The Print Media Pity Party

It’s the old Harry Truman adage, "If you can’t stand the heat get the hell out of the kitchen."

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

This week some 200 newspapers around the country all printed editorials about how bad they are being treated by everyone from Trump down to the public. All the time they were claiming their independence, value to democracy and their really hurt feelings.

It seemed to me to be the gasp of an industry on the verge of extinction.

I don’t consider myself to be part of the mainstream media, and they as a general rule they don’t consider independent bloggers as much above dirt. I don’t “report” on anything; you won’t see any “breaking news" here, and you won’t find me in a line screaming obnoxious questions at some public figure.

For the first time in modern history, the mainstream media is faced with a president who is not impressed with their efforts, coward by their persistence or particularly interested in what they say. And he is not afraid to swing back when they attack.

It’s the old Harry Truman adage, "If you can’t stand the heat get the hell out of the kitchen."

To me, the mainstream medias biggest mistake with Trump has been they have allowed him to lure the media into the gutter where many of them belong.

Since the media are frequently loose with the facts, Trump and an ever-increasing number of political and public figures feel free to do the same.

One thing I think the media may be missing, although some have seemed surprised, is the reaction from the public. They would like to blame the public’s negative and sometimes hostile reaction on “those awful Trump supporters” but the fact is the print and electronic media credibility has been slowly slipping into the toilet over a number of years.

I think it is a bit laughable that 200 major newspapers thought it was wise to dedicate their editorial page to an attack they claim is the result of one man’s effort.

The recent print media cries about their protection of our democracy are self-serving at best as they take every possible opportunity to tear down the very institutions that they claim to love with rudeness, bias, and self-interest.

If it were true that the media are the real bastions of our democracy, the I would offer we are in a great deal more trouble than we think.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
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Disclosures:

Contributor to: Rick Scott for Senate 

Please comment below

Vinik Tax Hike DOUBLES County Sales Tax Revenue, Increases COUNTY'S Tax Rate 100%

Tampa, Fl
From: Eye On Tampa Bay
Posted by: Sharon Calvert

Guest post from Hillsborough County resident and small business owner Tim Curtis.

Who among the "Transit Tax Hike supporters" will tell the whole truth about Vinik's transit tax hike petition effort to raise the total sales tax rate in Hillsborough County to 8% - the highest in the state?

The so-called “one penny” or $.01 increase isn't a "1%" or even a 14+% increase. This is a county levied tax hike. It is a 100% INCREASE in the COUNTY Sales Tax Rate.

As a small business owner, the current state sales tax rate I must collect and remit to the state is 6%. The other 1% of the current 7% total sales tax rate collected is the county sales tax rate. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that an increase from 1% to 2% is a 100% PERCENT INCREASE.

The transit tax hike will DOUBLE the county's sales tax rate with the vast majority of the 100%  increase in the county sales tax revenue paid by taxpayers in unincorporated Hillsborough.

Local media, including Sue Carlton and others at the Vinik bailed out Tampa Bay Times, continue misleading the public that this is a “one penny” tax hike. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Instead of this “mad dash” to unnecessarily take an additional $15-18 BILLION out of taxpayer pockets, the mad dash should be insisting elected officials properly prioritize the current and growing county revenues. Ensure our county roads, neglected for almost a decade, are fixed first and then lets talk about where additional transportation funding is needed.

Two years ago, the BOCC-appointed Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) diligently examined the county budget. They prepared a report, unanimously approved by the bipartisan CAC, containing recommendations on the budget. The CAC meticulously identified $3 BILLION in potential savings.

Why is there a “mad dash” to unnecessarily increase the county sales tax rate 100% instead of a “mad dash” to examine whether the identified potential savings in other areas of the county budget can be used to fund transportation?

Hillsborough County and the local economy is growing – both resulting in booming revenues unanticipated a few short years ago.

I personally know the misleading talking points being used by those gathering petition for the 100% county sales tax rate hike petition effort.

Last week at my place of business, I was approached by a nice young lady who asked if I would “sign her petition”. I engaged her in conversation and learned she had only recently relocated to Tampa from out of state and was doing this work to earn money.

I applaud her for that and assume a temp agency is being used to hire paid petition gatherers.

However, I asked some very pointed but polite questions about the petition and she told me she was told “it is a one per cent increase”. When I questioned her again and showed her the math questioning how that can be, she assured me that she was told “one per cent”.

Obviously, people that was hired to gather the transit tax hike petitions know nothing about Hillsborough County or the transportation issue.

The city of Tampa power brokers behind this Vinik and associates funded transit tax hike petition effort are being dishonest and intentionally using misleading information to deceive taxpayers and voters.

But are you getting a 100% raise or revenue increase next year?

If not, then why should the county?

Especially a 100% county revenue increase that will greatly benefit Vinik, his Under Water Street development and the city of Tampa…but will be paid for on the backs of taxpayers in unincorporated Hillsborough.

————————————————————————
Eye Note: There is another citizen led transportation funding proposal that does NOT require any massive 30 year sales tax hike. Fund Transportation and No Tax Hike Is Needed!
Voters and taxpayers deserve to hear both proposals and be fully informed.
Unfortunately biased local media is suppressing information and intentionally shutting down any other proposal so they may cheerlead for Vinik's massive transit tax hike.

This post is contributed by EYE ON TAMPA BAY. The views expressed in this post are the blog publisher's and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher of Bay Post Internet.

Cross Posted with permission from: Eye On Tampa Bay

2018 Primary Election – Are you confused?

Putnam was my guy for Governor, but DeSantis has put on quite a run, I am struggling with my decision. 

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by:
E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: So You Want to Blog.

You might think that since I write a lot about politics, I would have this primary election thing all figured out and be ready with a handful of recommendations on who you should vote for.

Well, you would be wrong.

Since I am a registered Republican, and my wife is a registered Democrat, we get all of mailers, door hangers and robocalls.

I have dutifully sorted through them, and I find little compelling information.

The debates are proving useless as it now seems the in-vogue thing is not to answer a debate question no matter what it is. I wish one of the debate moderators would ask a candidate for Governor what his/her name is, so we could maybe get one straight answer.

Watching a bunch of billionaires and millionaires slug it out in a so-called debate is entertaining but not particularly informative unless you consider the fact that no matter how much money these guy’s have very little of what they promise can actually be delivered.

I wish there was another woman running for governor. I am really over Gwen Graham playing the “mom” card.

In the Senate race, I am all in on Rick Scott, you will note in my disclosures, I am a contributor to his campaign.

Putnam was my guy for Governor, but DeSantis has put on quite a run, and since I am a Trump supporter, I am struggling with my decision.

There is something nice about having a governor who has more than enough money already, so he will not be easily influenced. It is also a concern of mine that if DeSantis wins the Governor’s office, he will immediately be on Trump’s short list for Vice President in 2020 since I firmly believe VP Mike Pence has had enough.

It would be much easier for DeSantis to roll with Trump. We might have Ron for a little over two years before he moves on, so his lieutenant Governor becomes a key decision.

In the long run, Florida might just be better off with Adam Putnam. Calm, cool headed, there won’t be a lot of fireworks from Tallahassee, but my bet is a lot of good things will get done. Adam will not be on Trump’s VP short list, so he can focus on all things Florida.

On the Democratic side, my wife is not a big fan of Jeff Green, thinks he looks a bit shifty as he talks out of the side of his mouth. She is also over the Gwen Graham “mom” thing but maybe not enough to vote for someone else. She seems to perk up when a Phillip Levine ad runs.

As to the local races, this election cycle has been a blizzard of mailers, TV ads and pseudo debates it is very hard to sort out who is the best candidate. County Commission, City Councils, School Board in all these races I would take the Tampa Bay Times recommendations with a grain of salt. Look for honesty and integrity.

I always have the biggest problem with the Judge candidates. We hardly know these people; the incumbent has a significant advantage so who do you vote for?

The Tampa Bay Times has long been a good source of information on the Judge races, although with the changes at the Times and its growing self-serving nature, you may want to do some research on your own.

It boils down to this. If you like leaders who are wealthy you have some to choose from. If you like normal, people who want to serve their community you have a few to choose from, and if you want professional politicians who like the lime light, the backslapping, the free meals and really don’t worry that much about what you think or what you need your choices are endless.

I am getting ready to fill out my mail in ballot, and if yours is still laying around somewhere in the house, now would be a good time to go get it and start making some decisions.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Contributor to: Rick Scott for Senate 

Please comment below.

Tampa Bay Times Endorses Predator by Proxy Kathleen Peters

Tampa, Fl

Tampa Bay Beat

Published By Jim Bleyer

Screen Shot Courtesy Tampa Bay Guardian 

The editorial endorsement of State Rep. Kathleen Peters for the Pinellas County Commission represents another #MeToo fail for the Tampa Bay Times.

Peters, gal pal of disgraced predator, former State Sen. Jack Latvala, has been insensitive to the victims of sexual harassment but more than sympathetic to the perpetrators that permeate the political culture in Tallahassee.

In 2017, Peters voted to make confidential the identity of alleged victims in an allegation of sexual harassment . The law she voted for said that “the disclosure of such information could harm alleged victims by placing them at risk of further harassment and retaliation.”

“Six months later, Peters was calling on such alleged victims to step forward,” noted the Tampa Bay Guardian in a well-circulated blog post. “Any harm to the victims was apparently less important than defending her political  tag team partner and mentor Jack Latvala.”

The detailed Tampa Bay Guardian article is here.

Peters (center) was guest of honor at Church of Scientology dedication of Narconon center that uses a controversial rehab technology. Peters, Jack Latvala, and Chris Latvala are frequent high-profile guests at Scientology functions.

Peters, rendered ineffective by House Speaker Richard Corcoran when she prioritized Latvala’s agenda in the lower chamber, is in a tough three-way race for the District 6 county commission seat.  Her main foe is conservative Barb Haselden, an insurance executive who successfully led the 2014 fight against the Greenlight Pinellas sales tax increase.

Haselden’s NoTaxForTracks grassroots effort, though outspent more than seven to one by special interests, torpedoed Greenlight Pinellas by 62-38 percent.

GOP voters in the district need to ask themselves whether Peters will represent them, Latvala, or the Church of Scientology where she attends functions on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, though his gubernatorial aspirations have been shattered by a libido in overdrive, Latvala has been diligently doling out contributions from his PAC to candidates including longtime buddy Peters.

Some of the contributions from Latvala’s PAC went to other committees that made their own contributions to the campaigns of State Sen. Denise Grimsley, a Republican running for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, and Peters.

Since March, Latvala has given $105,000 to The Committee for Justice, Transportation and Business, which is run by longtime GOP consultant and lobbyist Dave Ramba. That committee directly gave $13,000 to Grimsley and a committee she controls on July 11, the same day it gave $1,000 to Peters’ campaign.

The paper’s support of Peters represents another case where the #MeToo movement doesn’t apply to its employees or political allies.  The Times excused the charges against Latvala to the bitter end—his resignation from the Florida Senate.  It harbors a proven predator, Barry Edwards, in its parent Poynter Institute, and has retained a high profile newsroom personality who harassed a coworker, forcing her departure in 2007.

Meanwhile, the Times will publish any unproven accusation against Kevin King, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman’s chief of staff.  The paper took it on the chin last year when Kriseman handily beat its favored candidate, Rick Baker, in its backyard.

The Times and the National Football League are the two most adept entities in America at exacerbating an already severe crisis into Armageddon-like proportions.

Scientologist Pat Clouden, head of the church’s Concerned Businessmen’s Association of Tampa Bay, managed to attract Peters to kick off a new initiative to spread panic about marijuana with the use of Scientology-printed materials from the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.               Cross Posted with permission from: Tampa Bay Beat 

This post is contributed by Tampa Bay Beat. The views and opinions expressed in this post are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Bay Post Internet or the publisher.

Media Suppresses Information to Cheerlead for Vinik's 14% Transit Sales Tax Hike

Tampa, Fl
From: Eye On Tampa Bay
Posted by: Sharon Calvert

A massive 30 year 14% sales tax hike is totally unnecessary to fund transportation needs in fast growing Hillsborough county. There is no need to take an additional $15-18 Billion out of taxpayer pockets to fund transportation.

As we posted here, Hillsborough County commissioners took action regarding an alternative transportation funding proposal. We could find no local media reported about this action taken by the commissioners or the alternative funding proposal.

Citizen and Hillsborough County resident Dr. James Davison, who presented his alternative transportation funding proposal to the county commissioners on April 4, directly contacted the Tampa Bay Times (Times) and other local media outlets regarding his funding proposal. He sent the Times and other local media a copy of his transportation funding proposal on July 4th.

Below is a copy of the letter Dr. Davison sent to the Times on July 4th that with his permission we are posting:

To the staff of the Tampa Bay Times; 

So that there is no confusion I have attached a copy of the Transportation Revenue Plan presented to the Hillsborough County BOCC on April 4th at their regular meeting. Its total revenue is $8.469 billion of which at least $6.2 billion goes to transportation including $2.014 billion in new revenues for transit. Money is also included for roads, congestion relief/safety, sidewalks/trails and other infrastructure, all without raising taxes. There is a slight increase in the sales tax, ¼ percent, from 2021 to 2026. From 2027 to 2045 the sales tax in Hillsborough county remains at 7%. The revenue plan is spread over 25 years. If you extend the plan to 30 years the numbers increase dramatically, but the tax level remains the same, 7%. These are conservative estimates and at the request of Mr. Merrill were verified for accuracy and validity. On June 6th at their regular meeting and after meeting with Ms. Wise, Mr. Fesler and Mr. Brickley the county administration did so verify to the plan’s estimates and the BOCC voted unanimously to send the plan on to the Citizen Advisory Committee for their opinion and deliberation. Copies of the plan were given to several TBT reporters, the same attached here. A unanimous vote by the BOCC on any transportation plan in Hillsborough county I think would be news. I have never seen any mention of the above in any of your columns, the editorials or in the pages of the Tampa Bay Times. On the contrary you have chosen to publish a plan put forward after the BOCC voted on the 6th, whose numbers have not been vetted nor its impact modeled. One that raises the sales tax to the highest in the state for 30 years and is knowingly regressive in its application. That is your right as a free press. 

As we celebrate the 4th of July and are all aware that American men and women are in harms way around the world I hope we can celebrate our freedoms and rights but remember our responsibilities. 

I have had the pleasure of knowing several journalists and professors of journalism. They have assured me that there is no course or curriculum at any American university school of journalism or any ethic in journalism which teaches or supports the suppression or withholding of this type of information from the public. You have therefore learned this on your own and have done so knowingly. I am a staunch supporter of a free press. Even Pravda or the Cuban Granma have a right to publish in America, but I remind you, this is America and the truth will get out whether or not you choose to live up to your responsibility. 

I hope you and yours have had a safe and happy 4th of July

Jim Davison DO.

Davison's proposal is also a citizen led funding proposal with numbers and estimates that have been vetted. But according to Davison, the Times nor any other local media he contacted, would report about his citizen proposal that county commissioners actually took an action on. Davison, disturbed by the lack of fair journalistic reporting by local media on the issue of funding transportation, told the Eye when we contacted him:

Suppression of information by the press is not part of the 1st Amendment and has always led to tragic consequences for the people in the past. It will here too for the people of Hillsborough County.

The Times and local media cannot claim ignorance. They are aware there are alternatives to the Vinik and associates funded massive 30 year 14% sales tax hike proposal.

The Times and local media must have their marching orders. They have become information gatekeepers who refuse to fairly report and inform the public of any other transportation funding proposal but Vinik's massive 30 year 14% transit sales tax hike.

It is easier for local media to suppress information and shut down healthy public debate over different transportation funding models. Because it is very difficult for anyone to defend a massive transit tax hike that is not needed.

The Times and local media are intentionally ignoring Davison's funding proposal so they can cheerlead for the special interests/astroturf funded 14% transit sales tax hike,

The financially distressed Times, who was bailed out last year by the wealthy transit tax hike donors Jeff Vinik and Frank Morsani, is the transit tax hike's biggest cheerleader accomplice. The wealthy downtown special interests bought their media megaphone to do the cheerleading for them. 

The media is now part of the storyline not reporters.

The Times latest pro Vinik tax hike cheerleader is Sue Carlton, who the Times never discloses is the wife of Times editor John Hill. Carlton's Times article about the proposed 14% transit sales tax hike in Hillsborough County uses a picture showing traffic congestion in Clearwater. 

Cannot make such nonsense up but it does fuel the fire that the Times has no credibility when it comes to the transportation issue in Tampa Bay. They cannot figure out that Clearwater is in Pinellas County not Hillsborough.

Information is key to public debate, especially regarding transportation funding and contentious tax hikes. But the Times and local media refuse to acknowledge or report about another citizen's transportation funding proposal.

Instead the Times and local media have instituted a media blackout of reporting on any transportation funding proposal except Vinik's 30 year 14% transit sales tax hike - that will greatly benefit him.

And it's called media bias.

Detwiler’s – I almost made it through the store

Eat Fresh for Less is the Detwiler’s Farm Market Mantra.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

As I have mentioned in a couple of recent Posts my wife Theresa, and I will be relocating to Manatee County just East of Palmetto by year’s end. Construction on our new home is going well.

We have been spending some time in the Palmetto/Bradenton area getting familiar with roads, traffic and shopping. Always of special interest is grocery shopping and when we noticed a new grocery store called Detwiler’s not far from the new house, we decided to check it out.

Their newest store at 1800, US 301 in Palmetto was set to open, so we waited a few days and dropped by.

At 50,000 square feet, the store would be considered medium sized compared to some mega stores, but every square foot is put into good use. You can get more details on Detwiler’s from Herald Tribune Staff writer Laura Finaldi: Inside the Palmetto Detwiler’s Farm Market.

From produce to the deli, everything looked good. My wife wanted to pick up a few things, which we easily found with the help of some very nice Detwiler’s employees.

I was doing fine until we got to the bakery and the pie table. My eyes drifted across the table checking out the peach, apple, strawberry and other berry pies and then there it was!

Strawberry rhubarb pie!!!

I let out a little gasp, my wife said, “What’s wrong?” Speechless I pointed to the pie and quickly grabbed one of two remaining pies.

Now, I am originally from Indiana, and we had strawberries and rhubarb literally growing right outside the back door of the house. Strawberry/rhubarb pie was a once a year delicacy eagerly anticipated.

An hour or so later I was sitting at our kitchen table enjoying a large piece of warm (it microwaves well) Strawberry/rhubarb pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Almost as good as my mom used to make fully capable of bringing back some nearly forgotten childhood memories.

If you live in the Bradenton/Palmetto area and have not made it out to Detwiler’s yet give it a try and don’t miss the bakery.

For those of you, who live up north and may follow the Sarasota or Bradenton PATCH sites for local news, events and things to do be sure to put Detwiler’s on your first list of things to do when get back for the winter.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Contributor to: Rick Scott for Senate 

Please comment below

Hillsborough Tax Hike Proponents Take Short Cut Alley but Legal Remedies Exist, Says Expert

Tampa, Fl

Tampa Bay Beat
By: Jim Bleyer

 August 2, 2018 - 6:57 am

Tampa businessman Jeff Vinik and his accomplices, a pack of well-heeled downtown pickpockets, are bypassing conventional methods in order to enact a regressive countywide sales tax increase that would be a developer’s wet dream.

Entirely accurate representations of approved signatures. No kidding.

By Jim Bleyer 

Ostensibly, the one percent boost, which would make Hillsborough County residents the most burdened in Florida, is for transit.  In reality, the tax will bail out Vinik’s highly leveraged, woefully behind schedule development and free up city and county funds to finance a new ballpark for billionaire Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg.

Mobility fees assessed developers could be cut in half.  The $15-18 billion in additional funding is also expected to rescue the City of Tampa and Tampa Airport Authority that are facing financial pressures.

The special interest financial rescue will unfairly burden low and middle income families and those on fixed incomes.  Minority communities would be displaced by fixed guideways.  Citizens not residing in the City of Tampa really get shortchanged and would torpedo such a referendum if it made the ballot.

Mary Helen Farris of the county attorney’s office told Tampa Bay Beat that the statutory requirement for a complete and published audit 60 days before the general election would not be a factor in Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer placing the referendum on the ballot unless the Board of County Commissioners decreed otherwise.

Latimer is in the final days of validating signatures and residency of some 77,000 petitions submitted by All for Transportation, the inaptly named organization concocted by Vinik.  If the validation requirements are met, all indications are that Latimer would accede to the wishes of the petitioning group.

But opponents of the developer relief package have many tools at their disposal: county government, state government, the courts, law enforcement.

The state’s foremost elections expert, former Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho, agreed that Latimer works for the county commission and, short of bringing a legal action against the board, is obligated to put the sales tax hike on the ballot.  Litigation would be an extremely rare move, Sancho said, adding that he sued his county commission only once in 28 years as SOE.

”Someone at the county level or the state attorney would have to get involved to ensure the letter of the law is followed,” Sancho explained.  “The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) who must conduct the audit is the responsible party and should have a major say in the process.”

Individuals and citizen groups also have the option of going to court with writs of quo warranto or mandamus to ensure all legal requirements are met, he added.

A team of citizen watchdogs on Monday reviewed several hundred petitions that underwent the validation process at  SOE offices on Falkenburg Road.  The stacks included both those approved and denied.

There were many problems.  Signatures were more than illegible; several did not contain as much as one letter in the modern English alphabet (see photo above).  More than 90 percent were obtained through paid solicitors.  The names and addresses of the solicitors are required but approximately 30 percent of the sample contained incomplete or no addresses.

The validation rate has been hovering around 70 percent but one SOE employee had signed off on and approved 90 of 90 petitions in the sampling.  Theoretically, if all employees receive the same training, such an anomaly should not exist.  All should be within several points of 70 percent.  It’s called best practices.

Latimer’s office has no mechanism for measuring the (in)effectiveness of individual employees thus compromising the process.  If the true validation rate is around 66 or 67 percent, one employee going off the reservation could boost the overall rate to 70 percent.

Editor’s Note:  Latimer’s office would not permit photos of the submitted petitions or signatures.  Whether or not this violates Florida’s Government in the Sunshine Law is open for debate. 

Cross Posted with permission from: Tampa Bay Beat 

This post is contributed by Tampa Bay Beat. The views and opinions expressed in this post are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Bay Post Internet or the publisher.

Barb Haselden – A Pinellas County Commission Candidate worthy of your vote

Your mail in Ballot should have arrived by now.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

I first met Barb Haselden in 2013 as she was organizing the No Tax for Tracks initiative.

What impressed me the most was it was clear Barb was not a politician or representing a special interest, she was a concerned resident of Pinellas County who foresaw the possibility of a major boondoggle if a sales tax referendum for light rail was passed.

Barb tirelessly pursued the goal of defeating the referendum even in the face of withering condemnation from her opponents. Always armed with the facts and not personal attacks Barb led a movement that resulted in the Greenlight Pinellas effort being defeated with 62% of the voters voting no.

I had the chance to watch Barb work up close. She is tenacious, relentless is her search for the truth and unafraid to confront the Pinellas County political power structure.

Here is some additional information about Barb from her campaign website:

Barb Haselden has resided in St Petersburg for 30 years, and specifically District 6 for 25 years, the seat she is seeking in 2018.

She founded her Florida corporation Hometown lnsurors, lnc. in 1989.  She was a pioneer over the decades for the much-needed long term care insurance product and has personally transacted the placement of thousands of individual long term care policies from major insurance companies to her clients, sometimes their adult children and now even some grandchildren in the same families.

She continues as the president.

ln 2009, Barb became interested in local government and founded the “South Pinellas 912” group, a taxpayer centered citizen organization, that she has built to nearly 1,000 local members. As the leader of that group advocating for Pinellas taxpayers, Barb has attended hundreds of Pinellas and Hillsborough County meetings (BoCC, PSTA, TBARTA, MPO, etc.) to stay informed on local issues affecting the taxpayers. 

As a result of attending these government meetings Barb was alarmed when she learned about the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners plan to put a unnecessary light rail system in Pinellas County and their decision to try to convince Pinellas voters to pass a massive sales tax increase to pay for it.

In 2013 Barb created "No Tax For Tracks", a Registered County Political Committee, to educate Pinellas taxpayers about the light rail, which the Board of County Commission called Greenlight Pinellas.

During 2014 Barb drove to 200 community meetings at the extreme limits of Pinellas County, to educate voters on how the Greenlight Rail Tax would affect them. She debated numerous Greenlight Proponents at large venues. She gathered supporters countywide who joined in the effort. Nearly 7000 "No Tax for Tracks" yard signs were distributed countywide by citizen volunteers organized thru Barb's leadership.

Thankfully, her work paid off and the voter referendum on Greenlight Pinellas was defeated November 4th, 2014, with 62% voting No to the tax increase, which would have raised our sales tax to 8%, the highest in Florida!

Barb Haselden for County Commission

Your mail in Ballot should have arrived by now.

If you live in a Precinct where Barb Haselden is on your ballot for Pinellas County Commission District 6, she is your best choice by far.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.  

Disclosures:

Contributor to: Rick Scott for Senate 

Please comment below