Bill Carlson, a Tampa Democratic Party activist and the president of the Tucker/Hall public relations firm, is considering a run for the South Tampa District 4 seat in 2019.
If Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam has a central governing philosophy, it might be the importance of having a long-term memory about the Sunshine State. “Having a longer memory I think helps us maintain the types of protections for our citizens that they expect and that they deserve,” he said while speaking at an hour long town-hall meeting at Hugo’s restaurant in South Tampa Friday morning. The Polk County native, who just turned 42 last month, loves to talk policy, and if he ultimately…
With Hillsborough County Commissioners poised to decide next week on whether to put the Go Hillsborough half-cent sales tax for transportation on the November ballot, members of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee gathered Monday night to weigh in on the issue. Except they didn’t. After hearing ten-minute presentations in both support and against the proposal, and with time running out on the 90-minute meeting, party officials opted to table the issue for another month. That could leave the group voiceless,…
Monday’s official resumption of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba was met with full throated denunciations from Republican elected officials up and down the Sunshine State, and David Jolly, the latest entrant into the GOP 2016 Senate race, was no exception. “Look, I oppose the president’s decision,” Jolly told Florida Politics yesterday regarding President Obama’s diplomatic breakthrough with Cuba that he announced last December. “I think it has been too aggressive, too quickly.” But there is one place where Jolly has…
Veteran newsman Darren Richards has been named chief operating officer for Tucker/Hall, one of Florida’s largest public relations firms. Richards has been promoted from vice president and shareholder at the Tampa-based strategic communications company, which he joined in 2009 after a 23-year career as a news executive. As head of Tucker/Hall’s crisis practice group, Richards is accredited by the Institute for Crisis Management, and received training from the Center for Creative Leadership, as well as the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. “Darren has…
It was eight years ago today, April 15, 2007, when Barack Obama made his first appearance ever in Tampa. Obama appeared at the Cuban Club in Ybor City on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, giving a speech from the outdoor plaza after the famed Florida A&M marching band opened the program. But according to Tampa City Council woman Yolie Capin, the long-planned fundraising event (which only cost supporters $25) was almost canceled at the last moment, after officials back at the…
