PUBLIC MEETING

I went to the Board of County Commissioners meeting on March 23rd. I will say it was quite a disappointment. The meeting was about land use, which sounded extremely boring. It was on the second floor of a huge building downtown. Now that I'm learning about where to park, the downtown visits are becoming less stressful.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the room was how small it was. It looks a lot bigger on television than in person. It's a tall room but very narrow and awkward looking. There were a lot of cameras around blocking the view on the sides.

It starts with someone going up to the podium before the commissioners and asking for a permit to do something to their land. The audience is then asked if they have anything to say or any objections. Then the Commissioners vote.

The Board of County Commissioners from district 1-7 are: Jim Norman , Ken Hagan, Kevin White, Al Higginbotham, Kevin Beckner, Rose Ferlita (I wonder if there's any relation to the Ferlita bakery in downtown Ybor), and Mark Sharpe. The board is in charge of the county’s capital and operating budgets.

The meeting started at 1:30. They then took a break about 15 minutes after. This really drove me crazy. We had to wait there an extra hour in order to see the second part of the meeting. What was the point of having a second part of the meeting? I would love a job or class that I could take a break every 15 minutes.

Oh wait! It's like most of us college students taking breaks after every paragraph to see if anyone has commented on our Facebook status, or if Brett Favre has decided whether or not to retire or come back to play one more year.

The first part of the meeting might have lasted a little longer if they didn't unanimously vote in favor of the first 12 decisions( B1-B12). I was tempted to go up there and just ask to have some property. I thought maybe they would just not pay attention and unanimously agree.

It really seemed like they just didn't care what happened during the first part of the meeting.

The second part of the meeting rolls around. I'm thinking surely they saved the hard decisions for last and tried to get the easy stuff out of the way first.

I was wrong. They worked just as fast as before. If our government employees worked this way we would have plenty of stuff done by now. I'm kidding, refer back to my post while visiting the Courthouse and you'll know.

I noticed three key personal appearance petitions. The first one was the relocation of commercial square footage to the office parcel for property located on the west side of North Florida Ave, and 200 ft. south of Siobhan Ave. The second was to allow affordable homes on the Southwest corner of 14th ave SE and 12th St. SE. Finally, to modify parking property located on the south side of Progress Blvd. Riviting stuff huh?

All-in-all I do understand that politicians have a lot more to do than just these decisions, this was just not a great show-case. The visit did give me an opportunity to talk to a reporter about an internship, which is always a good thing. I also got to see Mark Sharpe in person. He is my assigned public official, so you will be seeing some more of him later in the month.

Until next time....

The Sequel

Math can be a terrifying subject for most Mass Communication students. I happen to be one of them. I avoid math like it's the plague, so when first about learning budgets my first thought was how wonderful it will be to catch-up on some sleep.

In for his second visit came Preston Trigg. He's the director of administration and special projects. His goal this time, to teach us Mass Communication students the art of reading a budget.


Preston had a lot of good information to tell us. He first explained to us about government agents having budgets and how they are all public record in the state of Florida. This makes sense that every government agency has a budget considering they spend and receive money. I just never really thought about it. When you hear about 9 dollar cheesecakes, as of late, it sort of slips your mind that the government actually follows a budget.


The budgets, as Mr. Trigg explained, can help uncover corrupt behavior amongst the government officials. It's human nature to be corrupted by power and money. Well what do most government officials tend to have access to? Both power and money. Keeping the budgets public record keeps them in place (to an extent), and creates a nice check and balance to the system.


As with most budgets, you can't spend more than you're bringing in. This goes the same for the government (at least the local government). Revenue comes in through sales taxes, property taxes, fines, parking tickets, utility payments, grants, business tax, and any other way they can possibly try to get their hands on our money. In my opinion we don't give enough money to the government, but I digress. Budgets are in most cases done every fiscal year which starts October 1st and ends September 30th.


Going into class I was completely unaware about bond referendums. They contribute to revenue, that are loans to government from citizens that eventually are paid back with interest.


Mr. Trigg spoke to us about being aware of spikes in revenue through water bills and property taxes. If these go up, there's usually something fishy needing to be checked. When taxes are raised, people will want an explanation. When utilities go up without any explanation, a job of a reporter is to find out why.


The most complicated part of the presentation is coming so Mass Communication students who get queasy whenever math or formulas are brought up, it may be time to cut this read early. Don't worry, i wont be offended.


Mr. Trigg taught us about the mileage property tax system. All homes are taxed through whatever they are appraised at. One mil is the same thing as one tax dollar for every one thousand dollars the home is worth. Most counties set the mil for property tax, but the homestead exemption changes this. It lowers value by 50,000 dollars for tax purposes. This has caused property taxes to plummet. According to Trigg, this is killing the counties' budgets.


Just a quick review:

If the tax rate is 5 mils and the property value is $1,000, the owner would pay $5 dollars on $1,000. If the tax rate is 10 mils and the property value is $100,000 the owner would pay $1,000.


Budgets can be a useful tool for any good reporter. It can be at time very complicated if you don't know how to use it. However,with the proper knowledge, and getting over the initial fear off all those intimidating number, it will guide people in the direction of corruption. With times as tough as it's been financially,wouldn't you like to know where your money is going? Budgets give the public the tools to check on politicians and make sure they're using our hard earned money for the betterment of the city, state, or country.


Until next time, work a budget, save your money.....

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner

Our latest trip learning about Public Records was to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner.

http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/medexam/about/unidentified.cfm

After someone dies, they are sent to the Examiner. This was such a depressing and plain building. Obviously the depressing part was that you know there's dead bodies in the building and many have been there before. People get very awkward and queasy when learning about death. It's something that most of us fear the most.

The tour of the Examiner was lead by Dr. Adams, who seemed very comfortable with death. He erased the uneasiness from my mind and helped focus on the workings and public records of his office (until I saw the dead body, more on that later). I think he's just been desensitized of emotion or shock of dead bodies because he's dealt with them for over 20 years.

He started to give us some interesting information on his office. His office doesn't examine every bodies that rolls in. There would be way too many to keep up with.

Dr. Adams talked about his job duties through statue 406.11, that gives him total jurisdiction in determining causes of death for anyone involved in criminal violence, suicide, poison, sudden death while in good health, in prison or under the full care of a doctor.

The Examiner must determine the cause of death and go to the site of the dead body to gather some evidence that may help them with gathering information on the body. However, A common theme throughout these Government funded establishments, there have been budget cuts. Some of the bodies found at night don't get the same attention they would during the day.

Something really needs to be done about all the budget cuts going on. I feel like a lot of money is being spent on insignificant things but others of more importance are being cut.

Unless it's under investigation, the autopsy reports are open to the public. The hospital and nursing records are not. The pictures on file of the body used to be public record until 2001 when Dale Earnhardt's wife got it passed that made them private. The bill was based off the fact that Earnhardt was a celebrity. I remember how much attention and how crazy the media got after he died on National Television.

There are two death certificates. If you're like me, you assumed there was only one. The medical death certificate is private but the memorial death certificate is the one that's public record.

None of the public records for the Examiner are online. Any record requests must be done upon at the actual office. I thought that was strange because it seems like you can do everything online.

And finally the lasting memory of the trip would have to be seeing the dead body during an autopsy. We are not allowed to see it but I think Dr. Adams made a mistake and let us in too early. We didn't get a great look at it, but enough that I know I never would like to see that again.

One last tidbit of information. I found out Billy Mays was examined at the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner. He had a substant in his system that in a bag may look like Oxyclean, but wasn't, I'll let you fill in the blanks.

I went to a public officials meeting today and was very disappointed. Check back later in the week for my take on the meeting.

Until next time, stay safe so you stay out of the Examiner's office.

My Court Trip

Hello everybody. Our latest assignment was to attend court cases for a few hours. I was reluctant and annoyed with this idea at first. I thought it was going to be boring and busy work. As you will soon find out, that was far from the truth.

I got there fairly early and had no idea where to go. All the employees at the courthouse were very helpful and nice. This came as a surprise because it's such a negative place. I always feel so weird being there. I can only imagine being there having to face prison or jail time.

I eventually was lead to a court case that involved a man facing 5 different felonies. Before the case started I overheard the family discussing the some of the details.

There were eight people in the family discussing the decision that needed to be made on a man named Forrest James Rashad. He was a 24 year-old, who was being charged with; possession or a fire-arm, possession of narcotics., armed burglary, grand theft auto. He had another felony charge that got dropped by the state.

Forrest was facing life in prison but was offered a deal to take 20 years, plus time already served and another 5 years probation after that. The stipulation to the deal was his rights of appeal were relinquished. Some of the family thought the investigation wasn't properly handled. They thought he could get off because of it.

At one point one of the bailiffs had to break two member of the family up as they started to push and shove each other while screaming at the top of there lungs. It was such an emotional time for the family that they started attacking each other. It was starting to get out of hand.

As the family was arguing back and forth about what Forrest should do, my mind started to wander. I just imagined being in his shoes and my family arguing, yelling, and screaming at each other. On top of all that facing life in prison.

Shortly after, the case started and everyone filed into the court-room. Some members of the family were denied entry because they were wearing flip flops and shorts.

When Forrest was brought out he and his mother immediately started crying. It seemed like as soon as they made eye-contact they had a look as if they couldn't believe what was happening.

The judge, Anthony K. Black, stated the facts of the offer given by the state to Forrest and asked him if he understood the deal. Forrest's weeping made it hard to understand his answer. Judge Black asked again. It was again hard to understand. So Judge Black, starting to seem annoyed, asked again louder and more stern. Forrest nodded his head and softly said yes.

The father of Forrest then stood up and yelled that his son did not understand the deal. Judge Black seemed surprised that Forrest's father just did this and asked him to sit down and be quiet. The man would not sit down and asked for a couple of minutes to address the court. The bailiffs then came and escorted him out of the court-room. (Judge Black)

Forrests mother then started to lose it, and started crying. The crying was so hysterical, I couldn't hear what the judge was saying. He then politely asked her to please be quiet. Judge Black waited until Forrest's mother was in better control.

Forrest took the deal from the state. I was thinking about how amazing it would be to have a decision that could change his and his families life come down to something like that. He did make the decision to commit all those felonies. It's sad seeing someone around my age in that situation.

Forrest will be out in the year 2028. He will be 42 when he finally gets out of prison and 47 when will no longer be on probation.

A lot can happen in a time span of 20 years, but not much will change with Forrest's life. He will look older, probably have grey hair, maybe even bald. While in prison his family and the rest of the world will be moving through there lives. Forrest's life will be at a stand still. Some of the family who attended the hearing will be dead. He will miss his baby son's youth. This all because he made bad decisions one night.

I'm sorry for such a long post, but so much happened. I wanted you to be able to understand how emotional this case was. This was better than a Law and Order episode. Until next time everyone stay out of trouble!!!!

Pat Frank

This trip started off terrible. There was construction in front of the court-house blocking the parking garage we were supposed to park in. Nobodies fault just becomes a pain to get back when you have no idea where you're going and every street you want to take is a one-way going the opposite direction you'd like. At one point I almost turned around and went home. It was that frustrating.

That being said, it was well worth the frustration. The tour started off with an older, very soft spoken, sweet lady. Little did I know this women was Pat Frank, the Chief Financial Officer of Hillsborough County and the Clerk of the County Courts.

She seemed to have by far the most knowledge of any speaker thus far. It was quite obvious that she also was very passionate about her job and cared deeply for her employees.

There was pain in her face when explaining the closing of the other government office on Florida Ave, causing a cut in jobs and an 8% decrease in pay for the ones who kept their job.

A common misconception is that government employees don't work hard nor earn their pay. Seeing the lines the workers were dealing with, I promise at the courthouse, that isn't true.

I was amazed at how much access the public had at public records at the court house. There were computers throughout the building that gave access to things like arrest records, court documents, and divorce or domestic abuse cases. Mrs. Frank informed us that arrest records are the most often requested documents.

If a case is deemed "high-profile" by the Chief Judge, it will be posted online at there web site. The Internet has made things much easier for people searching for public records. Anything current is scanned into computers, but the older stuff is still in warehouses across Tampa. This all depends on what record your searching for. The fact that we haven't scanned everything into a computer was amazing. Pat Frank talked about how if a hurricane with winds higher than 110 mph came through, all of those records would be lost. I don't know if anyone realizes this, but we are in Florida. This seems almost inevitable.

She really put things in perspective with hiring new judges. I didn't realize for every judge hired there needed to be three clerks also hired. I'm sure this knowledge would change a lot of the public perspective also.

Overall, I really enjoyed this visit. Besides the parking, it was very informative. Pat Frank had a lot to say and our tour guide so to speak, Dana Caranante, did a great job at showing us around the very bland but important building. Of all presentations thus far, I would say try to keep this one. Next semester I'd imagine their not being the same traffic or construction. Then again, this is Florida, maybe I should say three semester from now.

Until next time.

WFLA's Steve Andrews

One of the most respected in his field, we visited News Channel 8's Steve Andrews recently. Steve is the Chief Investigative Reporter with 25 years of experience. He has uncovered much scam and political wrong-doing over the course of his career and had a great deal to say and teach us.

He taught us about public records being gold to a reporter. This seems to be a common theme for the speakers to express to us. Steve talked about how time consuming searching through public records can be. He explained how the time spent is worth it and can uncover plenty useful information. This is especially true for an investigative reporter.

He definitely wanted to drive home the point about being polite to people, instead of being a bully, which will make you look unprofessional to the audience. In my opinion, reporters that seem disrespectful or rude look emotionally involved and look like the have a personal vendetta towards the subject of investigation.

Adding to the advice given by Mr. Andrews was to have questions or ideas prepared before you ever approach someone. He said three is a good rule of thumb. Sometimes the approach can get away from what you planned and you must adjust to the situation. Being prepared only helps because people may say things to keep you away from the truth, and this will help you stay on topic. He also explained that knowing the rules of the place your going is vital.

A recent example of his work that stood out to me was the story about the Workforce Alliance spending about $20,000 dollars on food. This all highlighted by $9 dollar cheesecake, was interesting because I had heard about the story but didn't realize that it was his and WFLA's work that brought it to the public attention.

This led to the head of the Workforce Alliance stepping down and many more changes to it's structure and inter workings. It seems like every guest reporter has some sort of story about taking down politicians or corruption amongst government spending. Not a great reputation for them as it is.

In conclusion, it was obvious that Steve knew what he was talking about and had many great tips for our class in future investigations. The main thing I'll take from this is the three question rule and the always being polite to people.

Watch out for next blog post about Clerk of the County Court systems and ways to get public records at the court-house.