Mitch Perry
Good morning, y’all.
Regular readers of this column may note that it’s being posted a little later this morning. Not to get into Too Much Information, but let’s just say I think when I read Arianna Huffington write that you must have 7/8 hours a sleep every night, well, one can certainly aspire to that.
Rumor has it that Tampa attorney Bob Buesing will declare his candidacy as a Democrat for the newly created Senate District 18 seat in Hillsborough County on Monday. Local Dems believe this is a winnable seat, though Dana Young is formidable.
Alan Grayson has become the 8th co-sponsor of David Jolly’s Stop Act, and why not? Jolly said he would be happy if Grayson endorsed his measure that would ban federal office holders from fundraising, and would allow him to continue to do so this year.
We’ve skimmed through the editorial pages of the Trib, Times and La Gaceta this morning, giving their post-mortem on Wednesday night’s no vote on Go Hillsborough by the Board of County Commissioners.
“We hope Hillsborough voters remember the pathetic lack of leadership by the majority of the Hillsborough County Commission on Wednesday night,” the Trib writes today.
The column goes on to describe the board’s vote as “a shameful performance, with flip-flops and half-baked proposals.”
A couple of thoughts on that: Though in our role as a reporter we never had an opinion on the merits of the proposal, let’s just say that it would have been interesting to cover this discussion for the next six months.
But the idea that Hillsborough voters will punish those commissioners who voted no? That’s dubious because A) the public seemed to be damn divided on the issue, and B) With the exception of Neil Brickfield and Nancy Rostock going down in 2012 in Pinellas County due to their votes on fluoride, rarely have I seen Tampa Bay/Florida voters ever vote against a lawmaker because of a particular position. Or wouldn’t we see a number of Republicans in the Legislature lose their gigs for opposing Medicaid expansion.
In other news..
Activists in Tampa yesterday denounced the aforementioned House Republican Dana Young for supporting a controversial anti-abortion bill in the Legislature earlier this year.
The Florida Congressional delegation, led by Sarasota’s Vern Buchanan, received an update on the heroin crisis in the U.S. Buchanan represents Manatee County, the number one spot in the state for heroin deaths in 2014.
Renee Flowers has given a ringing endorsement to HD 70 candidate Wengay Newton.
The Day After: The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce says they’re “disappointed” that the Board of County Commissioners voted to deny Hillsborough voters the chance to weigh in on the Go Hillsborough initiative on Wednesday night.
And Florida Congressman (and Dem Senate candidate) Alan Grayson in introducing the “Zombie Property Act of 2015.”
