Commissioner Murman quoted in this FOX13 news article and report on bear hunting in Florida:

Girl, 10, asks Hillsborough commissioners to ban black bear hunt

By: FOX 13 News staff

POSTED:MAR 02 2016 05:08PM EST

UPDATED:MAR 02 2016 11:04PM EST

TAMPA (FOX 13) – An unexpected guest spoke passionately about ending black bear hunts in Florida at Wednesday’s Hillsborough County Commission meeting.

Megan Sorbo, of Orlando, is 10-years-old and said her love for the Everglades drives her passion to save Florida’s black bears from hunters.

Megan came to the meeting prepared – armed with an impassioned speech and a pink step-stool to help her reach the podium in front of commissioners

Girl, 10, asks Hillsborough commissioners to ban black bear hunt

“I am here to speak on behalf of Florida black bears,” Megan began. “Using a claim of scientific calculations, the FWC decided on a kill quota of 320 bears total for the state.”

Megan said the “most sickening part” of last year’s hunt was there were more hunting licenses issued than the estimated number of bears in the state.

“Can you imagine having the size of your home and yard reduced by over 80-percent,” Megan asked. “And then having people wanting to come into your now small home to hunt you while you were doing nothing wrong?”

She finished by asking the commission to adopt a resolution, banning black bear hunting in Hillsborough County.

“We must work to protect and not kill our bears left in Florida,” Megan said. “Bears have already lost over 80% of their habitat and have done nothing to merit being killed.”

Though she spoke among other adults advocating for the same cause, Megan stole the show.

“You tackled a tough issue, and you did it very well,” Commissioner Les Miller, Jr. said.

“We don’t have many young people come and present in public comment,” said Commissioner Sandra Murman. “Here’s a young child that has really taken this cause to heart and is really trying to help out.”

This mini-activist’s inspiration came from her first visit to the Everglades.

“I’m trying not to be so emotional,” Megan said after the meeting. “They’re beautiful animals. I’ve seen one once. They will defend themselves and their cubs if threatened but that is not a reason to kill them.”

FWC reported just over 300 bears were killed in last year’s hunt. Officials maintain it’s a “management tool” for an increasing population. Opponents like Sorbo argue current population numbers are only a guess. She’s out to spread the word.

“If more people speak out than just being armchair activists and just blowing hot air on Facebook, they might actually get some results,” Megan said.

No matter where you stand, there’s no arguing this young girl speaks with the poise and passion of someone well beyond her years.

“It’s my future kids’ future. That’s why we need more young children speaking,” Megan said.

Megan also has a blog, and YouTube videos focused on raising awareness for all Florida wildlife.

As for the resolution, Commissioner Murman said it’s more of a state issue. However, the Hillsborough County Commission is looking into it, to see what it entails and if it’s something that can be addressed here.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on bear hunting:

POLITICS

Environmental advocate, 10, touches leaders with bear plea

By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff

Published: March 2, 2016

Updated: March 3, 2016 at 06:58 AM

TAMPA — Ten-year-old Megan Sorbo touched the hearts of Hillsborough County Commissioners on Wednesday when she urged them in a passionate speech to oppose state-sanctioned black bear hunts like the one held last October.

Megan, who brought her own stool so she could be seen over the speakers’ podium, said there was no scientific basis for a hunt that outraged animal rights groups and citizens around the state. The bears, who for decades were listed as endangered and couldn’t be hunted, occupy just 18 percent of their historic range in seven isolated population areas around the state, the girl said.

“Can you imagine having the size of your home and yard reduced by over 80 percent and then having people wanting to come into your now-small home to hunt while you were doing nothing wrong?” she asked. “I highly doubt anyone would like that, but that is what has happened to our bears”

She pointed out that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had set a bag limit of 320 bears but sold 3,778 hunting licenses.

“How could anyone consider that fair to the bears, especially in the mind of hunters who call themselves sportsmen,” Sorbo said.

Commission Chairman Les Miller called Megan back to the podium after she finished and walked back to her seat. Miller congratulated the girl for taking on a tough issue and advocating for the bears in a clear and convincing fashion.

“A lot of older folks don’t get involved in the process and you, at the age of 10, are already involved in the process and we ask you to please keep it up,” Miller said. “It’s an important issue to you and it’s an important issue to this state.”

If the youngster sounded polished, it’s because she has spoken out on environmental issues before. Her mother, Tina Sorbo, said Megan spoke at a state Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting in September regarding safeguards for the Florida panther.

In January, she addressed the Broward County Commission in opposition to oil drilling and fracking in the Everglades. On the same day, Broward commissioners banned fracking — a practice in which water and chemicals are pumped underground under high pressure to remove oil and natural gas from shale rock.

And last month, Megan spoke at a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service meeting, opposing the proposed down-listing of manatees from endangered to threatened status.

Tina Sorbo said her daughter researches and writes her speeches. The mom’s only contributions are typing her daughter’s work — Megan “prefers typed copies,” Tina Sorbo said — and driving her daughter to meetings. Megan is home-schooled, which gives her the freedom to attend meetings within driving distance from the family’s home in the Orlando area.

“I’m willing to take her within a few hours driving distance to bring awareness,” Tina Sorbo said. “So we’re going to hit all the ones we can.”

Megan has even inspired her older brother, 22-year-old Trevor, to become active in environmental issues. On Wednesday, he told commissioners the family was asking county governments for resolutions against another bear hunt this fall.

“I realize that this isn’t directly your jurisdiction but I’d like to tell you that as citizens we have been completely ignored by the state level,” he said, “so we are now appealing to our local governments to try to help save Florida’s ecology.”

Though the commission did not take a formal vote on a resolution, Commissioner Sandy Murman said she wanted a video of the girl’s presentation sent to legislators in Tallahassee and to the Fish and Wildlife commission.

“That’s a remarkable statement from such a young person and I congratulate you,” Murman said.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article on bear hunting:

BAY BUZZ

The staff of the Tampa Bay Times

Ten-year-old girl passionately urges Hillsborough County commissioners to take stand against Florida bear hunt

• Steve Contorno, Times Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 2, 2016 11:04am

TAMPA — From the moment she unpacked her pink footstool and stepped up to the lectern Wednesday, 10-year-old Megan Sorbo had the attention of Hillsborough County commissioners.

Then she started to talk. And the whole room perked up.

Speaking with a force and clarity beyond her years, Sorbo passionately implored commissioners to take a stand against Florida’s controversial black bear hunt. She punched the air with her tiny fist for emphasis and peppered commissioners with tough, rhetorical questions.

“Can you imagine having the size of your home and yard reduced by over 80 percent and then having people wanting to come into your now-small home to hunt you while you were doing nothing wrong?” Sorbo, from Orlando, asked. “That is what has happened to our bears.”

“We must work to protect, not kill our bears that are still left in Florida,” she added.

When she finished, the room broke out in applause. Commissioners, too, were moved.

“You tackled a tough issue and you did it very well and you are to be commended,” Commissioner Les Miller said. “A lot of older folks don’t get involved in the process and you at the age of 10 are already involved in the process. Please keep it up. It’s an important issue to you and it’s an important issue to the state.”

Asked by Commissioner Sandy Murman what motivated her enthusiasm for the issue, Sorbo said it stemmed from her love of the Everglades.

“When my mom first brought me there I just fell in love with it and then I fell in love with everything that lived there,” she said. “When I saw one (black bear), I knew we couldn’t hunt them.”

Murman was sold.

“We need to capture this and film it and send it to our legislators in Tallahassee and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission,” Murman said.

Several other speakers, including Sorbo’s older brother Trevor Sorbo, also asked commissioners to send a message to state officials and pass a resolution against the bear hunt. Commissioners ultimately took no action this week.

Hunters killed nearly 300 bears during the state’s October black bear hunt, the first in two decades. Scheduled to last a week, officials had to cut the hunt down to just two days because the 320-bear cap was nearly reached.

Sorbo has taken on other conservation issues on her blog, MeganForWildFlorida.com, including fracking and manatee protections. For her birthday, she is asking for donations to support a billboard to advertise against the bear hunt. She is hoping to raise $5,000.

“You’re adorable,” Murman said. “And your information is compelling.”

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Tribune editorial on gas pump assistance:

Editorial: A smart move at the gas pump

Published: February 29, 2016

U.S. Rep. David Jolly’s proposed Gas Pump Access Act aimed at helping drivers with disabilities deserves the support of Congress. It also deserves the attention of citizens. The legislation illustrates how persistent citizens can indeed enact change.

The measure is based on a Hillsborough County ordinance passed in 2011 that requires gas stations that offer self-service gas to post a phone number that a motorist with disabilities can call to get assistance.

The plan was the brainchild of Ben Ritter, a co-chair of the Tampa Mayor’s Alliance for Persons with Disabilities and a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Ritter pointed out that even though the American Disabilities Act requires large gas stations to assist disabled motorist with fill-ups, the law was often ignored.

As Ritter once wrote in a Tribune commentary, “ … other than honking, waving a disabled parking permit or flashing your headlights, the ADA does not state how a driver with a disability is supposed to connect with an attendant inside the gas station’s convenience store.” Such methods, he knew, rarely worked, and even the “call for assistance” buttons some stations installed could be impossible for a disabled driver to reach.

He offered a simple but effective solution made possible by the prevalence of cellphones: Post a station phone number that drivers needing assistance could call for an attendant to come out to help.

The Hillsborough County Commission, led by Commissioner Sandy Murman, adopted the measure. Hillsborough was followed by six other counties, including Pinellas and Pasco.

In 2014, the Florida Legislature made the requirement a state law.

And now Jolly, an Indian Shores resident who has been working with Ritter, wants to make it a national requirement. His colleagues in Congress should have no trouble seeing the wisdom of this smart, inexpensive step.

Jolly is right when he says, “Tampa Bay and Florida led the nation with this solution, and it’s time the rest of the country follows their lead.”

Engaged citizens might also follow the lead of Ritter and other determined activists who found a way to make government responsive on the local, state and now, we hope, national level.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Biz Journal article on driverless cars:

FDOT committed to focus on wrong way driver detection, driverless cars

Feb 26, 2016, 2:54pm EST

KATHLEEN CABBLE

Wrong way drivers in the Tampa Bay will be the “primary” focus for the Florida Department of Transportation office for the region, Paul Steinman, FDOT district 7 secretary, said.

In a presentation on autonomous vehicle technology before the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) meeting Friday, Steinman said that its wrong way driver detection and alert system will remain as a “high focus of the department.”

Just last week, a wrong way crash killed two drivers on the Ashley exist ramp of Interstate 275 in Tampa. FDOT began a pilot program two years ago, following several such accidents, and installed red rectangular rapid flashing beacons along with wrong way signs at three locations in Hillsborough County; specifically Fowler Avenue, Fletcher Avenue and Bearss Avenue. The program also includes microwave vehicle detectors for wrong way movements in 15 locations and closed circuit television cameras at each interchange.

In a study released by FDOT last year, District 7 reported 24 wrong way crashes from 2009 to 2013. Seven of those crashes or 13.7 percent were fatal. In 2014, when there were 12 wrong way crashes, according to the FDOT, including a fatal one in which four University of South Florida fraternity brothers and the driver who ran into them died. District 7 includes Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

Steinman spent most of his presentation on autonomous vehicles. He said that Google’s research on such cars is coming to Tampa. He also noted that putting autonomous vehicles into practical use will have effect on roadway design in features such as lane width and directional sign. Unlike human beings who drift within lanes as they operate their cars, driverless cars are different, Steinman said.

“These vehicles stay within centimeters of the center of the lane,” he said.

Steinman’s presentation led Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman to comment: “roads actually, the bus service we see today will be obsolete in 10 years.” She called on TBARTA “to take a role of leadership among all the counties and try to help support us as the individual counties try to figure out what to do with transportation.” Murman noted that the region is behind the rest of the state when it comes to building a light rail system but noted that with driverless cars and similar technology “we could jump ahead of everyone with this.”

Joe Waggoner of the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, updated TBARTA on the connected vehicle pilot program that includes downtown Tampa ad also on Lee Roy Selmon Expressway West Extension, calling it the agency’s “highest priority.” The extension is a planned 1.6 million elevated structure whose pricetag will range between $160 million and $190 million. The goal of the project is to alleviate heavy traffic along Gandy Boulevard and link it to the Gandy Bridge. Waggoner said the agency is targeting December 2017 to begin construction and the project to be completed by 2020. During the construction, “our goal is to maintain two lands open at all times,” Waggoner said.

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this letter to the editor in the Tampa Bay Times:

Monday’s letters: On transit, build consensus, don’t belittle

Friday, February 26, 2016 4:39pm

Build consensus, don’t belittle

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, attempting to discredit the many citizens who disagree with him on the Go Hillsborough sales tax proposal, pompously belittles them all as “three tea party bloggers sitting in their underwear in their basements in Ruskin.”

First, Ruskin is not an insult — it’s a fine community and it’s my home. Second, it’s creepy that he is imagining citizens in their underwear. And finally, there are no basements in Florida.

This mayor is mad at a county commissioner, Kevin Beckner, for trying to reshape the sales tax proposal in light of concerns raised by people throughout the county — including groups from the Sierra Club to the tea party, Democrats as well as Republicans, and the local multilingual newspaper La Gaceta. Beckner’s proposal includes more transit, funded by a 10-year tax. Buckhorn is pushing the Go Hillsborough 30-year tax that would mostly fund roads, with relatively little transit.

So Buckhorn tries to dismiss Beckner’s alternate proposal with Donald Trump-like smack talk about bloggers, adding, “That’s not leadership.”

I’ll tell you what is not leadership: vilifying people with alternative views and trying to ram your agenda through despite the concerns of voters. Real leadership is listening to all your constituents, looking for common ground and building consensus among people with different perspectives — like Commissioner Kevin Beckner and Commissioner Sandra Murman are trying to do after the mess you’ve made of Go Hillsborough.

Eventually, the whole county will have to vote on any new transportation tax. Disparaging the community of Ruskin is no way to gain our support.

Mariella Smith, Ruskin

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article today on Beckner’s plan:

Hillsborough commissioners react to Kevin Beckner’s transportation plan

Caitlin Johnston

Friday, February 26, 2016 9:15am

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner became the latest person to float a new transportation plan earlier this week.

He calls for putting a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot, but one that spans only 10 years as opposed to the 30-year tax the county is currently considering, known as Go Hillsborough.

Beckner’s plan would raise $121 million annually and a total of $1.2 billion in a decade. It also includes increased development fees and reallocating millions in the county’s existing budget to create a transportation trust fund.

Here’s how other county commissioners weighed in on Beckner’s proposed plan.

Victor Crist: Wants to see the part of Beckner’s plan that takes $25 million from the budget increased. “I really believe in a $4 billion budget we ought to be able to find $50 million, especially if we go to a zero-based budgetting process.”

Ken Hagan: Expressed frustration with seeing yet another plan. “We spent nearly three years illustrating our enormous transportation deficit and the fire straits of our transportation network,” Hagan said. “We are weeks away from scheduling a referendum and we are still chasing our tails.”

Al Higginbotham: “This, to me, is healthy,” Higginbotham said. “I think people would support a tax if they had a history of government delivering…People are angry. People don’t trust us. We’ve got the oppportunity here to show that we can do things right.

Les Miller: “Every time we look around, somebody comes up with their own plan,” Miller said. “(Go Hillsborough) is there. We have a plan. Let’s put the plan forth. Let the public ddecide if they want to be taxed.”

Sandy Murman:  “I think this is really doable,” Murman said. “I can’t say on the sales tax I’m there yet. But as long as for plan B we could do a local option gas tax, that might be the secret. But it’s something we can do now.”

Stacy White: Clarified that he is still against a sales tax, but thinks this is a better option than Go Hillsborough. “The taxpayers don’t trust politicians to spend the money right. If we’re going to tip toe forward on a transportation plan, we’re going to have to prove that we’re committed to doing this right and the project list is going to be locked tight and we won’t deviate from it. That’s where I very much like to think in terms of five- to 10-year increments.”

Hagan, Miller and Beckner had all previously said they would support putting Go Hillsborough, the 30-year, half-cent transportation referendum, on the November ballot. Higinbotham, Murman (who has also pitched her own counter plan) and White oppose placing the sales tax on the ballot. Crist is undecided.

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Tribune Editorial on transportation:

Editorial: A transportation mess

Published: February 26, 2016

Gridlock in Hillsborough County is not confined to roads. It now extends to the government boardroom, where county leaders can’t agree on a plan to help relieve the mess that residents, commuters and visitors endure every day.

This is not leadership.

And time is getting short.

If there is any hope to start addressing this crisis on local roads, highways and streets sooner rather than later, county officials better reach a consensus soon. The November elections — the perfect opportunity to allow voters to decide on a proposed half-cent sales tax increase — are approaching fast.

It is disheartening that the entire county commission is not rallying around the Go Hillsborough transportation plan.

The proposal, which includes a half-cent sales tax increase, is community-driven and has been fully vetted by a panel of county and municipal officials.

It has been a two-year process — and far from superficial.

Go Hillsborough would get the county of more than 1 million residents moving on addressing critical transportation issues that are hurting the economy and our quality of life.

Yet Commissioner Sandy Murman has presented her own plan, which focuses on increasing the gasoline tax — just a drop in the bucket for all the county’s transportation needs.

And as the Tribune’s Mike Salinero reported, Commissioner Kevin Beckner on Wednesday floated yet another, questioning the 30-year life of the proposed half-cent sales tax included in Go Hillsborough.

Beckner proposes reducing it to 10 years — a move that would hurt the ability to obtain federal dollars for other projects — and allocating more money in the plan for mass transit.

Beckner’s and Murman’s plans both include mobility fees that would require developers to pay a greater share of transportation costs, something the commission must adopt before asking anymore from taxpayers. But their plans would not do nearly enough to pull Hillsborough out of its transportation morass.

This lack of consensus is undermining Go Hillsborough and sending a bad message to voters. If the county’s elected board can’t agree, how can voters have the confidence to give Go Hillsborough the backing it deserves?

Hillsborough is facing a massive transportation deficit — well over $9 billion. Without a funding source, the deficit will continue to grow as more people move to the county, and the Tampa area will continue to fall behind other regions with modern transportation networks.

Commissioner Ken Hagan perfectly summed up the clumsiness of it all:

“We spent nearly three years illustrating our enormous transportation deficit and the dire straits of our transportation network,” Hagan said at Wednesday’s meeting. “We are weeks away from scheduling a referendum, and we are still chasing our tails.”

This madness needs to stop.

Go Hillsborough is not a perfect plan, but it is a viable start, one that addresses both road and mass transit needs. The commission needs to put it on the November ballot and then commit to a mobility fee.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on Transportation:

POLITICS

Another transportation plan shows divisions in Hillsborough leaders

By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff

Published: February 24, 2016

Updated: February 25, 2016 at 06:59 AM

TAMPA — After two years of meetings and public workshops, Hillsborough commissioners are not even close to a consensus on how to pay for needed road and mass transit improvements.

The level of division on the seven-person board was evident Wednesday as yet another commissioner came forward with an alternative to the Go Hillsborough transportation plan developed last year at a cost of $1.3 million.

The plan depends on commissioners putting a half-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase on the Nov. 8 ballot and voters approving it. Their decision is scheduled for April 6.

Commissioner Kevin Beckner, a supporter of the sales tax, proposed it be levied for 10 years instead of the 30 years approved by city and county leaders in November. Decreasing the length of the tax, Beckner said, would answer critics who say they don’t trust the government to wisely spend the $3.5 billion the tax would raise over 30 years.

“By implementing a 30-year plan, we’re basically telling people, ‘Hey, trust us,’” Beckner said.

Beckner also proposed putting $319 million toward mass transit, three times the amount the Go Hillsborough plan apportions for buses, street cars and rail. Beckner said many of his fellow Democrats around the county have turned against Go Hillsborough because it lacks a significant commitment to transit.

But Jean Duncan, director of Tampa’s Transportation and Stormwater Department, said reducing the tax to 10 years would hurt the city’s efforts to attract federal funds to extend the city’s street car system and to build a commuter rail from downtown to Tampa International Airport.

“We need a 30-year plan to leverage those dollars for the street car extension and the rail extension to TIA, and 30 years is needed for operations and maintenance,” Duncan, who was at the commissioner workshop, said. “The 10 years does not support transit in that regard.”

Commissioners also showed little interest in Beckner’s plan. The harshest critics were commissioners Ken Hagan and Les Miller, both of whom support the sales tax.

In his remarks, Hagan alluded to the other alternative transportation proposal put forward by Commissioner Sandy Murman in November. Murman proposed discarding the sales tax in favor of a group of other revenue sources, including a 5-cents-per-gallon gas tax.

The county’s Policy Leadership Group, made up county commissioners and city mayors, ignored Murman’s alternative, voting instead for the sales tax referendum.

Hagan, in an apparent effort to call Murman out, suggested that commissioners who supported a gas tax increase “put it on the floor and we’ll vote it up or down.” Murman didn’t bite.

“I heard it through the grapevine that was coming; I was prepared for the comment,” Murman said after the meeting, referring to Hagan’s ploy. “But to totally discount any options would be premature. Not knowing if the half-cent referendum is going to pass our commission, do you want to be left with no options?”

Hagan expressed frustration that commissioners, who in just six weeks will vote on whether to hold the referendum, are still floating alternatives that will not address the county’s backlog of failed roads and lack of transit.

“We spent nearly three years illustrating our enormous transportation deficit and the dire straits of our transportation network,” Hagan said. “We are weeks away from scheduling a referendum and we are still chasing our tails.”

Hagan said the county’s $9.7 billion transportation deficit, as computed by the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Agency, will never be reduced without a stable, reliable revenue source. That deficit will grow, he said, when an expected 500,000 new residents move into the county over the next 25 years.

“If we genuinely want to attack this problem, a significant and dedicated funding source is required,” Hagan said, “one that will allow us to leverage our revenues and attract federal funding.”

Hagan said he had no argument with Murman and Beckner’s proposal to put more money from current property taxes toward transportation.

“We do have to make this commitment if for no other reason than it will help stop the bleeding,” he said.

Hagan found an ally in County Administrator Mike Merrill, who spoke frankly to his bosses about the inability of current county revenues to make a significant dent in the road and transit deficit.

Merrill explained that, though the county has a $4.8 billion budget, 67 percent of the funds can’t be touched. That money is either restricted for different reasons, is in reserves needed for emergencies and to uphold the county’s AAA bond rating, or is not really cash but transfers between accounts. About 11 percent of the budget supports the county’s constitutional officers, such as the clerk of court, sheriff and tax collector.

The only source of unrestricted money in the budget would be the budget for departments under the county administrator, Merrill said. If commissioners choose to use those funds, the result will be service cuts — to the elderly, children and poor people. Merrill painted a scenario under which the commission chambers are filled with unhappy people protesting the cuts — more people than the handful that now show up to protest the Go Hillsborough sales tax.

“You are the policy makers, but I think it’s my responsibility to at least let you know what the consequences are,” Merrill said. “The numbers don’t add up.”

Some of Merrill’s comments were aimed at Commissioner Victor Crist, who is the likely swing vote on the sale tax. Three commissioners — Murman, Stacy White and Al Higginbotham — are opposed to holding the referendum.

Crist has suggested that Merrill can find more money for transportation in the $4.8 billion county budget. On Wednesday, he proposed that Merrill form a “blue ribbon task force” made up of private sector and government officials who would look for budget savings that could be re-appropriated for transportation.

Crist also criticized government and business leaders who may support a tax for roads and transit, but have remained silent, ceding ground to Go Hillsborough’s critics.

“We’ve got five constitutional officers. Not one of them has stepped up to the plate and taken a side on this. They’ve been running to the hills and hiding,” Crist said. “But each one of them has something to lose if we start whacking their budgets.”

Crist’s suggestions got no support.