U-CAN Hillsborough

Here are some examples of the bad management policies that exist today in Hillsborough County

Peter Aluotto, current Director of Planning and Growth Management (PGM), was selected by a group of county officials and a representative of the Tampa Bay Builders Assn (TBBA). No citizens participated or were even asked to participate in that selection process. Mr Aluotto has stated to citizens and to the BOCC that he believes if we don't make it easier for builders, they will go to other counties to build. That fuzzy-logic was formulated by the builders lobby and it is apparent that key county employees have swallowed the bait - hook, line and sinker.
Commissioner Blair has stated that we must make it easier for builders to do business in Hillsborough County or our economy will evaporate because they will develop in neighboring counties instead of Hillsborough. Here's one of his quotes from a recent hearing, "...if we ever stop growing, having smart growth, we're going to die".
The county's website used to state that the BOCC would not make any policy decisions at Workshop Meetings. Then on 3/14/07 they broke their own rules by gutting a large portion of a growth plan amendment during a Workshop Meeting. When U-CAN filed a complaint with the county attorney's office, the next day the website had mysteriously been altered. It now reads that the BOCC can make major policy decisions at Workshop Meeting, even without a public hearing.
While the BOCC has made significant cuts in the budget along with cuts in service, they raised their own car allowance from $300 to $600.
Unequal treatment at zoning hearings - when a developer doesn't show up at a scheduled zoning hearing the hearing master usually says, "we should give the applicant another chance so let's reschedule this case". However, if there is known and publicized opposition to a rezoning case and the oppostion doesn't show up at the scheduled time, the zoning hearing master will say, "Well, they should have been here. The case will be heard with or without any opposition"
Championship Park was the pet project of BOCC Chairman Jim Norman. $40M was set aside 2 years ago for this project but in light of the drastic budget cuts to the county's budget in 2007, the BOCC voted against moving forward with the project, as proposed. The $40M was not given back to the taxpayers, though. Instead, they will soon think of new ways to spend that money.
The South County Transportation Plan (SCTP) was made public in Sept 2007. Most county residents didn't even know about it even though the plan was being worked on by the county for some time. The county had formed committees which were made up of almost all developers, realty industry or building industry lobbyists. They came up with a plan which included the Brandon Beltway/Bypass which is a superhighway that would cut through east Hillsborough and precipitate sprawl all along it's path. The county had denied for at least a year that it had any plans for a beltway, but suddenly it appeared on the county's website and in it's proposed comprehensive plan. After citizens expressed outrage over being misled, the county decided to remove it from the current plan and begin the process of involving the public in the discussion of any beltways. This is "Government By Discovery", which lacks public participation and favors one special interest group.
The county consistently allows any committees that it forms to be heavily weighted with building industry representatives. In most cases these committees end up being weighted 10 to 1 in favor of development interests. Some examples are the EAR Comp Plan Amendment Stakeholders Committee and the South County Transp Plan TAC and PAC. These groups are so heavily weighted with building/development industry lobbyists that it's no wonder that the outcome always favors that special interest group, and the average citizen ends up paying in higher density, higher taxes, more traffic, crowded schools, shinking green space, and a shrinking quality of life.
The average citizen has only limited access to some of their elected county commissioners. If the average citizen asks to meet with certain commissioners, their staff will quickly advise that their calendar is booked for the forseeable future. If a building industry lobbyist decides to see that same commissioner, they will be granted access in a relatively short amount of time. This happens consistently with 4 out of the seven commissioners. Your elected officials should make themselves approachable and accessible to everyone and not just to those that fund their election campaigns.