Dick Greco's Latest Racist Comment

I gave Dick Greco the last time he made a racially charged statement. Greco did it again to black Mayoral candidate Tom Scott.

Then the four – Rose Ferlita was absent – were asked: Tell the person to your left what job he would hold in your administration if you were elected mayor.

Buckhorn to Greco: Ambassador to the world.

Turanchik to Buckhorn: Deputy mayor for economic development.

Scott to Turanchik: Head of mass transit.

Greco to Scott: "My driver, to take me home from MacDinton's."

To add context: earlier in the debate the candidates were asked which one of the four would they choose to be a designated driver. Greco Buckhorn and Turanchik agrred on Scott. The latter is a well-known religious leader in the East Tampa community. When asked what job the winner of the election would choose for the other Greco said to Scott, "My driver, to take me home from MacDinton's."

Scott told Greco that Scott apologized to him after the event. Greco said that was false.

"Apologize for what?" he said. "There's not a prejudiced bone in my body."

Voters, do not give Greco another term. The man has lost his mind.

Policy Wonks Need Not Apply to Tampa Mayor's Race

I find it rather troubling that Tampa mayor frontrunner Dick Greco does not have an issues page on his web site. It suggests that Greco hasn't thought about policy or his so cocky that he feels he doesn't have to outline his positions.

Republican candidate has a poorly designed web page that allows to scroll over her positions. Under public safety: it seems clear that Ferlita disagrees with Gov. Rick Scott's decision to eliminate the Office of Drug Control.

As a pharmacist and Commissioner, I worked with the Governor’s Office of Drug Control to implement legislation instituting a prescription drug monitoring program. Given that Governor Scott has eliminated the Office of Drug Control, and because of the ongoing understaffing at the State level with regards to drug issues in our State, I intend to redirect more of the City's resources to enforce state and local laws. Additionally, I intend to reassign more officers to exclusively focus on tackling this epidemic. I will continue to work with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office, Hillsborough County government, other regional county governments, drug task forces, a multitude of committees, neighborhoods and citizens who want to share in this war against drugs. Collaborative efforts will be our strength and our success.

Having spoken with our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, she clearly understands that I am eager to assist her office, and specifically, Mr. Dave Aronberg, in Florida's war against drugs. As a pharmacist and as a local elected official, I have always been front and center against this epidemic. My position will be the same as Mayor of Tampa. As Mayor, I will make sure that the message is clear: "The Ferlita Administration will have zero tolerance for this horrible drug epidemic that leads to deaths of our youth due to overdoses. This is a huge public safety issue and it will be addressed under my watch."

Ferlita wants to eliminate excessive regulations and form public and private partnerships. This places the Republican Ferlita is the same position as President Obama on regulations.

Ferlita supports green initiatives such as electric cars and reclaimed water.

Candidate Tom Scott has an issues page with no information on it. I wonder if Scott was hoping no one would click the link at the top of his homepage.

Bob Buckhorn as been running for mayor forever and still doesn't have a issues page on his web site. Buckhorn didn't even bother to outline his anti-lap dance platform.

Ed Turanchik wants buses to have WIFI internet access. Turanchik is the king of goofy ideas. Turanchik lobbied to bring the 2012 summer Olympics to Tampa. Never mind that Tampa wasn't feasible for holding the Olympics. The rest of Turanchik's policy page is talking points.

Think about it: of all the transportation problems Tampa has who but Turanchik would place WIFI access on Hartline buses on the top of the agenda?

Conclusion: with the exception of Ferlita, none of the other candidates have articulated what they want to do as mayor. The reason there has been a lack of media coverage about the race is because the candidates aren't really saying anything. Bob Buckhorn's two years of campaigning is about to be crushed by Greco and he is still playing it safe on policy. These candidates make Alex Sink look like a bold policy candidate.

Correction: Bob Buckhorn has a lengnthy policy plan. I will write a post on Buckhorn's plan when I get the chance. Thanks to Buckhorn to pointing out my mistake.

If any other candidates have plans feel free to email me.

Tampa Mayor Debate

Creative Loafing will be hosting a debate for candidates running for Mayor of Tampa. Mitch Perry will be the moderator and the candidates appearing are Bob Buckhorn, Rose Ferlita, Dick Greco, Arthur Richardson, Tom Scott and Ed Turanchik. The first half of the debate will be Perry fielding the candidates questions. The second half will be questions from the audience.

You will have to reserve a seat in order to attend the debate. What is interesting is calls for seats are screened by Perry. On a certain level: it is understandable why Perry wouldn't want Tea Partiers yelling at the candidates and slamming on the doors of the Creative Loafing offices. My question is why hold the debate at Creative Loafing. Why not move the debate to the USF campus. Creative Loafing would have a bigger venue and security.

My fear is Perry is going to ask softball questions and fill the audience with influential Tampa residents. We shall see.

Time
Thursday, February 10 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Location CL Space
1911 N. 13th St. Ste. W200 (above Spaghetti Warehouse in Ybor Square)
Tampa, FL

Tampa City Council Passes Transgender Protection Ordinance

Great news: the Tampa City Council passed civil rights protections for transgender people 5 to 1. Councilman Charlie Miranda was the lone dissenting vote.

The new rule prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on "gender identity and expression," with that defined as someone who has an "inner sense of being a specific gender" regardless of their "assigned sex at birth."

Miranda said he voted no because he was afraid transgender people would create a disruption in the workplace. This attitude lead to the firing of Largo City city manager Susan Stanton. Largo garnered negative national publicity from Stanton's termination.

A big surprise was Councilman Tom Scott voting for the ordinance. Scott is a pastor at the socially conservative 34th Street Church of God. During his tenure on the Hillsborough County Commission, Scott voted for the ban of gay pride displays in county public libraries. Scott stated LGBT issues are not related to civil rights. Scott voting for the transgender ordinance is surprising.

"I did not sleep well last night. I spent most of my time as a Christian praying and seeking wisdom and direction on this particular ordinance," he said.

Scott said he wasn't intimidated by people who threatened not to vote for him if he supported the ordinance.

"The only vote I care about is God's vote," he said, noting that as a county commissioner he cast votes against gay issues.

Equality Florida is asking supporters to thank the Council for passing this ordinance. I am asking you to thank Terry Kemple for once again failing to achieve his silly Christian conservative agenda. Kemple attempted to stop Kevin Beckner from getting elected and a Valrico bikini bar from opening. Kemple failed on both counts. The L.A. Clippers have a better winning streak than Kemple. Send Kemple a message on Facebook and thank him for his lack of accomplishments.