, one graded F by the state Department of Education, to petition the school district to allow a charter school to take over.

Such a petition would have to be signed by 51 percent of the parents at any failing school. Backers of the bill say only about 25 schools statewide would be covered by the changes; none of those is in Hillsborough County.

Hillsborough County school board member Candy Olson labels it a “solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist.”

Unfortunately, the Trib did not have a followup question for Olson asking what is her solution to fixing “failing” schools. Perhaps even a follow up question on her solution for fixing “D” graded schools like Robles Elementary. According to the article:

It's backed by groups such as the Foundation for Florida's Future, chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. It's opposed by groups including the PTA, the NAACP, the Florida School Boards Association and educators across the state.

It's a growing trend nationwide. California, Texas, Louisiana, Connecticut and Mississippi all have versions in place.

The only local parent interviewed was the President of the PTA at Robles, but the PTA is an organization that is publicly opposing these bills. The President of the Classroom Teachers Association opposes the bills. Surprised? Where are more parents on this issue? Shouldn't the Tribune have interviewed more parents, how about the parents of children in the failing schools? Is this issue about the children and their parents having education options or about teachers and bureaucrats maintaining their monopolistic status quo with our tax dollars?

Robles 2011 FCAT scores

Candy Olson who is Chair of our Hillsborough County School Board also stated in the article:

No matter the outcome in Florida, Olson and others invested in the public school system say they feel as if they are being attacked.

“Some people think it's popular to beat up on teachers and schools,” Olson said. “There isn't an interest in fixing, there is an interest only in blaming.”

Interesting comment since Olson used a recent school board meeting to publicly attack a teacher who is opposing her in 2014 with an anonymous accusation.

Perhaps our local educators are “fearful” of the future. The tide is turning - innovation in education is coming and the school's of tomorrow may not look anything like they do today!

Who are these people?

Today's Op-Ed in the Tribune:

For the past two years, at the conclusion of Florida's legislative session, Florida Watch Action, Progress Florida and America Votes have recognized members of the Legislature as a "Champion of Florida's Middle Class" for their unwavering support on behalf of Florida's families.

Exactly who are Florida Watch Action?  Florida Watch Action is an organization dedicated to strengthening the progressive movement in Florida.  A quick review of their web site indicates they tend not to write like today's Op Ed, and they are mostly set up against Governor Rick Scott.  We at The Eye have our own issues with Governor Scott, but we'll have a different take on issues that Florida Watch Action.

Progress Florida gives it away in their name.

Founded in 2008, Progress Florida is a nonprofit organization promoting progressive values through online organizing, media outreach, and networking with Florida's leading progressive organizations. Our issues include social justice, health care reform, environmental protection, economic fairness, strengthening public education and more. We advocate for sensible policy solutions and hold elected officials' feet to the fire by empowering citizens in their communities.

Just make sure you vote their way, right?  Always love that "social justice" thing, but I can't figure out why plain old "justice" is not good enough for them.  Otherwise, they seem to have all the progressives boxes checked.

Let's go fishing in a barrel.

1. Guaranteeing free, quality public education: We must ensure Floridians' constitutionally protected right to a "uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high-quality system of free public schools" by rejecting efforts to revive the so-called "parent trigger" bill and curtailing the use of private school vouchers, both of which slash public education funding while privatizing public education for corporate gain. Charter schools should not be funded by taxpayers at the expense of public schools. We cannot continue the practice of cutting K-12 and higher education funding and threatening our state's Bright Futures Scholarship program.

We've followed the progressive education  ideas for years with zero results.  Let's come up with something new, and empower parents to seek the best educational outcome for their children, where ever and how ever they chose.  Pro-choice anyone?  For extra credit (but we'll be fair!), explain why Florida taxpayers who do not go to college should subsidize those that do, who are predominately middle and upper class?

2. Creating and protecting quality middle-class jobs: Florida's defined benefit retirement plan is one of the strongest in the nation and should be strengthened and preserved, rather than phased out in favor of risky 401(k) type plans. Florida's low-income earners should be protected from corporate extremists aiming to preempt local laws designed to prevent wage theft or provide benefits such as earned sick time. Public employees should not face the threat of job loss due to corporate privatization schemes like the prison plan that narrowly failed last year. The Legislature should not be placing large corporations over small businesses and middle class working families. Florida should be putting our Main Street, family-owned small businesses first.

Gee, I'd hate the public sector employees to live by the same set rules and retirement plans we have to live with in the private sector.  Hardly seems fair, does it?  Why should the rest of us work hard into our 70s or later so the public sector can retire in their 50s? Friends and acquaintances of The Eye in the public sector where outraged when they had to pay more into their pensions in the last couple of years.  Outraged.  Welcome to our world.  It happened to us about 15 years ago.  Time to catch up with the real world.  It's not as if there is no risk with public sector pensions.  Many state and local pensions are at severe risk of meeting their future obligations.  At least with 401-K style plans, that money is yours.  At least for now.

3. Ensuring effective, efficient government: Corporations must pay their fair share in taxes. We cannot continue the practice of increasing billion-dollar corporate tax breaks and subsidies and pushing for further reductions or the elimination of the corporate income tax altogether while slashing funding for education and neglecting the needs of the state's small businesses. Large corporations must pay their fair share, and corporate tax loopholes should be closed once and for all. Inefficient government practices, such as taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power plants and other handouts to big business that don't help create jobs, should be stopped. Cutting corporate taxes simply rewards big business and the wealthy and does nothing to aid job creation.

 We're all for fairness, equity, low taxes, and no subsidies.  Something tells me they want higher taxes on corporations (jobs, anyone?), and will subsidize failing education and public sector retirement plans. "Fair share" for progressives always means pay more.

6. Reforming Tallahassee's culture of corruption: In order to reach optimal government effectiveness we must clean up the culture of corruption in Tallahassee and push for real ethics reform. These reforms would prohibit the use of Committees of Continuous Existence (CCEs) except to engage in political activities related to the election or re-election of candidates; provide teeth for the Commission on Ethics to go after those current and past elected officials who have been found to have violated ethics and elections laws; eliminate the revolving door of legislators and their staff leaving public service to lobby their former colleagues; and keep contribution limits to candidates low while increasing disclosure and transparency.

What?!  We agree!  We think the low contribution limits are a bit silly, but let's not quibble.

Back on track...

7. Providing access to affordable health care: We must address Florida's high rate of uninsured residents by extending Medicaid to pay for health-care coverage for nearly a million Florida families in dire need. Florida must take advantage of provisions under the Affordable Care Act to set up a state health insurance marketplace in 2014 that will allow millions more Floridians to have access to affordable health care coverage.

Please, someone, please, explain to The Eye how adding more people onto an already strained program will save money and improve healthcare.

They seem to be proposing more of the same failed ideas.  That's who these people are.  Certainly not forward thinking.