hillsborough county spends frivolously
tommySo, we’re gonna have Florida TaxWatch audit Hillsborough County, right? But would we really need it if Hillsborough County were better stewards of your money to begin with?
One article based on one day’s work for the BOCC leads to two ways to spend your money stupidly.
In the first part, the county reached a deal with BrightHouse networks for the government channels to be sent to the 600 level of the cablesphere. In order for residents to watch HTV22 (Hillsborough Television), some subscribers will have to pay a dollar per month in order to rent a box to reach those channels. Most local governments are suing the cable company, but Hillsborough has worked out a deal. For them, not you.
In exchange for just allowing Government TV to be sent to the hinterlands with shopping networks and other boring crap, the county will get $150,000 worth of advertising time. Over two years. You still have to pay the $1 for the box, you still have to go through 600 channels of crap to get to your government TV.
First of all, HTV22 is among the most god-awful boring broadcasts in the known world. On that basis, maybe it belongs up in the 600 level. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not worth the dollar a month that BrightHouse wants for the box. That’s going to cost you $12 per year, or (please double-check my math here), $24 for the two years we they will get free advertising.
According to the Planning Commission population estimates, Unincorporated Hillsborough includes more than 325,000 housing units (2006). Assuming half of them have cable, and only 10 percent of THEM care enough about government to have it available on TV, that’s about 16,250 households. At a dollar per box per month, BrightHouse will get that $150,000 in just over 9 months.
BOCC Chair Jim Norman: “We are light years better now because of this negotiated agreement than all the other municipalities and governments.”
We’re light years better at giving away the farm, maybe.
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The other part of the article says your Hillsborough County BOCC went ahead and requested a $1.2 MILLION grant of federal money to study the feasibility of a ferry between St. Pete and Tampa. I’ll remind you that “federal” money is still tax money, and still comes from you.
In my own personal study that will cost you absolutely nothing, I can tell you that there is no way a ferry between downtowns will ever be feasible.
Again, the Tribune quotes Jim Norman: “[A ferry service] could make us a tremendous destination point.”
Hey Jimmy! Seems to me that we are a fairly decent destination point already. However, I’m willing to listen to further details. PLEASE leave a comment on this website to tell me which places you have gone for the sole reason of riding on a water taxi. I can’t wait.
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January 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
The idea of the ferry is tremendous. What a grand thing. Just like the downtown trolley. A tourist item.
You cant take the trolley to Ybor for lunch because it takes way too long to get there and back.
I guess in the mindset of the County Commission, this is what mass transit is all about.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I’m not sure even 10% of cable subscribers are interested in what’s on channel 22 but the point is still valid: Brighthouse saw ‘em coming.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
While 1.2 million on the study is ridiculous - I wouldn’t say it would never be feasible. I also would say that Hillsborough’s BOCC is an example of why TBARTA remains impotent. They want to do things and they want them done their own way, by themselves. In that instance, the ferry would prove unfeasible.
As I was telling people on the Skyscrapercity development forum for the Tampa Bay region, a ferry — any ferry — would have to be part of a larger transportation network, run in coordination with buses and what not. This region has a tendense to think a go-it-alone answer will work and usually it fails. Miserably.
But again, my point isn’t about the ferry as-so-much circumventing the board that was established at the state level that was supposed to be putting up these proposals. Not individual BOCC’s with their separate-but-equal habits in regional planning.
January 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
When i lived in Rochester, New York and they opened the ferry service between Rochester and Toronto — I was really excited.
That said, I only rode it once and it only stayed in service for 2 years (if that)…..Toronto is a bit more exciting than St. Pete too…
Let’s start with trains then we can think about boats….
January 8th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I would like to see ferry service, actually. I would like to take the ferry and visit the Dali museum, possibly visit other attractions. Would make it easier to get to a downtown St. Pete job also. You’re right about the next transport leg after the ferry drop off though.
January 8th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Let’s see how often the commissioners’ names and faces show up in that $150,000 worth of TV commercials they negotiated “for us.” I’ll bet they’re getting $150,000 worth of paid political advertising — much like commissioner Al Higginbotham’s Christmas commercial.
In his 2008 topics list, Howard Troxler says he still has “half an itch to do a public-records request and figure how much it cost to make Commissioner Al Higgenbotham’s holiday-greetings commercial at public expense.”
January 8th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Ah, Mr. Norman once again demonstrating the truth of the old saying about everybody being of some value - even if only to serve as a horrible example.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:21 am
Interesting. Gov. Christ cut the state funding for the Mayport ferry here in northeast Florida. Now the city, Jacksonville, FL, is making the same arguements you outlined in your post to keep it open and running. I feel the same way you do, why this waste of precious tax revenue resources. I’ll keep following your story closely to see how they both work out.
Trumandem
http://trumansconscience.blogspot.com
January 9th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Offhand I could have used a ferry a lot over the past few years, but I don’t think that would apply to many people here.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I think the entire Bay area could use a ferry from time to time 00 but the routes would be limied due to seagrass beds and the possibility of hurting them from consistent boat action.
I mean, crap, look at Pinellas County and the beaches. There is scarce parking on Clearwater beach and no ferry access to teh beach. There is no attempt by the city for people to stop DRIVING to Clearwater beach and to park downtown. And yet, for tourists, what is the biggest draw to Clearwater or any of the suncoast for that matter? The water. The warm climate. The sun. The other touristy stuff.
Touristy. THAT is why a direct DT Tampa to DT St. Pete ferry might be unfeasible. Because tourists can’t be the only ones who use it. And yet there are ways to make a ferry feasible as both a tourist attraction and a commuting tool… The Northeast pulls it off (Staten Island ferry, the ferrys between Long Island and New England, etc). So doe sthe pacific Northwest.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I think those areas have different circumstances that make ferrys more attractive, notably in the NW fewer land routes due to the geography and in the NE a much more dense population.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
And yet being surrounded by water means we should stick to the car?
The fact is that most any major metro area (and, even though local government wants you to think otherwise, this is a major metro area) offers different choices for mobility to the locals. Here? You can drive or you can stay home. It’s that simple.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:55 am
What do you want from Jim Norman? He only knows how to spend OUR money. How does he keep getting elected?
January 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am
All of this is from the county that had 2 commissioners doing hard time in jail 25 or so years ago for accepting bribes. And now they abrogate their responsibility (also dating from about 25 years back) to require FREE PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNELS in return for the franchise to operate a cable outlet. I just don’t get it. Nor do I get the insane $1M+ expenditure to study a water taxi. Even in populous Ft. Lauderdale the water taxi isn’t working to it’s full capability if it’s still running. In case you didn’t notice about 5 years ago, it was tried in Pinellas County and failed miserably. Nowhere has there been recognition of that failed effort. The study will probably conclude a Taxi in Tampa Bay is feasible but in reality if it was profitable, some private entrepreneur would have provided the service here years ago. Norman & Blair et al just don’t seem to have any saneness whatsoever - they just keep feeding off the public dole. My apologies for the alliteration - too bad those elected can’t acknowledge their own failures.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Mr. Bill - I believe it was the City of Tampa who pushed the trolley idea down our throats.
John - TBARTA has no funding because the People’s Governor vetoed it. Now, a state created bureaucracy is holding its hands out to local government for funding. The same state that berates local government “drunken spending” on a daily basis over this property tax mess.
Mariella - CTV Regularly hosts Pam Iorio programming and face time. It’s no different.
Peter - Tampa keeps electing Gwen Miller and Linda Saul Sena. Whats your point?