Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on Apollo Beach dredging:

South Shore News

Apollo Beach dredging project to provide boating, beach access

Heavy equipment places boulders on a break water off of the beach at the Apollo Beach Nature Preserve. Tampa Port Authority approved revisions to a dredging permit that will allow work to get underway to dredge two channels in Apollo Beach that haven’t been dredged in 20 years. The spoil from the dredging will be used to replenish a beach at the Apollo Beach Nature Preserve. JIM REED/STAFF

By Yvette C. Hammett | Tribune Staff

Published: March 22, 2015   |   Updated: March 23, 2015 at 05:27 AM

APOLLO BEACH — South County should soon have its beach back, one of the few recreational shorelines on Tampa Bay’s eastern side and a decades-old perch for sun bathers and sunset oglers. And area property owners should again have unimpeded paths on which to navigate large boats into the bay.

The Tampa Port Authority board last week, approved modifications to a dredging permit, one of four permits needed for the project, and one of the final steps toward completing the task. Once the work is done, three channels leading to the area will go from about 4 feet in depth to about 71/2 feet deep at low tide, opening up access for yachts and sailboats that right now have to wait for high tide to get in and out of the area.

The project to replace the eroded shoreline at the 60-acre Apollo Beach Nature Preserve and dredge nearby channels for boaters is not just about lifestyle, however. It’s also about property value, prompting some big guns to donate toward the effort.

Erosion has taken most of the two-acre beach at the nature preserve and the three channels leading into nearby residential areas haven’t been dredged in two decades. Hillsborough County kicked in $850,000 to construct breakwaters around the park meant to keep erosion at bay and also donated $50,000 toward the channel dredging. But the real responsibility for channel maintenance lies with area property owners. To get the work done, nearby land owners had to come up with $300,000.

“It’s about property values and maintaining a way of life,” said Len Berkstresser, president of the Apollo Beach Waterway Improvement Group, or ABWIG, which led the effort. “If boats can’t get in and out, nobody is going to buy a house back there.”

The Mosaic Co., Tampa Electric Co. and a coalition of Mira Bay community groups each donated $50,000, with the Symphony Isles Homeowners Association kicking in $30,000. Keller Williams Apollo Beach and Century 21 Beggins Enterprises real estate offices each donated $10,000 and Lands End Marina, Circles Restaurant and the Tampa Sailing Squadron each gave $2,500. The rest was raised through various fund raising events held over the past couple of years.

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Of the 2,600 or so waterfront homeowners in the Apollo Beach area, most own boats, said Craig Beggins, owner of Century 21 Beggins Enterprises and an area boat owner himself. Of those, about 30 percent of the boats are over 40 feet and can only get in and out of their home docks at high tide.

“I have no problems getting in and out” with a 27-foot boat, Beggins said. “But I end up towing the sailboats because they get stuck around Marker 4 in the main channel, where there is a shoal that gets to four feet at low tide. Any boat that draws more than four feet has to wait on the tide to get out and then to get back in.”

David Ewing, who owns a 60-foot Hyatt Motor Yacht called Last Stop, said it has literally been stuck in port for 18 months, due to the shallow channels.

“We’ve traveled on this particular boat at least 10,000 miles, but now I can’t go a mile to get out of my channel,” Ewing said. After running aground several times, even at high tide, even doing damage to one of the boat’s engines, Ewing said he had to have the vessel towed to a boat yard in St. Petersburg and didn’t get the yacht back to Apollo Beach for six months. He waited for an extra high tide during a storm to get it back home.

“I’m very anxious to write Len a check for the ABWIG fund the day the dredging starts,” Ewing said.

As a realtor, Beggins said he has had to turn away big boat owners looking for property in the area. When they find out about the channel issues, he said, they walk.

“The affluent boating community with big motor yachts would not choose to move to Apollo Beach because of the tide issue. If you have a 55 foot yacht and you are looking for a place, I have to turn you away. It is keeping values down because wealthier people won’t buy here.”

In addition to the dredging work, this project is also about bringing back a well-used, well-appreciated beach, said Ross Dickerson, environmental lands manager for the county. “The beach was definitely used by everyone in the area. It’s still a very popular spot for fishing, sunsets and everything.” Use hasn’t really dropped as a result of the erosion, but user space has, he said. The beach is pretty much gone.

The breakwaters will be completed by the end of this month, he said, and as dredging begins, some 11,000 cubic yards of sand will be dumped on to the Apollo Beach Nature Preserve to re-contour the beach.

The work also includes dune restoration and native plantings along the shoreline.

Dickerson said the project is expected to be complete by Memorial Day weekend at the end of May. The preserve has been closed since late last year to make way for the construction project.

“The erosion got much worse in that area in 2004 when four hurricanes passed over the area,” he said. “Everyone south of the preserve hardened their shoreline with riprap. Once that happened, the natural sediment that used to go from south to north would start at the south end of the preserve and go to the north side. So, the preserve has grown to the north with all that sand that was once on the south end.”

While nothing can completely stop erosion, the breakwaters should hold the sand in place for much longer than if the shoreline were left exposed, Dickerson said.

While the project is moving along, ABWIG was hit with a few surprises, Berkstresser said. “There’s $5,000 for the state (Department of Environmental Protection) permit, $9,000 to replace the sidewalk at the preserve and $8,000 for planting at the preserve.”

Because the sand from dredging will be piled at the park, the sidewalk and plants in that spot will be destroyed, he said, and the group is short about $35,000.

“We’re still looking for donations that can be made through our website or on Facebook.” There is another fund raiser planned for May 17 at the Tampa Sailing Squadron, called Brews, Bands and FTs (food trucks). Final details for the event will be posted on ABWIG’s website at www.abwig.org and on its facebook page. The event will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the squadron, 1250 Apollo Beach Blvd, Ruskin.

Berkstresser said he and other property owners in the area are hoping this will be the last time they are on the hook for the cost of dredging the area’s channels. “I’ve put in 41/2 years of volunteer time on this and the county has put $1.3 million in for jetties and riprap. You are never, ever going to get a group of seven people to volunteer 41/2 years again to raise money to do this. We all pay taxes and those of us who live there on the water pay more taxes. And the permitting process is unbelievably difficult.” The county needs to take back responsibility for the dredging he said.

Hillsborough County Commission Chair Sandy Murman, who also sits on the port board, said last week she was thrilled to see the project come to fruition.

“It’s a significant project that will have a tremendous impact for the South County and it will help promote ecotourism,” Murman said. “They are really getting their beach back.”

Murman said the beach will eventually tie in to a 95-acre park south of the Tampa Electric Co.’s Big Bend Power Station that will include the Florida Aquarium’s Center for Conservation, a state hatchery for snook, redfish and trout and kayak and walking trails.

She said this project had already gotten underway when the county began developing a plan to make it easier to pay for such projects. ‘We did give money for this, but the county staff is finalizing a policy the county commission approved to allow communities to develop Municipal Service Benefit Units.” The MSBUs would allow residents to pay for projects like dredging or stormwater drainage through their utility bills.

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this WTSP 10 News article on Thee Crazy Horse police raid:

Community relieved after police raid leads to 9 arrests

10 News Staff, WTSP 11:49 p.m. EDT March 21, 2015

TOWN-N-COUNTRY, FLA. — Early Saturday morning at about 4:00 am, HCSO law enforcement personnel assisted by agents with the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco (ABT), Florida Probation and Parole, Hillsborough County Fire Marshal’s Office, Florida State Department of Agriculture and Hillsborough County Code Enforcement officers executed a court authorized search warrant at the “Glo Ultra Lounge” located at 8831 West Hillsborough Ave in Town-n-Country.

This establishment is a licensed “bottled club” which allows patrons to bring in their own alcohol, but prohibits any sales of alcohol by its employees.

Sheriff David Gee organized this investigation with a coalition of the listed investigative agencies due to the continued threat “Glo Ultra Lounge” and a similar club next door, “Thee Crazy Horse” posed to the safety and well-being of the surrounding residential and business community in the area.

As a result of this early morning raid, 9 individuals were arrested, substantial amounts of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine were seized along with $1951.00 in US currency, 70 bottles of unlawful wine and liquor, 67 bottles of beer and one firearm from a vehicle.

Since June 2014, “Glo Ultra Lounge” and “Thee Crazy Horse Club” at 8829 W.

Hillsborough Ave have collectively had over 130 law enforcement calls for service due to drug and prostitution activity along with violent crimes that included at least 4 separate shooting calls with one resulting in a homicide.

Local businesses know about those 911 calls and have had to make some of their own. Owner Alexandra Graham from Reruns 4 Little Ones across the street said, “I had someone pass out in my store and called the cops on them. Thank God – thank you for doing this for us – thank you HCSO. Especially for a baby store – HCSO makes us feel better about where we are.

Sheriff David Gee’s number one priority is violent crime in Hillsborough County, therefore he will continue to make sure these types of havens of violent criminal activity and whose owners refuse to help reduce criminal activity within their businesses get shut down.

This is second type establishment raided this year for violent criminal activity. On January 17, 2015, HCSO deputies along with agents from the Florida Division of Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco conducted a similar raid on a business known as “Till Dawn Bottle Club” located at 8205 N. Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa.

Sheriff Gee is working closely with Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra L. Murman as they both share a mutual goal to make sure these types of business that blatantly allow unlawful and violent crimes are swiftly dealt with.

Alexandra Graham, one of the store owners of a nearby baby store, was thankful that the police raided the club, “We are open at dark time, so I was nervous about mommies and employees. Now this is changing this environment.”

These enforcement actions should send a clear message to any criminal enterprises such as these that they will not be allowed to continue to operate and diminish the safety and well-being of the citizens of Hillsborough County.

More arrest are pending as this investigation continues.

The nine people arrested include:

– Antoneo T. Bethea, 35

Charges: VOP warrant for Dealing in Stolen Property False Info to a Pawnbroker

– Adenawer Gonzalez, 28

Charge: DWLS warrant

– Davonn A. Banks-Peacock, 37

Charge: Carrying a Concealed Weapon

-Desiree M. Lindsey, 31

Charge: Possession of Cocaine

– Jimmy J. Velasquez, 30

Charges: Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Sell, Possession of Paraphernalia

– Kira P. Ankney, 24

Charge: Sale of Alcohol with Improper License

– Jordan T. Hamilton, 25

Charge: Sale of Alcohol with Improper License

– Lindsey H. Botts, 23

Charge: Sale of Alcohol with Improper License

– Carlos Guzman, 51

Charge: Keeping and Maintaining a Place Where Alcohol is Sold (2 charges)

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Bay Times article on Carly Fiorina:

Carly Fiorina speaks in Tampa, ‘very seriously considering’ presidential run

• By Rachel Crosby, Times Staff Writer

Thursday, March 19, 2015 5:41pm

TAMPA — Carly Fiorina wants to “unlock potential.”

Those two words were the subject of the possible Republican presidential candidate’s talk Thursday afternoon in Tampa. Yet in front of about 300 local business leaders — almost all women — the former Hewlett-Packard CEO hinted at her own ambitions.

“When did we decide only professional politicians can run for office?” Fiorina asked a filled ballroom at the Floridan Palace Hotel. “There are lots of experiences and perspectives that are valuable in public life.”

Her own experiences are overwhelmingly in business. She became the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company before the turn of the century — a point of pride for Fiorina, who graduated from Stanford with a medieval history and philosophy degree before a series of stumbles.

She dropped out of law school, because she said she hated it. She was fired from her executive position at HP after a failed merger with Compaq. She was diagnosed with breast cancer months before she lost her 35-year-old stepdaughter to the “demon of addiction.” And then she lost her Senate campaign in California about five years ago.

But the calm, collected conservative is still fighting. Maybe it’s her name — Carly means “small champion” — or maybe it’s her “potential.”

Throughout her 30-minute address, she repeated the word many times. She stressed community involvement. She touched on foreign policy. And she reminded the crowd of her successes.

Fiorina earned a master’s in management from MIT. She climbed the ladder at AT&T and jumped to corporate operations at Lucent. Then Fiorina landed at HP.

The crowd on Thursday was speckled with local leaders, like Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman and Tampa police Chief Jane Castor.

One woman, Selena Ward, brought her 12-year-old daughter, Jonnee, who was on spring break from Tampa Preparatory School.

“I think it’ll be a great experience for her,” the 40-year-old said, “to see women in leadership.”

Though the words “unlocking potential” are common, in usage the phrase is something Fiorina has sort of coined. It’s the title of her Super PAC, a women’s engagement initiative, and it’s among a set of words she has accused Hillary Clinton of stealing: The former secretary of state recently told about 5,000 Silicon Valley female tech professionals to “unlock our full potential.”

But on Thursday, Fiorina said, “I agree with Hillary Clinton,” even though she has publicly condemned the potential Democratic presidential candidate.

“Maybe it’d be a good idea to have a woman in the White House,” she said.

When asked if she could be that woman, Fiorina said, “Maybe.” But will she run?

“I’m very seriously considering it,” she said, adding that she will announce a decision in April or May. “Very seriously considering it.”

Commissioner Murman quoted in this WUSF News article on the Women’s Leadership Conference:

Thu March 19, 2015

New Women’s Leadership Conference Announced

By Daylina Miller

March 20, 2015

Hundreds of business women gathered Thursday at the Floridan Palace Hotel in downtown Tampa for a luncheon, guest speakers and special announcement.

The announcement was tucked inside a black, matte envelope and covered in orange, purple and pink chevron print with a quote from Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling.

The news? A new conference aimed at helping Florida’s professional women network and find resources to empower them to take on leadership opportunities.

The first Women’s Conference of Florida is planned for May 2016 in Tampa, and will include workshops, panel discussions and networking opportunities for professional women around the state.

Arlene DiBenigno, CEO and president of the conference, said the event has been in the works for a long time. She enlisted her friend, business woman and conservative political pundit Carly Fiorina to be the keynote for the luncheon.

“We’ve always had the conversation of how she was a secretary and rose to the ranks of being a CEO,” DiBenigno said. “But in her career, looking around, there aren’t many women that have been able to do that and why is that?”

“We have always come back to the same conversation and three weeks ago I called her and said, ‘I’m going to do this’ And she said, ‘I will be there and help you.’”

Carly Fiorina, political pundit and former CEO for Hewlett-Packard, was the keynote Tuesday for a business women luncheon.

Credit Daylina Miller/WUSF News

Fiorina spoke to the audience before the conference announcement was made.

She previously served as CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and in 2014, launched the Unlocking Potential Project. Fiorina discussed her own experiences as a CEO and issues that face women every day.

“When we talk about how important it is to engage women, it’s not because women are more important than men or better than men,” Fiorina said. “It’s because women represent half the potential in the world.

“And we know that when women get engaged in anything- in poverty alleviation, in disease eradication, in illiteracy- you get a woman engaged in the world’s problems or in business or in politics, everything gets better.”

Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman is chairing the conference because she believes women need a way to build themselves up in a world that teaches them to tear themselves down.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman is chairing the conference.

Credit Daylina Miller/WUSF News

“Through my 20 years of private stay at home to a successful business career and then 20 years in public service, I have seen women tear themselves down,” Murman said. “For 40 years. And I knew I had to commit to do something about it.”

The Women’s Conference of Florida will not end after its two-day premiere in downtown Tampa next year, DiBenigno said. She said it will be a self-sustaining organization that raises awareness of issues important to women.

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this WTSP article on firefighters:

Commissioners concerned with firefighters’ activities

Mike Deeson, WTSP

6:44 p.m. EDT March 18, 2015

And Union President Derrick Ryan has a contract that secures a six figure salary as a firefighter without ever stepping foot in a fire station. (Photo: International Association of Firefighters)

Tampa, Florida — There was strong reaction Wednesday from a Hillsborough County commissioner after a 10 Investigates report of firefighters getting paid with tax dollars to campaign for politicians.

We found some firefighters are campaigning while on the clock which violates county and state law. There also were firefighters who are taking additional time off when there is no union business happening and that is violating their own contracts with the county.

And Union President Derrick Ryan has a contract that secures a six figure salary as a firefighter without ever stepping foot in a fire station.

His contract also allows him to bank vacation time and sick hours, and cash them out when he retires, ultimately costing you the taxpayer even more money.

There was strong reaction Wednesday from a Hillsborough County commissioner after a 10 Investigates report of firefighters getting paid with tax dollars to campaign for politicians.

We brought these issues to the commission meeting Wednesday and Hillsborough Commissioner Kevin Beckner says he’s concerned.

Beckner says, “I understand what you have identified and obviously if that is certainly occurring that is certainly troubling and should not be occurring and again it’s something that we probably need to tighten up and re-address with the chief as well as with the union contract negotiations.”

Meantime, Commission Chair Sandy Murman tells 10 Investigates that the county attorney insists union time off is like vacation pay and comes from a separate union account.

However, the former union president was fired for taking vacation during union leave, and a circuit court judge also ruled the pay was coming from county tax dollars for fighting fires, not union business.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article on homeless audit:

Hillsborough administrator apologizes for homeless program’s continued problems

WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE

Tampa Bay Times

Wednesday, March 18, 2015 6:14pm

TAMPA — A new internal audit of Hillsborough County’s homeless program shows the county failed to conduct all required inspections of housing where the homeless are referred, a deficiency that occurred despite promises by county officials to fix and rebuild the troubled program.

County Administrator Mike Merrill apologized to commissioners Wednesday, saying he was “very disappointed and upset” at the audit’s findings given his previous assurances to remedy program ills.

Merrill said it was particularly galling that inspections did not take place because that specific problem is what led the Hillsborough Homeless Recovery program to unravel after a 2013 Tampa Bay Times investigation documented slumlords getting public cash to place families in unsafe living conditions.

“Even though no clients were put in harm’s way in this case, that is not an excuse,” Merrill said at the commission’s regular meeting. “There is no excuse for not inspecting properties the way that we had promised that we would, that I had promised you and the community. And so I apologize for that. It’s my responsibility to make sure that this gets cleaned up. And I will do that.”

The audit also noted “monitoring procedures are incomplete” to ensure program compliance with county rules and charities working with Hillsborough sometimes did not conduct required criminal background checks on those seeking services.

A 2013 Times investigation of the county’s Homeless Recovery program found that Hillsborough funneled millions in public dollars to slumlords in a program providing transitional housing for the poor. The investigation won a Pulitzer Prize and led the county to the first major reform of the housing program in two decades.

The new audit sampled 25 out of more than 2,000 required inspections in the program for nine months of 2014 and found no evidence in four cases that inspections of housing had taken place. That is 16 percent of the sample.

The housing is provided by three charities under contract with Hillsborough — Metropolitan Ministries, the Salvation Army and the Agency for Community Treatment Services.

“If property inspection are not performed, clients may be living in and the county may be paying for properties which do not meet the minimum housing standards,” the audit said.

The county’s audit rated the homeless program as “satisfactory” overall, meaning that program controls and oversight are adequate but can be improved. The audit said the problems have either already been corrected or were in the process of being fixed.

Merrill said in an interview that the county does not believe any of the housing provided was deficient. But he said he was still angered because this specific issue was a top priority in revamping the program.

“That is the problem we had in the prior program and the one we promised to fix,” he said. “And it’s the one we have the resources to fix. And it should be the easiest to fix. It’s not difficult.”

Merrill said he was particularly disturbed that he found out about the problem only from the audit and not from county staffers working in the program. He said staffers explained they were too busy administering the program and did not discover problems.

“Staff did not perform properly,” Merrill said. “So I need to do something to make sure it never happens again.”

The audit said that of the nine full-time employees in the program, four positions are now vacant. Merrill said that might have been one of the reasons problems were not discovered by staff. He said the manager of the program was doing case work.

“Then again, if they had said to me that they needed to fill the position, I would have filled the position,” Merrill told the Times.

Merrill said he is not yet sure what changes he will make in the program to ensure 100 percent compliance with county rules and policies.

“But again, I will assure you I will get this remedied,” he told the commission.

Hillsborough’s internal auditor, Michelle Leonhardt, told commissioners the audit was “satisfactory” overall and services are vastly improved from a year ago. “There are opportunities to improve,” she said. “But (it’s) a huge difference from where we were to where we are now. Absolutely.”

Commission chairwoman Sandy Murman said she was confident in county staff’s ability to work out any problems in homeless services.

“I know these things do take time,” she said. “Let’s just tighten up the ship. Get it right.”

An April 2014 internal audit found the homeless program in far worse shape. It said the county had not inspected property where it sent the homeless for years and had no policy to respond to complaints that places were filthy and dangerous.

Hillsborough ended up replacing its program by outsourcing it to charities under county contract. As of Sept. 30, the three charities had housed at least 553 people and 275 children, and received $2.2 million in funding, the audit said.

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on homeless audit:

Politics

Problems revealed in homeless audit may spark staff shakeup

By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff
Published: March 18, 2015

TAMPA — Hillsborough County’s Homeless Services program, which had rebounded after a scandal in 2013, failed to perform promised inspections at agencies that contract to house homeless people, according to an internal audit released this week.

The audit also found two agencies that contract with the county, the Agency for Community Treatment Services and Salvation Army, had not done criminal background checks of clients to check for felonies or sexual offenses as required under a federal Emergency Solutions Grant. Housing Services failed to catch the compliance failures through the department’s monitoring process, according to the audit.

“If monitoring compliance with all contract requirements is not performed, ineligible clients may be served and/or eligible homeless clients may not be receiving all services required by the contract,” auditors said in explaining the finding.

In two other, less-severe findings, auditors said Homeless Services did not consistently review invoices from the three agencies that contract with the county — ACTS, Salvation Army and Metropolitan Ministries, and did not make monthly program reports to the county’s Affordable Housing Services Department, the homeless program’s partner in the federal grant. Internal auditors reviewed a sample of nine invoices and found a total overpayment of $1,619.

The findings embarrassed County Administrator Mike Merrill, who apologized to county commissioners at their meeting Wednesday. In September 2013, Merrill fired managers and reorganized the former Homeless Recovery Program after it was disclosed the program paid Republican fund raiser William “Hoe” Brown $625,000 to house clients in substandard rooms and apartments.

“Even though no clients were put in harm’s way in this case … there is no excuse for not inspecting properties the way that we had promised that we would, that I had promised you and the community, and so I apologize for that,” Merrill said.

After the meeting, Merrill said he may restructure the homeless department once more. Merrill said he was angered more that his managers did not report the missteps to him than about the actual deeds themselves.

“The thing that really disturbed me was that the first time I found out we hadn’t met the commitment is when I got the audit,” Merrill said. “Tell me what the problem is. Don’t wait until it becomes a problem. That’s what I expect of all my staff.”

The findings were especially disappointing, Merrill said, because of the progress the county government has made in helping homeless clients since the Hoe Brown scandal. The Emergency Solutions Grant, which the county was awarded last June, provided $157,787 to rapidly find new housing for 56 families — 142 people — from June 3 through Sept. 28.

Then in November, the county partnered with the city of Tampa to address the plight of homeless veterans through Operation Reveille. In one day, the city and county were able to rehouse 52 homeless veterans in units furnished by Ashley Furniture. Each of the 11 families helped by the program got a case manager and 12 months assistance with rent and utilities.

“They’ve done so many good things,” Merrill said, speaking of Operation Reveille. “The problem is that all that gets overshadowed when something like this happens. It’s just stupid.”

Commissioner Sandra Murman, who has made helping homeless residents one of her missions on the board, called the audit findings a “blip in the screen” of an otherwise solid program.

“I’m not worried about it, overly concerned, because no one slipped through the cracks, no individuals,” Murman said. “But let’s just tighten up the ship, get it right, steer it forward and let’s do what we have to do again to get the job done.”

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article on the Port:

Port Authority Board votes to authorize building new refrigerated warehouse

JAMAL THALJI

Tampa Bay Times

Tuesday, March 17, 2015 12:05pm

TAMPA – The Tampa Port Authority’s governing board on Tuesday authorized spending $20.8 million – half from the port, half from the state – to one day build a new refrigerated warehouse to bring back perishable foods Tampa’s docks.

Port officials said that they’re also negotiating with several companies looking to move their food products through Tampa.

“We’re very close,” said port CEO Paul Anderson.

The port voted to seek matching state funds, and committed to spending $10.4 million of its own money on the project. The board did not vote to actually start construction.

The board may wait to do that until it finds a food importer willing to sign a contract to commit to using the facility But the board could, in the future, also decide to launch the project without having a customer lined up.

The board also approved spending millions of port and state dollars to get the site ready for that future warehouse: moving utility lines, extending a rail line and dredging improvements. That work will start as soon as possible to get the site ready for the warehouse project.

“These items you’re approving today will support us in the coming months and years,” Anderson told the board.

Decades ago, Tampa’s port was known for its iconic banana docks. It was a thriving hub for imported fruit up until the 2000s. That’s when the business dried up. The last fruit importer left in 2009 and the port tore down its old, deteriorating fruit warehouses.

Port Manatee has supplanted Port Tampa Bay as the region’s hub for imported fruit. Tampa is trying to change that. But that would require building a new, modern refrigerated warehouse on Hookers Point to store those perishable foods.

Attracting new cargoes like imported fruit and cars have been a priority at the port since Anderson took over in 2013.

Hillsborough County Commission Chairwoman Sandra Murman, who sits on the port board, said she knows that the port’s negotiations with these potential customers are secret. But she’d still like to start learning more about these potential deals.

“I would really like to see the big picture,” she said. “I know some of these things are confidential … but we are doing great things, we are marketing and bringing people in, but I don’t have any quantifiable numbers.”

Anderson said those deals will become public as soon as the ink hits the contracts.

“We have skin in the game on all these projects,” he said. “We are not going to miss an opportunity.”

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune column by Chris Ingram on clubs inviting criminal behavior:

Commentary

Chris Ingram: Time to crack down on clubs that invite criminal behavior

Published: March 13, 2015

Two weeks ago Saturday, Angel Reyes, 22, was shot dead outside a Town ’n Country strip club. The shooting occurred in the parking lot, when a brawl inside the strip club spilled outside. A bouncer shot Reyes after he pulled out a laser pointer that looked like a handgun. Sheriff’s officials say Reyes had a substantial criminal history.

The shooting was at Thee Crazy Horse bar on West Hillsborough Avenue. It is located in a run-down building with a mostly dirt parking lot. On any given day, the lot is packed with patrons as late (or early) as 5 a.m.

But the patrons at that time of day, according to Col. Greg Brown of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, aren’t at Thee Crazy Horse, which has to close at 3 a.m. because it serves liquor. Rather, Brown says, they are at the “bottle club” next door called Glo — which is owned by the same people who own Thee Crazy Horse.

Between the two, there is a lot of crime, ranging from multiple shootings, drugs, brawls, battery, vehicle theft, fraud and pickpocketing.

According to Tribune reports, sheriff’s records show about 130 calls for service over the past 13 months at the address of the two clubs, though many were traffic stops in front of the clubs unrelated to the goings on at the bar.

Regardless, neighbors have been complaining about the crime and noise from the parking lot for years.

Sheriff David Gee told me, “Bottle clubs are typically worse than strip clubs. There is even more lewd behavior there than at strip clubs, because the bottle clubs tolerate it. Most strip clubs don’t have a lot of calls for [law enforcement] because they do a good job self-policing.”

Gee says Glo bottle club is one of just three such clubs in the county, but there were 11 when he first took office. “It’s tough to get their licenses [revoked]. But the county assures me they will never again issue a license for a bottle club,” he said.

Residents in the upscale waterfront community around Thee Crazy Horse and the Glo bottle club are fuming at all the crime, and many have contacted their county commissioners.

Commissioner Sandy Murman says she has received many calls and letters, and is working with code enforcement and the sheriff’s office to find a solution. But, she says, “To shut a business down, you have to go through a process.”

Processes aside, strip clubs and bottle clubs that invite criminal behavior are a blight on the community of Town ’N Country and Hillsborough County.

Unfortunately, when establishments like these are closed down, another one (often with the same owner) pops up in its place at the same location. Law enforcement officials say many such clubs do this never-ending game of changing owners (often to family members) to avoid scrutiny from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. I suggest to the county commission that the county should explore offering a tax cut, tax credit, millage reduction or other type of financial incentive to the landlords of properties housing strip clubs or bottle clubs if they do not re-lease their property to other such establishments after a previous strip or bottle club has closed, been shut down, or lost its lease. Furthermore, the county should establish that bars, strip clubs, bottle clubs and the like cannot be within a prescribed distance from a residential neighborhood.

In the meantime, all that residents of Town ’N Country can do is hope the sheriff’s office and code enforcement find something that will stick and lead to these scabs of the community being shut down. In all likelihood, they will, as it is unlikely Glo or Thee Crazy Horse or others like them are going to change their ways of doing business and attracting the riffraff that patronizes them.

As of press time on Thursday, the State Attorney’s Office had not announced whether charges would be filed against the bouncer who shot Angel Reyes.

Chris Ingram is a columnist, political consultant and political analyst for Bay News 9. Follow him on Twitter at: @IrreverentView.