Gonzo and his 60 Chevy Impala
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Monday, May 13, 2019
Commissioner Mariella Smith's response to the Tampa Bay Times
The Times wrote, “There is no reason local taxpayers should be paying for express service to MacDill” — by ferry. Yet they have never said that we should stop funding the express service to MacDill by bus, and ferry service is quicker and more efficient. HART’s 3 express bus lines from South County to MacDill transported 121,926 riders last year. These are the only express routes to see consistent increases in ridership, with a combined 10.5% growth in the past year. The demand for commuter transit services to MacDill is great.
Every day 18,000 people stream into MacDill Air Force Base. Most of them have no other choice but to drive a car alone to the base. The Ferry will not only provide a quicker, more direct route for commuters to MacDill, it will also remove thousands of cars from the roads during rush hour, from South County to Bayshore, making commutes easier for other drivers and reducing pollution and wear and tear on our roads.
I don’t understand why the Times singles out the workers of MacDill as any less deserving of public transit options than any other commuters. We should strive to provide mass transit wherever we can identify any large group of commuters regularly traveling from one area to another, regardless of whether those people are working at a private company, a public agency, or a military base. The MacDill route is a great place to start commuter service by ferry.
Meanwhile, the evening and weekend service connecting South County to Tampa and St. Pete will provide transit service to South County — an underserved area that has so far not seen much benefit from the tax dollars they contribute to our transportation system. This is why I constantly hear a lot of enthusiasm expressed for this ferry service in South County. And the high ridership numbers from the Cross-Bay Ferry Pilot Project definitely justify increasing ferry service on the Tampa – St. Pete route.
We have been working on this high-speed ferry transit project for 6 years now. No one has come up with a better plan, and no ferry company has offered us a better deal than the current offer by HMS Ferries’ commitment to pay all the operating costs for 20 years.
If we proceed with this ferry project, it can be the start of more robust ferry service in our future. But if naysaying and foot-dragging finally sinks this ferry project, odds are we will not see another opportunity to have ferry transit crossing Tampa Bay for decades to come.
Mariella Smith
Florida GOP Consolidation of Power
Miami state Rep. Jose Oliva is a hardcore ideologue who believes in Koch-Brothers-style, pro-business, libertarian-esque Republicanism.
He supports the state's right to "preempt" towns from making their own laws as a way to stop local governments from, in his mind, improperly interfering with business, the economy, or people's lives.
Under his leadership, the Florida GOP in 2019 made good: It pitched a slew of preemption laws to hamper local towns' rights to regulate everything from plastic straws all the way to job responsibilities, work hours, and employee benefits. HERE
SNL’ rips Florida Panhandle
“SNL” cut to Anchor Colin Jost
on the phone.
on the phone.
“I know that speech didn’t sound very eloquent, but for the Florida Panhandle, it was basically the Gettysburg Address,” Jost said.
The Panhandle deserved the ridicule, Jost added, for joking about shooting migrants at the border. HERE
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Florida's Culture Of Corruption: Everglades
This place "Kanter Real Estate LLC" wants to drill for oil in the Everglades.
---
Broward County and the city of Miramar
tried to stop it.
---
They dropped their legal efforts to have the Florida Supreme Court hear the case, saying they didn’t receive cooperation from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. HERE
ACTION NEEDED: Tampa Bay Ferry
ALL ABOARD! We can FINALLY have a complete, permanent ferry system soon, for less than the cost of widening 2 miles of road — IF our County Commission votes to take the next step on Wednesday,
May 15th.
May 15th.
ACTION NEEDED: Please email the commissioners at the link below, and let them know you support permanent ferry service connecting Tampa, St. Pete, South County and MacDill AFB: HERE
John Morgan Rips Andrew Gillum
---
Morgan tweeted that Gillum should take his unspent campaign money “and use it ALL to pay the financial restitution now owed by freed felons to vote. This poll tax is unconscionable. They paid a price & are now being asked
to pay again.” HERE
to pay again.” HERE
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Enki: Tax Scam
The transportation tax will become corporate welfare just as the critics have been saying.
84,000 Images Of Nikki Fried On Florida Gas Pumps
Florida GOP doesn’t want the only statewide elected Democrat’s smiling face plastered on thousands of gas pumps.
Some conservatives on social media weren’t happy to see Fried’s portrait greeting them at the pump. HERE
Glad I Ride The Bus!
Florida Is Ground Zero for Trump Campaign
“We can’t win the White House without winning Florida. Period,” said top Trump surrogate Joe Gruters, chairman of the Florida Republican Party. HERE
Using bathroom while black in Brandon
Lorne Green a South Florida man on business in the Tampa Bay area claims he was harassed by Starbucks employees at the company's Brandon store. HERE
Friday, May 10, 2019
Find your HART!
Problem is, the HART bus system is underfunded, and thus does not operate as it should. Buses do not run 24/7 and do not have as many buses as it could have. We need our elected officials to expand and improve HART, as well as ferries and commuter rail. Please support candidates and initiatives to bolster local public transit—we cannot and should not rely on cars, especially as the Tampa area and highway system grows into vehicular oblivion. Consider taking the bus, and find your HART in Tampa!
— Asher
GOP in Total Control of Florida
Florida’s Republican legislators delivered a host of policy wins to their conservative constituents during this year’s legislative session with an eye not just on their own reelections, but on Trump’s, too. HERE
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Protest Against Privatization in Tampa
Hillsborough County school Board
901 East Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)