The Hillsborough County School Board’s decision last year to drop so-called courtesy busing provoked anger among parents whose children were directly affected by the move. And Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman inspired other sharp responses Thursday when she suggested commissioners must do something about it.
Led by two Major contributions, the private sector has raised the $140,000 required by the Hillsborough County Commission to move a controversial Confederate monument in downtown Tampa. Bob Gries, the founder and managing partner of Gries Investment Funds in Tampa was watching CNN Wednesday night when he learned that county commissioners had reversed their position yet again on their decision regarding moving the monument. The report said that unless the private sector came up with half the estimated $280,000 needed to…
The topsy-turvy saga regarding a Confederate monument in Tampa took yet another turn Wednesday when Hillsborough County Commissioners voted that the monument will stay in front of the courthouse annex unless the private sector raises $140,000 in the next 30 days.
Had the vote to remove a controversial Confederate monument been delayed until Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist could participate, he would have opposed moving the statue. Commissioners voted 4-2 July 19 to move the monument to a cemetery in Brandon, four weeks after Crist had initially joined three other Republicans on the board to vote to keep the memorial in front of the Hillsborough County courthouse annex on Pierce Street. That vote generated an intense backlash, prompting Commissioner Les Miller…
A political action committee called “Conservative Response Team” is considering organizaing an effort to recall Hillsborough Commissioner Sandy Murman after her vote to remove a Confederate monument.
While it won’t go into effect for another year and a half, the expected passage of a constitutional amendment expanding the homestead exemption is already giving local officials severe headaches. Amendment 1 asks voters to approve an expansion of the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $75,000 of the first $100,000 of a home’s taxable value. State lawmakers who supported it said the average homeowner would save about $275 per year, based on the statewide average home value of $220,000 and an…
Being part of a legislative caucus with little political power has been the plight of Democrats elected to the Florida House for going on two decades, but state Representative Sean Shaw told a town hall audience of about 40 people Monday night that it’s their job to hold him accountable in Tallahassee, regardless of his party’s minority status. “Let me tell you what we do not as a community do very well – hold our elected officials accountable,” Shaw said…
