Commissioner Murman presented a Commendation to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue for winning the International 2011 Heart Safe Community Award recently.
On 10.27.11, In Blog, By Murman
On 10.27.11, In Blog, By Murman
By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 19, 2011
Updated: October 19, 2011 – 6:12 PM
TAMPA —
Hillsborough County may soon place a moratorium on Internet sweepstakes cafés, the proliferating strip mall parlors that offer computer games resembling video slot machines.
County commissioners voted 7-0 today to have the county attorney draw up an ordinance that would require the cafes to get county licenses and be regulated by county inspectors. Once the existing cafés are licensed, no new parlors would be allowed to open until May 1, 2012, when the Florida Legislature concludes its regular session.
Commissioners will get a look at the ordinance Nov. 2 and then schedule a public hearing for Nov. 16. They can pass the new regulations at that meeting.
The moratorium motion came from Commissioner Sandy Murman, who considers the cafés illegal gambling houses that need to be shut down. County Sheriff David Gee agrees, and has sent written notice to café operators saying he will prosecute them if they are participating in illegal gambling.
Café owners and lawyers representing them say they are offering a legal sweepstakes in which the winners are predetermined, not chosen as the result of the computer video games. They sell Internet time on computers and patrons get phone cards that allow them to play games that look like slot machines.
Murman put a May 1 end date on the moratorium to see whether the Legislature will act to regulate the sweepstakes cafés. There are several bills already filed, some of which would leave it up to local governments to decide whether to allow the parlors to stay open.
“Let’s take care of our own people in our own county right now and see what happens” with the Legislature, Murman said.
On 10.27.11, In Blog, By Murman
By Bill Varian, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Oct 19, 2011 04:47 PM
Noting their speedy proliferation, Hillsborough County commissioners initiated steps Wednesday toward ordering a moratorium on Internet sweepstakes cafes.
Commissioners voted unanimously to ask their staff to create a licensing requirement for existing sweepstakes cafe owners for their consideration at a future public hearing. Once those cafes are registered, the window would quickly close for new sweepstakes cafe licenses.
Commissioner Sandra Murman noted that the Legislature is scheduled to take up several bills next year dealing with sweepstakes cafes. In the meantime, cafe owners have filed lawsuits to ban their operations in other nearby counties including Pinellas.
The license and moratorium approach would give commissioners an opportunity to halt their fast spread in the county while enabling them to see how the state and courts address regulation of them.
“I’m just trying to find something as a stop-gap measure right now,” Murman said.
Murman presented commissioners with a map produced by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office showing the locations of at least 28 cafes that have opened in unincorporated areas. Since the map was produced less than two weeks ago, Murman said eight new locations have opened.
“Let’s take care of our people in our county right now,” she said.
On 10.26.11, In Blog, By Murman
By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: October 19, 2011
TAMPA —
A proposal to restructure the current makeup of the Hillsborough County Commission won enough support from commissioners today to go forward for further debate.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to hold a workshop later this year on changing the current board makeup of four single-member districts and three countywide seats, by adding another single-member district and reducing the countywide seats to two.
Commissioner Les Miller, the board’s only black member, proposed the change, saying it would bring government closer to the people.
The current system was set up in 1983 and was partly a reaction to a scandal that saw three commissioners jailed for taking kickbacks.
But Miller said the county’s explosive growth since that time — from 650,000 residents counted in the 1980 census to more than 1.2 million people now — has made the single-member districts unwieldy. The four current commission districts average 307,000 people. Adding a district would reduce the average population to 247,000 people.
“We need to have smaller single member districts so people can get closer to their commissioners,” Miller said.
Adding a district would also make it more likely that one district would tilt toward a Hispanic representative, Miller said. A coalition of Hispanic groups pressed the commissioner earlier this year to increase the Hispanic population in District 1, represented by Sandy Murman, to 36 percent. Commissioners rejected the idea.
Miller was supported by two board members who served with him in the Florida Legislature: Murman and Victor Crist. Murman noted that all 40 state senators and 120 House members serve geographic districts. She said she found the commission structure, with countywide seats, “odd.”
Crist said reducing the geographic size and population of commission districts would reduce the amount of money candidates would have to raise to run a campaign.
“I just appreciate smaller government because it gives greater access to your elected officials,” Crist said, “and frankly a process where it’s easier for the everyday person to run for office and get elected.”
Other commissioners expressed concerns. Kevin Beckner, the only other Democrat on the board besides Miller, said he appreciated the current structure because it allows voters to cast ballots for a majority of the board: the voter’s district representative and three countywide commissioners.
“By changing to that system, we’re looking at diluting the voice of the majority and the representation of the majority,” Beckner said.
Commissioner Mark Sharpe said a board dominated by district representatives could lead to a “Balkanization” of policy, with commissioners fighting so hard for their districts that they ignore the welfare of the county as a whole.
Commissioner Ken Hagan, who also expressed concerns, said he would second a motion to hold a workshop to discuss the matter further.
Restructuring the commission would require a referendum to amend the county charter. Managing County Attorney Mary Helen Farris said an ordinance calling for a referendum during the November 2012 election would have to be ready by May or June of next year.
On 10.26.11, In Blog, By Murman
Commissioner Murman Recognizes Bullying Awareness Month
On 10.26.11, In Blog, By Murman
Internet sweepstakes cafés elude anti-gambling laws by having customers buy account cards that are used to play simulated gambling games on computers.
The outcome is predetermined, but to the player, who doesn’t know whether the card will generate a return, it is like being at a slot machine.
The operators decide how much they will allow the “gamblers” to win. Customers win or lose points at a predetermined rate. And the owners can adjust the odds whenever they want.
It is a predatory practice aimed largely at the elderly and the poor. Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office rightly want to put a stop to it. Sheriff David Gee has warned owners they appear to be “conducting gambling activities,” and his office intends to investigate and enforce the law. Sheriffs in Pinellas and Pasco have shut down similar cafes and arrested owners.
Gambling is illegal in Hillsborough except in a few specified areas such as the Seminole Indian property.
Other than being required to register with the state Department of Agriculture, there is no oversight of the operations and no accounting of the cash that flows through them. Most are located in strip malls.
These gambling facilities are growing fast. Three years ago, there were no sweepstakes cafés in Hillsborough. Now, there are more than 25.
Murman is pushing an ordinance that would outlaw the “gambling devices” found in the cafés.
The well-funded operators will vigorously fight it, but Hillsborough County commissioners should consider the opinion of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who found the electronic games constituted “illegal slot machines or devices.”
And commissioners also can find guidance from U.S. District Court Judge John Antoon, who in a detailed ruling upheld Seminole County’s similar measure.
He found the Seminole ordinance specifically described the cafés’ “simulated gambling machines” that made payoffs to those playing the games. He pointed out that “none of the video games at issue is banned on its own — only the play of such a game in conjunction with the possibility of a payoff is banned.”
He refused operators’ request to issue a preliminary injunction against the Seminole ordinance.
Hillsborough commissioners should not allow little casinos to open up around the county. They should put an immediate halt to the spread of these strip-mall gambling dens.
On 10.26.11, In Blog, By Murman
By Stephanie Wang, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, October 14, 2011
http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/funding-clears-way-for-new-south-county-ymca/1196453
RIVERVIEW — After securing $2 million in county funding, the YMCA is forging ahead with plans to open a new facility in south Hillsborough.
In partnership with Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, the YMCA will expand recreational offerings in a growing region, said Cindy Sofarelli, senior group vice president of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.
“It maximizes the efforts for the community,” she said about the public-private partnership. “It’s a win-win.”
The project is still in the initial planning stages. The partnership aims to build a YMCA facility on a 33-acre county-owned parcel next to Vance Vogel Park. The South Shore complex will contribute to the economic development of a burgeoning area located off the intersection of Interstate 75 and Big Bend Road, Sofarelli said.
The project has been in the works for nearly three years. In April 2010, the YMCA conducted an initial market study for community feedback and found residents showed interest in a full family facility, similar to the nearby Campo Family YMCA in Valrico, Sofarelli said. Their wish list included a gymnasium, sports fields and aquatics, which likely will be added to the South Shore complex in phases.
The new facility will provide a home base for existing YMCA programs run at places such as the South Shore United Methodist Church or South Bay Hospital, while also complementing the county park.
Because the project remains in its infancy, Sofarelli did not give any time frame for the start or completion of construction.
“It’s still a footprint right now,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it’s set in stone.”
The approval of the county budget in September cemented a key piece of financial backing: County Commissioner Sandy Murman set aside an annual allocation of $500,000 for four years for the project. The money will be given in reimbursements to the YMCA from sales tax funds.
Sofarelli estimates the YMCA will need to raise an additional $4 million to $6 million for the facility.
But the public-private partnership cushions the costs for both parties.
“In this day and time,” Murman said, “it’s the best recipe for putting something in and having some public benefit.”
Murman praised the YMCA’s past cooperation with the county in providing services and constructing new facilities, such as the Campo pool, using public grants.
“They did it by the book,” she said. “And it was really almost an example of how a project should be done.”
Still, Murman said the organization will be subject to any new rules and policies that may be implemented for groups receiving county funding following recent criticism of public dollars spent to build the Regent in Riverview.
The YMCA is expected to present a business plan Nov. 2 to the County Commission, Murman said.
Stephanie Wang can be reached at swang@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.
On 10.26.11, In Blog, By Murman
Commissioner Sandy Murman presented a commendation recognizing the Lowry Park Zoo on behalf of the Hillsborough County Commission.