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Mike Wells

Towing companies must clear crash debris in Pasco

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Companies that remove vehicles from the scene of an accident in Pasco County must be sure to clear away the crash debris, too.

That’s the word from the Pasco County Commission, which adopted an ordinance to that effect during the board’s Oct. 20 meeting.

Commissioner Mike Wells had called for the local ordinance in the spring, to ensure that towing companies do a thorough job when clearing accident scenes.

County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said the ordinance came to commissioners several months ago, but was delayed because of the pandemic.

“It basically mirrors state law, but gives us some teeth with towing companies that fail to clean up the scene of an accident,” Steinsnyder said.

Wells told the county attorney: “I’m glad it has finally made it back to us.”

The ordinance says that the board “recognizes that its streets and intersections are littered with debris from accidents and that this debris creates dangerous conditions for other persons using the roads.”

It also requires that: “Any person removing a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a street, road, or highway shall remove and lawfully dispose of any glass, debris, or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle.”

The ordinance aims to hold tow-truck drivers to the standards that state law requires.

In calling for the ordinance earlier this year, Wells said he didn’t think every hauler is guilty of leaving debris in the road, but he wanted to increase the level of accountability.

The ordinance was adopted without public comment, on a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Kathryn Starkey absent.

Published November 04, 2020

Local officials continue mask mandates, urge social distancing

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Elected leaders in Pasco and Hillsborough counties are still requiring masks to be worn indoors in their counties, as rates of COVID-19 remain concerning.

Mike Napier, health officer for the Florida Department of Health – Pasco County, updated the Pasco County Commission on current local conditions during an Oct. 20 meeting.

“I wish I had better news. Our goal, when we talked last time was, ‘Let’s see what the data looks like and maybe we can make revisions,” Napier said.

Concerns about the rate of positivity cases in Pasco and Hillsborough counties have promoted local elected leaders to keep mask mandates in place. (Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

In his update, that came 30 days after his last appearance, Napier told board members:

“We have 10,294 positive cases, as of yesterday (Oct. 19). That’s a 3.5% increase over the last seven days. That’s 358 new cases, just this past week.

“The total population infected was just under 2%, and we have a less than 1% (.04) population that has died. That’s 229 cases.

“The other point that we talk about is the seven-day rolling average of cases. Last month, when I was here, we had increased from 29 cases per day, on average for seven days, up to 49. As of today, we’re looking at 53 cases per day. That represented an 8.1% increase from last month when I came and spoke with you.

“The other part that’s a little bit alarming is our 14-day rolling average. That’s the percent of positive cases that we get each day. It has climbed from 3.2% to 4.5%. That represents a 40% increase in the number of positive cases, percentage-wise.”

“As of today, we have 227 deaths.

The county is not seeing a huge increase, but it is trending in the wrong direction, Napier said.

The gold standard would be about 1 case per 100,000 — which means Pasco County would have 5.5 case per day, Napier said. “We’ve got a ways to get there.”

“We know that schools was one of the questions — what was going to be the impact of schools?

“I’ve got to give a shout-out to the school system. They’ve been great in working with the students and faculty and health department, in letting parents know as soon as we can about a positive case.

“I will tell you that the schools are not driving our case increases. They represent roughly 15% of our cases, which is what we had seen previously,” he said.

Students who have been exposed to someone positive must be isolated, which interrupts football practices and other things, as “life continues to go on,” he said.

“We understand that it’s disruptive, but we’re also trying to prevent the spread,” Napier said.

He said his staff is not finding spread within the schools themselves.

“Typically, what we’re finding is that a parent is sick and then the child is sick,” the health officer said.

“Our positivity rate is concerning. We were feeling pretty good when we were at 3%. We’re getting pretty close to 5% right now,” Napier said.

Commissioner Ron Oakley weighed in: “I think we should continue our masks,” he said, adding that he’d feel more comfortable doing away with the restriction when a vaccine becomes available.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey agreed with keeping the mask mandate: “I say, ‘Stay the course, still.”

She said she’d traveled to other parts of the country where restrictions were more extensive.

In some places, people are wearing a mask if they are outside their own homes, she said, noting she’d see people outside riding bicycles or on trails, wearing masks.

She doesn’t think Pasco’s ordinance is excessive.

Commission Mike Wells addressed Napier: “I’m assuming you’re telling us that you recommend us continue with the mask.”

Napier responded: “I don’t think anybody here is saying that masks are fun to use. Nobody enjoys using them. We understand that. It’s just a matter of the times that we’re in and the need to be able to do something to be able to prevent the spread of the disease.”

The mandate is being recommended throughout the region.

He said he spoke with his counterparts in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, and the consensus was to keep the mask ordinance in each county in place.

“If I was standing here and the numbers had declined since my last presentation and we were starting to make good progress, then, all right, that might be a little bit different conversation. Right now, with what our numbers are demonstrating, I couldn’t suggest that the data says we should change course,” Napier said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano said the county should “strongly recommend” rather than mandate masks, and he made a motion to that effect.

Wells told Mariano: “I do agree with you commissioner; I just don’t think there are three other votes.”

Commission Chairman Mike Moore said his colleagues should consult with local hospital CEOs, frontline medical workers and epidemiologists to help inform their decisions

Mariano’s motion failed, for lack of a second, keeping Pasco’s mandate in place.

Meanwhile, in Hillsborough County, commissioners extended the requirement for face coverings inside of local business, with certain exceptions, until Oct. 29, according to a news release.

The board approves its emergency orders for a maximum of seven days at a time. (See HCFLGov.net/facecoverings, for more detail).

Commissioners also approved spending $4.5 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding for a project at Tampa General Hospital to repurpose an existing stand-alone structure into a dedicated COVID-19 unit.

The $8.2 million unit will contain 59 fully equipped ICU beds and up to 45 surge-readiness beds. Under a three-year contract with TGH, the unit also will serve as an alternate care site during declared states of emergency, the release said.

COVID19 statistics, as of noon on Oct. 26
Pasco County: Positive cases: 10,556 residents and 81 non-residents; deaths: 236
Pasco County Schools: Positive cases: students, 197; staff, 78
Hillsborough County: Positive cases: 46,813 residents and 267 non-residents; deaths: 759
Hillsborough County Schools: Positive cases: students, 465; staff, 372
Florida: Positive cases: 782,013 cumulative; deaths: 16,429 residents and 203 non-resident
United States: Positive cases: 8,553,827; deaths: 224,221
Worldwide: Positive cases: 42,745,212; deaths: 1,150,961

Sources: Florida Department of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; World Health Organization.

Published October 28, 2020

Mom and Pops may get help with landscaping costs

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Pasco County commissioners recently directed the county’s staff to find a way to ease the burden of landscaping costs for small businesses, when they redevelop.

Commissioner Ron Oakley raised the issue, noting that a small Dade City restaurant wants to add a porch, but found itself facing expensive county landscaping requirements.

“They have no place for people to wait. It’s a small restaurant. If the restaurant is at full capacity, there’s no place for people to wait, so that’s part of why they were going to do like a porch, or something, out in front of it, so people would have a place to sit and wait to have breakfast or lunch,” Oakley said.

The commissioner added:  “It seems like the cost of upgrading their landscape is just very, very expensive, and makes it prohibitive.”

Oakley said he’s not advocating that the restaurant do nothing, but that the requirements be less extensive and thus less expensive.

“When you take into consideration — a Mom and Pop restaurant — if that landscaping is going to cost them $40,000 or $50,000, they’re forever trying to earn that money, just to stay open.

“So many of them are having a hard time, now, so we need to look at that,” Oakley said.  “Some of these businesses, right now, are closing down. They just can’t make it. It’s a shame.”

Commissioners Jack Mariano and Mike Wells said they’ve also noticed the problem.

“I agree with Commissioner Oakley,” Mariano said. “That (landscaping requirement) is causing a problem. I think it has really hurt redevelopment along (U.S.) 19.”

Mariano suggested using funds from the county’s tree mitigation fund to provide an incentive for landscape improvements.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey concurred: “I like Commissioner Mariano’s idea of maybe helping them more. We don’t know the facts, here. I want to make sure that they know that right off the bat, there’s $10,000 that we can help them with their landscaping, Commissioner Oakley.

“But, let’s look to see if there’s some way we can help them more. We don’t want it to be a disincentive and not let these businesses expand,” Starkey said.

On the other hand, Starkey said she doesn’t want things to go back to the way they were when an entire site was covered with a building and parking, without landscaping.

County Administrator Dan Biles said “landscaping reimbursement out of the tree fund is capped at $10,000. We could look at increasing the cap. I think that cap has been there for a while. Inflation happens to landscaping, like everything else.”

Biles said he believes the fund now has more than $1 million.

“We could look at maybe bumping that cap up, to cover some more of these costs. Let’s take a look at that,” Biles said.

Commission Chairman Mike Moore said he’d like a more detailed discussion of what triggers the landscaping improvements and more information about landscaping reimbursements from the tree mitigation fund, when Biles bring the issue back to the board.

Wells said he can think of two projects in his district where exceptions were made and they received reimbursements exceeding the cap, with the board’s approval.

“I think if you’re not adding to the square footage, it shouldn’t necessarily trigger it. That’s why we matched these folks with the funding,” Wells said.

“It’s tough for these businesses, not only now, but for the last several years. We need to help them to expand, move, hire more people and so forth.”

Mariano also would like to see if the process could be set up for the landscaping companies to be paid directly by the county, instead of having the business owner pay the landscaper and then be reimbursed for their payment.

“A lot of them can’t float that,” he said.

“I think most of your landscaping companies would probably be comfortable to work that way,” Mariano added. “We’ve just got to be flexible.”

Biles said he will take a look at increasing the cap for reimbursements, and at streamlining the process to get approvals more quickly — and then will bring it back to the board.

Published October 07, 2020

Pasco plans to hire two lobbyists

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The Pasco County Commission has directed County Administrator Dan Biles to take steps necessary to prepare to hire two lobbyists to represent the county’s interests.

One lobbyist would pursue federal dollars, while the other would focus on funding opportunities at the state level.

Commissioner Kathryn Starkey raised the issue at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.

She had mentioned the need for it in the past and brought it back again.

“Frankly, I think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot by not having an outside lobbyist,” Starkey said. “I’ve talked to commissioners in other counties and we might be the only county this size, I think we would be the only county this size, that doesn’t have at least one outside lobbyist. The other ones have multiple.”

She said it’s especially important “at a time when money is going to be even tighter in Tallahassee,” and added, “we need to be looking out for the best interest of our citizens.”

Hiring a lobbyist, she said, “is going to bring back dividends to the county.”

She thinks the county can do better than it did last year, in terms of obtaining state funding for local projects.

“I think Ralph (Lair, the county’s lobbyist) does a great job, but there is a difference between an internal lobbyist and an external lobbyist, and we are better served, if we have both,” Starkey said.

Commissioner Jack Mariano agreed. He thinks the county is in a good position to attract funding for projects in the coming year, but said the county needs to have a strong advocate in Tallahassee.

He recommended bringing Shawn Foster, from Sunrise Consulting Group, back to represent the county.

“I think we should bring him back on. If he only gets one thing for us, we’re way ahead of the game,” Mariano said.

It’s important to have someone working on the county’s behalf up in Tallahassee.

“You’ve got to be up there. You’ve got to be in their face. You’ve got to be pushing to get these things through,” Mariano said.

Commissioner Mike Wells agreed. “The school board has their internal person and their external person. They work great together as a team. And, in the past, Shawn (Foster) has worked great for us as a team.”

Starkey also noted that both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties received “$10s of millions” from Washington D.C., this year.

Starkey made a motion to hire a lobbyist.

Wells asked if the motion includes hiring a federal lobbyist, as well as a state lobbyist.

Starkey replied: “I would love that. We are really missing out. We never would have got that Ridge Road project without that (lobbyist) help. I agree that we should have a federal lobbyist help us with this whole coastal effort.”

But, Commission Chairman Mike Moore asked: “On the federal side, what was our return on investment. How many bills were passed on our behalf? How much funding did we receive from the group we had previously hired on, as federal lobbyists?”

Starkey countered: “We have to be smart about what we ask for, and we haven’t used our lobbyists right. ‘Cuz we haven’t had a project, besides our Ridge Road one, that we went up there and asked them for. Although I did ask for help in changing some of the labor laws, and we did get that.

“Even Martin County, the little Martin County over there, they have two lobbying firms in Washington. They bring back millions and millions of dollars. We have to be more savvy about what we’re asking for. I think there’s transportation money. I think there’s possibly this dredge money. We should look at what other counties have done and mimic that,” Starkey said.

“We have to have a plan. We have to have an ask and then we have to go work it. And, we can’t expect it in a year or two, but you have to build those relationships,” Starkey added.

Wells asked if Starkey wanted to use a solicitation procedure to fill the positions.

County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said that the county didn’t have the option to bypass that process.

Mariano asked if the board could extend Foster’s former contract.

“You can’t just go with Mr. Foster. It has to go out for bid,” Steinsnyder said, adding that Foster’s contract had long since expired and could not be resuscitated.

Commissioner Ron Oakley asked where the funding would come from, for the two positions.

County Administrator Dan Biles said: “I don’t know. This discussion is new to me.

“There’s not funding for either one in the budget. If the board wants to do that, we obviously will amend the budget to add money into the budget to do that, and then we will do the solicitation process for both contracts,” Biles said.

Moore said he thinks there is money available for the positions this year from funding that was returned to the county, that would cover the positions for this year — without dipping into reserves. But that would be for this year only.

Pasco County retains masks, for now

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After a briefing from the director of the county’s health department, the Pasco County Commission has decided to continue its mask mandate — at least for now.

Mike Napier, director of the Pasco County office of the Florida Department of Health, told commissioners at their Sept. 21 meeting that positive COVID-19 cases had been trending in the wrong direction recently.

“I wish I had better news as far as what our cases have been over the last several weeks,” Napier said. “We’ve started to see some increased number of cases,” Napier said.

Mike Napier, director of the Pasco County office of the Florida Department of Health (File)

Pasco County’s cumulative number of cases he told commissioners was 8,834 cases, as of Sept. 21, the health director reported.

“The concern here really is, we were doing pretty well back in the early part of September, averaging about 3%, as a rolling average on our positivity. Last week, it was the first time in almost a month that we got almost a 6% positivity rate and we had 1,300 cases.

“The number that should be a little bit alarming to you is that in this past week, we’ve had a 61% increase in cases in the last seven days. So, we’re headed in the wrong direction at this point,” Napier said.

“At the low mark, the county was averaging 29 cases a day — to where we are today, where we’re averaging almost 50 day, and that’s over a two-week period,” Napier said.

“I know that schools were a big question.

“We had a total of 79 students and 26 staff that have tested positive, for 105 total cases (as of Sept. 18),” he said.

“There’s a lot of criteria that goes into the determination of whether or a not a student has to be excluded or not,” Napier said.

Out of the nearly 1,400 exposures at school, there are 857 students and staff currently quarantined, but also 542 people have been released, Napier said.

The public health officer said he knows there’s a lot of interest on when it would be appropriate to lift mask mandates and social distancing restrictions.

“From public health standpoint, I have to tell you, when we have a vaccine or when we have medication to treat COVID,” Napier said. From a practical standpoint, the number of positive cases needs to be lower. “We’re at 49 averaging a day.”

“We’re trending higher in our positivity rate. We were at 3%, we’re at 4% right now. That 1% does matter,” Napier said.

He said he’s on regular conference calls with health officers and county officials around the region.

“We’re all getting the same questions, right? We’re all trying to come up with that answer.

“We are looking at a regional approach for face coverings,” Napier said.

They’re trying to reach a consensus on the numbers and benchmarks to use.

“We’re actually looking to the academics, to be able to come up with something from a regional standpoint. We know that we have a community that moves from Pasco to Pinellas, and from Pinellas into Pasco. Hernando. Hillsborough — all of those counties.”

Initially, the increase in cases stemmed from the virus spreading within families, the public health official said. But now, there’s community spread.

Labor Day could have affected the spread. It’s too early to tell whether the recent opening of bars has had an impact,  he added.

COVID-19 remains a threat
“The pandemic is not over. I understand that face coverings are inconvenient and uncomfortable, however, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association continue to support the use of face coverings to reduce the exposure of COVID-19,” Napier said.

He continued: “Just as recently as last week, the CDC director Robert Redfield said, “The best defense that we currently have against this virus are the important mitigation efforts of wearing a mask, washing your hands, social distancing and being careful around crowds.”

Commissioner Ron Oakley said most of the people he’s heard from favor continuing the requirement for masks.

“I’d say that 80% to 85% of the citizens think it’s too early to remove masks, which is good to hear because I think they realize that it’s not over, and they still need to be taking precautions,” Oakley said.

Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles said steps that have been taken to reduce the spread have been working.

“The county has seen a decrease of about 72%, in its seven-day rolling average, from its peak,” Biles said.

Commissioner Mike Wells said he’s not a big fan of wearing a mask. But, he added: “I wear a mask when I have to. It could possibly save lives.”

At the same time, he has empathy for business owners who are trying to impose the mandate.

“I’ve seen businesses get in arguments with folks. It’s just tough,” Wells said. “I’ve been in WaWa, people yelling. I’ve been in Walmart. I’ve been in Target. Folks yelling. ‘You’ve got to wear a mask. You’ve got the wrong mask,’” Wells said.

But, Wells told Napier that he respects him, and added: “I support it (the mask mandate) until you tell us otherwise.”

Napier said if the numbers were trending down, he would be in a different position.

As it stands now, he told board members he wouldn’t lift the requirement before getting another update, which is expected in October.

Published September 30, 2020

Pasco County budget expected to surpass $1.5 billion

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The Pasco County Commission gave first-round approval of a budget exceeding $1.5 billion for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The action came during the first public hearing on the budget, held at 5:15 p.m. on Sept. 8. The final public hearing on the budget will be on Sept. 21. The new budget takes effect Oct. 1.

No one spoke during the public comment portion of the public hearing, and the board passed the budget unanimously without comment — following a presentation by County Budget Director Robert Goehig.

Board members and county officials had discussed budget issues at length during previous budget workshops.

This year’s revenues were less than previously expected because of negative economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, the county was unable to pursue most of its proposed business initiatives for the coming year.

The budget includes a 3% raise for county employees.

It also allocates increased spending for the county’s library system — including costs associated with opening a new library at Starkey Ranch.

There’s also more spending in the parks and recreation budget — related to the county gradually assuming management of the Starkey Ranch District Park.

Earlier in the meeting, board members authorized the issuance of $44 million in the second allocation for the general obligation bonds for fire/rescue projects.

Goehig told board members the funds will be used to build three new fire stations, to knock down and renovate three existing fire stations, and to design a centralized fire training center.

On another issue, Commissioner Kathryn Starkey asked county staff to take a closer look at the proposed placement of a community garden planned for the area where a school, library and theater are being built through a collaborative partnership in Starkey Ranch.

“I’m a little concerned that where that community garden is going now, it’s not going to be accessible by anyone who wants to go and participate in a community garden,” Starkey said.

“To me, that is a long way to go with all of your tools and equipment, to garden. I think it will end up just being the school garden and will not be a community garden. I personally, am not so happy with that location,” she said.

Starkey: “I would like to talk to them (project partners) about having it closer to the library, facilities, restrooms.

“I want to be a good partner (with the school district). I think they want to be a good partner. I actually don’t think that’s a good site at all,” Starkey said.

She would like to see what can be done about finding an area that’s more accessible.

“There’s going to be a lot of seniors that would like to be in the garden. Where are the restrooms?” Starkey asked.

Commissioner Mike Wells also briefed commissioners on progress that has been made through a partnership between the county and CareerSource on a Workforce Redevelopment Program.

The goal was about 150 jobs, for $1.5 million, Wells said. CareerSource exceeded that goal, with 163 jobs. The partnership also led to 56 part-time jobs, the commissioner noted.

“What I thought was really exciting, out of those 163 — 87 were homeless in Pasco,” Wells said.

“That gives us a return-on-investment of more than $6.5 million,” he added.

The county is going to contract with CareerSource for the next four years, Wells said. “They have done an unbelievable job with our team, to put people back to work.”

Commission Chairman Mike Moore also updated the board about activities at Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, which recently opened.

He reported that “43 out of 52 weekends are already booked with sports at that facility.”

Local programming has begun, too, Moore said.

“They have basketball leagues, they have indoor soccer leagues, they have cheerleading going on, volleyball going on. All of that is already going on, for our local residents. It’s already a huge success — obviously a huge asset for the county,” Moore said.

County Administrator Dan Biles also informed the board that there will be an item on the Sept. 21 agenda to discuss Pasco County’s COVID-19 response and where it needs to go from here.

Published September 16, 2020

Voter turnout higher in 2020 Primary Election

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Voter turnout for the 2020 Primary Election was higher than it was in the 2016 Primary, in both  Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

In Pasco, 21.03% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2020 primary, compared to 18.64% in the 2016 primary.

In Hillsborough, the number of registered voters participating was 25.38%, compared to 19.1% in the 2016 primary.

Voters made their choices in some key races in Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

In a universal primary in the race for Pasco County Commission District 4, Christina Fitzpatrick won the election, with 32.6% of the vote, compared to the second-highest vote-getter, Gary Bradford, who received 31.52%.

Alison Crumbley won another term on the Pasco County School Board. Candidates Gabriel Papadopoulos and Catie Mansfield fell short of their bid for county commission and county judge, respectively (B.C. Manion)

Jeff Miller and Gabriel “Gabe” Papadopoulos also ran in the four-way race to fill the vacancy that was created when Mike Wells decided to seek the post of county property appraiser, which Wells secured.

All voters were eligible to vote in the universal primary for the District 4 seat because the winner faced no opposition in the general election.

In the Republican primary race for superintendent of Pasco County Schools, incumbent Kurt Browning captured more than 64% of the vote, defeating David LaRoche. He will face Cynthia Thompson No Party Affiliation in the Nov. 3 general election.

In the nonpartisan Pasco County School Board District 4 race, Alison Crumbley won reelection with more than 65% of the vote, defeating challenger Joshua Stringfellow.

In Hillsborough County, four school board seats were up for grabs and all four are heading to run-offs in the Nov. 3 general election.

In District 1, Nadia Combs was the top vote-getter, receiving 44.56% of the vote, and she will face incumbent Steve Cona, who received 33.30%.

District 3 drew five candidates. Mitch Thrower led the pack, with 25.15% of the vote, while Jessica Vaughn came in second, with 24.49%.

Four candidates competed in District 5, with Henry “Shake” Washington receiving 44.45% of the vote compared to incumbent Tammy Shamburger, who drew 23.70% of votes cast in that race.

A quartet of candidates sought the District 7 seat, with Sally Harris emerging with a slight edge over Lynn Gray. Harris hauled in 28.40% of the vote, while Gray received 27.85%.

Rain fell steadily, at least for a while, on 2020 Primary Election Day in Pasco and Hillsborough counties. Here are some of the political signs near an intersection in Lutz.

In the Republican primary race for Hillsborough County Sheriff, incumbent Chad Chronister received 62.39% of the vote, defeating challenger Charles Boswell. Chronister will face Democrat Gary Pruitt and Ron McMullen No Party Affiliation in the general election.

In the Democrat primary race for Hillsborough County Tax Collector, Nancy Millan received 61.07% of the vote, defeating April Griffin. Millan will face Republican TK Mathew in the general election.

In the Republican primary race for Hillsborough County Commission District 1, Scott Levinson received 55.61%of the vote, defeating Tony Morejon.

Levinson will face Democrat Harry Cohen, who received 54.24% of the primary vote, defeating Jen McDonald.

In the Democrat primary for Hillsborough County Commission District 3, five candidates competed to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited Les Miller. Gwen Myers was the top vote-getter with 26.52%, edging out Thomas Scott, who received 25.68%. Myers will face Republican Maura Cruz Lane in the general election.

In a universal primary, Hillsborough County voters selected Cindy Stuart as the county’s next Clerk of the Circuit Court. Stuart received 53.44% of the vote, defeating Kevin Beckner.

Election officials took care to make polling places safe. They asked voters to wear masks and maintain a social distance from other voters, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley said “vote by mail was way up from the 2016 primary, while early voting in person was down considerably.”

Election day operations went smoothly, he added.

“I’m so blessed to have an amazing team and dedicated poll workers who pulled off a sense of election normalcy during a pandemic,” Corley said.

Pasco County
Registered voters: 378,157
Ballots cast: 79,538
Voter turnout: 21.03%

Source: Pasco County Supervisor of Elections

Hillsborough County
Registered voters: 897,689
Ballots cast: 227,843
Voter turnout: 25.38%

Published August 26, 2020

Amazon plans $40 million investment in Pasco

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The Pasco Economic Development Council has announced that Amazon plans to invest $40 million in Pasco County.

The company is planning a new 110,000-square-foot facility in Lutz, according to a Pasco EDC news release.

The facility will be located on a portion of the Hayman-Fuentes property near the northeast corner of State Road 54 and the Suncoast Parkway, according to Lauren Miceli, marketing and communications manager for Pasco EDC.

“This new facility will add hundreds of direct and indirect jobs to Pasco County,” Bill Cronin, president/CEO of Pasco EDC, said in the economic development agency’s release.

The new delivery station in Lutz “will power Amazon’s last-mile delivery capabilities to speed up deliveries for customers in Pasco County,” according to an Amazon news release.

“Delivery stations enable Amazon Logistics to supplement capacity and flexibility to Amazon’s delivery capabilities,” the company release says.

The Lutz delivery station is expected to open in 2021, according to Amazon.

Local officials are delighted by Amazon’s decision to invest in Pasco.

“Amazon’s jobs are unique in the sense that some will work directly for the company and others can essentially open their own business and work as a third party with them. It’s a great opportunity for our residents to start their own small business,” Cronin added.

“The county and Pasco EDC have worked hard to create mixed-use neighborhoods and attract a variety of industries to Pasco,” Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells said in the Pasco EDC release. “Amazon putting their trust that Pasco is the right place for them shows that our team’s hard work is paying off and we welcome them to our community.”

Amazon’s delivery stations offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to build their own business delivering Amazon packages, as well as independent contractors the flexibility to be their own boss and create their own schedule delivering for Amazon Flex.

Amazon has more than 150 delivery stations in the United States.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore reacted to the news, in an Amazon release that announced the company’s upcoming Tampa Bay plans.

“I am thrilled to welcome Amazon and the additional jobs this facility will bring to our community,” Moore said, in the release. “This is another example of Pasco County government and the Pasco Economic Development Council working together to make Pasco County the premier place for business.”

In addition to its planned Lutz facility, the company also has announced a new fulfillment center in Temple Terrace, which is expected to create 720 jobs. That, too, is expected to launch in 2021.

Amazon currently operates seven fulfillment and sortation centers in the state, in Jacksonville, Davenport, Orlando, Miami, Ruskin and Lakeland, according to a company news release.

Amazon’s new operations facility in Temple Terrace will span more than 600,000 square feet on the ground floor. Employees at the site will work alongside innovative technologies to pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics, small household goods and toys, the Amazon release says.

Amazon will hire for roles in human resources, operations management, safety, security, finance and information technology.

Amazon offers a minimum starting wage of $15 per hour. Its full-time employees also receive full medical, vision and dental insurance, as well as a 401(k), with a 50% company match, beginning on Day 1.

To learn more about Amazon, visit Amazon.com.

Published August 12, 2020

 

Pasco County employees to get 3% raises

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Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles initially recommended a 2% raise for county employees, reasoning that was in line with the current rate of inflation.

But, Pasco County Commissioners overrode Biles’ recommendation, agreeing instead with Commissioner Mike Wells’ push to give employees a 3% raise.

When he brought up the issue a few weeks ago, Wells said a 3% raise was in keeping with what the county’s constitutional officers planned to give their staffs, and also in line with the 3% raise approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis for state workers.

Wells revisited the issue again, at the board’s Aug. 4 meeting.

“To give you an idea of the impact on the general fund, for increasing from 2 (%) to 3 (%), is about $560,000,” Wells said. He also noted that sales tax receipts in May exceeded the county’s expectations.

“So, we have the money,” Wells said, then proceeded to make a motion to increase the proposed raise by 1% — resulting in a 3% raise.

Commissioners approved the motion unanimously.

Later in the meeting, Biles briefed commissioners on revenues, in light of COVID-19.

“The general sales tax, as he mentioned, was above what we had actually projected in the 20 (fiscal year 2020) budget — the pre-COVID 20 budget number, not the post-COVID budget number, which is great news,” Biles said.

However, he added: “The good news only goes so far. The gas tax has still taken a pretty significant hit, across all elements of the gas tax.

“Of course, the tourist development tax is still down, and ambulance fees are still down, as well,” he added.

On a brighter note, building activity is up.

“We’re issuing a lot of permits. Building revenue is up 6%, and that’s taking into account that we reduced the fees 10% last year. So, if you compare like to like, it’s actually up 16% over ’19 (fiscal year 2019),  year to date,” Biles said.

Published August 12, 2020

Pasco voters to weigh in on key races

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The Primary 2020 ballot is not long in Pasco County, but there are some key races in the election set for Aug. 18.

Some voters will make their way to the polls to cast their ballots on Election Day, but many will have already voted, or mailed in their ballots.

It remains unclear how concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic will affect voter turnout, but election supervisors in both Hillsborough and Pasco counties have reported efforts to ensure the safety of both poll workers and voters.

Such measures include social distancing and ongoing cleaning. As a result, lines at the polls could be longer, the supervisors in both counties have said.

In Pasco County, all voters will be able to cast ballots in the universal primary contest for the Pasco County Commission District 4 race.

The candidates are competing to fill the seat that was vacated by Mike Wells, who ran for County Property Appraiser and was elected.

In universal primary contests all voters can participate, because all of the candidates in the race are from the same party, and there is no opposition in the general election.

Those vying for the Pasco County Commission District 4 seat are Gary Bradford, Christina “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick, Jeff Miller and Gabriel “Gabe” Papadopoulos.

In another race, Republican voters will choose whether they want Kurt S. Browning or David LaRoche to represent the party in the Nov. 3 general election.

Meanwhile, voters will have a choice between Alison Crumbley or Joshua Stringfellow, in the nonpartisan race for the District 4 seat on the Pasco County School Board.

The polls will be open on Aug. 18 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Some seats have already been settled in Pasco County.

Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano, Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles and Sheriff Chris Nocco each will serve another four years — since no opponents came forward to challenge them by the qualifying deadline in the 2020 election.

Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley also will serve another four years, as his opponent withdrew. And, Wells has been elected to Pasco County Property Appraiser, since his opponent Gary Joiner did not qualify.

Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley will serve another term in District 1, because opponent Christopher King withdrew. And, Pasco School Board District 2 incumbent Colleen Beaudoin has won another term because her opponent Adrienne G. Wilson withdrew.

A number of other races will be decided in the Nov. 3 general election, including the District 3 and District 5 seats on the Pasco County Commission.

Other races on the ballot will determine who will represent Florida’s 12th congressional district and who will represent District 36, District 37 and District 38, in the Florida House. A special election also will be held to choose a new representative in the Florida Senate, District 20.

To find out early voting locations or for other election information, visit PascoVotes.gov.

Pasco Active Registered Voters*
Republican: 151,859
Democratic: 115,807
No Party: 106,532
Minor Party: 5,723

Total: 379,921

*As of 08/09/2020
Source: Pasco County Supervisor of Elections

Published August 12, 2020