A review of the mass e-mails sent out by the political campaign of Pinellas County commissioner Janet Long found that she committed six Florida campaign finance law violations during the county pandemic declared state of emergency. The violations consist of not including the “paid political advertisement” disclaimer required by law, to wit Florida Statute 106.143(1)(a)….
Month: April 2020
PSTA makes its buses free, but ridership still drops 43% in less than 3 weeks
On March 19th, PSTA decided to waive bus fares on its network due to the Wuhan virus pandemic. Despite its service now being 100% free, records show that PSTA’s ridership still dropped by 43.2% from the first week of March to the last week of March. Further declines are expected in April. A recent Tampa…
Kriseman donates zero to city’s own relief fund, Montanari donates $1,000
Twelve days in to St. Pete’s Fighting Chance Fund (FCF) program, Mayor Rick Kriseman had not made a donation to the fund. Kriseman called the fund recipients “the backbone of this city” when he announced the FCF program. District 3 City Council Member Ed Montanari donated $1,000, and District 4 City Council member Darden Rice…
Castor mixed city resources with her political campaign and political committee
In an e-mail Thursday morning announcing a City of Tampa pandemic relief program, Mayor Jane Castor wrote “We will get through this together. We are one city, one community, and One Tampa.” The city named its pandemic relief program “One Tampa” and is allegedly aimed at residents and businesses “most impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.”…
CONFIRMED: airport violated own policy in hiring Cintron for $223,000
Tampa International Airport (TPA) violated its own hiring procedure in at least two ways when it hired former Bay News 9 news anchor Veronica Cintron for $223,000 per year. Cintron’s husband is Preston Rudie, founder and CEO of Catalyst Communications Group. The company says it has “strong relationships with officials at the local, state and…
Hillsborough County commission re-kills sales tax hike to fund transit
Hillsborough County Commissioner Mariella Smith wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. After the commission voted two weeks ago to not schedule a public hearing on a sales tax hike to fund transit, Smith wanted a second bite at the apple. For today’s commission meeting, Smith inserted this agenda item to rescind the previous decision. Smith’s…
TPA didn’t advertise $223,000 job, then hires local TV personality
It isn’t often that a position paying $223,000 per year opens up at the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA), a public agency using public funds. Yet the HCAA didn’t post that highly paid opening for the job as Vice President of Communications on Taleo, where it normally posts jobs. The HCAA, which operates Tampa Airport,…
“Out of an abundance of caution” – predictable Pinellas Politicrats
“Out of an abundance of caution” were the exact words used today in a Pinellas County Commission meeting, just as we had predicted on Friday. We called it! It was on Friday that the Tampa Bay Guardian broke the news of the mistake leading to the accidental end of the State of Local Emergency (SLE)…
Pinellas County schedules meeting after our article alleging unlawful action
After our article Friday evening showing that the declared State of Local Emergency (SLE) expired, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners has scheduled a meeting for Monday April 13th at noon to address the issue. Citizens can attend the virtual meeting via phone and may speak for up to 3 minutes each, offering their…
Pinellas County’s state of local emergency ends due to politicians’ mistake
Pinellas County’s Thursday press release stated that “Commission Chair Pat Gerard extended Pinellas County’s state of local emergency [SLE] another 7 days.” Chair Gerard cited as authority for her action county commission resolution 20-22. That resolution in turn cites “Pinellas County Code Section 34-27” as authority for letting the chair extend the SLE, as opposed…
Let the shell games begin: Pinellas County violates governor’s exec order
“You had me at hello,” said no sane person ever to a telemarketer. Yet “telemarketing” is one of the types of businesses that Pinellas County government designated as an “essential service” on April 7th. However, county staff didn’t obtain approval from the state before doing so, making their action a violation of Governor Ron DeSantis…
Helter Skelter Handout? The City of St. Petersburg’s “Fighting Chance Fund”
On April 3rd, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman announced the creation of the city’s “Fightning Chance Fund” (FCF) pursuant to the mayor’s emergency authority under section 2-426(i) of the City Code. The city says that the FCF was created to “provide capital for St. Petersburg’s most vulnerable businesses” during the pandemic. However, many important questions…
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