Return of the TroxBlog live chat, Tuesday noon - 1 p.m.!

Here's hoping you can stop by TroxBlog between noon and 1 p.m. Tuesday for a live chat about current events in the Tampa Bay area and beyond. Feel free to join in the conversation with your own topic, comment or question, or just hang out to see what folks are talking about.

To observe or take part in Tuesday's chat, come to TroxBlog at noon Tuesday and look for a NEW ITEM with the headline, "The Feb. 26 chat is OPEN." Click on the "Comments" link of that announcement and you'll see a page with what's been said so far, and a space for you to join in.

There'll be plenty of stuff to kick around in our chat, from the presidential race (is Charlie the running mate>?) to state-level issues (taxes, insurance) to the stuff going on around here.

If you can't be here live on Tuesday, feel free to file an advance comment or question by clicking on the "Comments" link of this item, just a few lines below. And as always, you can stop by afterward to read a transcript of what was said.

I hope to see you at noon Tuesday!

Comments

[Orville & Wilber]

Unfortunately, we can't be there tomorrow..

We were very disappointed to note the Mayor's absence at the 2/21 Council meeting... the first on the stadium issue. We also noted his absence Sunday, at the Univ. Of Chicago lecture on the economics of tax-subsidized stadiums. He and the Council members each received a personal invitation. None showed up. Hopefully Dave Goodwin from planning took good notes.

It's almost like no one in the City government wants to hear anything but the Rays' side of this issue. How about some leadership, folks!!

[gloucester]

So, you think school teachers should lose their pensions? Most deferred comp plans have a contribution by employers. How much should the govt. set aside for this? Will it be cheaper than what they are paying for the contributions for the pension plan now? How much of that $300 million is from investments versus what was contributed by the employers, and in some case employees? Should government be like any other employer where no one remembers what was done 10 years ago. Oh, my bad, the Legislature is that way now!

[Larry]

Howard, won't make the chat today, but lately I've noticed Citizens Property Insurance claiming that new "start-up" insurance companies have been taking policies out of Citizens, thus reducing their exposure. Even in today's paper, it says the slack from State Farm not writing will be taken up by Citizens and another private insurance company. I feel that the people of Florida are being fed a load of crap. In the final analysis, Citizens Property Insurance remains on the hook for each and every one of those policies written by the new companies, whether they are on Citizen's books or the "start-up" insurance company's books. Does anyone remember a fellow name Poe? These "new" companies are started up, bled dry by high salaries for the executives running them, and then when the big one hits, they will be insolvent and everything dumped back to Citizens or the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The citizens of Florida are the ones holding the bag.

[Bland]

Howard,

Rascal Alert. It seems the folks on the Tax Committee in Tallahassee want to propose an amendment to replace the school property tax component with an increase of 1% to our sales tax.

So far I am fine with this. Will this mean property taxes can still increase 3% for the SOH folks? If so, sounds like an overall tax increase to this cracker.

By the way, if the voters pass this proposal, would the people of Pinellas County be okay with this increase and the Penny for Pinellas?

Can we just go back to Marco Rubio's original 2 1/2% proposal and get rid of homestead property taxes?

I just think these guys are inventing new ways to really increase taxes, not decrease them.

Just my thoughts. No good deed goes unpunished.

[Buzzard]

I also won't be able to join you, but let me offer a prediction:
Toytown Landfill, the new home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. You heard it here first, folks.

[Stpeteluvr]

Howard, why does the stadium issue have to go on this November’s ballot to get lost in the sound and fury of the most intense Presidential election of my lifetime? Can you tell us how it will appear since it's actually many issues wrapped in one...Stadium location? Financing? Let them leave? I understand why the Rays have dictated this hurry up schedule but I can’t imagine why we as citizens wish to accept this “It must be done in the next six months. It is the single largest land use and tax issue of our lifetime which will literally effect our children’s future as well as ours. Why not do a proper amount of due diligence for an issue this important? Since the proposal was hatched in secret by two baseball supporters, the Mayor and Rick Mussett with no public input which gave the Rays an unfair(and perhaps illegal) headstart, shouldn’t we at least give the opposition time to do the proper research and educate our citizens. If the waterfront stadium proposal is truly sound it will hold up to the scrutiny. What will another year mean from our citizens perspective? I understand the Rays might be panicked to see the issue combined with a Mayoral election in which candidates would be forced to take a position in advance of the election. In which the electorate will be far better informed, more sophisticated than the huge turnout focused on an Obama Mccain election. Doesn’t it make sense to compromise and let this decision be made with the proper amount of due diligence? After all if the RFP comes back from Heinz and shows the 300 million is there, what if we had an intelligent debate about the value of baseball to our community? What if we actually used our brains and not our emotions to make a sound financial decision? I love to watch baseball but I don’t wish to be taxed for the privilege. 450 million less the Rays 150 million(rent advance) leaves 300 million of debt/taxes or whatever you wish to call it. The Rays are not assumng responsibility if as you point out the developer goes belly up…or if a horrid economy kills the retail tax base there…or if the neighborhood is simply not suited for a shopping center but should remain industrial in nature. The Rays obviously want out of their lease. What if we let them move to Tampa so the folks over there and Hillsborough County can subsidize them with their tax money. We could retire our 109 million remaining debt and keep approximately 200 million for more positive uses than just baseball. Imagine taking just 2% of that for the homeless. Do we think 4 million might help replace tent city. Imagine instead of Jeff Danner having to beg for 1 million to endow the arts we took another 2% and gave the 4 million to Jeff to endow the arts? 96% or over 190 million would still be left for other great causes. How about simply doing the research on what baseball has done the past ten years? This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT LAND USE/TAX ISSUE OF OUR LIFETIME. COULD WE PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO GET IT RIGHT?
I understand why this appeals to baseball fans like the Mayor and Mussett. But please remember Fan is short for fanatic. Do we really want public policy driven by fanatics?

[Kyle]

Howard- how about we go diving with sharks while people throw chum around us? Sounds like fun doesn't it?

[TH]

Yea Stpeteluvr - you are right on with your statement. Howard, please continue to pay close attention to this issue, it seems no one else will!

[David Mathews]

Hellow Howard,

I filled my gas tank this morning for just under $30 @ $3.09 a gallon, drove over to Tampa and saw diesel @ $3.79 a gallon. I did notice that the St. Petersburg Times had an article devoted to gasoline prices above the fold last week, but it would serve your customers well to describe the economic catastrophe which is approaching in detail and inform the public to prepare for something much worse than the Great Depression.

The US Dollar dropped like a brick today (to a new all-time record low), commodity prices are skyrocketing ($101 oil, $950 gold, $2150 platinum, $18.75 silver, and skyrocketing food prices). The writing is on the wall for the US economy.

Americans need to begin thinking seriously about the post-oil post-automotive future. Rrsidents of Florida should particularly worry about the post-automotive future because hurricane evacuations will become extremely difficult once the automobile culture is dead ... since our government has neglected to build any sort of effective public transportation system.

The future is approaching quickly. It is the newpaper's duty to warn the public about the problems which will overwhelm our nation.