Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryAugust 3, 2016

Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman said Wednesday she doesn’t want the Public Transportation Commission to raise the penalties on ridesharing drivers from $700 to $900. “I think their fines are high enough,” she told her colleagues on the county commission at the end of their regular meeting. “If the fines are being raised to control a certain […]

Tom JacksonAugust 3, 2016

They’d reached closing statements at a recent forum for Hillsborough County Commission District 6 Democratic hopefuls in Bealsville, near Plant City, and Pat Kemp, the Tampa lawyer and serial candidate, was feeling magnanimous. The town center was a thing of beauty, she said, praising the town hall, expanded library, a roundabout with a flag at […]

Mitch PerryJuly 11, 2016

The Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission is poised to begin increasing fines on Uber and Lyft drivers soon, and that’s not going down well with one of the agency’s biggest critics, state Sen. Jeff Brandes. The St. Petersburg Republican has frequently criticized the PTC over the years for their confrontational stance towards the two ridesharing companies, […]

Mitch PerryJune 24, 2016

I was driving to a dental appointment yesterday when I heard via Sirius/XM’s POTUS channel that CNN had hired former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a “contributor” to their network’s political team. The motivation for hiring such a prominent surrogate, obviously, is to get somebody on set who can get into the candidate’s head, if […]

Mitch PerryJune 23, 2016

A court has rejected a request by a coalition of taxi cab companies to have Victor Crist removed as chair of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission. The Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland issued an order dismissing the request Thursday. “This was a malicious intent by the taxi coalition and their representatives to discredit me,” Crist said, […]

Joe HendersonJune 10, 2016

So, the Hillsborough County Commission decided, again, to take an important decision out of the hands of those most affected. The public is once again denied the chance to decide if wants to tax itself to pay for things like roads, buses and other transportation necessities. Undeterred by traffic jams and studies showing a quarter-million […]

Mitch PerryJune 9, 2016

Bernie Sanders is scheduled to meet with Barack Obama at the White House today, and one can only imagine how that might go down. Obama: Bernie, what an amazing run you’ve had. The right have had a field day accusing me of being a socialist, and then you come along – Sanders: Please, Mr. President, […]

Mitch PerryMay 12, 2016

So, Go Hillsborough is somehow still alive? Though they haven’t set a date yet, apparently there will be another public hearing on putting a sales tax referendum on the ballot this November. On Wednesday, the Hillsborough County Commission voted to support a half-cent sales tax for 15 years, and not the 30-year plan shot down […]

Peter SchorschMay 8, 2016

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If all forms of innovation were stifled, this website wouldn’t exist (and yes, there are probably some folks who are thinking “if only …”). The latest target for these head-in-the-sand luddites is ridesharing, in the form of companies like Uber and Lyft. Ridesharing is not just inevitable – it’s real, and it’s here to stay. Yet like […]

Mitch PerryApril 28, 2016

It came down to, as we all knew it would, to the enigmatic Victor Crist. After more than four hours of discussion and debate, the decision about whether to place the Go Hillsborough half-cent sales tax on the November ballot was deadlocked between the Board of County Commissioners 3-3, which is what we had known […]

Tag: Victor Crist

Sandy Murman doesn’t want Hillsborough PTC to raise penalties on ridesharing drivers

Tom Jackson: Old-school Democrat hopes Hillsborough can make a deal

Hillsborough County PTC is raising fines on ridesharing drivers, and Jeff Brandes doesn’t like it

Mitch Perry Report for 6.24.16 — CNN’s questionable move

Court rejects taxi companies request to remove Victor Crist from Hillsborough PTC

Joe Henderson: Why not give voters say on Hillsborough County transportation tax?

Mitch Perry Report for 6.9.16 -When Bernie meets Barry

Mitch Perry Report for 5.12.16 — The proposed tax that will not go away

Why are so many people trying to stand in the way of innovation?

Mitch Perry Report for 4.28.16 – Go Hillsborough goes down. Now what?