opinions on target
tommyI don’t have time to rehash some of the ridiculous things that your local governments have been doing lately. Luckily, we have a couple of daily newspapers who take it upon themselves to point out the shenanigans at least now and again. Here are a couple of editorials that you should read, and know that they are close enough to be endorsed by the editorial board of Sticks of Fire (uh, that’s just me).
St. Pete Times: Don’t padlock the parks - In response to budget cuts, the county is ceding control over its parks to private sports leagues. With the county’s OK, those leagues have been kicking tax paying residents out of the parks for "not paying." The Times says it is a "lazy form of money management" and "indefensible."
Tampa Tribune: Jim Norman’s Disappointing Focus - Hillsborough commissioners agreed that they need a better relationship with the city of Tampa. It’s campaign season, so Norman’s first idea is to replace Tampa’s fire-rescue department from with his buddies in the county’s politically powerful firefighters’ union. The proposal is a solution in search of a problem. The Tribune also says that "Norman is incapable of rising above personal, petty politics" to focus on the big challenges facing this community.
Tampa Tribune: Giving Tampa Codes Some Teeth - Get rid of the ridiculous hoops that Code Enforcement must jump through, start giving out fines, and make life difficult for repeat violators.
That’s enough for now.
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February 24th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Jeesh Tommy, where to start….?
Perhaps if the Hillsborough County Commission weren’t extremist fundamentalist hayseeds, their relationship with the City of Tampa (and Temple Terrace for that matter) might improve. The standard Hillsboro right-wing political strategy: come election time, come out as a strong supporter of the local Fire and Police Unions and push for massive tax cuts, oh, and being a big (fat?) athletic supporter is good too. Works every time. Normans (Blair, Hagan, Higgie) gotta go, but who has enough cash to pay off Ralph Hughes et al to make that happen?
Regarding the Tampa codes: “get rid of the ridiculous hoops that Code Enforcement must jump through, start giving out fines, and make life difficult for repeat violators”, makes you wonder what they’ve been doing all these many years? Not much from the appearance of the city.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Jeebus, what do we have to do to get some better people to step up and run against these dopes for county commission? Ralph Hughes can’t be that much Oz-powerful in Hillsborough, can he?