The Board of County Commissioners held a Town Hall Meeting in West Tampa on Oct. 25 that pointed out the contrasts in opinions on the Commission and the job they are doing. Several neighborhood associations were evident as they read prepared speeches that praised various county officials and employees for providing exceptional service to their neighborhoods. Over 150 attended the meeting, but when identified by Commission Chairman Norman, about 40 were actually County Employees on hand to assist residents that had specific problems or needed specific information. Commissioner Kevin White was the only Commissioner absent with an explanation as an “unexpected issue.” Over 30 residents spoke on topics including traffic problems, senior care, airport issues, growth management, transportation, and lots more. While frequent praise came to the members, it was not always the case. “You all are a complete disgrace”, “You’ve been sitting in air conditioning so long you have forgotten what it’s like” was shouted by one resident with specific comments directed toward Commissioner Brian Blair. Chairman Norman called for no personal attacks, but the resident stated “only16% voted, the rest didn’t vote because they have no confidence in you.” Another resident from Gibsonton was especially angry because a developer’s failed commitment has “not been addressed for over a year.” Many residents welcomed the Commissioners to District 1 with the comment of “it has been a long time” since you have been here. (Making you wonder just where these elected public officials have been ?)

Only Commissioners Hagan and Sharpe bothered to have a pen and notepad to keep notes of public. Commissioner Hagan left early. But staff members were on hand to keep track of issues as well. Rose Ferlita, spoke often in her role as the elected Commissioner for the hosting District 1.

The issue of Brighthouse Cable moving public access channels to higher channels requiring an additional fee to receive this community programming was discussed and seemed unanimously opposed. Concerns about the amount of baking soda used to create methamphetamines had one resident calling for id’ing baking soda buyers. Noise issues at Tampa International Airport was the motivating factor for one resident’s attendance while two others spoke on the planned expansion of the Davis Islands Peter O. Knight Airport. Representatives from Old West Tampa businesses spoke clearly in opposition to any discussion to change Armenia and Howard Avenues to two way streets from their current one way routing and asked for County assistance in improving the appearance of the “Gateway” that Old West Tampa is. (While these Avenues are in the city, they are actually County Roads, falling under the County Commission’s authority) They also called for some county assistance in the renovation of the Centro Espanol building on North Howard.

Several times residents expressed the support of increased and improved park and recreation facilities.

A Palma Ceia resident expressed concern about the working status of fire hydrants and was concerned that Tampa could be another California. The planned route and the reputation of the company planned to do the construction of a jet fuel pipeline from the Port of Tampa to Tampa International Airport had created a worry for one resident.

Town Hall Meetings are frequently a show and tell event. Commission Candidate Kevin Beckner had carefully placed t-shirt wearing supporters near the public microphones where they could easily be seen by the tv cameras, opponent Brian Blair, and the public. The best organized effort was by Save Our Canals, a group determined to getting the canals and waterways cleaned of silt and debris. Wearing white socks on one lifted hand, this group of almost a dozen displayed a collection of cleared debris and called for the expenditure of allocated funds to improve the waterways. Discussion of cleaning various Tampa Bay canals including some on Davis Islands, Baycrest area, and more has been the subject of numerous reports and analysis. While discussion of how to fund this work is still being discussed, the Save Our Canals group seemed assured that the resulting increase in home property values as a result of the work would generate the tax revenue to pay for the neglected maintenance of the canals. This issue is be further discussed by the City Council in the coming weeks. The group’s website is www.hcsaveourcanals.org

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