Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJuly 16, 2015

Jeb Bush is in San Francisco today, where he plans to hail an Uber to show support for the ride-sharing company. His appearance comes a day after California regulators required the company to pay a $7.3 million fine and hand over required information about safety and accessibility — or be shut down in their home state. The California […]

Guest AuthorJuly 9, 2015

If you want to see how unsophisticated and implacable Republicans can be on race, you should have been at the Hillsborough County Charter Review Board (stacked with Republican functionaries) meeting on Tuesday. Besides the inevitable (and highly entertaining) fireworks the meeting was bound to ignite, it was the absence of even a genuine conversation and […]

Mitch PerryMay 20, 2015

Although every member of the Hillsborough County Commission weighed in this morning regarding their concern about the issue of wage theft in the county, the Republican members prescription of how to alleviate the problem drew the wrath of the measure’s proponent, Democrat Kevin Beckner. Beckner said that his colleagues worries about growing the size of government outweighed […]

Mitch PerryMay 6, 2015

They batted it around for more than two hours Tuesday night, but in the end, the members of the Hillsborough County Charter Review Board were no closer to recommending any changes regarding the current configuration of the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners than they were when they began. For more than 30 years, the board has consisted […]

Mitch PerryMay 4, 2015

For more than three decades, the seven-member Hillsborough County Commission has consisted of representatives from four single-member districts and three at-large seats. The county is much larger now, and a lot of people think its composition needs to change to reflect that growth. In the past few years, there have been two futile attempts to add […]

Mitch PerryMay 1, 2015

Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller said Friday he thinks the Tampa Police Department’s policies on bicycle infractions, which disproportionately singled out blacks in the city, is wrong and should be discontinued until the Justice Department concludes its review of the policy. However, he doesn’t think it should hold up the confirmation of newly appointed police Chief […]

Mitch PerryMarch 2, 2015

Last week the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported that HART is seeking more than $50 million from the Florida Legislature this year, an amount that apparently surprised some members of the Hillsborough County transit agency. “I don’t remember $50 million,” board member Bryan Crino confessed at the agency’s monthly board meeting on Monday. That’s because most of […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 3, 2015

Showing once again that she’s determined to make a mark on the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board, member Kathleen Shanahan expressed frustration today that she wasn’t aware of any financial requests that the transit agency had made of its local legislative delegation, a month before the 2015 legislative session in Tallahassee. “I feel like we’re going […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 3, 2015

Showing once again that she’s determined to make a mark on the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board, member Kathleen Shanahan expressed frustration today that she wasn’t aware of any financial requests that the transit agency had made of its local legislative delegation, a month before the 2015 legislative session in Tallahassee. “I feel like we’re going […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 2, 2015

Hillsborough County Commission Chair Sandy Murman says she definitely will file for re-election for her District 1 seat for 2016 later this year, but hasn’t completely discarded the idea of running for a countywide seat. “I love my district and I’m happy to serve,” the Davis Islands Republican said when asked about her plans for […]

Tag: Les Miller
Rodney Guttman, image via University of West Florida.

Mitch Perry Report for 7.16.15 — Jeb Bush goes to Uber

Chris Timmons: Hillsborough County and race: Historical fact — America ain't never been colorblind

Hillsborough County Commission meeting gets hot discussing wage ordinance issue

Hillsborough Charter Review Board defers on county commission makeup

Panel to consider new ideas to change Hillsborough BOCC setup

Les Miller: Suspend TPD bike policy but confirm new chief

Hillsborough County transit agency has $50 million in needs from Tallahassee this session

Some HART board members fret they’ll miss out on state funding

Some HART board members fret they'll miss out on state funding

Sandy Murman plans to keep Hillsborough seat in 2016