Get Ahead, Stay Ahead?? Not looking that way with Tampas Downtown Partnership

If the Tampa Downtown Partnership is REALLY interested in input from the COMMUNITY and PROPERTY OWNERS why then is the cost of this annual forum so HIGH??

For people on a limited income, for those locals pressed by prohibitive insurance costs and rising property taxes this seems a bit unfair to ask them to pay just to have their voices heard.

Once again, Tampa proves that it really doesn't want to hear from you or your family. Downtown Tampa is absolutely not being readied for the families of this community, and that has been readily apparent for some time. I can't imagine alot of people can take a 200.00 day from work and also pay 70.00 so easily, raising the cost of attending and having a voice to nearly 300.00 for some. Well, we could put off paying the taxes or insurance, most of which are due soon or maybe the kids could do without that taekwon do class after all, this month. One less new tire for the car, maybe ...

Can some room be found in the hearts of the Tampa Downtown Partnership to have some cheap seats in the back for those who should be heard and aren't interested in the power-lunching?

And they wonder why Downtown Tampa is still dead. Can the artists afford this? The unpublished authors? The students? The single parents?

I guess we DON'T have to wonder anymore how Tampa ended up with the cranes everywhere and the river access OVER and DONE WITH for all but those with condos and dockominiums.

And the title of the event: “Seeing is Believing: Checking Downtown’s Reality”


Ain't that the truth?????

Mayor and City Council ENVY

First of all, I despise that word, envy. I see it used incorrectly (improperly, perhaps) in way too many places by people who have been (apparently) raised to acquire rather than LOVE one another. I'm big on that 'loving one another' ...
I see the word Envy used on places of business (most of which suck) .. I believe that jealousy and fear are wasted emotions and envy fits that profile. I see people using the word envy on their automobiles' tags. I always want to remind them that when they step out of the automobile they still-is-what-they-was when they climbed in. A hunk of tin or whateva to wrap your insecurities up tight in ....

But, selfishly, I felt that more people would click 'the call word' to see what the hell I am talking about today -- and maybe .. just maybe ... they would call on our 'Tampa officials' and our 'Tampa mayor' and our 'Tampa city council PERSONS' to do more, be more, want more, ask for more and chill being so --campaign yard and billboard sign, and development, and sell out to lil NY southern-style and south tampa thug-life style -- happy. It would also be nice (and prudent for them) if they would stop the selective code enforcement, the cretin ways of their appointed henchmen, you know ... the nasty stuff which now typifies Tampa towards some of it's citizens. And Tampa's growing reputation as the MEAN capital of the world, with the latest victim being the Gasparilla Rape Victim. (oh, not counting what was done to my car today by the grey shirts/cohorts.) Along with her 'hands across the bay' buddy, St Pete and it's stance on the homeless.

Anyhooo, I was doing some of my hopeful type reading last night and felt a true stab of momentary envy (which NEVER happens to me which displays my deep concern for the Citizens of Tampa and myself) when I stumbled over this wonderful city-council man. This guy, TJ Johnson or T J Johnson, city council, actually stands up to the Mayor of his town. And the pleas have begun to the boyfriend : let's move to Olympia WA, let's move to Olympia WA. Where real people run a real city and story tellers are not profilgate (and laughable) and people ain't sittin around pretending that everything's just f'ing swell because they are part of the gang. Feel it coming, creeples; your ticket for the ride is about to expire. Smell the air. It's almost over ... not just beginning as you think. Climb back in your Nazi mobiles and good luck affording the gas --- some of you even look like you could have been nice people. Don't believe them bosses of yourn, you're not ugly and you got off the playground a LONG time back and by now, honest, you should have figured out HOW to be happy without that high-school flame or need. yknow?? And, most importantly, I love you and I KNOW you miss me.

Once you read through the positive actions of this one man you see what our city council members COULD be up to. Instead, they are 'posturing' (Thanks Tampa Top Dog law dude) and FORCING people from their homes. And then going or tying to go over to the County Commission where they'll likely continue on this same path. I actually heard Curtis Lane discuss helicopters with a 'citizen plant' at a town hall meeting so that he and his 'cohorts' could fly over Tampa and observe us and our homes to be sure that Tampa is under control and we're not harboring anything on our backyard patios. And what is NOT block-captain/clipboard ala Nazi Germany about that??? I asked this woman who brought up the helicopter who she was and where she lived and it was pretty obvious she's one of the 'new' people who was just there to promote some more selective code enforcement. Hell, these people were spanked too much when they were younger or something and that's how they like to live. Oh and the fact that with me still living in my house her cousin can't buy it so cheap or AT ALL. ROFLFMAO!!! If you read the City of Tampa Council Agenda it reads like a poor man's Who's Who of who will the new people and the Code Enforcers punish next? It's all about fear, punishment, taxes and passing out the wet licenses and re-zoning and ambulance and limo licenses to the highest bidder.

When has anyone on the Tampa City council even admitted that we are in a WAR???? And they could be talking about it or any damned thing they choose. They could be doing anything they want to promote goodness and decency in Tampa but why? They can just rubber stamp some more wet zoning and force another family from their home, set off another firework .... whatev, folks, where we goin for lunch?? Careful, there's a number of places in Tampa which poison people on the wrong side of this.

Chief Hogue thought and verbalized (public record) that a TPD helicopter hovering over the citizens to be sure they are not hiding something in their backyard was a WONDERFUL use of Tampa taxpayer assets and City of Tampa selective code enforcement resources. That's YOUR money, folks. I heard this with my own two ears which I do not really consider live entertainment. And, perhaps they could arrest the Gasparilla rape victims and the rapist all at the same time seeing as they'd be hovering and all .... yknow? All that hovering would be .... SICK. But, welcome to Tampa.

Imagine if Mayor Pam Iorio, Rose Ferlita, John Dingfelder, Shawn Harrison, Linda Saul-Sena, Frank Reddick, Mary Alvarez, Steve Hogue, David Gee, Curtis Lane and the others who are elected to public office and/or appointed or hired by the mayor of Tampa could be found busying themselves with something other than .... taxing, more cranes, how to move ugly things off Bayshore, waxing my street (yeah, they actually applied wax to it)arresting Gasparilla rape victims, downtown fireworks, illegally collecting DNA, setting up false reports for DCF and the sheriff to investigate, inventing HUGE tax incentives to attract CALL CENTER JOBS, selective code enforcement, more hiring, creating more city jobs for the thuggish new-comers, reading spin, bringing verizon to us (and the cable) (thanks) (must I GO ON?? I'll stop and edit when the feeling moves me)--- nothing like a good run on sentence, eh?

Anyway, IMAGINE if they could be found writing proclamations on making the City of Tampa, County of Hillsborough Nuke Free. Imagine if their reports to the Council and the City would be so intellectually parsed and intended for the actual REAL good of ALL not just themselves and their club members .... (and there are those on the council who are not guilty of this and they know who they are, hats OFF TO YOU) Their voices get shouted down but I still hear you, Ms. Alvarez and sometimes Ms. Saul-Sena and Mr. Dingfelder.

Imagine, if when you went to protest something WRONG, like the illegal war against tourism in Iraq a city-council member would show up. Imagine if a sheriff shoved you a council-man would QUESTION the cop. (OH MY GOD, I nearly fainted ....) Imagine the Mayor saying something besides, "This city is not clean enough", imagine the Mayor caring about the citizens and getting rid of the purposeful dead wood in her office, answering emails and dealing with the real issues of Tampa. Imagine if when you complained about police brutality a council member would COMPLAIN TO THE COUNTY COMMISSION FOR YOU and for himself.
Imagine when there was a homeless camp told to clear out a City Council member would be there to help clean up and to make actual COGENT statements.

You can only imagine my astonishment when I realized that the City Council members have CHOICES. They could be doing REAL THINGS. Mayor Pam Iorio could be making Tampa nice for EVERYONE not just the new thugs and docko and condo dwellers, don't you think? Instead of attracting empty condos we could enjoy the beautiful FAMILY homes we have NOW. Every time I see one of these new mini mansions being barfed up I remember that just the month before a family and LOVE lived there. The City Council INDIVIDUALLY (maybe someone could impress upon them that they are individuals and not rubber stamps, eh?) could be doing HUGE things for the environment and for love and safety of the good, decent Tampa citizens before this city is completely given over to the thug life they seem to embrace with open arms.

And I love what he said here: But City Councilman T.J. Johnson, who was at the camp Friday morning helping to clean up, said the services provided aren't meeting all the need.

"We do a lot, but what we need is for the federal government to stop wasting money on a war when there are people sleeping in parking lots," Johnson said.

If I could find ONE TAMPA CITY Council member with the decency of this man I would carry his/her campaign sign all day gratis. Just one decent person with some balls.

Before they went to prison, now they just go along and get along. No media or oversight to stop them.

Imagine OPEN COMMENTS AND DISSENT EXPECTED AND SUPPORTED (OH MY GOD this is where I fainted dead away)

Don't get your hopes up. And, anyway, I'm much easier to deal with kickin'.

Imagine these guys and gals just DOING WHAT is RIGHT for just that reason: It's right.

Not ready to back down .... Take THAT King George

Thanks to Ybor City Stogie who presented this first ... I couldn't let it pass without recognizing the bravery of folks who don't back down.

They enable others to stand up.

Thanks Chicks !!

(not that they are the only ones ....)


Nothing random about this choice of artists and intellectuals.