County Recap

Our public affairs reporting class has opened up my eyes to much of what is going on within our county. From the bussing issues to the lack of funding crippling area schools, education is clearly suffering from various deficiencies. The opportunity to cover Election Day on our campus showed me how unconcerned Buddy Johnson was with registered voters and the several problems that arose during his term in office. And throughout the semester my attendance at several public meetings taught me about various issues as well attending a public trial.

Our county, like any other small government has problems. The clearest sign of this is our decaying educational system. Middleton Middle was covered in the tribune asking for volunteers to help tutor students due to the extreme deficiencies in their school. Then budget cuts that had closed down three public schools in our area last year have now threatened to shut down even more schools, schools like Palm Harbor Elementary which is and ‘A’ rated school. The school boards on going bussing dispute have also reflected very poorly on Hillsborough County. As I said before, it has been for far too long that we allow education to only be an afterthought rather than a priority.

Buddy Johnson’s term in office speaks volumes about our county as well. We allowed a man to retain a position of power even though he continued to abuse it; the TBT reported that Johnson had mishandled ballots in not one, not two but three different elections. This makes me wonder why he was not removed from office prior to this general election where he yet again had pollers counting vote’s days after Election Day to determine whether he won re-election. On election morning Buddy Johnson sent poll workers a memo informing them that there were new rules for media, extending the perimeter from the actual building premises rather than the poll boxes. Not only did Buddy Johnson decide he had the power to change existing rules the morning of Election Day, but he felt he could disregard student voters registered at USF with bringing an inadequate amount of polling boxes into our campus.

The Citizens Advisory Board meeting teaches us about the effects of our economy here in our area. There are many homeowners struggling to make ends meet and whose homes are in danger of being foreclosed. This has led for the development of the neighborhood stabilization act which will help those people in our area struggling. While there may be new business coming into the area surrounding USF there are also others being forced to close its doors. We have seen the closeout sales for stores like Steve and Barry’s in University Mall and Linen and Things right off Bruce B. Downs.

I find it odd that in a time when we allow schools to cripple we are debating a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays, who although may have a slightly outdated field in regards to their recent success, don’t really have a dire need for a new one. Another situation that seems confusing is TECO’s announcement of higher rates when the gas prices have started to go down. Homeless tent cities sprout up, and county officials put their best effort forward to have them removed. I don’t understand what it is that makes people fight so fervently against the miserable, and yet allow for businesses, schools, and Election Day practices to suffer. It seems that our local government extends its power without dissent because many aren’t speaking up and because our officials aren’t being reprimanded. I wonder what our county would look like and what issues would arise had people actually shown up the public meetings I attended. We let problems continue up until the point that they can’t be ignored and this is far too long.