The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Local News

Company rewarded for its job growth

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Pasco County commissioners rewarded a Lutz startup pharmacy service for adding at least 26 full-time jobs to the local economy.

Crestmark Pharmacy Services LLC received an incentive payout of $104,000 through a jobs agreement approved by commissioners at their June 21 meeting in New Port Richey.

Since opening in 2015, the company has hired 24 employees.

That number could rise to 30 or more, according to Randall McElheney, company manager.

“We’re happy to be in Pasco County,” said McElheney.

Crestmark Pharmacy is located at 1860 Highland Oaks Blvd., in Lutz. The company provides prescription medications to long-term care patients at nursing homes. Services also include information technology solutions for caregivers, consultations, and infusion therapy.

The Pasco Economic Development Council reviewed the company’s application and found that it qualified for the incentive program.

Under county ordinance, companies must create a minimum of 10 jobs within a year. Salaries must be greater than the average wage in Pasco County, and at least 51 percent of products and services must be sold outside of the county.

County officials see the economic impact from jobs at Crestmark Pharmacy as a generator of additional jobs, indirectly. Estimates are for 17 more jobs locally at other businesses and 13 more jobs in other counties, for a total of 56 jobs.

Crestmark Pharmacy also is adding good paying jobs at an average annual salary of about $60,000 per employee. At 26 employees, total annual wages paid by the company would be about $1.3 million.

Annual sales for the company are about $12 million, according to county officials.

The pharmacy’s distribution area primarily is central Florida, as far north as Gainesville and as far south as Port Charlotte. McElheney said.

“The incentive had a lot to do with us deciding to come here,” he said. But, other factors also mattered.

Lutz is centrally located within the Tampa Bay region. There also is a good labor market for recruiting job applicants, McElheney said.

He also noted that Pasco is a growth area.

“People can be close to their home. It was attractive to them to work here,” he said.

Published June 29, 2016

Shops at Wiregrass debuts flagpole on Flag Day

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Initially billed as a celebration to unveil a new 40-foot flagpole at The Shops at Wiregrass, the event took on a more somber tone in light of the mass shootings in Orlando.

At the beginning of the Flag Day ceremony, Greg Lenners, the general manager for The Shops at Wiregrass, asked for a moment of silence.

That moment lasted 49 seconds.

Unfurling the 8-by-12 American flag, members of the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol prepare to raise the flag during a Flag Day ceremony at The Shops at Wiregrass. Cadets, from left, Andrew Alayon, 16, of Wesley Chapel; Cassie Ramer, 15, of Spring Hill; and Francisco Pulgarin, 16, and Elicia Smith, 15, both of Wesley Chapel, assist in the regional mall’s first flag-raising event. (Fred Bellet/Photos)
Unfurling the 8-by-12 American flag, members of the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol prepare to raise the flag during a Flag Day ceremony at The Shops at Wiregrass. Cadets, from left, Andrew Alayon, 16, of Wesley Chapel; Cassie Ramer, 15, of Spring Hill; and Francisco Pulgarin, 16, and Elicia Smith, 15, both of Wesley Chapel, assist in the regional mall’s first flag-raising event.
(Fred Bellet/Photos)

Each second symbolized the loss of a life on June 12 at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

In asking for sign of respect, Lenners also asked those gathered to honor those who were injured, as well as their families and the community of Orlando.

Following Lenners’ remarks, Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore shared some history about Flag Day, noting that it was officially established by a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916.

President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress on Aug. 3, 1949 declaring June 14 as National Flag Day.

Moore invited those gathered to reflect upon the meaning of the American flag.

“Think to yourself: What does this flag mean to me?” Moore said. “In your heart, right now, what does it mean to you?” he asked.

“Who gave up their lives to keep that flag flying?” he asked.

Moore said when he thinks about the flag, he thinks about such things as freedom, family, veterans and pride.

The Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol handled the duties of presenting the colors and hoisting the flag.

Immediately after raising the 8-by-12-foot flag to the top of the pole, squadron members lowered it to half-staff, in honor of the Orlando shooting victims.

Those attending the event said they came to demonstrate their patriotism and celebrate what the American flag represents.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office mounted posse was on hand at the June 14 Flag Day ceremony, to celebrate the installation of a 40-foot flagpole at The Shops at Wiregrass.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office mounted posse was on hand at the June 14 Flag Day ceremony, to celebrate the installation of a 40-foot flagpole at The Shops at Wiregrass.

Teresa Fegan came sporting a blouse decked out with stars.

“I feel like we’re free in this country,” the 73-year-old Fegan said, explaining why she wanted to attend. “It’s wonderful to be a part of this country. I am so sorry for what happened in Orlando,” she added.

Her 80-year-old husband, Pete, said he posts a flag at his home on all of the nation’s patriotic holidays.

Fifty-year-old Juan Obando and his 42-year-old wife, Monica, came to the ceremony for two reasons.

They wanted to support their son, Juan Obando Jr., who is part of the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron, and they wanted to express their patriotism.

Gabriel Quinn, a cadet with the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and others, salute, while Eric Johnson sings ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’
Gabriel Quinn, a cadet with the Wesley Chapel Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and others, salute, while Eric Johnson sings ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’

“We are American citizens,” Juan Obando said. “We are supporting America at this time,” he added, referring to the mass shootings in Orlando.

“It is so sad,” his wife, Monica said.

The event also attracted a number of dignitaries, including Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader and state Reps. Danny Burgess and Shawn Harrison. Bob Hatfield was there, too, representing U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis.

Eric Johnson, of Wesley Chapel Toyota, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with a few members of the audience reverently joining in.

When adding the flagpole to the regional mall, Lenners said “we were methodical in looking for the location.

“We wanted something that was front and center,” he said. “This is certainly front and center.”

Published June 22, 2016

Summer of sorrow calls us to love each other

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Only weeks have passed since the awful news that emerged from Meadow Pointe, but ensuing events in Orlando make it seem like a lifetime. So much atrocity packed into so little time. We hadn’t even crossed the solstice, and already it was the summer of sorrow.

But for many in our community, it began here, with the dark bathroom, the blocked door, the oozing blood, and the pure, inexpugnable horror beyond.

Fifteen-year-old Tovonna Holton’s image went viral on social media, following the the Wiregrass Ranch High School freshman’s death. (Facebook.com)
Fifteen-year-old Tovonna Holton’s image went viral on social media, following the the Wiregrass Ranch High School freshman’s death.
(Facebook.com)

And after that, the revelations and the conjecture, the grief and the fury. Tovonna Holton murmured she “owed them.” But surely she didn’t owe them this, the ultimate self-sacrifice. Surely not this. The life of a 15-year-old, so vibrant and full of possibility, in exchange — if the early narrative proves out — for cruel, brainless shaming?

It is too late for Tovonna, whose photographs reveal her beauty and outward joy, but fail to detect her brittle vulnerabilities. But, if there are young people in your household, or your neighborhood, or in your greater village where you work, play, worship, attend school or volunteer, now — yes, literally, now (tonight might be too late) — is the time to tell them: There is nothing so awful in your life that we cannot sort it out together.

I’m talking to adults, of course, but not just to adults. This is on teens and ‘tweens, too. This next is for them.

Guys, you know, oftentimes better than parents or the other adults in your lives, when your friends are aching, when they think they’ve been done wrong.

Nobody expects you to fix the hurt. But, you can be the key to helping make sure the hurt doesn’t explode. You can be the one who gives permission to seeking the grownup who can defuse the bomb ticking inside your friend.

Your elementary school training about stumbling upon mislaid weapons applies. Whether it’s an abandoned gun or your friend’s crisis, it’s not your duty to pick it up and carry it around. Instead, you provide support by getting help. And that help begins by gently introducing a responsible adult.

Sometimes it’s mom and/or dad. Sometimes it’s a pastor or a teacher or a counselor or a coach or a club sponsor or the principal. Maybe it’s one of the moms who’s always working the concession stand, even if her kids don’t run in your circles. Maybe it’s the neighbor with the slightly disheveled yard, or the manager at your favorite night spot.

The thing about grownups is, they’ve usually learned knowing all the answers is less important than knowing whom to ask when they’re stumped. And they — we — would much rather play the role of guide than mourner. We’d rather bring relief than casseroles and flowers.

What allegedly happened to Tovonna Holton — a surreptitious video of her showering, or bathing — posted on the internet, was unspeakable. If the claims survive scrutiny, then every step in the process violated Tovonna’s most precious rights: the right to innocence, the right to privacy, the right not to be exploited, the right not to be subjected to ridicule.

At the time this is being written, a spokesman for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office reports the agency is close to wrapping up its investigation. If the allegations are confirmed, it is difficult to imagine a punishment sufficient for those who conspired to propel Tovonna over the brink.

But, even if the source of ultimate trouble lay elsewhere, the shaming video exists. Did no one stop to think: “What’s the worst that can happen?” And its necessary follow-up: “Can I live with that?” These are always good questions to weigh, in every phase of life, but never more so than when what you’re plotting holds the potential to scar someone for life.

For life? Yes. The internet is forever. If she’d somehow found the courage and counseling to survive her tortured moment on the cliff overlooking oblivion, she’d have had to figure out how to get along knowing the footage was out there, always lurking.

“Explain this video,” says the college gatekeeper. “You want to tell me what was going on here?” says the personnel director between her and her dream job. “How did you wind up naked on YouTube?” asks the man who was almost Tovonna’s fiancé. And on and on and on.

And yet, we would surrender all that is good and reassuring about our species if we imagined even such an unforgivable prank couldn’t have been surmounted.

In the wake of the slaughter in the nightclub popular with Orlando’s LGBT community, people set aside their politics and upbringings to overwhelm blood banks. And, there’s movement on how to keep firearms away from smoldering bad actors tentatively identified by law enforcement.

Because these are things we can do. So is wrapping an arm around a troubled teen and saying, right now, “I am here. You are loved. Things will get better.”

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published June 22,2016

Budget talks start in Pasco

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The economy is picking up steam with new housing construction leading the way, and property tax revenues on the rise.

But, that won’t mean Pasco County commissioners will have an easy time figuring out how to spend tax dollars and hold the line on tax increases.

Commissioners face large budget requests including an increase of $6.5 million from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and smaller requests, including a circulator bus route in Land O’ Lakes. The bus route would cost about $365,000 in the first year and about $308,000 a year after that.

The county’s staff is not recommending a change in the millage rate, but homeowners could see an increase in taxes based on rising property values, officials said.

Commissioners met in a June 13 workshop to gather information about the upcoming 2017 budget. They heard multiple presentations from county department heads.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco
Chris Nocco
(File Photo)

The largest dollar amount increase request is from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, which is seeking a 6.1 percent increase, which amounts to about $6.4 million in new funding. If approved, the sheriff’s budget would be $110 million in 2017.

This is the second consecutive year that Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco has sought a budget increase of more than $6 million.

Last year, commissioners approved $2.7 million to cover pay raises and benefits, as well as ongoing expenses for body cameras and helicopter maintenance.

Nocco is seeking another round of pay raises to make deputies’ salaries more competitive with other law enforcement agencies in Hillsborough, Pinellas and the City of Tampa.

Data from the sheriff’s office shows the area’s average starting salary is almost $46,000, while Pasco’s is about $41,000. Pasco’s starting salary is the lowest in the region compared to Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee and Pinellas counties and also lags behind St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tampa.

The sheriff’s budget also includes money for 10 new positions for the sheriff’s office and 15 for other agencies.

There also is a request for about $700,000 for laptop computers, an item previously funded from the Penny for Pasco program.

Last year’s budget discussions surrounding the sheriff’s budget often grew contentious.

But after his presentation, Nocco told The Laker/Lutz News: “Everybody has been positive. Everyone is working together.”

Other department heads also made their case for new revenues to increase staff and add services.

Libraries administrator Nancy Fredericks asked for staff needed to restore operating hours for libraries to pre-recession years.

Currently libraries are open five days a week and one night a week per location. Fredericks hopes for nearly $500,000 more to operate libraries six days a week, and on two to four nights a week.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore asked Fredericks to give commissioners options on operating hours. “Maybe we can work our way toward this in two to three years,” he said.

Commissioners approved a master plan for the county’s parks and recreation facilities in 2015. It would take an estimated $222 million to implement the plan.

As a start, Kelley Boree, parks, recreation and natural resources director, proposed hiring a consultant to craft a pilot campaign to help launch the plan. That would cost $75,000, but Boree said many counties hire consultants for this reason.

There is no one on the county’s staff that has the skill set to perform this work, Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker said.

“To me this is critically important because our parks are so underfunded,” said Pasco County Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey. “I’m talking about all types of recreation…We’ve been lax in this forever.”

The county also is proposing to hire a lobbyist to promote Pasco’s interests in Washington D.C., at a cost of $60,000 a year.

Richard Gehring, the county’s strategic policy administrator, said Pasco would see benefits from a “closer relationship” with federal agencies, especially those dealing with transportation and environmental matters.

Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader said he wasn’t opposed to the proposal, but said the county should avoid duplicating efforts already done by the Florida Department of Transportation.

“You’ve got to be specific on lobbying efforts on the federal level,” he said.

The building department wants about $403,000 to hire four new inspectors and a records clerk to implement a code enforcement ordinance approved amid controversy among Land O’ Lakes business owners.

The ordinance is meant to focus on cleanup efforts along major corridors including U.S. 41, U.S. 301 and U.S. 19. But, building officials now say they don’t have enough staff to enforce it.

In subsequent years, enforcement costs would be about $290,000.

Commissioners will meet individually with county staff in the next weeks to make their budget preferences known.

The budget will be presented on July 12, with final approval in September.

Published June 22, 2016

Making life easier for local Marines

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Seventy-seven-year-old L. David Kirk lives by the U.S. Marine Corps’ motto, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

He served in the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1964, completing two tours of duty in the Mediterranean, two tours of duty in Okinawa, and serving in Southeast Asia and California, as well.

“It was the best eight years I ever spent, because it took me from teenager to man,” said the retired Lutz business man. “I can never thank the Marine Corps more, for giving me the discipline to make it where I am today.”

L. David Kirk, of Lutz, is spearheading an effort to establish a Marine Corps League Detachment in Land O’ Lakes. He wants to make it more convenient for those who are serving and those who have served to get involved in the league’s activities. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
L. David Kirk, of Lutz, is spearheading an effort to establish a Marine Corps League Detachment in Land O’ Lakes. He wants to make it more convenient for those who are serving and those who have served to get involved in the league’s activities.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

Even though he completed his service more than half-century ago, Kirk’s fidelity to the U.S. Marine Corps remains robust.

“Three years ago, two other Marines and myself, and our wives, we got together and we thought it would be a good idea if we started a Marine group in Land O’ Lakes,” Kirk said.

That group, named Marine Forever Veterans Group LLC, meets on Monday evenings at the Beef O’ Brady’s in the Village Lakes Shopping Center, 21539 Village Lakes Shopping Center Drive in Land O’ Lakes. The shopping center is on the north side of State Road 54, slightly east of U.S. 41.

Kirk now is accepting applications from those wishing to join a new Marine Corps League Detachment that likely would meet at the same Beef O’ Brady’s restaurant.

The league is open to active duty, reserve and honorable discharged veterans of Marine Corps and Navy FMF Corpsmen and Chaplains who live in Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, Odessa, Wesley Chapel and surrounding areas.

There’s a need for the new detachment because there isn’t one nearby, Kirk said.

“We’ve got Marines here that travel 15 and 20 miles to belong to the League. Think how many more that would join, if they didn’t have to travel that far. And, there’s a lot of Marines that live in this area.”

Besides being more convenient, it would be less expensive to attend meetings in Land O’ Lakes, because it wouldn’t take as much gas to get to meetings, Kirk added.

To launch a new charter, the group needs at least 20 members that do not belong to an existing detachment, Kirk said. Once the new detachment is established, existing league members can transfer, he added.

A meeting has been scheduled for June 25 at 2 p.m., at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, in the Village Lakes Shopping Center, to answer questions about the proposed new detachment, the annual dues, uniforms, meeting dates, mission of the group and so on.

Anyone who would qualify to join and would like more information is encouraged to attend, said Kirk, past commandant of the Angus R. Goss Detachment in Tampa.

The Marine Corps League was founded in 1923 by World War I hero Major General Commandant John A. Lejeune, and its congressional charter was approved by an act of the 75th Congress, which was signed and approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aug. 4, 1937.

The league’s mission calls for its members to “join together in camaraderie and fellowship for the purpose of preserving and promoting the interests of the United States Marine Corps and those that have been honorably discharged from that service that they may effectively promote the ideas of American freedom and democracy.”

The league’s mission also calls for “voluntarily aiding and rendering assistance to all Marines and former Marines and to their widows, and orphans; and to perpetuate the history of the United States Marine Corps and by fitting acts to observe the anniversaries of historical occasions of particular interest to Marines.”

Kirk said he’s confident that a new detachment will be formed, noting he already has commitments from 10 potential members. But, he would like to form this new detachment as soon as possible.

For more information on becoming a charter member of the new detachment and to receive updates on upcoming meetings, email Kirk at .

For more information about the Marine Corps League, visit http://mclnational.org//

For more information about Marine Forever Veteran Group, LLC, visit Marine4Ever.com

and Facebook.com/MarineForeverVeteransGroup.

Published June 22, 2016

Preparing for industrial development

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It may not sound exciting, but a sewer line is one of the elements needed to help spur industrial development near Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

And, thanks to $3.2 million from Pasco County, the city will be able to pay for about 20,000 linear feet of sewer, as well as two lift stations.

The sewer line will serve about 600 acres.

It is the next step in a multiphase project to create a build-ready site that will appeal to developers.

Construction is expected to begin in September or October, and would take about 18 months to complete.

Zephyrhills City Council approved a cooperative agreement with Pasco County on June 13.

The City of Zephyrhills already has committed about $4.5 million to infrastructure at the site, including improvements to water lines to increase capacity and pressure. Dade City has participated, too.

“It’s a definite partnership, ” said Melanie Kendrick, Pasco County’s acting program director for the office of economic growth.

In 2015, Duke Energy and consultants with McCallum Sweeney completed a study and site assessment of about 480 acres around the airport. They found that about 414 acres at the site could accommodate aerospace, manufacturing, light industrial and assembly companies, and the plastics industry.

But, first the site had to be made market-ready with infrastructure including water and sewer lines. One selling point already is in place. A CSX rail line runs through the property.

The project will widen beyond the scope of the study to impact about 600 acres.

“It helps us build an industrial core,” said Steve Spina, city manager for Zephyrhills.

With infrastructure in the ground, the expectations are for the site to be marketed faster.

“We cannot attract anybody at this time because it would take up to two years to apply for permits, get the site ready and install remaining infrastructure on the site,” Kendrick said. “If we act now, with what the City of Zephyrhills has going there, we can piggyback on the existing contracts.”

The targeted land also is part of the county’s “pad ready” program, which seeks to promote industrial sites with similar infrastructure installations.

County commissioners last month approved the renewal of its contract with the Pasco Economic Development Council. Among the council’s goals is to use its $2.9 million budget to target 2,500 acres of industrial property for similar infrastructure upgrades.

“This is very exciting,” said Pasco County Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey. “I think it will be big for the county.”

Published June 22, 2016

 

Pasco has building permits backlog

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A construction boom has Pasco County receiving applications for building permits nearly at pre-recession levels, county officials say.

But, the required paperwork — coupled with the kickoff of a new software program — is straining the county’s capabilities.

At least right now.

“We think we’re on the bottom side of the problem and getting it under control,” said Don Rosenthal, assistant county administrator.

Part of the solution involves reshuffling duties within the building department and plans to hire five new employees.

The new employees will replace about a half-dozen staffers who left their jobs, often citing workloads.

“We’ve had some staff leave because of the pressure to turn things around quickly, and the overwhelming volume of work and the change,” said Pasco County Administrator Michele Baker.

Pasco County commissioners made clear they’re tired of the complaints they’re hearing from developers about having to wait too long to get permits approved.

“It is very, very frustrating,” said Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader. “I’m getting overwhelmed with complaints,” he said, during the commission’s June 7 meeting in Dade City.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey agreed: “I think we’ve all been getting these calls.”

Starkey said commissioners were ready to do whatever is needed to help staff get things on track.

Baker said she would ask commissioners to approve new hires at their June 21 commission meeting.

The software program, known as Accela, allows for online applications and is intended to speed up the process and be more transparent. But Rosenthal said, as with any new technology, there is a learning curve and glitches to work through.

“That was no small task,” he said.

Employees are working through about a two-week backlog of applications. That is significantly less than it was, Rosenthal said.

Right before the launch of the software program, some developers brought in bundles of plans. One delivered 200 plans.

“We concentrated on these because we were told they were an emergency,” Rosenthal said.

That proved not to be the case, and about half the plans haven’t been picked up.

That was time and work that could have been directed toward other applications, Rosenthal said.

He added that many of the complaints being heard by commissioners already have been resolved.

However, commissioners want improvements in customer service.

“Give them some explanation, so at least they have some understanding,” said Schrader. “I think you get so much more with honey.”

Schrader suggested giving applicants a letter, with their payment receipt, that explains the software program and reasons why applications could be delayed.

Commissioner Mike Wells agreed.

“They need to find a way to say yes, not a way to say no,” he said. “I know they are busy, but they are in the customer service business.”

Baker said plans are underway to create a newsletter to provide information on what’s going on at the building department.

Published June 22, 2016

Guv’na candidate increasing fundraising efforts

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Greg Gilbert is new to the area — just like his competitor in the Lutz Guv’na race.

And just like his rival, Andre Pamplona of Royal Lanes Bowling, Gilbert was urged by by Suzin Carr, the Lutz Guv’na ambassador, to jump into the 2016 race.

“She was relentless,” Gilbert said, describing Carr’s encouragement for him to enter the race.

“However, it did sound like a lot of fun to do something like this, and to be involved in the community a little bit more,” said Gilbert, who took over as the managing owner of Beef O’ Brady’s in Lutz in December.

Greg Gilbert is a candidate for the annual Lutz Guv’na race. Gilbert is the managing owner of Beef O’ Brady’s, 18421 N U.S. 41 in Lutz. (File Photo)
Greg Gilbert is a candidate for the annual Lutz Guv’na race. Gilbert is the managing owner of Beef O’ Brady’s, 18421 N U.S. 41 in Lutz.
(File Photo)

Before moving to Florida, he spent 20-plus years in Michigan working as a general manager for both T.G.I. Fridays and Ruby Tuesday.

Due to his wide-ranging obligations to his restaurant, Gilbert admits he has some catching up to do on the Guv’na campaign trail.

To try to make up some ground, Gilbert plans to dive headfirst into fundraising efforts between now and July 4, the final day of the annual charity event.

He hopes to organize a car wash behind the restaurant, and perhaps hold a classic car show over the next few weeks to boost his campaign.

“I’m new to this area, so I have to find some avenues to make some of this happen,” said Gilbert, who lives in Spring Hill.

Though he considers himself to be “quite a shy guy,” he enjoyed participating in the whimsical Lutz Guv’na debate last month at the Old Lutz School.

There, he showed the ability to step out of his comfort zone during the question-and-answer portion of the debate, where he offered some clever responses to some of the “hot-button issues” pertaining to Lutz residents.

For example, during the light-hearted banter, Gilbert proposed to have “all Canadians stopped in Land O’ Lakes” as a solution to prevent snowbirds from inhabiting Lutz.

It’s also where he revealed his campaign slogan: “Beef it up at Brady’s.”

“I was pretty apprehensive going into it, but I had a lot of fun doing that,” Gilbert said about the tongue-in-cheek debate.

When he’s not working or dedicating time to fundraising efforts, the Guv’na candidate has a passion for brainteasers — he describes himself as a “crossword and Sudoku junkie.”

Despite his busy schedule, and no matter the outcome of this year’s Guv’na race, Gilbert has no qualms about becoming a candidate all over again.

“I’d be more than happy to try this next year, where I’ll be able to put a lot more into it,” he said.

The Guv’na race continues through the Fourth of July weekend.

The winner will be announced after the community’s traditional parade.

The next honorary mayor will receive the coveted “sash” from last year’s winner, Jennifer Rankin, who raised more than $9,200 in the 2015 race.

The annual charity event— which started in 1991— is sponsored by the Lutz Civic Association, and benefits about 20 local causes, including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Old Lutz School and the Friends of the Library.

The winner of the Guv’na race may also earmark 10 percent of what they raise to the organization of their choice.

If you’d like to contribute to Gilbert’s campaign, call (813) 909-2300, or email .

Published June 22, 2016

Zephyrhills’ city employees to get raises

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The Zephyrhills City Council has unanimously approved a plan to give 160 city employees a raise.

At its June 13 meeting, the council approved a compa-ratio, or “parity hybrid,” salary plan.

City employees with the most tenure will see the largest salary increases, which range from 4 percent to 14 percent.

The move will essentially place Zephyrhills employees in a more competitive pay grade compared to other regional municipalities.

For example, a 20-year employee will see a 30 percent jump in salary placement, while a 10-year employee will see a 20 percent bump. Employees with five years of experience will see a 10 percent pay grade placement jump.

The approved salary plan will cost the city approximately $1.5 million through September 2017. Under the plan, all but a few of the city’s employees will get a raise.

In determining the increases, the city consulted with Evergreen Solutions, who collected salary data from 18 different regional agencies.

City Councilman Charles Proctor was one of the most outspoken proponents of the salary increases, saying they are “long overdue.”

“I like the idea that we’re taking into account the longevity of employees,” Proctor said. “It’s not going to be easy to add another $1.5 million into the upcoming budget, but I do think our employees are well worth it.”

After September 2017, the wage increases will add roughly $1 million (including FICA taxes and benefit contributions) to the city’s subsequent annual budgets, and will come from four funding sources: airport, general, sanitation and utilities.

“It’s extremely difficult for us to come up with this kind of money — and that’s not just for this year, it’s from now on,” Proctor said. “Once we do it, it’s forever. In my opinion it’s not enough (of a raise), but it’s a good start.”

City Councilman Alan Knight said it was important to present a plan that would offer competitive pay compared to other Tampa Bay area municipalities.

“We do have a problem with turnover, and we’re in competition with people that are offering more money,” Knight said. “I think this is a good package.”

Knight added he feels “secure in the growth of Zephyrhills” to sustain the higher pay grades.

Over the past several months, City Manager Steven Spina and city department heads analyzed several salary proposals before settling on the “hybrid” plan, which affects the majority of the city’s employees.

“The pay grades we selected…were the best jump that we could afford at this time,” Spina said. “There are…more expensive plans that would benefit another group of employees, but we have to look at the viability of what we can afford and what we can continue to pay them down the road.”

Spina noted there’s approximately $3.1 million in the city’s budget contingency that can be used for funding the new pay hikes. Furthermore, Spina said the city is looking at other revenue sources to fund the increased salaries each year, adding that increases in the city’s property values could help ease the additional financial burden.

Though City Councilman Lance Smith ultimately voted in favor of the plan, he showed the most resistance in tacking on more money to the city’s budget: “The worst-case scenario is the economy falls off again and somebody gets laid off or several people get laid off because we’re locked in now (with the raises).”

Should Zephyrhills lack the needed funds to support the pay increases, city leaders pondered the idea of slightly raising millage rates in coming years.

“I have a feeling that we may have to look at the millage again to cover all of this,” Proctor said.

Brian Williams, the city’s finance director, agreed.

“I can’t promise that we won’t have to raise the millage in two years,” Williams said.

Published June 22, 2016

Resetting U.S.-Russia relations, one hug at a time

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A long, long time ago, in a country far, far away, a new president’s secretary of state presented her Russian counterpart with what clever minds at Foggy Bottom must have imagined was simple genius: a “reset” button, symbolizing the Obama administration’s desire for a fresh start between our nations.

We’ve seen how that worked out.

Anyone seeking an enduring USA-Russia reset needs to program his GPS for a low-slung block house off 20 Mile Level Road in Land O’ Lakes. There, amid the managed chaos and loving clutter of a makeshift family, is the nerve center of a genuine international coming-together.

Daniil Shcherbinin and Sam, a rescue coonhound mix, in the woods near their Land O’ Lakes house. (Photos courtesy of Eric Wilson)
Daniil Shcherbinin and Sam, a rescue coonhound mix, in the woods near their Land O’ Lakes house.
(Photos courtesy of Eric Wilson)

Four boys from St. Petersburg, Russia, have spent their coming-of-age school years here under the guidance of transplanted Hoosier Eric Wilson. And, they enjoyed value-added assistance from the village network that is nearby Academy at the Lakes, the lads’ welcoming school.

The quartet — Gleb Barkovskiy, Maxim and Tioma Stepanets and Daniil Shcherbinin — has shrunk, through graduation, to a duo of Tioma and Daniil. By late August, the household will shrink again to Wilson and Tioma, plus languid Sam, the rescue coonhound mix. By then, Daniil, 18, will have been dispatched to Springfield, Ohio, and Wittenberg University.

How are the other alumni doing?

Barkovskiy, the son of a former Soviet nuclear submarine captain and a rising senior at Bucknell, is interning at Goldman Sachs. Max Stepanets is a rising sophomore at Alma College in Michigan, where he’s a member of the football team and majoring in business.

As for Shcherbinin (“Sher-ben-in,” but for simplicity’s sake, hereafter Daniil), he anticipates a summer of unofficial occupations. Here on a restrictive student visa, this perfect prospect for stocking the top shelves at Publix — he’s 6 feet 5 — ruefully concedes he can’t collect “a regular paycheck,” but he needs to save for college expenses.

So he’ll mow lawns, paint houses, help out with the household’s pooch-sitting operation, “move really heavy furniture” and do whatever other honest odd jobs come his way. After all, if he’d wanted to be idle and tempted into troublemaking, he could have stayed in Russia.

That depressing prospect is the future Katerina Ilina, a real estate agent in a perpetually tough market, was hoping her only child could avoid when she presented him nearly 10 years ago for evaluation by an associate of the Renaissance Project.

The plan was to identify promising St. Petersburg boys and invite them to attend a posh private school in Boca Raton, where they would be groomed to become citizen ambassadors for America back home.

Daniil Shcherbinin with his mom, Katarina Ilina, at an airport.
Daniil Shcherbinin with his mom, Katarina Ilina, at an airport.

Alas, the original plan soon collapsed. By then, however, Wilson wasn’t just on board, he’d become a passionate believer and the boys’ best advocate. Long story short, he found a like-minded administrator at Academy at the Lakes, and through a combination of scholarships, fundraising schemes, donations, a generous landlord, philanthropic medical professionals and stretching Wilson’s teacher’s paycheck, they’ve made it work. (Read more about their efforts here: http://renproject.org.)

It hasn’t hurt that each of the Russians has been an exemplary student and — as much as any teenager is capable — a model citizen. Daniil captained the football and basketball teams, served as student body vice president and played Mr. Darling in the school’s springtime production of “Peter Pan” — notably, without attempting a British accent.

The amateur thespian explains: “When I try to do an English accent, my Russian really comes out.” (Not that he hasn’t waxed the Volga boatman when it might charm an American girl, or get him out of a tight spot with a teacher, he concedes.)

Otherwise, looking for highlights in an eventful senior year, two stand out: First, the March afternoon he learned he’d been accepted, with generous underwriting, at Wittenberg. Second, the recent two weeks he spent here, with his mom, during Katarina’s first visit to America.

What did she learn? Americans are uncommonly welcoming to newcomers. “Everyone is so friendly,” she says. “Everyone wants to hug.” Maybe, she says, it’s the residue from Stalin, an era of suspicion, but Russians are rarely so open to strangers.

Experiencing it for herself, Katarina came to appreciate how this kid from a factory district —where V.I. Lenin once lectured on communism — had become upbeat and open-hearted, phonetically, “dobriy” in Russian. What a contrast to his somber, pessimistic peers back home.

Here she saw real evidence of that elusive reset. And, for those back home who fret their countryman has gone native, not to worry. When he’s not fetching and lifting this summer, Daniil will be immersed in Russian literature, Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantasy parable, “The Master and Margarita.”

“I am proud to be Russian,” he says flatly. “I never want to lose that.” Neither does anyone else in the Renaissance Project. They like him just the way he’s turned out.

And, so this happened. On the day of the open house on 20 Mile Level Road, when teachers and friends came to celebrate Daniil’s graduation, they brought presents for him, and for Katarina.

Gifts for the graduate Katarina understood. But for her? Why? “We brought you gifts,” explained one of the moms, her eyes shining, “because you shared your gift — your only son — with us.”

They hugged and wept happy tears. Because that’s what moms, wherever they’re from, do.

It’s from such embraces, real, lasting resets emerge.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published June 15, 2016