We’re Open For Business, Just Not Business As Usual  

With the Republican National Convention coming to Tampa in late August, Hillsborough County services will be getting closer to the people we serve.

Tens of thousands of convention delegates, media members, visitors and more will be converging on downtownTampaduring the RNC.  The national and international spotlight will be onHillsboroughCounty, bringing a new visibility to our beautiful communities like never before. At the same time, street and public garage parking may be at a minimum.  So for your convenience, the same quality County services you receive downtown will be relocated out into the communities we serve. 

Need to file a permit?  You can do it.  Want to register to vote?  You can do that, too.  Have to renew your car’s registration and tag?  Yes, you can.  And, many services will be located in several branch offices, so you’ll have a choice of locations.

To find out where the County can provide you with what you need, visit http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/index.aspx?NID=2737 or call ourCountyInfoLine at  (813) 272-5900.

And, remember, we’re open for business, just not business as usual.

 

Commissioner Murman quoted extensively in this Times article on Channelside Plaza:

Jeff Vinik’s vision for Channelside: spruced-up, pedestrian-friendly, and maybe a new hotel

By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, July 4, 2012

TAMPA — Jeff Vinik doesn’t just plan to remake Channelside Bay Plaza. He wants to re-imagine it.

The Tampa Bay Lightning owner plans to make the troubled development more pedestrian-friendly; add retail and possibly a hotel to bring in more visitors; and link it to the Tampa Bay Times Forum and Florida Aquarium to turn the Channelside district into a seamless waterside entertainment area linked to Tampa’s Riverwalk, the 2.2 mile waterfront walkway.

“We want more people to come downtown,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman, “and this whole concept is just going to enliven this area.”

Vinik and his partners are negotiating with the Anglo Irish Bank of Dublin to take over the 234,520-square-foot structure. Their plans are just ideas and concepts at this stage. They are not firm and have not been made public. But they were shown to the Tampa Port Authority’s governing board, which Murman sits on.

The Vinik group, according to board members, compared their concept to the Los Angeles sports-entertainment L.A. Live complex. It’s a massive mix of condos and hotels, restaurants and shops, next to the Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Lakers and NHL’s Kings. The two projects have a family link: L.A. Live executive Tim Leiweke is the brother of Lightning CEO Tod Leiweke.

“Tampa Live,” Murman said. “That’s my version.”

L.A. Live’s plans include a proposed football stadium to lure the NFL back to Los Angeles. As the Tampa Bay Rays look for a new home, Murman said, Vinik’s proposal would transform the Channelside District into an ideal spot for a future baseball stadium — should the Rays ever relocate to downtown Tampa, that is.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to attract a sports venue down the road,” Murman said.

Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett declined to comment on behalf of Vinik and his partners.

• • •

If Vinik reaches an agreement to purchase Channelside, it will still need approval from the port’s governing board. The Port Authority controls the land beneath Channelside and has the final say on who will take it over.

It is one of the most sought-after properties in Tampa Bay — one that has long under-performed. It has a movie theater and restaurants but has struggled to consistently attract crowds since it opened in 2001. It has been in limbo since 2010, when the old owners defaulted on a $27 million loan.

The plaza’s shortcomings were apparent to all the groups that bid to take it over, said Port commissioner Patrick Allman.

“I think all of them recognized that right now the perception of the public is that it’s a nightlife only place,” Allman said. “What they were all looking to do … was try to get more of a mix of businesses down there so they can get families down there … so they can widen the variety of people that would come to Channelside.”

The Vinik group proposed doing that by changing the marketing and branding of Channelside, and the mix of tenants. They want to bring in tenants who would keep people coming to Channelside throughout the day, not just at night — more retail shops (one commissioner suggested they could bring in a grocery store) and a big draw such as a hotel.

The likely location for that big draw would be the parking lot at Beneficial Drive and Channelside Drive, a 3 ½-acre property owned by the Port Authority and zoned for retail, office or hotel space.

“The concept is called ‘heads in beds,’ ” Murman said. “That’s what they say in the tourist industry. That’s what makes a real difference, when people come over and stay overnight.”

Commissioners said there was no definitive plan for what would be put there. But acquiring the parking lot would connect Channelside to the properties that Vinik acquired near the Tampa Bay Times Forum when he bought the Lightning in 2010. The Forum, Channelside and the Florida Aquarium would all be linked.

Murman said there were also plans to enhance the entrance to Channelside to make it more inviting from the Forum:

“It’ll be much bigger and more attractive.”

• • •

Commissioner Lawrence Shipp said that the Vinik group also proposed a marketing campaign to draw more people in and cosmetic changes to tie Channelside much more closely to the condo towers and neighborhood that have risen since the project broke ground 14 years ago with a price tag of $35 million.

“It really wasn’t designed for the community around it,” Shipp said. “Now you have a community around Channelside and they’re looking to make it inclusive for all the community, to make it a place that they can go to and they can enjoy.

“They’re looking to make it a busy place 365 days a year.”

No radical reconstruction was proposed. But the designs call for a significantly spruced-up Channelside.

“I think it’s very colorful, attractive, very eye-catching,” Murman said.

One significant addition: an elevated pedestrian bridge between the parking garage and Channelside that would get pedestrians off Channelside Drive, which is already busy with traffic,cruise ship passengers and a trolley car.

To Allman, that idea showed that the Vinik group understands what must ultimately be done to improve Channelside: Not only do patrons need more reasons to go there — to eat and shop, to see a movie or spend the weekend — but it must also become easier to use to keep them coming back.

“They have to meet the expectations of customers to bring them back,” Allman said, “so they’ll be repeat customers.”

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3404.

 

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tribune article on ballot referendum for parks and recreation:

 Commissioners weigh tax hike referendum

 By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 29, 2012 Updated: June 29, 2012 – 12:00 AM

 TAMPA — Hillsborough County commissioners weren’t exactly enthusiastic Thursday about the idea of putting a property tax increase before voters in November, but they didn’t rule it out either.

Meeting in a budget workshop, commissioners got their first chance to comment publicly on a proposal by County Administrator Mike Merrill to put an $80 million bond issue on the Nov. 6 ballot. The bonds would be paid back with a property tax increase of 21 cents per $1,000 worth of value, or $25 a year for the owner of a house valued at $165,000.

Merrill said the tax and bond issue would be a way to catch up on languishing parks and recreation construction projects, as well as pay for reconstruction of the now-closed Friendship Trail Bridge.

Most of the commissioners were noncommittal, though several tipped their hand as to which way they’re leaning on the proposal.

Commissioner Victor Crist, who faces a conservative challenger in the August Republican primary, said he is not opposed to tax referendums per se. But before the commission takes such a politically precarious step, Crist said, commissioners should first look at other ways to meet recreation needs, such as merging the county parks department with similar departments in Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City.

“I want to see more due diligence … that there are no other ways (to fund park projects) and I don’t feel that way right now,” Crist said.

Commissioner Sandy Murman said she, too, is uneasy with asking voters to tax themselves unless commissioners are sure the parks and recreation projects are needed. Murman, who chairs an economic prosperity committee made up of businessmen and other residents, said the commission should focus on economic development.

“I’d have to say I’m like Commissioner Crist: I’m not there yet,” Murman said.

Commissioners Mark Sharpe and Ken Hagan, countering Murman’s comments, said quality parks and other outdoor recreation venues are economic development tools. Sharpe, in quick-fire fashion, named a half dozen financial publications that rate quality of life factors, such as parks and schools, more important than low taxes to corporations looking for new facility sites.

Hagan agreed.

“There is a direct correlation between parks and recreation and economic development,” he said.

Commissioners generally agreed that Merrill’s staff needs to closely look at the $57.5 million in parks projects that would be funded by the bond issue in addition to the Friendship Trail. The list includes upgrades to recreation centers across the county, land acquisition and preliminary engineering for phase 4 of the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, and a $15 million countywide soccer complex.

Reconstruction of the Friendship Trail Bridge as a linear park would cost an estimated $27.5 million. The county already has $4.4 million it had set aside for the bridge’s demolition. But on Wednesday, commissioners delayed awarding the demolition contract so engineers can so further assess the bridge’s high span, or hump.

These are the important dates if county commissioners decide to put a property tax increase and $80 million bond issue on the Nov. 6 ballot:

  • July 18 or sooner: The county commission authorizes the county attorney to draft ordinance with referendum language. The ballot language must be 75 words or less.
  • Aug. 2: Commissioners must set a public hearing date on the referendum. The ordinance must be in final form.
  • Aug. 16: Public hearing on the ordinance. The ordinance would set referendum date, approve the form of the ballot question and provide for bond issue.
  • Aug. 31: Ballot language due to county supervisor of elections.
  • Nov. 6: Election and public vote on referendum.

 

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Patch.com article:

The Riverview Woman’s Club had 49 women at its June 20 luncheon to hear featured speaker, County Commissioner Sandy Murman.

By D’Ann White

With the promise of County Commissioner Sandy Murman as the featured speaker, 49 women attended the June 20 meeting of the Riverview Woman’s Club at the Doc’s Grill at the Summerfield Crossings Golf Club, 13050 Summerfield Blvd., Riverview.

“We were so happy. It was a great turnout and Sandy did such a great job,” said Donna Lee Fore, vice president of the club. “She talked about empowering woman and how women need to join forces and work together to achieve success.”

Fore said the club is now scheduling speakers for its July 18 and Aug. 15 lunches at Doc’s Grill. Dr. Earl Lennard, supervisor of he elections, will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 19 luncheon. The luncheons and the business meeting begins at 12 noon.

Fore also was pleased to report that the newly formed club now has 40 members.

The club was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in April. Since then, the club has had several successful monthly luncheons and a zumba fundraiser June 9 to help establish a scholarship for a Riverview High School student.

The next event will be a bunco fun night in July.

The club is open to all women in the area. The membership fee is $25 a year.

For information on joining or reservations for the next luncheon, contact Fore at 813-528-0902 or email contact@pfautoglass.com.

 

Housing Counselor honored; Commissioner Sandy Murman commends Florida Home Partnership for making home ownership reality

 28/06/2012 11:06:00

By MELODY JAMESON, Ruskin Observer News

 RUSKIN – Some folks are legends in their own minds, rarely losing the opportunity to say so.

 Then there are a rare few who are legends in their own time. And everyone but them knows it.

 Walter Walker Jr. is one of the latter. Hundreds of his grateful clients, his appreciative fans, his respectful colleagues said so, publicly, here, last weekend.

 This week, Walker, a housing counselor at the non-profit Housing and Education Alliance (HEA) inTampa, was back at his desk focused on helping first time homebuyers, insisting “I’m really a shy and withdrawn person.”

 There’s a plaque on his wall, though, that says differently. It’s the 2012 Dorothy Duke Award for Outstanding Community Service recognizingWalker’s dedication to homebuyer education. On it, in plain and simple English, are forever engraved the words: “Walter Walker, you are a Legend in HillsboroughCounty.”

 Walker, says Earl Pfeiffer, executive director of Florida Home Partnership, the local developer of several affordable housing communities, is an extremely competent housing counselor who relates well to people, talks anyone’s language and genuinely cares about homebuyers before and after their purchases. Pfeiffer knows becauseWalkerhas taught hundreds of FHP home buyers the intricacies and responsibilities of home ownership.

 But, the depth and intensity ofWalker’s dedication goes way above and beyond, Pfeiffer relates. If proof were needed, it came when HEA lost a substantial portion of its funding a while back. Disappearance of the money meant one thing immediately: layoff of personnel. When the sad announcement was made to the HEA staff though, Pfeiffer recalls,Walkerdeclined to leave, saying that if it was all the same to everyone, he’d stay in place, doing the job, without pay. Other staffers followed his lead, making the same commitment. The dry spell lasted for weeks, Pfeiffer notes. However, together, inspired byWalker, they weathered the fiscal storm. The agency continued delivering its multiple, invaluable services.

 None of this, naturally, was mentioned by the counselor asWalkerresponded to questions from The Observer this week. Instead, he spoke of the important broad spectrum impacts of home ownership; the social and economic and personal stability that exists when people have legal possession of and responsibility for their own homes. “Home,” he said, “is a place to retreat, a place where everyone feels comfortable, even a place to leave to children.” And it’s something everyone needs, he suggested.

 As a housing counselor,Walkerdeals with another spectrum of related subject areas. His role, he said, primarily is teaching home buyer education. That includes instructing them about financial capability, responsible use of credit, getting established in the marketplace. Then, there are the lessons to be learned about navigating the home purchase process and getting a handle on the meanings of myriad closing documents. And, sometimes there are the matters of loss mitigation; finding a solution for keeping a home when financial disaster threatens or, if nothing else, implementing the best exit strategy, be it deed-in-lieu-of-payment or short sale or foreclosure.

 In a single, eight-hour class, Walker may cover budgeting to create solid family financial foundations, credit from the lender perspective, types of mortgages, dealing with real estate agents, obtaining home inspections separate from appraisals and getting acquainted with the players at a transaction closing. For this, the prospective buyer pays $25. For the homeowner with a property “under water” – a market value less than the mortgage due – or otherwise out of his depth financially and facing foreclosure, there is no charge for counseling,Walkeradded.

 He got his start during the banking crisis of the 1980s with the Resolution Trust Corporation, helping liquidate troubled banks. And later, after acquiring “seat of the pants” education in connection with the pitfalls of home buying, joined a former colleague in 2002 to help get HEA off the ground. He learned, he said, he could command a podium and “found my calling. I come out of my shell and I’m compelled to share what I’ve learned.”

 Over the years, he figured he‘s touched the lives of an estimated 10,000 individuals in families of all sizes. And it still gives him a thrill, he added, when former students spot him and rush “across the mall to tell me about their new home and how much it means to them and how what they learned from me made it possible.”

 It may not be outlined in so many words on the plaque, but this, too, backsWalker’s award which led the presentations Saturday during the annual FHP Home Ownership Month Event in Bayou Pass Village III. The celebration featured a full Sonny’s meal of barbecued chicken or pork underwritten by TD Bank.

 Walkershared the day with Tammye Trevino, rural development administrator in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who ceremoniously signed a large replica of the $2.04 million grant check from the agency, and with Moises Loza, executive director of the Housing Assistance Council inWashington, who formally presented another $2-plus million in grant monies for the local affordable housing program.

 Florida Home Partnership, too, came in for kudos, receiving a Certificate of Commendation signed by all seven Hillsborough County Commissioners and formally given FHP by Commissioner Sandy Murman. The commendation, Murman said, expresses the gratitude of commissioners for making home ownership a reality as low and modest income buyers “build the dream they call home.”

 And before it was over, a group of youngsters now living inBayouPassneighborhoods told Trevino in their own words what their homes mean to them, from the joy of a claimed bedroom to safety and security. Then, they gave her a framed collection of their small handprints.

 The day that also saw several new homeowners receive the keys to their abodes began with a “playground build” adjacent to the community swimming pool and involving dozens of volunteers including local Home Depot store employees. It was completed by day’s end and praised heartily by Murman who noted “this is what it’s all about. This is community.”

 

 

Hillsborough County News

June 25, 2012

Hillsborough County Road Closures and Sandbags Available

The Following Roads Are Currently Closed:

Hillsborough from Hanley Kelly Road to the Veterans Expressway (road closed)

Hanley Road from Hillsborough Avenue to Hanna Avenue (road closed)

Memorial Highway from George Road to Dana Shores Drive

Twin Branch Acres Road along Double Branch Creek

West Park Village Drive

Ehrlich Road at Winterwind

Knollwood at Hesperedes

West Powhattan from Town ‘N Country Boulevard to the west

Brunswick Road from Hillsborough Avenue to the south

Sandbags Available:

Sandbags are available to the public at the following locations:

–West Service Unit. 9805 Sheldon Drive

–South Service Unit – 8718 Old Big Bend Road in Gibsonton

Filled sandbags will be available to the elderly/disabled. Sandbag materials will be available to those physically able to make their own. Additionally, each citizen will sign their name and provide their home address acknowledging the receipt of 25 sandbags or less.

 Citizens can call the Hillsborough InfoLine at 813-272-6900 to report problems or to request information.

 ###

 

Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tribune article on homelessness:

 Homeless advocates need to increase coordination

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 18, 2012 Updated: June 18, 2012 – 7:00 AM

TAMPA —

Everyone, it seems, has a plan to deal with homelessness in Tampa.

There are housing-first advocates. There are treatment-first advocates. There are groups focused on families, on single men, on the mentally ill, on veterans, on homeless teens. There are multi-million-dollar charities and others that barely get by.

Yet for all the time and money poured into the problem here, nearly 16,000 people remain homeless in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties – the highest rate of homelessness in the country, according to a report released this month by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Advocates say homelessness in the region has many causes, partly economic as Florida slowly recovers from the recession and partly societal with people reluctant to help those they may consider to be just lazy.

But part of the problem is also the homeless groups themselves.

They’ve spent years talking about solving homelessness but not enough time actually doing it, said Edi Erb, interim head of the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County.

“We didn’t have people committing resources to it,” she said.

That will have to change soon as federal officials – a major source of funding for homeless programs – put more focus on programs that produce results. That will mean moving people out of homelessness quickly rather than keeping them in a limbo-like shuffle among temporary fixes.

Many of Tampa’s disjointed, often-competing homeless charities agree they need to cooperate for a change.

“Everybody has to put their toys in the same sandbox,” said Tracey Crocker, a founder of Covenant House, a nondenominational housing and counseling program.

* * * * *

Tampa’s groups come together under the Homeless Coalition’s umbrella. There, they plan for the region’s needs and share government support passed along by cities and counties. But outside that umbrella, those same agencies are more likely to compete than cooperate – for both private money and clients.

“We have lots of providers here, but they tend to be very much independent,” said Ed Quinn, chief of services for Volunteers of America, a statewide charity headquartered in Ybor City.

Independence has produced a system that doesn’t always meet the needs of the people who use it. From the moment people becomes homeless here, they’re own their own to find a way into the farflung support system.

Those with access to a phone can get some help from the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, but most depend on law enforcement, hospitals or random chance to put them into the system.

“We all know that system of care,” said Debra Harris, chief of the Crisis Center’s phone-based 211 information system. “There’s no physical (building) that you can walk into and say, ‘help.’ There’s no wrap-around service.”

A disjointed approach to homelessness is common to cities nationwide at a time when recession and foreclosures have caused the demand for the help to skyrocket. But now the pressure is on the region’s homeless advocates to coordinate their efforts.

Federal money, long the backbone local housing efforts, is withering. Over the past two years, Community Development Block Grants have shrunk by 25 percent. Other housing funds have shrunk 30 percent. More federal cuts are looming next year.

With less money to spend, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is pushing agencies to work together to guarantee those dollars are well spent, said Ann Oliva, who oversees HUD’s homelessness efforts.

HUD expects to release new rules in the coming weeks that will force communities to track homeless clients from the point they enter the system through temporary housing to the point they’re back on their own two feet.

“We are going to be measured as a community for how long people are homeless,” Erb said.

That’ll be a new approach here, she added.

“We have people leaving our transitional housing that we have no idea where they went,” Erb said. “That’s not effective.”

In Barbara Bunton’s case, that’s been about 15 years.

* * * * *

After decades of living on the fringes of society, Bunton arrived in Tampa in 1996 with two children, a history of mental abuse and problems with a case of drug addiction.

“I was going to every program in Hillsborough County for help, but nobody would help me,” Bunton said.

Some groups turned her away because of her children, she said. Others, she said, declined to help because of her addiction. In 2004, she put her children in the care of a friend’s mother.

In 2007, after time in jail for drug possession, she attempted suicide beneath the Interstate 275 bridge over Marion Street. A homeless friend called 911.

“When I woke up, I was at Mental Health Care,” she said. The group provides housing and treatment for people with mental illness.

Over the years that followed, she worked her way through a chain of Tampa groups focused on the conjunction of mental illness and homelessness: Mental Health Care, Project Return, Volunteers of America, Covenant House.

It wasn’t easy. Sometimes she relapsed into addiction. Sometimes she spent her days watching TV and smoking.

Bunton credits Tracey Crocker with getting through her problems and putting her life back on track. Crocker, who has her own story of abuse and homelessness, runs the small charity with her husband, Pastor Cory Crocker.

“There are as many reasons people are homeless as there are reasons why people live where they live,” Tracey Crocker said.

Today, Bunton, who once trained to be a certified nurse assistant, works as an in-home aide for an elderly woman in West Tampa. She’s mending her relationship her children and is now a grandmother.

“It’s like a new chapter of my life is beginning,” Bunton said last week.

* * * * *

Homeless advocates say Bunton’s story of substance abuse and mental illness is a common one among their homeless clients.

“A lot of people think they’re just drunks, but mental illness is a real problem,” said Janet Stringfellow, spokeswoman for Volunteers of America. “People need to go beyond the person in the street asking for money.”

It’s easier to raise money for cancer victims or stray animals than it is for homeless people, Stringfellow said.

“People are taking a look at who they’re donating to,” Tracey Crocker said. “Ten years ago, people were donating a lot differently than they are now.”

Private money may get tighter next year as one more group, this one backed by County Commissioner Sandy Murman and supported by pillars of Tampa’s community, puts its hand out for help providing long-term housing for the region’s homeless.

Group members plan to rehab a Suitcase City apartment complex to provide long-term housing and support for people now living on the street. They hope their project will inspire enough donations to house 500 of the region’s most chronically homeless.

Charities are worried a change in federal tax law eliminating charitable deductions will make their jobs harder by giving people less incentive to donate. Social service groups tend to depend on small donations, often given by the people they have helped, said Adriene Davis, spokeswoman for the Indiana-based Center for Philanthropy.

“There’s not an easy answer for that,” said Erb.

* * * * *

Private money helps the community secure larger federal grants. But those are also becoming hard to get as Congress tightens the noose around anti-poverty funds.

That’s why HUD is now focusing on collaboration among agencies at the ground level. The hope is collaboration will do a better job of getting people back on their own more quickly.

The current system favors wheel-spinning over forward momentum, said Ray Tuller, chief operating officer for Volunteers of America.

“It’s never been a results-oriented industry,” Tuller said. “It has to be about getting people out of the pool.”

Tampa could follow Philadelphia’s model and build a central location for homeless people to get help. Or charities could simply agree to use the same vetting process when someone comes to them for help, HUD’s Oliva said.

The important thing is that people go where they can get the help they need, she said.

“People shouldn’t be turned away with no alternative,” she said.

Tampa’s homeless advocates support a more comprehensive approach. It’s not clear when and how they’ll make it happen.

One thing is clear, though, Erb said.

“It does mean giving up a little bit of your turf.”

 

Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tribune article on Channelside plans:

 Vinik’s vision for Channelside has L.A. flavor

 By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 17, 2012 Updated: June 17, 2012 – 8:00 AM

 TAMPA —

As Jeff Vinik leads the pack of bidders vying to take over the Channelside Bay Plaza entertainment complex, anyone wanting hints of his plans need only look 2,500 miles west to a development called “L.A. Live.”

The multi-billion-dollar project in downtown Los Angeles is much larger than Channelside, and the complex includes a major convention center, hotels and potentially an NFL stadium. But there are some intriguing parallels.

Namely, the Leiweke brothers.

Vinik made his fortune with financial investments, but much of his business in Tampa is managed by Tod Leiweke, one of six siblings, including Tracey, Terry, Trish, Tim and Therese. Many of them have interests in sports and development.

Leiweke has been the point person on Vinik’s hockey operations, the massive renovations at the Forum, Vinik’s charitable work around Tampa and his plans for Channelside and the broader Channel District.

When Vinik appears at fundraisers or other public events, Leiweke often is close at hand. Recently, he was named to the Board of Directors for the USF Foundation.

All this puts Leiweke in charge of a key part of downtown. The Forum, where Vinik’s hockey team plays, sits between the convention center and the Channelside shopping complex, which Vinik is jockeying to take over in a complicated bidding process.

Vinik is also buying into large plots of vacant land to the north of the Forum — one area where city boosters dream a baseball park may rise one day.

While Leiweke manages work for Vinik, his older brother, Tim, manages business operations of another wealthy mogul — Philip Anschutz, who made his fortune in oil and railroads but has been expanding into publishing and entertainment.

The crown jewel of the Los Angeles entertainment drive has been the “L.A. Live” development downtown. At the center is the Staples Center, where the L.A. Kings recently celebrated winning the Stanley Cup.

Tim Leiweke is leading Anschutz’s roughly $2.5 billion plan for the complex that includes a 54-story Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotel complex and a new convention center adjacent to the arena. The complex already hosts a major food and wine festival and film festival.

Next, Tim Leiweke is leading Anschutz’s drive to assemble or acquire a pro football team for Los Angeles in a new stadium potentially built at the complex. The Farmers insurance company already has signed on as the marquis brand for the naming rights to the stadium.

Several new sports centers across the country include multi-use developments with hotels and shopping centers.

However, months ago, the Vinik group began preliminary and private meetings with individual Port Authority board members about Channelside, and their artist’s renderings and neighborhood plans were deeply informed by the “L.A. Live” concept.

“To me that’s good,” said Sandy Murman, Hillsborough County’s representative on the port board. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. They know what they have to put into place. I like that L.A. Live concept. It’s lively and it works.”

Right after seeing the Vinik materials privately, board member Stephen Swindal started researching deeper into the L.A. Live concept.

“I looked closely at it,” Swindal said. “They’ve done a very nice job there.”

As for the Leiweke brothers, both were attending a family wedding in Hawaii and not available for comment.

Theoretically, port board members this summer could approve or reject Vinik’s plan to take over the complex.

The port owns the land underneath the complex. The Anglo Irish bank holds the mortgage backing the complex above. The bank held a bidding process this spring for investors vying to take over that mortgage, but it chose only Vinik’s package to send to the port to consider approving.

Although they didn’t consider that result ideal, as of this week, at least six of seven port board members say they admire Vinik and generally approve of his plans.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who sits on the board, said, “I’m perfectly happy with Jeff Vinik as the last man standing. He already has skin in the game … . It makes sense to create some critical mass there and have some cross marketing that creates a pedestrian-friendly, retail, event-driven complex from the convention center to Channelside. I think that is the best path to success.”

Board Chairman Lawrence Shipp said, “Either of the groups I think would have done a super job down there … . But we’re faced with a situation of ‘Do you accept the deal or not.’ He’s done great things for that area, and in that light, this is just a win-win.”

Board member William “Hoe” Brown said, “Jeff is always going to do the right thing … . I’ve got faith in Vinik and his group and all those people involved. They can turn it around with the right product.”

* * * * *

All of the Each of board members said they’ll look closely at details of Vinik’s final plan and ask for deep financial details about any potential port or taxpayer commitment. The parking garage across the street also likely will be involved.

Several board members said Vinik’s plan involves new pedestrian bridges from the elevated parking garage that would stretch over Channelside Drive into the retail complex. The vacant lot to the west likely will play into the overall redevelopment plan — potentially linking the entire neighborhood from the Florida Aquarium to the Tampa Convention Center.

However, board members also face a stark choice.

If they reject Vinik’s plan, the issue would effectively revert back to the bank holding the mortgage on the shopping complex, and the bank would have to start over and re-open bidding on the note.

The port also could continuing litigation with the bank over the property, which could further delay a takeover.

Buckhorn said that’s not an appealing option.

“I think we can’t afford — and it would not be desirous — to send it back to the bank,” Buckhorn said. “That center is on life support now. This needs to be resolved and we need to move forward. We have forward momentum and Vinik is the last man standing.”

 

Hillsborough County News

June 13, 2012

Contact: Wanda Sloan, Office of Neighborhood Relations, (813) 307-3564

 

Apply Now For Hillsborough County Neighborhood Mini-Grants

Neighborhood associations can now apply for mini-grants up to $2,500 for fiscal year 2013 to fund projects to improve their communities and increase civic involvement. 

Hillsborough County’s Office of Neighborhood Relations is accepting applications through Friday, August 17 at 5 p.m. Applications for the mini-grants are available on the County’s website at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/onr/minigrant.

These mini-grants support community projects in neighborhoods located in unincorporated areas of the County, and the cities of Plant City, Tampa, and Temple Terrace. Previous grant-funded projects include shrub and flower planting, subdivision entrance signs, playground equipment, neighborhood festivals, crime watch programs, websites, newsletters, and education activities.

Applications will be reviewed by the Neighborhood Mini-Grant Evaluation Committee and approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Only one grant will be awarded per neighborhood association. Recipients will be notified by November 30.

Completed applications may be dropped off or mailed to Office of Neighborhood Relations, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 1st Floor, Tampa, FL 33602, or faxed to 813-276-2621.

The Mini-Grant Program was established in 1988 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners to improve and revitalize communities, and strengthen neighborhood associations.

 For more information, call ONR at 813-272-5860.

 

Commissioner quoted in this Tribune article on Hillsborough County Healthcare Plan:

Local health care plan awaits high court ruling

By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: June 10, 2012 Updated: June 10, 2012 – 12:00 AM

TAMPA —

Revamping of a Hillsborough County health plan for poor people remains in limbo as local leaders wait for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on national health care reform.

More than 13,000 Hillsborough residents participate in the 20-year-old health insurance of last resort. But those numbers likely will rise or fall once the high court decides whether President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is constitutional.

For months, the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan Advisory Board has hesitated in making changes to the local plan, with meetings focusing on a lot of “what ifs” about who qualifies for its primary care, specialists, out-patient treatment and prescription coverage.

Once the national debate about “Obamacare” is clarified, local leaders say, they will know how many people will need help from the local plan. To prepare, the advisory board already has identified which aspects of the plan it needs to evaluate for cost effectiveness and impact.

“We’ll be ready for either pass or fail,” said county Department of Family and Aging Services Director Gene Earley, who serves as the staff administrator for the advisory board.

The urgency to streamline and improve health services for residents was behind last week’s request by Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman to re-evaluate the local plan. Murman said she didn’t know the advisory board was making plans to do the same.

She pulled the request after speaking with Earley.

“This is the best time to be doing this and be ahead of the curve,” Murman said.

However, the wait-and-see approach has frustrated some advisory board members and observers, who are eager to add more participants or programs, such as dental care.

Dena Leavengood, a community activist who has followed the plan for a dozen years, said she’s concerned that indecision will make the plan vulnerable to politics.

“They shouldn’t wait. They should go and do something,” Leavengood said. “We’re doing a disservice. It could be a model.”

The Hillsborough County Health Care Plan was created in 1991 as a preventative health plan for people unable to get private or government-backed insurance such as Medicaid. A half-cent county sales tax, and a related trust fund, pays for most of the care.

Earley said despite the pending Supreme Court case, the advisory board has been trying to make the plan more cost-efficient, sometimes using recommendations from a politically appointed committee that evaluated the plan several years ago.

The advisory board has made other strides, he said. For example, it identified and revamped a prescription drug plan, saving an estimated $10 million a year.

And this summer, the county is verifying the residency and qualifications of all 13,000 current participants. A sample survey of 380 clients found 18 percent lacked proper proof that they met the residency or income requirements, Earley said.

Nearly 75 percent of the 13,000 Hillsborough residents now in the plan are single, between the ages 19 and 64, county records show. Sixty-five percent are unemployed and another 22 percent have jobs that don’t provide health insurance.

Cutting costs helps sustain the trust fund, which also supplements health care for local children and programs at local jails and hospitals, Earley said. In recent years, the fund also has been tapped to reimburse the state for local Medicaid care.

Leavengood worries these financial demands cloud the county’s original intent: to provide preventative care to the working poor and keep them out of the emergency room.

“I do see potential for it to be raided again,” Leavengood said.

But the sales tax and trust fund shouldn’t be locked into a single purpose, Murman said. The plan should regularly be evaluated to make sure the local sales tax is providing the best health care assistance to its current residents, she said.

“In 15 years, things do change,” Murman said. “I think we’ve got an excellent staff that … can see what we are spending our money on and when there are missed opportunities or gaps.”

 
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