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Hillsborough County calls for advisory board to study creating housing trust fund

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Concerned that the price of living in Hillsborough County is becoming increasingly unaffordable, the Board of County Commissioners approved a motion on Wednesday calling for its affordable housing advisory board to explore potential sources to create a Housing Trust Fund. The vote was 5-1, with Commissioner Al Higginbotham dissenting. “A trust fund is easy to create, but it’s impossible to fund,” Higginbotham said, referring to a similar proposal the board rejected less than a year ago. “That was the bottom line then,…

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Kevin Jackson takes over the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission

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Six weeks into 2017, the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission finally has a new executive director to succeed the controversial Kyle Cockream. It’s Kevin Jackson, who is expected to remain with the troubled agency as it transitions into obsolescence at the end of the year. Jackson’s contract is only good for the end of the year. Legislation pending in Tallahassee would dissolve the PTC, and there is already work being done to transition the infrastructure of the PTC onto the Hillsborough…

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Tampa and 3 other Florida areas selected by the White House as “Tech Hire” Communities

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The White House announced on Thursday that the Tampa Bay area has become one of 20 of the latest communities (and four in Florida) named to participate in its “TechHire” initiative that aims to equip Americans with the skills they need to land jobs in the tech industry. The announcement was made via the White House at 11 a.m., and an hour later, a press conference was held at City Hall in Tampa, kicked off not by Mayor Bob Buckhorn but instead by Mark Sharpe, the…

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Hillsborough County Commissioners honor Kevin Beckner as he departs the board

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Kevin Beckner was feted with plaudits and awards by his colleagues on Wednesday, his last day on the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners. “My service was never about me, it was always about we,” the 45-year-old Indiana native said at a ceremony celebrating his eight years of service on the board. Term-limited out of his seat this fall, he had hoped to continue his political career by running for the Hillsborough Clerk of the Circuit Court seat, but lost in a bitterly…

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Jeff Zampitella labels Sandy Murman’s transportation proposal ‘a gimmick’

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(UPDATED) The Democrat trying to oust Sandy Murman from the Hillsborough County Commission says she was disingenuous when she offered an alternative to a proposed transportation tax last fall. “I think Sandy Murman’s plan was a gimmick to get in the headlines,” Jeff Zampitella said Tuesday night at his campaign kick-off event at Anise Global Gastrobar in downtown Tampa. “Ken Hagan‘s words — it was irresponsible because it jeopardized our credit rating, our reserves, and our essential services. So that being said, I think it…

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Hillsborough Commissioners hope workshops can enhance relations between law enforcement and the public

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Unlike Ferguson, Baltimore or, most recently, Milwaukee, the Tampa/Hillsborough County community hasn’t had to contend with civil unrest due to a police shooting. Aware such an incident can literally happen overnight, however, the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a program that would attempt to enhance relations between law enforcement and the community over the next year. Fred Hearns, a former longtime official with the city of Tampa’s Community Affairs Department, is heading up the program, called the Community Law Enforcement Workshop…

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Sandy Murman optimistic about Hillsborough County finding a way to fund transportation projects in 2016

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When the Hillsborough County Commission rejected putting the Go Hillsborough sales tax referendum on the ballot for the second time last month, its many critics cheered, saying the proposal lacked vision. Others were disappointed, saying the vote showed a lack of leadership on a crucial issue that the board has failed to address. On the same day that the board was putting a kibosh on that twenty-year half-cent sales tax, however, they did vote on a proposal by County Commissioner…

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