Trump announces $21.8 million in funding for Central Avenue BRT project

President Donald Trump today announced on Twitter funding for PSTA’s controversial Central Avenue BRT project (CABRT). The project is opposed by two of the three cities it runs through. There was no news release immediately available on the Federal Transit Administration website to provide further details. The announcement, known as an allocation announcement, is merely…

Docs appear to show why federal gov’t isn’t funding Central Ave BRT project

Formal project assessments made by the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) and obtained by the Guardian appear to show  why PSTA’s Central Avenue BRT (CABRT) project is still isn’t eligible to be funded by the FTA. The documents show also that that PSTA has failed to implement key FTA recommendations three years in a row. PSTA…

PSTA falsely reports bus ridership for year 15% higher than actual

PSTA staff have provided its board with inflated year to date bus ridership data two months in a row. Seven months in to its current fiscal year, PSTA’s official report for April shows a 52% decline in ridership on PSTA’s network of routes compared to last year, yet the same document reports ridership increased 2.3%…

Counterfeit City of Tampa mass e-mail – mayor clams up and takes no action

Last month, we reported on this mass e-mail from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. It was dated April 16th and gave every indication that it was sent by the city: it used a city return e-mail address, provided a city mailing address, and used the blue city logo. It was signed “Mayor Jane Castor” and said…

TV anchor Cintron didn’t apply for $223,000 public sector job – got it anyway

Public records request by The Guardian revealed that zero (0) employment applications were received by Tampa International Airport for an unadvertised $223,000 per year position as Vice President of Marketing. Former TV anchor Veronica Cintron was hired for the position on April 10th, even though also she did not apply for employment. HCCA, the Hillsborough…

St. Pete: still no recovery donations from mayor and most city council members

A month after St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman used emergency powers to create the “Fightning Chance Fund” (FCF), only two council members out of seven have donated more than $50 to the effort. Mayor Kriseman and four city council members have donated bubkes (zero). As we reported previously, Council Member Ed Montanari donated $1,000 before…

Local government agency implements plan to “shape what the public thinks”

Hillsborough County Independent Oversight Committee (IOC) staff have developed a media plan that includes “key messages” for committee members and staff to advance to the public. The media plan says that those key messages “shape what you want the public to think and do.” First reported on by TampaBayBeat.Info yesterday, the effort to use tax…

Sheriff Chad Chronister seeks out criminal pastor he arrested – lunch with no social distancing

Last Wednesday, Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister sought out and visited Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne for lunch at his house. Chronister’s initiative took place a month after he had Howard-Browne arrested for allegedly violating a county order during over a church service that practiced social distancing. Howard-Browne’s arrest on March 30th made national and international news. We…

Gualtieri’s coronavirus arrest of “jerk” biz owner results in no prosecution

“He wanted to become unreasonable, frankly, he was being a jerk about it, so he went to jail,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told (video) county commissioners in a meeting on Tuesday about Pinellas Park business owner Galen Wood. Gualtieri’s deputies had arrested Wood twelve days earlier for allegedly violating the governor’s “Safer At Home”…