County's representation at homeless workshop disappoints Mayor Bill Foster

ST. PETERSBURG -- More than 90 officials attended Wednesday's workshop at Sunken Gardens that discussed ways to deal with a growing homeless population.

It had been organized by St. Petersburg Council Chairwoman Leslie Curran and member Jeff Danner and had the full support of Mayor Bill Foster.

But afterward, Foster said he was disappointed by who didn't attend. He said city officials had rescheduled the workshop from Tuesday to Wednesday so that Pinellas County Administrator Bob LaSala and commissioners could attend.

No dice.

"I'm real disappointed they didn't show," Foster said. "I'm disappointed because it's going to take us pooling our money together to solve this. We can't do this without them."

But Assistant County Administrator Elithia Stanfield did attend, as did other county officials.  

Commissioner Ken Welch said he informed the city several days earlier he would not be able to attend. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority -- which has four county commissoners as members -- had a meeting to set the 2011 property tax rate for the bus system. He felt it was important to attend.

"Why he didn't know that, I don't know," Welch said of Foster.

"That's just not helpful," Welch said of Foster's complaining.

David DeCamp and Michael Van Sickler, Times staff writers

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St. Petersburg College board names Ken Burke chairman

Pinellas Clerk of Courts Ken Burke is the new chairman of the trustees of St. Petersburg College, six months after helping eliminate former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker's chances of being the college president.

From Thursday's news release:

 Kenneth P. Burke has been named  chairman of the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees, the college said today.
    The selection took place at the college’s board meeting on July 22. Terrence E. Brett, who served as chairman for the past year, was named vice chairman.
    Board members thanked Brett for leading the board during a transitional year, as long-time President Carl M. Kuttler Jr. retired at the end of 2009 and William D. Law Jr. began as SPC president in June.
    Burke is a CPA and clerk of the court for Pinellas County. He was appointed to the board in June 1999. Brett is the co-owner of Brett Funeral Home in St. Petersburg and was appointed to the board in May 2008.

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Alex Sink, other Democratic candidates to visit Pinellas club Aug. 12

From the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club:

Next Meeting: Aug. 12

Social at 6, dinner at 6:30

Please come join the Greater Pinellas Democratic Club and Florida's next governor Alex Sink for dinner. The cost is only $15 per person and includes a wonderful buffet dinner. Also featuring Loranne Ausley, candidate for chief financial officer, and Scott Maddox, candidate for commissioner of agriculture and consumer affairs.

To rsvp please e-mail - hbmorg407@verizon.net or call Harvey Morgenstein at 360-3971.

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First came severance and donations, now Sam Rashid writing letters that could help Josh Burgin

Hillsborough County Commission hopeful Josh Burgin may not need many campaign contributors. He's got Sam Rashid.

First, Rashid gave Burgin $30,000 in severance when Burgin left his employment as technology manager at Holtec USA and promptly announced his candidacy. Burgin plunked much of the money into his upstart campaign.

Then Rashid contributed another $2,500 directly to Burgin's campaign, with a personal contribution and through his businesses, making him one of the most generous contributors to Burgin's campaign so far.

Now Rashid has mailed a letter to frequent Republican voters that, while not touting Burgin's candidacy, blasts his primary opponent, incumbent Mark Sharpe. 

The flier specifically hits Sharpe for his support of a proposed 1-cent sales tax to pay for a new rail system, expanded bus service and road building -- the main focus of Burgin's campaign. In the flier, Rashid proudly wears the label of special interest -- his special interest being that of small business owners who he says will be harmed by the tax.

Burgin says he knew nothing of the flier before it arrived in his own mailbox, though he welcomes the message.

"Sam and I share the same values on this tax question," Burgin said. "People want to paint us as being in the same corner. Anyone who wants to join us in that corner is welcome to."

There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the fliers at first blush. State law generally requires people or groups campaigning on behalf of a candidate for office to disclose themselves and how much they are spending to sway voters minds. But state and federal law gives people strong First Amendment protections to weigh in on issues without the same disclosure requirements, so long as they don't link their argument with a direct appeal to vote for or against the issue or candidate for office.

There is no appeal in Rashid's letter to vote for Burgin or against Sharpe.

Burgin has taken pains to say that Rashid, a longtime activist in political circles who regularly contributes to conservative campaigns, did not put him up to run against Sharpe. He decided on his own and informed Rashid afterward, he said.

At least one conservative blogger, Republican Chris Ingram, is taking Burgin to task, depicting him as "Sam's Boy" in a recent post on IrreverentView.com. Ingram says he is supporting Sharpe, has contributed to his campaign but is not directly assisting him.

"He is, in effect, his puppeteer and Josh is his boy," Ingram said in an interview. "I don't think anyone likes the perception that one individual is the mastermind or money man behind your campaign."

Rashid estimated he mailed out about 15,000 of the fliers at a cost of between $8,000 and $9,000. He said he's simply exercising his right to free speech, and is fortunate enough to have the money to do the mailer, saying he plans to do more.

He said he believes part of the attack on him for actively engaging in political campaigns is racially motivated. He noted that Ingram referred to him in an earlier blog post by his birth name, Samad, in an effort to draw attention to his Pakistani heritage and discredit his message. See his response to that post here.

He said he can't control how people react to his support of Burgin or his opposition to the sales tax, which is on the November ballot.

"My name is going to be associated to this campaign whether I want it to or not," Rashid said. "If I'm going to be attached to the race, I may as well make my intentions as clear as can be and let people make up their minds any way they want."

Bill Varian, Times staff writer

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With primary looming, endorsements are flying

With less than a month to go before the the August primary, candidate endorsements are flying. Here's a round-up of some of them:

Hillsborough County firefighters, Tampa Police Benevolent Association and  West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association have endorsed Republican Sandy Murman in her run for the District 1 County Commission seat;

The Greater Tampa Association of Realtors has endorsed Les Miller in the District 3 and Linda Pearson in the District 2 County Commission races;

The National Rifle Association has endorsed James Grant in the District 47 state House race;

Hillsborough County Firefighters have endorsed Rachel Burgin in the District 56 state House race;

Concerned Women for America and Florida Right to Life have endorsed Todd Marks in the District 57 state House race.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

NRA endorses Richard Corcoran in House 45 race

Here's another endorsement in the House 45 race, this time the National Rifle Association and Unified  Sportsmen of Florida for candidate Richard Corcoran.

The group announced support for Corcoran, one of three Republicans running for the seat that represents parts of Pinellas and Pasco counties.

"We are urging our members, and all citizens who support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to put freedom first ,and work to help elect Richard Corcoran to the Florida House of Representatives where he can help protect our strong tradition of freedom and these core issues and values," said Marion Hammer, NRA Past President and Unified Sportsmen of Florida Executive Director, in a statement.

Corcoran, a lawyer whose primary client is Pasco Sheriff Bob White, is running against Pasco School board member Kathryn Starkey and business owner and radio show host Fabian Calvo of Clearwater.

Corcoran and Starkey, in particular, have spent much of the year racking up endorsements from various groups and prominent leaders.

Starkey announced last week she had won the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, Pinellas Lodge 43.

--Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer

Madeira Beach commissioner thinks car vandalism was political payback

MADEIRA BEACH -- Commissioner Nancy Oakley thinks vandals poured multicolored paint on her car early Tuesday as political payback for her critique of the city's proposed budget.

Amid the long drips of blue, orange, lime green, red, purple and black paint were smears of peanut butter. It all came off with a car wash.

"I felt sick and violated. Now I am really mad," Oakley said. "I can't prove anything, but I feel it is all related to the budget. I think a city employee is involved in all of it."

City Manager W.D. Higginbotham Jr., who joined Pinellas County sheriff's deputies at the scene, said he has "difficulty believing" that any city employee would commit such vandalism.

The attack on Oakley's car came just days after she, Higginbotham and two city Planning Board members received anonymous letters threatening political payback for alleged improper or illegal incidents in their past. The vandalism and the letters are under investigation.

--Sheila Estrada, Times correspondent

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Larry Ahern, Tom Cuba to speak at St. Petersburg Republican Club

ST. PETERSBURG -- Larry Ahern, candidate for state House District 51, and Tom Cuba, candidate for House District 53, are scheduled to speak to the St. Petersburg Republican Club at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 at Piccadilly Cafeteria, 1900 34th St. N. Both will also take questions from the audience.

Ahern is challenging Democratic incumbent Janet Long for the District 51 seat. Also running is Victoria A. Torres of the tea party.

Cuba is seeking the District 53 seat held by Democrat Rick Kriseman.

There is no primary in either race.

-- Anne Lindberg, Times Staff Writer

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State official calls for unity on high speed rail

On Thursday the Tampa City Council is set to discuss adding a high speed rail stop at Tampa International Airport to current plans for the bullet train connecting downtown Tampa to Orlando. City Council member Mary Mulhern has been leading the charge for the added stop and wants state officials to include it in an application next month for federal money to pay for the line. State officials, though, have said that's not an option.

In a letter to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, who opposes including the airport in the grant application, the head of the Florida Rail Enterprise lays out the arguments against high speed rail to the airport. See the letter here: Rail letter. Check out the last bullet point. It calls for unity and support from the community and government officials to improve Florida's chances of getting the grant money, which is necessary to complete the project.

President Barack Obama awarded Florida about $1.25 billion in federal stimulus money to pay for the line, which has a stop in downtown Tampa and three stops in Orlando, including one at that city's airport. But that covers only about half the cost of the project. State officials are hoping to get more money from the feds to make up the difference.

Another point to note in the letter: It talks about HART considering connecting the airport to the downtown high speed rail stop via either light rail or bus rapid transit. Look for that to be a big topic of conversation in the next month.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

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Whoops! Brian Blair mailer calls opponent James Grant a lobbyist

The campaign for Brian Blair, Republican candidate for the District 47 state House seat, has produced a mailer that calls primary opponent James Grant a registered lobbyist for general contractor Kustom US. Trouble is, Grant the Candidate is not Grant the Lobbyist. That's a different James Grant altogether.

The goal of the piece -- which includes the phrase "Make an informed decision" -- seems to be to show Blair as having business and political experience while two of his primary opponents -- Grant and Irene Guy -- are lobbyists with questionable morals. For example, the piece says Grant has the support of a lobbyist for -- horrors -- the Florida Association for Nude Recreation. It's true the organization's lobbyist, Bob Levy, donated to Grant's campaign. But Levy has dozens of clients, including United Cerebral Palsy, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and many health care organizations and Florida governments. As for Guy, Blair highlights her work as a lobbyist for Verizon, noting that she worked for the company when Florida saw the biggest-ever phone rate increase.

And speaking of Guy as a lobbyist, early in her campaign, she tried to downplay that aspect of her work, preferring just to be known as a retired Verizon executive. Now, though, she is embracing that professional past. "Lobbyists are critical to the process. I'm proud to have done this," she said last week at a meeting of the downtown Tampa Republican club. "It taught me how to be a good legislator because I had to work with them every day."

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

Incumbent Susan Latvala builds biggest war chest

While Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala has been on the receiving end of three opponents' critiques on county overspending, she has built a large financial advantage heading into the Aug. 24 primary.

Latvala has raised $103,400, and spent $40,500. It leaves her with almost $63,000 on hand as of July 18, according to finance reports. That's after refunding Clear Channel $500 in July because the company is asking the County Commission for less restrictions on digital billboards. Democrat Bob Hackworth has assailed her fundraising with groups that do business with the county, noting on Twitter the refund. Said Latvala, "I don’t want to give Hackworth any ammunition."

But more urgently, her primary opponents lack financial ammunition. Former Tarpon Springs Mayor Beverley Billiris has $5,300 on hand of the $24,650 she has raised. Wine and spirits broker Carl Folkman has $180 from the $12,560 he raised.

By the way, Hackworth -- operating under a self-imposed $100 maximum contribution -- has raised $32,750 and spent $10,750.

The next report is due Aug. 6.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer

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Carl Folkman hits Susan Latvala on taxes

Republican opponent Carl Folkman is criticizing County Commissioner Susan Latvala over recent statements she made to the Times editorial board over raising the property tax rate.

In a recent mailing he cites the Times to quote Latvala as saying: "I'll vote to raise property taxes!"

That's close, although it's not an actual statement Latvala made. In the interview, she acknowledged she would be one of four votes to raise the millage, yet there's no such consensus on that vote. In fact, she has yet to advocate such an increase at meetings.

See previous coverage here. The flip side of Folkman's mailing is on the jump.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer

Florida Dems pinning hopes on Stacy Frank for state House

How badly does the Florida Democratic Party want to wrest away the District 57 state House seat from Republicans? $46,046 bad. That's how much the party contributed to Democrat Stacy Frank's campaign in the last fundraising quarter. Specifically, the party contributed $12,500 in cash, with the rest in staff time, polling and research. "This is one of the key races for the House, and Stacy Frank continues to show that she is an extremely strong candidate," said Eric Jotkoff, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party. "We look forward to helping her win in November." Frank has raised about $177,000 so far.

The district has nearly the same number of registered Democrats and Republicans, and has been in the hands of Republican Faye Culp for the past eight years. She's term-limited out of the job. Attorney Dana Young leads the cash grab on the Republican side of the ticket, with more than $229,000 in her coffers so far.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

Feds clear workforce agency in petition flap

The U.S. Department of Labor has closed an investigation into how a members federally-fund youth group for WorkNet Pinellas collected petitions for County Commission candidate Beverley Billiris to qualify for this year’s election.

A report says U.S. attorneys decided not to prosecute "due to insufficient evidence of criminal activity being
found" regarding federal election laws, because none of the 20 petitions were used and they had no effect on Billiris making the ballot. A spokesman, Michael Wald, noted another factor Friday: the activity was halted.

The report also said there’s no evidence WorkNet, a non-profit workforce agency, misspent money from the federal stimulus on the Youth Build program for the petition gathering.

The petition activity amounted to less than $100 of expenses. In March, WorkNet Pinellas program director Robyn Poppick was fired days after the Times disclosed the petition effort, because she didn’t get approval from WorkNet officials, who called the activity unethical and possibly illegal. The federal report did note that a voicemail from a labor officials suggesting approval of "whatever exercise Poppick had requested approval for."

The Labor Department will continue to monitor WorkNet Pinellas spending on Youth Build, Wald said.

Poppick, who provided the report, said it clears her of any wrongdoing in an email.

Billiris faces County Commissioner Susan Latvala and wine and spirits broker Carl Folkman in the Aug. 24 Republican primary. The winner faces Democrat Bob Hackworth in the Nov. 2 election.

The dispute began after the youths ran in to Latvala family members at a polling place.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer

St. Petersburg may let Rays consider stadium locations outside city limits

ST. PETERSBURG -- Mayor Bill Foster has sent a proposed amendment to the city's contract with the Tampa Bay Rays to the team for its review.

Earlier this week, Foster said the proposed changes would permit the Rays to consider a new stadium anywhere in St. Petersburg and the "greater Gateway area," which would include land outside city limits.

Derby Lane and Pinellas County's Airco Golf Course, which have been mentioned as possible sites, are in the Gateway area and not in city limits. Foster specifically mentioned them as locations that could be considered if the changes are accepted by the City Council and the Rays.

“We received Mayor Foster’s letter late this afternoon," Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said Thursday. "We will review it in a timely manner and respond directly to his office.”

Read the proposed amendment here: Download Fosterletter.

Tampa City Council continues to push for high speed rail at airport

Earlier this week, officials at a briefing on high speed rail made it clear they have no intention of seeking a station at Tampa International Airport. But the Tampa City Council continues their push to get one there. They voted last night to have city attorneys draft a resolution calling for state officials to ask for money to plan a station at the airport as part of a grant application next month. Council chairman Tom Scott also suggested the council invite Ed Turanchik, a potential mayoral candidate who now does community outreach for the high speed rail line connecting Tampa to Orlando, to come to the council meeting next week to talk about the issue. But Mary Mulhern, who has been leading the charge for an airport stop, noted that Turanchik opposes a station at the airport, and the council also needs to hear from someone who supports the concept. "I'll find someone," she said. "I think we need to hear both sides."

Airport officials and others -- such as Mayor Pam Iorio -- have said that it's not logistically possible to take high speed rail to the airport. They want to connect to TIA via light rail or bus from the high speed rail stop downtown. But Mulhern has dismissed those arguments and said it's merely a lack of political will keeping the extension from happening. She has also pointed out that Orlando has three stops to Tampa's one, including one at Orlando International Airport. And planning calls for Miami to eventually have high speed rail at its airport. The Tampa to Orlando link is being paid for in part with $1.2 billion in federal stimulus money, but that only covers about half the cost. State transportation officials will apply for grant money next month to make up the difference. Mulhern believes the lack of high speed rail at TIA means Tampa's airport will lose business to Orlando. She envisions a multi-modal center in Tampa that offers air travel along with high speed and light rail.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

Web site asks voters to play the game Movin' Murman

An interactive web site poking at Sandy Murman, a Republican running for the Hillsborough County Commission, asks voters to play a wheel of fortune type game where the "object of the game is to figure out what career politician Sandy Murman will no next." It was paid for buy a 527 called Florida Future Leaders Fund based in Coral Gables. Take a look at it here: www.movingmurman.com. An e-mail forwarding the web site to Bay Buzz promises "more to come."

Murman will face Trey Rustmann in the Republican primary in August. Chris Ingram, a political consulant working on Rustmann's campaign said he's not familiar with the Florida Future Leaders group but he said the web site is "pretty humorous," noting that it could be characterized as an attack but "it's not in poor taste. It's not a hard-charging negative. They laid out some of the issues in a satirical kind of way."

The winner of the GOP primary will face former Tampa City Council member John Dingfelder in the general electon.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

New City Council member facing foreclosure

Curtis Stokes, who was sworn in today as one of the newest Tampa City Council members, is facing forecosure on nine investment properties he owns on the edge of downtown. The council selected Stokes on Monday to fill the citywide District 3 seat left vacant by Linda Saul-Sena when she resigned last month to run for the Hillsborough County Commission. The board chose Yvonne Yolie Capin to replace John Dingfelder in District 4, who also resigned to run for county commission. The council made their choices after reviewing 66 applications and conducting two-minute interivews of the applicants. In a regular election, candidates have to file financial disclosure forms with the Supervisor of Elections office. But those forms aren't part of the application for interim council members. Read more about it here.

Some have suggested the process for selecting interim council members should be changed. Attorney Seth Nelson, a candidate for city council who applied for one of the interim jobs, has said he believes council elections should be moved from March in the year after November elections to March of the same year. Meaning, example, council elections would have been held in March 2010 instead of March 2011. That would reduce the likelihood that newly elected council members would resign to run for higher office. And if they did, it would trigger a special election because of the length of time left in their terms.

Janet Zink, Times staff writer

Peter Nehr a 'flip-flopper' on oil drilling, says Democratic challenger Tom McKone

Tom McKone, an East Lake fire commissioner and Democratic candidate for State House 48, called incumbent Rep. Peter Nehr a flip-flopper on the oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. But Nehr, a Tarpon Springs Republican, said he voted with fellow Republicans to end the special session called by Gov. Charlie Crist to discuss a constitutional ban on oil drilling off the state’s shores to save the state money.
In a press release Wednesday, McKone challenged Nehr’s vote.
“This past Sunday, the incumbent was on Political Connections touting how we need to let the voters decide if they want to stop drilling in the gulf, then on Tuesday he votes against the process,” McKone said.  “Peter Nehr is not being honest with the constituents of House District 48. He has let down the District’s Shrimpers, Spongers, Commercial and Sport fishermen, and the tourist industry by not even allowing any discussion on economic relief  for these devastated working  families.”
Nehr said Wednesday he is “absolutely in favor” of Floridians deciding. But he said remaining in Tallahassee for the special session would have been a waste of taxpayers' dollars.
“Both the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate had predetermined publicly that they would not allow any bill regarding the placement of a possible constitutional amendment to be discussed or voted upon in this special session,” Nehr said. “Therefore, since there was no chance of a bill being passed, I felt that it would be better to adjourn than to spend $50,000 a day sitting around and not accomplishing anything.”

Demorris A. Lee, Times staff writer

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One-week-old budget past time for deep questions?

A week after drawing a few complaints over holding back his 2011 proposed budget, Pinellas County Administrator Bob LaSala heard it again Tuesday when some commissioners wanted presentations by every department on the budget.

Commissioner Neil Brickfield, who was backed by Chairwoman Karen Seel, sought the run down by every department on how it will run next yet.

But LaSala said such preparations by staffers would take hundreds of hours of work, and instead, referred board members to his detailed budget message and appendices that many hadn't fully read yet.

That, however, irked Commissioner Nancy Bostock, who's known for throwing lots of questions people's way. LaSala had pushed back detailed questioning for months until he released his budget. After two years of going through a similar process, Bostock suggested she wouldn't allow it to happen again.

"We can't do this a third time," Bostock warned.

"I think we're best served when we have a full public review so everybody knows what the face of Pinellas County government look like," Brickfield said.

Ultimately, the board members agreed to read the 134-page budget message July 13 by LaSala, then submit questions by Aug. 1. They'll go through a detailed review in August before the final vote in September.

"I don't want you going through the budget process thinking you don't know what's left. Then we haven't done our job," LaSala said.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer

Jim Norman launches tv ad

 

Jim Norman, a candidate in the District 12 state Senate race, has launched a television ad casting himself as a "conservative Republican." The add touts his endorsement from Jeb Bush and the fact that he was one of only two Hillsborough County commissioners who voted against a referendum on a 1 cent sales tax to pay for transporation improvements in the county. Norman will face state Rep. Kevin Ambler in the August primary.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

Tampa City Council picks interim members

Tampa City Council members selected their new colleagues today. Curtis Stokes, former head of the Hillsborough NAACP, was chosen to fill the citywide District 3 seat vacated by Linda Saul-Sena.

Yvonne Yolie Capin, who unsuccessfully ran for the state House District 57 seat in 2008, was chosen to replace John Dingfelder in South Tampa's District 4.

Dingfelder and Saul-Sena abruptly left the council last month after missing a deadline to file paperwork with the Hillsborough County supervisor of elections indicating they would resign to run for the County Commission. The two had hoped to stay on the council until after the November elections. Capin and Stokes will serve until after the city's March 2011 elections. Read more about it here.

Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer

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