Mitch Perry
Rumor du jour is that there will be another candidate getting into the wide open countywide Hillsborough County District 6 seat, but it’s not a Republican taking on Jim Norman. The rumor that percolated over the Labor Day weekend is John Dicks, the 62-year-old former Plant City Mayor and Commissioner, is contemplating entering the Democratic primary, which already includes Thomas Scott, Brian Willis and Pat Kemp. Plant has been dormant in local politics since losing the Democratic primary race for the congressional seat held by Gus Bilirakis back in 2008.
The Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission will gather this morning to introduced proposed legislation that would would create a specific category for ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft and separate from regulations for cabs and limousines.
That’s different than what happened in Sarasota last night. That’s where city commissioners stunningly voted unanimously to eschew regulating everyone – Uber, as taxicabs. Period. End of story. Well, at least everyone is playing by the same set of rules at least. The criticism from the cab companies in Hillsborough is that currently that’s not the case.
Bob Buckhorn came out in favor of Ybor City yesterday. Reacting to USF coach Willie Taggart’s initial call for his players to stop visiting the entertainment district after the tragic killing of former USF football player Elkino Watson (which was rescinded hours later by AD Mark Harlan), the mayor acknowledged the reality that Ybor is very safe in comparison to a decade or so ago.
“There are some bad clubs there and bad owners that need to be dealt with, that’s where the problem exists, if you cater to an element that lends itself to these types of things, or you run a bar where you have to have metal detectors to get in, that’s the problem. The problem isn’t Ybor City,” he told reporters. Always good for a sound bite, Buckhorn called some clubs in the district “a cancer in the Ybor City fabric. If you if you don’t eradicate the cancer, It spreads.”
And I received an email last night from Hillary Clinton. In it, the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential front-runner writes that, “Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I’m sorry about it, and I take full responsibility.”
So still a non-story, as Clinton supporters insist? If it’s a nothing burger, it’s certainly interesting that she sent a mass email to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of her supporters last night acknowledging after months and months that she shouldn’t have used two email accounts while representing the U.S. as our Secretary of State.
In other news…
Buckhorn’s press conference that took place yesterday was chockfull of news. The Tampa Mayor announced that he would not create a civilian review board for the police that would do nothing but “tear down the community.”
That drew a strong response from the ACLU of Florida.
The Mayor also said he thought it would be appropriate for his colleague on the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, Sam Rashid, to depart the board after his nasty quip about a local official in Tampa politics.
There was even news about the origins of Buckhorn’s presser yesterday – a discussion about his trip with the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce to Dublin, Ireland last week.
And Jeb Bush takes a not so subtle shot at The Donald in his first television ad of the presidential season, currently airing in New Hampshire.
