New Tampa 2017 Year in Review: MAN OF ACTION

New Tampa Resident Luis Viera Has Stayed Busy Since Being Elected To The Tampa City Council

Thanks to Town Hall meetings organized by New Tampa resident and Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, City of Tampa officials are paying more attention to the people of New Tampa.

In December of 2016, New Tampa resident Luis Viera won a special run-off election for the Tampa City Council District 7 seat by only 65 votes.

He spent 2017 proving he was the right man for the job.

“I didn’t vote for him,” said Tampa Palms lawyer Tracy Falkowitz, a lifelong Republican who voted instead for Viera’s opponent (and fellow Hunter’s Green resident) Jim Davison). “But I’ve already told Luis I’ll be first in line to campaign for him next time.”

Her reasons are simple, and explain how Viera helped shape a productive year for New Tampa (while also fighting for changes in other parts of District 7, like Forest Hills, Terrace Park and the University of South Florida area).

In 2017, he mobilized hundreds of New Tampa residents in an effort to ensure the city budgeted money for Fiscal 2018 for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC). He also spearheaded the effort to build a sensory-friendly park in Tampa Palms — in part because he has a brother who is autistic — and was a strong proponent for a new fire station (Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 23) that will be built on County Line Rd.

Viera founded the New Tampa Council, and filled its Board with leaders from as many different local communities as he could. He also started the North Tampa Veterans Council and has attended countless Home Owners Association (HOA) meetings.

Viera held town halls. Instead of telling New Tampa residents they needed to go downtown to argue and fight for what they thought they deserved — as so many city and county officials have told them before — he brought government officials from South Tampa here.

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera hosted a town hall meeting at the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms in June that attracted roughly 75 local residents who came to discuss a number of issues., especially those related to the traffic in our area.

It was at one of Viera’s first town halls, in June at the NTRC, that Falkowitz first met the guy she didn’t vote for. She was there to tell Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s Chief of Staff Dennis Rogero that it was ludicrous that the city wouldn’t expand the rec center, which had a waiting list of thousands hoping to get into the NTRC’s popular gymnastics and dance programs.

Falkowitz was angry and vocal. Afterwards, Viera spoke with her and they ended up forging a partnership that extended to the New Tampa Council and included the efforts of Tampa Palms’ Maggie Wilson and Warren Dixon, Cory Lake Isles’ Bob Parker, West Meadows’ Brad Van Rooyen,  K-Bar Ranch’s Craig Margelowsky and David Burman of Cory Lake Isles, as well as others.

During the decisive and harrowing all-night City Council budget meeting in September, New Tampa had nearly 50 residents in attendance, many speaking in support of the NTRC expansion after years of failed attempts.

The budget passed — and the NTRC expansion, sensory park and Fire Station No. 23 will all begin to take shape in 2018.

Everyone involved says that without Viera, it wouldn’t have happened.

“I think that’s accurate,’’ says Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “Luis, through a variety of means, has made sure New Tampa’s voices are being heard, either with him advocating or facilitating those conversations between our staff and the people that live here. In both cases, it was a very, very effective means of communicating.”

Ultimately, that was Viera’s primary goal — to bring New Tampa together as one community, instead of a collection of fragmented neighborhoods. A Tampa Palms resident from 2006-12 and a Hunter’s Green resident since then, Viera says he felt New Tampa lacked an effectiveness cohesiveness.

A large contingent of New Tampa residents showed up in red shirts at both budget workshops to speak to the Tampa City Council about the importance of the New Tampa Recreation Center.

Hoping to stitch those communities together to help advocate for the area with one voice, Viera tried to be omnipresent.

“I tried showing up to as many New Tampa events as I could,’’ said Viera. “Ribbon cuttings, openings…I wanted people feeling like their elected official is accountable, and accessible.”

His efforts, which he balanced with being a father to 10-year-old son Luis and working as a trial lawyer, have been lauded.

“He invigorated a whole lot of residents,” says Wilson, a community consultant for Tampa Palms. “I’ve lived here since 1989, and never has anyone in government service been as boots-on-the-ground and as active and caring across a wide variety of issues as Luis.”

Viera also has taken up the fight to connect Kinnan St. in K-Bar Ranch to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, which the city and counties have so far failed to do. He has met with Pasco County officials, and discussed the matter with Hillsborough County commissioners.

Viera is quick to decline all the credit for his 2017 accomplishments, however, instead deferring to the community he is helping to spark. By connecting them to the right people, he knows he can continue to make a difference and produce results for New Tampa.

“I think he’s had a superb year,’’ Buckhorn says. “Since the day he was elected, he hit the ground running and has not stopped
he was a forceful advocate for New Tampa, and the results speak for themselves. He made sure in our budget process that the expansion of the New Tampa Rec Center was in the mix, the sensory park was very near and dear to his heart, and until the very end, he was up there fighting make sure New Tampa voices were heard.”

Local Nonprofit Group Trying To Keep Puerto Rico On Everyone’s Radar

(L.-r.) Nehiel, Ivy and Ashley.

If you’re like most Floridians, you spent a lot of time glued to the Doppler Radar on your TV sets and smartphones to keep up with the paths of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria from late August through early October.

And, following the devastation that Irma and Maria both wreaked upon the Caribbean, especially Maria’s march through the American territorial island of Puerto Rico, many of us felt compelled to do something to help, especially if we had friends or family hit by those storms.

One family who lives in Land O’Lakes, off Wesley Chapel Blvd., was particularly close to the situation. In fact, Ivelisse (she goes by “Ivy” here) Hernandez was in Puerto Rico when Irma hit there, returned to be with her daughter Ashley Rivera just before Irma hit here and went back to her native home, to help with Irma relief, three days before Maria devastated the power grid and so many lives in Puerto Rico.

In fact, the first time Ivy was able to get in  touch with Ashley following Maria, all she could get through was an “SOS” message on Facebook. An ABC Action News TV crew was actually on hand when Ashley and Ivy were first able to speak with each other the next day — for ten minutes or less — and only because Ivy climbed a large hill in the decimated town of Canovanas in order to get enough cell phone “bars” to even make a phone call.

“I have been through hurricanes before, but I never saw anything like Maria,” Ivy recalls. “Away from the big cities, people there may not have power or working traffic lights for two years or more.”

In other words, Ivy says, it’s important for us, as fellow Americans, to keep Puerto Rico on our radar. “You can’t just think, ‘Well, I already donated some money or some food, so I did my part.’ The crisis in Puerto Rico is far from over.”

Taking Action

Ashley, a teacher at Denham Oaks Eelementary in Land O’Lakes, decided to do something more to help. She started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called “El Coqui Que Vive Aqui,” which means “The Frog that Lives Here.” El coqui is a small frog that is indigenous to Puerto Rico that has never been able to live anywhere else but on the island. “So, we are the coquis — the native Puerto Ricans — who live here  (in Florida),” Ashley says.

The name might be hard to say, but what this small group of people — most of whom had never met before joining together — have accomplished in a very short period of time is truly amazing and inspiring.

“We didn’t know what we could do,” Ashley says. “We wanted to be there to help, but we couldn’t. We all just felt like we needed to do something. I started reaching out on Facebook saying ‘We’re doing this’ and people just started offering to help.”

Among those who have been helping, she says, are Life Church on Old Pasco Rd. and local businesses like Happy Cow Frozen Yogurt on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel (which held a fundraiser) and others, like the Palms Pharmacy in Tampa Palms (which donated gloves, masks, OTC medications and more. “They really opened up their hearts to help us,” Ashley says.) and Associated Construction Products in Lutz, which donated hundreds of buckets (see below). And, a company called Envolve Pharmacy Solutions has donated its cargo airplanes (which would normally cost thousands for each flight) to fly over to Puerto Rico, filled with the supplies collected by El Coqui volunteers. To date, four Envolve planes have flown more than 20,000 pounds of supplies over to the island, all of which have gotten into the hands of those who need them.

Ashley started by collecting the items Ivy said the people in Puerto Rico needed — including non-perishable food, toiletries and buckets to catch rain water, since bottled water is in such short supply. Ivy’s mother, Ashley’s grandmother, owns Premier Medical Services in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where she has organized dozens of volunteers — most of whom have no power or water themselves, but are still helping people who are even less fortunate — to make sure that the items that El Coqui volunteers collect actualy get into the hands of the people in need.

“My mom was able to develop a network of people she knows in many of the small towns in the mountainous areas away from the bigger cities, where nothing was getting through,” Ivy says. “We’re making sure we’re getting the supplies to those in the most need first.”

Ivy, who says that she had never seen anything like the island after Maria, says, “Imagine no land lines, no TV, entire families waiting in line for 12 hours for gas, no ice and no way to communicate. The one radio station on the island that had a signal was collapsing as it was helping people connect for the first time. I never thought I would hear that emergency signal on the radio used for a real emergency. We were in no way prepared for this.”

Among those helping El Coqui is U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and Calvary Scout Jason Maddy, one of a group of U.S. veterans who has self-deployed to Puerto Rico. “Jason was able to get our supplies into the mountains, many of which had no roads after Maria,” Ivy says.

Although many of the supplies are loaded in boxes, Associated Construction Products donated the buckets and, rather than ship them over empty, El Coqui volunteers have filled them with supplies and called them “Buckets of Love,” which anyone can pay to fill for just $20. “Some of the buckets have food, some have tools or personal hygiene items,” Ashley says. “Some people have given us money, but some people have donated medical supplies like adult diapers. They need everything there.”

Helping Here, Too

As a teacher, Ashley notes that schools across the Bay area have accepted thousands of children who have left Puerto Rico to live with aunts or uncles, “some of whom they  had never met before. There is just so much emotional counseling that is needed, for kids and for older, sick people who waited weeks for flights to get here, too. They’re all traumatized.”

Ivy adds, “We have gotten so many messages on the El Coqui Facebook page from people who are literally crying, “Thank you so much for helping us. We thought everyone forgot about us here.”

Some local schools are even writing letters that El Coqui is shipping to the people of Puerto Rico to let them know someone cares. “Every bucket has a card and a letter in it,” says Ivy, who is going back to Puerto Rico on Christmas Day to literally play Santa Claus for these people. “My Christmas will be handing out toys to kids and families who have nothing. Even a $10 toy will be a big deal for these kids.”

I met several of El Coqui’s volunteers, all of whom have a connection to Puerto Rico, but none of whom knew each other before they got involved. They all have the same beautiful energy for heping that Ashley and Ivy do. All they need now are more donations and more voluteers to help get them to Puerto Rico.

If you’d like to help, search “El Coquü Que Vive Aqui” on Facebook and please tell Ashley and Ivy that we sent you!

Fill ‘er up: Crystal Lagoon topped off!

Metro Development Group announced on Dec. 26 that the much-anticipated Crystal Lagoon at Epperson is filled.
Yes, those are actual photos of the lagoon, not renderings.
To commemorate the first-ever Crystal Lagoons’ amenity in the U.S., Metro will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony next week, on Friday, January 5.
“Metro Development Group is excited to be the first to bring this amazing amenity to the U.S.,” said Metro president Greg Singleton in a press release. “We have celebrated many milestones with Crystal Lagoons over the past two years and we are proud to have earned the distinction of being the first developer to inaugurate a Crystal Lagoons’ amenity in the U.S.”
While filled with crystal clear water — maintained by ultra-sonic technology that uses sensors to monitor the quality of the crystal-clear water, and uses 100 times less chemicals than a traditional swimming pool and 50 times less energy than conventional pool filtration systems — work continues on the 7.5-acre lagoon at Epperson.
As you can tell by the pictures, some palm trees are in place but still to come: a waterslide, private cabanas, in-water obstacle platform, swim-up bar, tidal pool, restaurant, family beach, yoga lawn, an entertainment plaza, an area for special events and more.
Metro is planning an official grand opening celebration in early spring 2018, where Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is scheduled to appear.

Cypress Creek High Boys Basketball Will Have You Seeing Double
Twice!

If you’ve attended a Cypress Creek Middle High School boys basketball game this year, you might have thought you were seeing the same two players over and over and over again.

You’re not.

The Coyotes have not one, but two sets of identical twins this season on their varsity roster — juniors Tai-Sheim and Jai-Keem Anthony, and sophomores Jalen and Jehlani Warren.

Chemistry is the name of the game for both sets of brothers.

The Anthonys moved to the Wesley Chapel area from Atlanta as fifth graders, already in tune with each other on the basketball court. They began to develop roles when they came up to the Wesley Chapel High (WCH) junior varsity team as sophomores a year ago, Tai-Sheim as a guard/forward, Jai-Keem as a point guard/shooting guard.

“I remember the first game (at WCH) last year, I scored 19,” Jai-Keem said. “The next game, I scored 21 and it seemed to get easier from there.”

The brothers never have a problem finding each other on the court. “I know I can look up the court and he (Tai-Sheim) will be in the corner for the three,” Jai-Keem said. “It always easy for us to find each other on the court.”

Both players would like to be the Cypress Creek point guard,  but Tai-Sheim has accepted his role. “I’m fine with it (not being the point),” Tai-Sheim says. “He (Jai-Keem) is shorter, so coach put him at point. I just try to fit in wherever I play.”

The Warren twins aren’t playing together as Coyotes for the first time. Jehlani is the quarterback of the football team, while Jalen is one of the running backs and also played strong safety.

The two have a lengthy history on the courts, however, and sometimes Jehlani and Jalen have even had to face off as opponents in various leagues. “When we used to play together in rec leagues, they made us play on separate teams because we were so good together,” Jehlani says.

The Warren twins’ dad, Christopher, says that it wasn’t until their last year of AAU basketball that his twins were allowed to play on the same team together.

“They would take turns taking over games,” Christopher Warren said. “They pushed the offense along and were a good 1-2 punch.”

The Warrens grew up in Virginia Beach,  and only moved to the Wesley Chapel area last year. They, like the Anthonys, developed  into their respective roles playing in rec leagues and in middle school.

Jehlani was more of a shooting guard or small forward, and Jalen played a lot of point guard. He has since shifted to shooting guard and forward for the Coyotes, as Cypress Creek already has Jai-Keem and freshman Willie Ravenna, who can play point. But, Jalen still finds his brother when he needs to deliver a pass.

“When I’m dribbling in, he (Jehlani) knows if I’m gonna cut or pass it,” Jalen says. “It’s very exciting because he’s the person I know best, and I know he’s not going to fail me.”

There’s a mutual confidence boost when the twins are on the floor together. “I’m more confident (with Jalen on the court),” Jehlani says.

The sets of twins, and the rest of the Coyotes, picked up their first win ever by beating Sarasota Military Academy 53-49 on Dec. 19 — their last game before the holiday break. Their schedule so far has been  brutal, with losses to Wiregrass Ranch High, Berkeley Prep and Tampa Catholic.

Isaiah Flores leads the team with 8.3 points a game, with Jai-Keem right behind him at 7.3 and Tai-Sheim at 6.

“Both sets of twins are great kids that come from great families and they give 100 percent,” Coyotes head coach Anthony Mitchell says. “Our team is a work in progress, but having siblings together helps unite us.”

Noble Crust Has Taken Wesley Chapel By Storm!

WHEN I first heard that Noble Crust was planning to open in The Shops at Wiregrass mall a couple of years ago, my fiancé Jannah and I immediately starting visiting the original Noble Crust on 4th St. in St. Petersburg to sample the menu.

We both immediately became fans of Noble Crust’s unique Italian fare with a Southern accent. And, although I still wish Noble Crust owner TJ Thielbar (a former managing partner at Bonefish Grill), Wesley Chapel managing partner Will Perez and Chef Rob Reinsmith would expand the menu at Noble Crust a little, what can you say about a mall restaurant that isn’t open for lunch during the week and isn’t open Mondays at all but is still packing in crowds of happy fans every day it is open?

The food and drinks are excellent — and priced very fairly —  the atmosphere is more like something you’d find in New York or Miami than in “The Chap” and the fact that Chef Rob regularly changes the menu and adds unique specials every month or so does keep me (and a lot of other people) coming back and hungry for more.

My favorite starters at Noble Crust include the amazing kale Caesar salad topped with a uniquely soft-cooked egg. The Caesar is special because I usually prefer something more traditional and I’m not the biggest kale fan, but between the gooey egg yolk and the definitely different Caesar dressing, well, let’s just say the salad works for me.

I’m also partial to Noble Crust’s Ricotta Gnocchi, which are homemade potato pastas with pancetta, black pepper cream, parmesan and pecorino cheeses and scallions. The gnocchi were first introduced to Wesley Chapel at the 2017 Taste of New Tampa at Florida Hospital Center Ice a couple of months before the local Noble Crust opened in July.

One of the special appetizers we loved was the cauliflower gratin, which is baked to perfection and covered with cheese, crumbled bacon and bread crumbs, which somehow tenderizes the cauliflower and gives it a crispy coating. You also can’t go wrong with any of Noble Crust’s unique pizzas — from the basic Margherita to the Noble Pig (topped with house-made sweet fennel sausage and large slices of amazingly tasty pepperoni). I haven’t yet tasted the pretzel-crusted calamari, but it looks delicious, too.

Although my favorite main dish is probably still the grouper special with chimichurri sauce (on a bed of perfect garlic whipped potatoes and succotash), I also love the chicken fried chicken parmigiana, served with bucatini (a thick, but hollow spaghetti), the rigatoni & beef short ribs, the double-cut pork chop, the tender, tasty beef, veal and pork meatballs also served with bucatini and the southern fried chicken with Tabasco-honey, black pepper gravy, apple & fennel slaw and your choice of mac n’ cheese or those roasted garlic whipped potatoes. Other side dishes include four-cheese grits, garlicky greens, crispy fingerling potatoes and fried green tomatoes with lime yogurt.

Brunch & Sunday Gravy!

For those who enjoy getting out of the house for a unique Sunday brunch (served beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday), Noble Crust has got you covered, too.

The brunch features great breakfast items like fried chicken and waffles, a southern “Benny” (poached eggs, country ham, fried green tomatoes and brown butter Hollandaise sauce on a buttermilk biscuit), a definitely different egg sandwich (with applewood bacon, scrambled egg and pimento cheese on a garlic butter brioche bun; add avocado for just $1.50 more)  or a goat cheese frittata (with heirloom tomato, caramelized onions and Hollandaise sauce). There’s also short rib “Benny” and meatball smash sandwiches that I haven’t yet sampled.

I also still haven’t yet tried Noble Crust’s Sunday Gravy, which includes house antipasto, garlic bread with pesto + ricotta, homemade pork gravy with spaghetti or grits in a family dinner setting. It costs just $19 per person and your first glass of wine is complimentary.

Dessert is a true treat at Noble Crust. My favorite so far has been the thick, dense, creamy slab of peanut butter pie, although I also enjoyed the warm chocolate budino (with salted caramel, cookie crumbles and fresh whipped cream) and the lemon buttermilk pie and bourbon pecan pie also seem to be pretty popular.

In other words, while Noble Crust may not be a traditional Italian restaurant, it is Wesley Chapel’s most unique new eatery and certainly is among my favorites in our distribution areas.

Noble Crust (28330 Paseo Dr.) is open Tues.-Thur., 4 p.m.-11 p.m., 3 p.m.-midnight on Fri., 10 a.m.-midnight on Sat. & 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sun. For reservations (not required, but suggested, visit Noble-Crust.co or call (813) 703-2682.