Politics over Principles on the Hillsborough County Commission

I was surprised to wake up Thursday, read the Tampa Bay Times and see my name referenced in the middle of a political battle that I have no stake in. 

"The fact of the matter is that we have seen people that we appoint to these boards … become candidates and used those boards to put forth their platform when they should not be doing that," said Commissioner Les Miller, who proposed the measure.

Miller, a Democrat, cited as an example, though not by name, a Republican primary challenger to sitting Commissioner Victor Crist last year.

Crist had appointed Sharon Calvert to the county's main citizen's advisory panel and Miller claimed Calvert used the appointment to advance her campaign and denigrate Crist.

The more I read the article, the more I realized I was the scapegoat so the County Commissioners would not have to deal with a conservative voice, Terry Kemple, on the Diversity Panel.

Terry Kemple, Candidate for Hillsborough County School Board

So what really happened at Wednesday's County Commission meeting?

The Commissioners unanimously repealed the ban on gay pride recognition. According to this Tampa Tribune article Commissioners Kevin Beckner and Les Miller both touted the argument of discrimination and that everyone deserves to be treated fairly, equally and with respect.

Then, according to this Tampa Bay Times article, Les Miller proposed the following that the Commission voted 5-1 (Victor Crist the lone vote against, thank you Commissioner Crist, and Al Higginbotham who had stepped out did not vote) to

“prohibit declared candidates for office from serving on county boards and councils to which commissioners appoint representatives. The policy amendment also requires people already serving on an appointed board to report their candidacy for office so that commissioners can vote to remove them.”

So much for treating everyone fairly and with respect ALL the time. The TBT article included a picture of Conservative School Board candidate Terry Kemple who appears to be at the epicenter of Commissioner Miller's proposal and wrath.

Miller's proposal came up two weeks after socially conservative activist Terry Kemple sought a position on a proposed diversity advisory panel.

Miller insists he's not targeting Kemple, but the eligibility change would appear to disqualify him from consideration.

On May 15th the County Commission voted 4-3 to support Kemple's appointment to the new Diversity panel. After the vote, this Tampa Bay Times article reported:

That's when Democrat Les Miller pulled a procedural maneuver. Having made the original motion to approve the appointment list without Kemple, he then moved to table its final approval indefinitely. Hagan joined that bloc, joining Miller, Beckner and Republican Commissioner Mark Sharpe in agreeing to table a vote.

Prevailing commissioners can bring the matter back up later.

Instead of Commissioner Miller admitting that his proposal to prohibit candidates from serving on voluntary committees was specifically aimed at Terry Kemple, he deceptively used me as the example. Commissioner Miller proposed an end around to his own previous procedural maneuver to prohibit Terry Kemple from serving on any committee. Though Commissioner Miller did not mention me by name, come on Les – I was the only primary challenger to Victor Crist, he did so indirectly. Recall from Bill Varian's article:

Crist had appointed Sharon Calvert to the county's main citizen's advisory panel and Miller claimed Calvert used the appointment to advance her campaign and denigrate Crist.

Really? Granted there are no direct quotes from Commissioner Miller so we are left wondering if Bill Varian took liberty with something else Commissioner Miller may have said, either at the Commission meeting or afterwards when Varian spoke to Miller. But please Bill, as I told you, next time you use me as an example, call me to ensure you have your facts straight. I don't appreciate waking up to an article calling me out with false innuendo. And Commissioner Miller, shame on you if you even hinted at such an accusation.

Let's set the record straight:

When I decided to run, I immediately called Commissioner Victor Crist to let him know. I asked him if he would like me to resign from the Citizens Advisory Committtee he had appointed me to. He not only said “No”, he gave reasons why I should stay. So I decided to stay and continue my citizen volunteer duties on the Citizens Advisory Committee. I subsequently resigned July 12th due to what I saw was a conflict of interest that occurred with the non-profit sub-committee I was serving on with the CAC. The non-profit sub-committee was established to reform how non-profit funding was provided in the County. The non-profit funding had evolved since the 1980's and there was very little accountability and discipline for how these dollars were doled out. The conflict of interest arose when the Executive Director of a non-profit that Commissioner Crist had founded and chaired was appointed to the sub-committee. These additional appointments to the subcommittee were requested by Les Miller and Victor Crist after we had been working on this issue for over 8 months. Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been directed to Victor's nonprofit over the years Commissioner Crist served in the state legislature and as County Commissioner. I thought that a conflict of interest for a sub-committee who's goal was to reform the non-profit funding process.

Now let's connect the dots of hypocrisy:

1. The Commissioners all agree - treat everyone fairly and equally and do not discriminate
2. 5 of the commissioners vote to prohibit candidates from serving on boards – and it's the Commissioners themselves who make the appointments. Certainly they can manage their own committee appointments as the commissioners are paid $92K/year. And if you decide to run while on a committee, the County Commission can decide to remove you. How's that for treating everyone fairly and equally?
3. There's no problem appointing the Executive Director from a non-profit that has received tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that was founded and chaired by a sitting County Commissioner, to a committee trying to reform taxpayer non-profit funding. That's OK.
4. Last but not least is Commissioner Miller 's deception. Commissioner Miller had pulled a procedural maneuver to prevent Terry Kemple from being appointed to the Diversity panel by delaying the panel and then he proposes policy changes that totally prohibits candidate Kemple from being appointed to any committee.

Instead of pointing to me, Bill Varian should have asked Commissioner Miller why he used me as his scapegoat to target Terry Kemple? And why didn't Bill ask Commissioner Miller why he was doing an end around his previous procedural maneuver to keep Terry Kemple off of the Diversity Panel and also to throw Terry off a committee he has been serving on for years?

The answer – it was a pathetic political manipulation to limit the ability for someone who's opinion Miller disagrees with to serve his community. Government officials are now targeting individuals solely because of their beliefs.
What are they afraid of?  Regardless of what one may think of Terry Kemple's politics, are you next?

Teacher running for school board gets fired

From the Tampa Bay Times,

Michael Weston, the outspoken math teacher and Hillsborough County School Board candidate, has lost his job.

The district upheld the Freedom High School principal's decision not to keep Weston on the faculty in a process known as "renomination."

Michael Weston, educator, professional, running for School Board

We met and talked with Weston briefly on the campaign trail in 2012.  He's sincere, committed, and brings a real-life experience and background into the classroom.  And he's not afraid to confront failure.

Weston, 57, had established a reputation as a critic of the administration and board member Candy Olson, who represents the South Tampa district where Weston is running. Olson, in turn, read the anonymous letter about Weston out loud during a televised board meeting. She is not seeking another term.

Gutless Candy Olson, part of the HCSB establishment, shirking her responsibility, cannot even confront her opponents.  

"What kind of teachers do they want more than anything now? STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). And they got rid of me."

Weston's backround is in IT consulting, with advanced science degrees.  Life in the real world, with the experience we should be sharing... and educating our next generation.  But apparently not if you don't agree with the HCSB line.

Apparently teachers can be fired... not for incompetence in this case, but for not touting the bureaucracy's line.

Do I smell a witch hunt?

Michael Weston's campaign web site is here.  Consider signing his petition, get a yard sign, make a contribution.

I'm not sure if I'll agree with everything that Mr. Weston does, but I do know we need more like him on the school board.

Pinellas looking to get even more dense

According to the Tampa Bay Times,

One of the key arguments for building a light rail system in Pinellas County is that it would kick start urban renewal. People could live closer together, walk to buy their morning coffee and take the train to work.

But for any of that to happen, the county's antiquated land use and zoning policies need to be rewritten, a process county officials have already begun. 

Of course, tied to light rail, and transit oriented development... although they never use those words.

Pinellas County

Pinellas is already the most densely populated county in Florida, with only about 6% open, undeveloped space.  But apparently its not dense enough.  Not dense enough to to make light rail feasible.  But they have a plan for that!

Developers would be encouraged to build commercial properties next door to or on the ground floor of residential buildings. New buildings could sit closer to the street instead of placing vast parking lots between their front doors and foot traffic. And, if commissioners approve, the county might increase the number of units allowed per acre.

Oh joy!  You too can have an $200/sq foot condo conveniently located above a tiki bar open until 3am, next to a train stop running until 3am.  Talk a about a premium location!

Some folks may want to live that way.  Many more will not.

So let's get this right.  They want to cram more people into the already densest populated county in the state, develop and redevelop more, to the benefit of developers, waste more money for ineffective transit that few will ride, and will be subsidized by the taxpayers forever, under the mission of transit oriented development and light rail.

Got it!

Bus toll lanes coming your way?

The Trib is reporting Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority hopes to test bus toll lanes.

The Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority is proposing a pilot project to create a bus toll lane on a segment of a local limited access highway.

"We'd like to make a proposal in Washington by the end of summer," Joe Waggoner, THEA's executive director, told the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization on Tuesday.

THEA would seek a partnership with the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the U.S. Department of Transportation to test the concept, whose location has not been determined.

It could take another 24 months for planning and design once pilot project funding is obtained from federal and possibly local sources.

Sounds like this is headed in the right direction to us here at the Eye. South Florida has been successful with something similar, with congestion pricing "Lexus lanes" on I-95, which has improved the traffic flow on I-95.

I-95 Bus tool lanes in Miami

Those who can pay the toll, get a faster ride.  Those cars are off the main I-95 traffic flow, so those who don't pay, also benefit with a better ride as well.  Win win.

The bus toll lane is a dedicated lane for transit that also allows other vehicles to use the restricted lane by paying a toll.

A price-management system adjusts toll costs for nontransit users to increase or decrease based on traffic flow to prevent traffic congestion.

We like the basic idea -- price management, or congestion pricing is fine with us.  We don't like the notion of dedicated transit only lanes, which will impede non-transit traffic so this seems to be in the right direction.  Hopefully they will implement the new bus toll lanes as net new capacity, and not cannibalize existing roads.

Bus toll lanes would be owned by the transit agency, which provides the agency with a revenue source.

Does the transit agency (HART), receive all the toll revenue?  With about a $3B backlog in road safety, maintenance and improvements in Hillsborough County, we think the drivers who pay the toll would rather their money go towards road improvements, that the buses, and 98% of use every day, not just transit.

Mark Sharpe goes after HART CEO

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe unloaded on HART CEO Philip Hale after the last HART board meeting.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe says it's time for HART CEO Philip Hale to go.

 Sharpe accuses Hale of "uninspired, unimaginative leadership," and says that the board needs someone new at the helm in order for it to pursue a more ambitious direction.

When asked for reaction, Hale responded that the board just extended his contract last month for two more years, and that there was no opposition. (Sharpe was absent from the meeting.) "The direction I received from most of the other board members is that they are supportive of me," Hale says. He added that if the board did want him to step down, he'd do so.

So let's get this straight.  A powerful, sitting Hillsborough County Commissioner is publicly calling for the resignation of the HART CEO, two months after his contract was renewed, a meeting which Commissioner Sharpe was too busy to be concerned with, while not indicating any malfeasance or concrete non-performance issues, other than "uninspired, unimaginative leadership"?

Talk about some chutzpah.  Why does he not come out and say it, that he wants Philip Hale gone since Hale has not come out as pro light rail?  That's Sharpe's definition of "imaginative leadership"... spending someone else's money down a rat hole of light rail.

Sharpe's "imaginative leadership" imagines all sorts of economic magical thinking around the miracle of light rail, while ignoring the costs and the time it will take to deliver any rail oriented transit solution to our immediate transportation relief needs. Keep on dreaming... but it's not reality.

Sharpe is abusing his leadership position to publicly undermine the tough job that Hale has undertaken.  Hale had to rebuild HART after the 2010 transportation referendum disaster,  reinvigorate the staff, remediate HART finances, and improve services.  HART ridership is up, at record levels.  The new MetroRapid is off to a great start.   If it continues its success and is expanded further in Hillsborough County, MetroRapid will put a big dent in the hopes of the rail fanatics.  Is that another reason Sharpe has come of for Hale's head? 

There are sometimes discussion at HART meetings about adding a feature or a new service, but the conversation often gets stifled because of the lack of available funding. Sharpe says he's tired of hearing that line used all the time.

"That’s always the excuse," he says, agreeing that the agency has limited resources, but also saying that he believes there are "tremendous opportunities if we look at citizens as partners, and the businesses here as partners, and we are not afraid to fail or make a mistake." Sharpe says that he's particularly frustrated that attempts to get Wi-Fi on buses hasn't taken hold.

I thought Sharpe was an idea guy, not a complainer.  Here he is making excuses since he can't come with an idea to get wi-fi on busses.

Here's one from the Eye:  Get local businesses, such as those on HART routes, to underwrite the cost of wi-fi on the buses.  They can advertise on the "I accept" page and offer deals and electronic coupons. For extra credit, they can use GPS and location based services to drive the ad directly for business near the upcoming stop. [Credit EyeOnTampaBay].

The County Commissioner, who was one of the leading advocates for the transit tax for light rail three years ago, added that it's time to "throw out the playbook that has gotten us to where we are now and reconsider it all." Sharpe also said, "We need to do everything we’re doing, and reconsider it all, every stop, every bus, where it’s going, how it’s serving the citizens, are we committed 100 percent with all the passion we’ve got to get you where you want to go quickly? Are we going to provide you with the conveniences that you need, in order to make you really want to ride that bus again? Are we looking at you as a customer, not as a number, or a person who just rides the bus? I think that’s going to require inspirational leadership."

Ideas please.

Hale told CL that the board decided on its own to extend his original contract (it was due to expire in November). "I didn't ask for the extension," he says.

Good thing Hale got that extension.  He may have some political waters to navigate soon.

Making Ashley Drive a complete street?

There's an emerging movement towards "complete streets" in Tampa Bay.  Complete streets are beautiful, and more suitable for all modes of transportation -- walking, biking, transit, etc. And cars.

But, typically, there is only so much space for a road, so there's some trade offs.

Do you want lots of beautiful landscaping, or do you want it to be maintained for a affordable cost?

Do you the road to be most efficient for moving people where they want to go, or do you prefer having lots of "choices"?

If you add a lane for lightly used bicycling, and remove a lane for cars, have you helped the community?

These are just some of the trade offs one must be aware of... and eventually make, if we want complete streets.  It's not always worked out so well here Hillsboroough County.  Last year, the county wanted to cut down beautiful trees and landscaping in Lutz, on US-41, since it was getting too costly to maintain.  And that was just some median landscaping.  At least there's been some ongoing discussion to save the trees since the county wanted to cut them down.  [Disclosure... we live in Lutz].

Median trees in Lutz marked for destruction

The Trib weighed in today on the subject, since City of Tampa wants to make Ashley Drive more green, beautiful, etc.

There is much to like about Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in downtown Tampa. Its sloping expanse of grass and proximity to the river make it an appealing venue for organized events and casual strolls alike.

Getting to the park can be far less appealing. Visitors who don’t park in the garages west of Ashley Drive are left to negotiate four lanes of two-way traffic, risking life and limb. The same is true for workers and residents who leave their offices and homes for lunch or exercise.

Which is why we embrace Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s plan to slow traffic on Ashley Drive, with one proviso: It doesn’t worsen what is already an annoying backup for downtown commuters on most days of the week.

Are there any options to improve traffic flow for the 30,000 vehicles a day on Ashley?  Silence...

Under the plan the city is implementing, the Ashley Drive lanes leading into and out of downtown Tampa will be squeezed to make room for parking spaces and bicycle lanes. Altering the road’s design is expected to cause motorists to slow down, making it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

So let's acknowledge that vast vast majority of the 30,000 vehicles per day will not be converted to bicyclists any time soon.  The traffic will necessarily slow down.  How does this help commuters?

Buckhorn says the changes are not expected to worsen the commute. He points out that the changes are supported by the state Department of Transportation, which would not have signed off on a plan that impedes vehicular traffic.

We certainly hope so.

We'll need a little more than hope.   But the design its telling us something completely different.

We need to add better, safer options for transit, including bicycles.  We biked 31 miles yesterday, so consider us cycling fans.  We bike mostly on trails, so we don't have to deal with the cars. Its a safety issue for us, and the roads around here should be made better and safer... for bikers, and cars.  But reducing vehicle access, creating congestion only increases risks to bikers and cars, and makes the vast majority of car only drivers who never convert bikes more frustrated and angry at bikers.  That's not a good formula for long term success.

Tribune confuses model trains and light rail

Just when you think the Tribune can't get any more stupid on this ongoing light rail boondoggle, they go way way out of their way to consult with model train enthusiasts on their expertise regarding light rail.

Hobbyists and vendors at the Tampa Model Train Show & Sale bought and sold trinkets and artifacts and just about anything else related to the railroad.

Missing from the event was a real train; a passenger train that runs every day in and out of Tampa, stopping at malls, sports arenas and even the fairgrounds where the model train show was taking place.

Missing from the article was common sense.

Tribune's version of light rail.

Exactly what qualifies model train enthusiasts as experts in transportation solutions? Could it be that both are only of interest to those with great sense of nostalgia over practicality?  Or could it be that they have experience in spending money on a boondoogle  hobby?

So, let me get this straight.  The Trib covers a toy train conference (thanks for coming to Tampa!), spends about 3/4 of the article turning it into a referendum on light rail.

Gordon Hartranft traveled from his home in Ohio to attend the annual show in Tampa and was attuned to the rail travails in Florida and Tampa. He said commuter rail here is not a good idea.

“It’s the biggest money losing proposition going,” he said. Cities where commuter rail have emerged in recent years are struggling over the initial and operating costs.

“I try to take the pragmatic view,” he said. “It’s just so expensive.”

At least Keith Morelli found someone with some sense at the toy train conference.

This is just the latest effort from the Trib to spin their local coverage towards the impracticality of light rail.