10 News Report on Ken Hagan's criminal behavior

Negotiations with a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays franchise are still being held behind closed doors by Corrupt County Commissioner Ken Hagan and the Rays have a deadline of December 31 to close a deal.

I have been trying to obtain the agenda for the next Board of County Commissioners public meeting on December 5 but, conveniently, the person who posts their agendas is on vacation until Nov. 28. From now until Dec. 5, I will be gathering as much information as I can concerning these illegal secret negotiations and will hopefully create an event aimed at allowing the people of Hillsborough County to voice our objections to this corrupt and illegal process. It is already clear that most of the funding for this new stadium would be obtained from public funds, whether by imposing a new county tax or diverting monies from existing public funds, such as the entertainment tax or tourism tax funds. Either would be stealing funds that were meant to improve conditions for the citizens of Hillsborough and not to enrich land developer friends of Ken Hagan and Rays shareholders.

I will keep the readers of the Ybor City Stogie posted.

Ybor Rob Owns TPD

Ybor Paparazzi

Glen

A socialist look at the Florida 2018 midterm results

The energy and enthusiasm surrounding Gillum’s campaign – from the dozens of well-attended rallies to the historic voter turnout – jolted life in the moribund Florida Democratic Party, which typically runs white business centrists for governor. more

Vlogger Kathy Curry in Ybor City

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Danny

Team Shoup in Panama City

On Thanksgiving Day I was in Panama City helping to distribute food along with members of The Poor People's Campaign, The Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Tallahassee Chapter of DSA. Among the devastation from Hurricane Michael, what I didn't see was FEMA.  Welcome to The United States  disaster relief in 2018. Though Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm, hit Panama City only a few weeks ago, the presence of the Federal Government was minimal and the plight of the residents trying to recover their homes and lives has fallen out of the news cycle. Sadly, this is predictable in the neoliberal era when the Wealthy have effectively stop paying their taxes and the Federal Government devotes more and more of the budget to bloated military spending.  Of course , one reason for the lack of press coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Michael is the condition in California where, like in Panama Beach, man made Global Warming is fueling massive wildfires.

Scott Shoup

Images by Reem Zaitoon

Twitter: @ ReemOlive

Ybor Paparazzi

Asher

Cannabis Career Fair in Tampa

Black Business Bus Tour Holiday 2018

info

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Julie

CNN Slams Florida

The election was rigged. 
West Palm, Broward and Hillsborough?
Florida's 3 Dem Bunkers

Chillum in Ybor

1714 7th Ave - Ybor City

Visit them here

Corporate Media DESPERATE to Defeat Progressives Ahead of 2020

Tampa Hoods

Ybor City

Elvis Piggott Responds

There will always be people that will choose to attack me but at the end of the day, what I said can’t be denied - The HCDEC does not treat people of color the same. But unlike others, I was relevant before I ran for office in 2018. I will most definitely remain relevant even if I never choose to run for office again. They say I’m an opportunist? As a community leader and a pastor, I have worked to help those facing the real issues I have been accused of not addressing! Interesting, I have nothing personal or political to gain from exposing the truth. As for this advancing my political career- that is most definitely not accurate because many calls have been made to tell me these are things that can hinder my political career! So, with all these insinuations and inaccurate assessments of who I am and of my character, I would choose to remain focused on the topic which I continue to pursue...that the HCDEC must treat everyone fairly. It’s time for the obstacles which they have created to come crumbling down in order to help advance African American candidates. The process must be improved for how the HCDEC chooses to support and endorse candidates . It must be revamped and looked at with a lens of equity in mind.
Let’s stay focused on the real issues and make the necessary improvements- there’s no debating that favoritism and inequity exists in this organization! These practices have been allowed to go on for years - well before my run for office. It’s time we all work together to get the job done.

Elvis Piggott

Jae Ali on Elvis Piggot, Asher Edelson and the DEC

This is a response to address racism within the DEC, Elvis Piggot's recent claims, Angela Birdsong, and Asher Edelson assessment of it all. Ok so first out the gate let's address Asher's claims in response to Elvis. Asher took the position that the DEC isn't racist (a claim as a white man in America he has no authority to determine and only shows the tone deafness and white privilege rampant within the Democratic Party as a whole) He goes on to try to compare him having Tourette's and not being treated differently as the same as black members of the DEC, again completely of the mark. This country was built on white supremacy and patriarchy what that means is society and its structures were built to accommodate those systems of oppression. When white people with disabilities try to compare the fair treatment they get and discount discrimination against able bodied black and brown folks not only are they participating in the erasure of black and brown disabled folks, but they are complicit in white supremacy. So, Asher's stance on the DEC and racism was not only incorrect because he is not able to make the determination given his white privilege, but his stance inadvertently shows the real problem with race relations within the party. 

Angela Birdsong and her valid concerns with the DEC is troubling to say the least. For a great majority of her campaign Angela mostly floated on the fact that she was the only Dem on the ticket. She wasn't a dynamic speaker, very soft spoken at times. She didn't speak about her actual platform enough or even energize voters by speaking on the past of Ken Hagan enough. It was a weak campaign from the beginning but she did make strides more and more towards the end. 

Elvis' live Facebook videos and new persona as a political truth teller is not only a shock but comical. For months on his campaign trail Elvis became a political minstrel. At one time I was his opponent, not only did he try to paint me as the "Angry Black Lives Matter" candidate who hates white people, he tried to present himself as the better option. A calm, cool, collected alternative. Diet negro if you will. For some reason Pastor Piggot couldn't or wouldn't stop going around letting white democrats know, that not only am I too radical but he prefers the company of white people more than black people because they're more relatable. I was fed up with the slander (from a pastor at that!) and called Elvis to ask him why he would keep trying to manipulate racial issues, why is he lying about me saying he wasn't "black enough", and how he could call himself a pastor while doing it all. I don't think Elvis ever thought he would be confronted for his lies. He hung up flustered after acknowledging his lies, then followed up via text to wish me Merry Christmas. I responded to the text letting it be known if he were to continue to spread untruths about me in hopes of gaining support from white people I would show everyone the screenshots. Elvis is a manipulative opportunist. He's not wrong about the DEC being racist because he wanted to capitalize on it to ostracize me and present himself as the only viable candidate. All in all Elvis isn't wrong about the racism within the DEC and Democratic Party as a whole, but he cares nothing about the injustice or neglect Angela faced. His motives are to create enough buzz to mount another (failed) political run. 

The DEC is a political machine within America. For those who face oppression under white supremacy they understand what that means. For those who don't, black people and black candidates are not treated the same as white people. Also, it is not the job of black people to recruit more black people to the DEC to cut down on racism by providing more representation. The DEC needs to reach out to black led orgs and PAY THEM to give them classes on racial bias, systemic oppression, and white privilege. The DEC needs to do better.

 All in all like my granny says "A broke clock is right twice a day". Elvis is right about the DEC and racism. However, he is only "exposing" wrongdoing in this way to draw attention towards himself to further try to make a name for himself. All done.

Jae Ali

Ybor City Homeless

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