So Many Amendments…Do We Really Know How To Vote On Them?

Even though Florida has a hotly contested race for both Governor and the U.S. Senate coming up in the General Election tomorrow, I honestly can’t imagine that too many of us are actually looking forward to casting ballots this time around.

Why?

Well, mid-term elections are always a hit-and-miss proposition, but for the residents of New Tampa — who will pick three new Hillsborough County commissioners and a new School Board member — I have to think that, like me, some of you are so confused by all of the constitutional amendments on the ballot that you may choose to stay home instead of trying to really figure out how you should vote on some, if not most, of them.

Even though I have a four-year college degree from the University of Florida and I’ve been a professional writer and editor for more than 35 years, it seems to me that the wording of all proposed amendments to our state constitution are designed to confuse us, which makes filling in those “No” spaces hard to resist.

So, here’s a look at just a few of the 12 amendments on the ballot — because I personally may not get very far before I just start voting no on all of them. I mean, should it really take me a half hour or more, not including waiting on line time, just to vote?

Let’s start with Amendment 1 — Increased Homestead Property Tax Assessment, which grants an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for homes valued over $125,000. Owners of homes worth more than $100,000 would also receive an increase in their exemption.

If that’s the case, why don’t they just say it’s an additional exemption for homes worth more than $100,000?

On the surface, this seems like a no-brainer. After all, who wouldn’t want an additional homestead exemption?

On the other hand, groups like Florida Tax Watch, the League of Women Voters (LOWV) and others oppose it because it would take about $700 million a year out of the pockets of Florida’s cities, counties and other taxing authorities (although it wouldn’t affect school districts), starting in 2019, according to the Florida Association of Counties.

The LOWV says the likely result will be cuts in services or higher local tax rates to make up for the revenue losses, or possibly both.

OK, so how about Amendment 2 — Limitations on Property Tax Assessments?

In 2008, Florida voters amended the state Constitution to provide a 10-percent cap on annual property value increases for non-homestead property. This includes vacation homes, apartment buildings, vacant land, shopping centers and office buildings. The amendment excluded limits on assessments for school taxes.

However, the 2008 amendment on non-homestead property value limits is scheduled to automatically repeal on Jan. 1, 2019. Amendment 2, placed on the ballot by the Florida Legislature, would make the 10-percent limit on property value permanent (a legislative analysis of the proposal is here).

Like the 2008 amendment, Amendment 2 would exclude local school district taxes from the property value limits. The limits also do not apply if the property changes hands or if it undergoes substantial improvements. In other words, if a store is built on a piece of vacant land, the property value increase would not be protected by the 10-percent limit.

Florida Tax Watch supports this amendment but the LOWV is opposed to it.

Amendment 3 — Voter Control of Gambling In Florida — is an interesting one created by a citizen initiative, that would require approval of any new casino gambling through a citizen-initiative constitutional amendment, effectively barring the Legislature (as well as the Constitutional Review Commission, or CRC) from making those gambling decisions by passing laws. The interesting thing is that the new law would not affect the state’s ability to negotiate with Native American-owned casinos (like the Seminole Hard Rock here in Tampa) or dog- or horse-racing or the state lottery.

Because it puts the decision-making power for new casinos into the hands of Florida’s residents, both Tax Watch and the LOWV support Amendment 3, although a spate of recent TV ads would tell you that it wouldn’t actually help the average Florida resident much, if at all.

Another one that has gotten a lot of attention is Amendment 4 — Voting Restoration. This amendment would restore the voting rights of convicted felons (excluding those convicted of murder and felony sex crimes) who have served their time and paid their restitution without the current 5-7-year waiting period.

Again, this seems like a fair law, especially in light of statistics quoted by the LOWV (which helped write the amendment) that the recidivism rate for those who have had their voting rights restored goes down by 30 percent.

It seems to me that those who have served time for felonies may have more important things on their plate — like finding a job, getting back to normalcy with their families, etc. — than whether or not they should vote, but this one at least seems to make sense.

I also think that constitutional amendments are important enough that legislators shouldn’t be able to tack unrelated issues onto them. For example, is Amendment 6 about the rights of crime victims or the retirement age of judges? And how are those two things related?

Yeesh.

A Little About Political Ads & Introducing Our ‘New’ Managing Editor

If you check out the first 20 pages of the current New Tampa issue — and I hear so many of you read every page — you’ll see that we have quite a few more political ads than we normally do.

That’s by design. I have always felt that if those running for office were made to understand that:

1) the Neighborhood News is the one and only news magazine serving New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, the only publication providing actual news New Tampa residents need to know and not just advertorials; and that

2) we reach more than 27,000 residences and businesses and at least 60,000 potential voters in New Tampa’s zip code 33647 (and roughly 23,000 residences and businesses and 50,000 voters receive our Wesley Chapel edition) by direct mail) who tell us they voraciously read every issue cover-to-cover; and that

3) it costs significantly less to put a 1/4- or a 1/2-page ad in the Neighborhood News than it does to do a solo direct mail piece (that more than 90 percent of the people who receive them throw away without looking at them), that

4)  it wouldn’t make sense for those hoping to entice New Tampa’s upscale, but notoriously non-voting public to not want to throw a few dollars our way in order to get their names and faces in front of all of those voters in a medium they already turn to for their local news.

Well, it hasn’t been easy to get them all to spend that money, but I’m proud to say this issue is packed with not only political ads, but also with information you should check out before the General Election on Tuesday, November 6, including two sales tax referendums that are both on the ballot, plus stories about a couple of candidates you may not have heard of before.

In addition, we have an update on New Tampa Blvd., a new partnership program for the New Tampa Players, the opening of a new reading room at the New Tampa Regional Library and a story about a Wharton High grad capitalizing on the probiotic tea craze in a big way.

And, that’s just in our first 17 pages, where those political ads have taken up shop for at least one issue, and, hopefully, they will again for New Tampa Issue #23-18 (Nov. 2), which comes out the Friday before the election.

Because of the open nature of campaign fundraising, all local candidates have to provide lists of all the money they’ve raised for their respective campaigns to Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer’s office, but there’s no doubt that while some candidates have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for these local races, others have mostly self-funded their candidacies or raised in the low thousands of dollars. To that end, some of the candidates with ads in these pages have raised a lot of money, while others are at the lower end of the spectrum, yet they all felt strongly enough about the nature of our readership to at least take a shot with us.

I am proud, nearly 25 years later, to still be New Tampa’s primary source of news and information and you have no idea how much it means to me when those of you who see me out and about in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel, as I so often am, stop to tell me how much you read and love the Neighborhood News. — and even how much you enjoy our WCNT-tv segments. It certainly makes the late deadline evenings all the more worthwhile for yours truly.

Better Late Than Never, John…

A big part of why I have been able to be more involved in the sales side of this business is because for three years, I have had, hands down, not only the best assistant editor I’ve ever worked with in John C. Cotey, but truly one of the best  local beat writers/editors in the entire country — with a sense of humor to match.

John, a 16-year New Tampa resident, has been providing not only great local news and sports coverage for us since 2015, he also has found — and covered — some of the most touching and even heart-breaking human interest stories about people in and around New Tampa and Wesley Chapel we’ve ever covered.

In addition, he has continued to put his own thumbprint on the look of our publications and makes sure we cover as many stories as we can in every issue, every two weeks. He also does an outstanding job of managing our excellent freelance writers, including Brad Stager, Andy Warrener, Jarrett Guthrie and the incredible Celeste McLaughlin. (By the way, if you don’t read Celeste’s Kombucha tea and hippotherapy, which may not be what you’re thinking, stories in this issue, you’ll be missing some great stuff.)

And of course, as soon as we put a New Tampa issue to bed, John flips his hat (although he rarely wears a hat) to provide the same coverage of Wesley Chapel that he does here for zip code 33647 two weeks later.

In other words, there is no way in the world this publication would be what it is right now without him. So, that’s why I am proud to announce that John finally has gotten a long-overdue promotion. Instead of assistant editor, John C. Cotey is now the managing editor of both the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News!

The best thing about that, for John, may be the fact that now, WCNT-tv senior video producer and photographer Gavin Olsen has to answer to him. Ah, good times, guys, and congratulations and thank you, John!

Nibbles and Bytes

FHWC Opens Wound Care Center
Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), which will be changing its name to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel in January 2019 (see Business Notes on page 13), continues to be at the forefront of health care in our area. The hospital recently opened its Wound Care Center inside the FHWC Wellness Plaza, the building due north of the hospital itself.

FHWC CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb and dozens of Adventist Health dignitaries, local elected

officials/political candidates and North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce members were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 27, and everyone in attendance (including yours truly) came away truly impressed with this latest addition to FHWC’s plethora of medical services for the community.

Although the Wound Care Center has plenty of state-of-the-art technology for caring for all kinds of wounds, lesions and lacerations, the coolest things we saw as we toured the facility were two hyperbaric chambers (photo far right), which traditionally have been used for people with the “bends” from scuba diving, but which (we were told) also can help with healing for those who have chronic sores and wounds that don’t heal, from diabetes or after radiation therapy for cancer.

Congrats also go out to the local catering company called C‱B‱K Catering & Events, which served amazing edible cones filled with a zesty chicken salad, plus delicious cheese tortellinis and perfect bruschetta at the event.

For more info about FHWC and the new Wound Care Center, visit FloridaHospital.com. For more info about C‱B‱K Catering, visit CBKTampa.com or call (813) 699-3060 and please tell Chase Mayer the New Tampa Neighborhood News sent you!

VIPs Check Out The Hyatt Place
In our last issue, I mentioned that the new Hyatt Place Hotel & Sierra Conference Center were getting ready to open, which actually happened on July 30.

On Aug. 9, representatives of the new hotel hosted a VIP event we attended, where members of the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC) of Commerce Board of Directors and other local VIPs took tours of the 132-room hotel and got to sample some of the tasty food that will be served in the Hyatt Place’s Gallery restaurant.

The Hyatt Place Hotel is located at 26000 Sierra Center Blvd. For more info, stop in or call (813) 803-5600 or visit Hyatt.com, and please tell the hotel’s staff that you read about them (again) in the New Tampa Neighborhood News!

Umu To Replace OTB Café

Although OTB (Only The Best) Delights Café closed its original location at 2653 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel several weeks ago, have no fear.

Not only is OTB set to reopen sometime in September in its new location a couple of miles further north at the new Nye Commons (4873 BBD), but there already is a new restaurant getting ready to open in its old location.

The Thai owners of Umu Japanese & Thai have been transforming the old OTB space into an elegant-looking future home of great sushi, Bento boxes and other Japanese and Thai favorites and hope to be open sometime in September.

 

Are You Crazy About Keto Pizza? Please Try This At Home!

The pepperoni Keto pizza from 900Âș Woodfired Pizza

From what I see on Facebook, even though I don’t “get” it personally, everyone in Wesley Chapel is completely insane about the crustless pizza being sold in our area for those who are on the Keto diet.
Yes, Keto pizza is all the rage, even though I can’t personally eat more than one small ”slice” of it, but not because it isn’t tasty. All I can tell you is that if I ate more than one slice of Keto pizza at a time, I might not go to the bathroom for the rest of the year. Just saying.

 

On the other hand, someone very near and dear to my heart is on the Keto diet, so we’ve simply had to try it at a couple of local pizza places. And, all I can tell you is that my fiancĂ©e Jannah McDonald definitely has improved on any version of it we’ve tried in our distribution area. And, best of all, this improved keto pizza is something you can make at home yourself, especially if you just happen to have a working toaster oven.

Our story begins (as so many in this publication seem to, John Cotey) at 900Âș Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass mall, where owner Steve Falabella became a local Facebook sensation when our mutual friend Jennifer Ames, the administrator of the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook group, posted a photo of 900Âș Woodfired’s Keto pizza.

And yes, Jannah was among the hundreds (thousands?) of locals saying “I have to try that” following Jennifer’s post.

Jannah’s finished Keto pizza.

Literally the next day, we were at 900Âș trying it out and we both agreed that although it did taste like pizza, the “crust” — a double (or triple?) layer of cheese and nothing else to “hold it together” — was not only ridiculously filling, but should also come with a warning about having to have at least a salad (or some other kind of roughage) with it or risk being bottled up like the S.R. 56 exit off I-75 during rush hour.

 

Before we ever went anywhere else to sample another store-bought Keto pizza, Jannah started working on variations of her own. And, just for the record, I do a lot more cooking in our apartment than she does, so I was so surprised at how charged up she was to cook that I became her sous chef for this adventure.

After a few efforts, Jannah came up with the recipe and procedure and, after the first time it worked to perfection (I preferred it to 900Âș Woodfired’s and Amici’s), I told her I just might have to write about it in these pages.

So, here goes.

 

Although we don’t have a fancy new convection oven or any special cooking utensils, Jannah found that making her smaller version of crustless Keto pizza worked best in our toaster oven.

The pepperoni base for Jannah’s Keto pizza. Slices of mozzarella go on top of the pepperoni. Cover the mozzarella slices with sauce. Cover the sauce layer with shredded mozzarella and pop it into the toaster oven. Bake at 450Âș F, for 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

She starts with a layer of the Publix-brand large-size pepperonis and puts them in the broiler for around five minutes, or until the edges get brown and curl up slightly.

One of the keys to the success of this recipe is not to burn the ‘ronis. Then, while preheating the toaster oven (on bake at 450Âș), she covers the pepperoni “crust” with a layer of single slices of Publix-brand low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella.

She then completely covers the top of the sliced cheese layer with either the tomato basil or vodka sauce from the new Cost Plus World Market, which we have found to have the fewest net carbs per serving of any store-bought brand. Although you can use your own homemade sauce, if you prefer, all I can tell you is that you Keto diet folks out there probably can’t make a sauce with fewer net carbs than World Market’s sauces (although we may have cleaned the store out of both types, because there hasn’t been any of either kind the last two times we’ve visited there).

She then covers the sauce layer with a layer of Publix shredded mozzarella and sprinklings of parmesan, and bakes it in the toaster oven for 7-10 minutes, or until all the cheese gets that golden brown hue.

It still goes against everything I loved growing up to have pizza without a New York-style crust, but hey, we still (in my opinion) have plenty of great options for that in Wesley Chapel — including not only 900Âș Woodfired, but also La Prima Pizza, NY NY Pizza, Amici’s Pizza, Best NY Pizza and PizzaMania.

‘I Only Vote In The Important Elections’ — Too Many Locals

I have never been the most political (or politically correct) guy in the world, but I have watched and covered so many elections — local, state and national — over the nearly 25 years I have been the owner and editor of this publication that I can’t help but notice that more often than not, more people than not do not vote in local elections.

And, the #1 reason I hear from New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents for not voting is always the same: “I only vote in the important elections, like for our President.”

Well, I’m here to tell you that if you’re a) not already registered to vote or b) don’t plan to vote in the upcoming Primary Election on Tuesday, August 28, or the General “Midterm” Election on Tuesday, November 6, you’re selling yourself — and your community — short.

In August, three of Pasco’s five School Board seats (in other words, 60 percent!) are up for grabs and, unless there is a Runoff Election in any of those three districts (all Pasco School Board and County Commission seats are elected countywide), this will be your only chance to have a say in who will be responsible for building and staffing schools and protecting your public school children.

That fact alone should at least get you thinking about getting out to the polls on Aug. 28, although it is past the deadline to do so if you’re not already registered to vote as you’re reading this. In addition, with so many parents concerned about the future plans (in 2020) to again re-zone the schools in Wesley Chapel, getting out to vote for the candidates you believe will be the most likely to help keep your children where you want them perhaps should be important enough to get you to cast a ballot this year.

Two of those candidates — three-term incumbent Allen Altman in District 1 and Heide Janshon, one of two candidates attempting to unseat two-time District 3 incumbent Cynthia Armstrong — have taken ads (both on page 5) in this issue, in order to try to help convince you to get out and cast a ballot for them.

There also are six local judges and several local Community Development District (CDD) Board candidates who will be elected on Aug. 28, and there will be primaries for U.S. Senate, Florida’s next Governor, Attorney General and Commissioner of Agriculture, as well as the State Senate.

If you decide not (or you’re not already registered) to vote on Aug. 28, you have until Tuesday, October 9, to get yourself registered for the General Election on Nov. 6.

At that time, in addition to voting for U.S. and State Senate, as well as Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture, you’ll also get to vote for two County Commission seats and our area’s Dist. 38 State Representative.

One of those November contests will have Pasco County Dist. 2 Commissioner Mike Moore squaring off against fellow Wesley Chapel resident Kelly Smith. I just wanted to make it clear that the fact that we have a story about Smith, a political newcomer, in our latest issues isn’t an endorsement for her or in any way an indictment of the job that Moore has done since being elected in 2014. We just felt it was newsworthy for our readers that Mike will face an opponent who also lives in Wesley Chapel.

As For Endorsements…

The first 10 or 15 years that I owned this publication, I felt it was my job to go to as many governmental meetings as possible in order to cover those meetings for our readers and to get to know as many of our local, state and some national (such as District 12 U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis) elected officials as I possibly could. One of the reasons I did so was so I could make intelligent endorsements, based on my knowledge of our area’s infrastructure and other needs.

I began phasing out making endorsements about 10 years ago, in part because I have had other people covering most governmental meetings. I never really had any problem with the often negative feedback I would receive when I would endorse one candidate over another, but I will say that I have gotten a lot less hate mail since then. At any rate, get out and vote, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel!