Author: John Cotey

New Tampa’s Cohn Wants To Make A Difference In Congress

If you’re looking for a political candidate that you can trust to stand up for what is right for you, your family and your neighbor’s family, Alan Cohn says he’s that guy.

The long-time Grand Hampton resident is running for the redrawn U.S. Congressional District (CD) 15, which covers parts of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, and Cohn thinks the voters’ familiarity with his work as a former investigative reporter with ABC News in Tampa (and Sarasota) shows the kind of member of Congress he would be.

“What people have seen from me, from my work on ABC in Tampa, is a guy who has gone out and uncovered political corruption by both Democrats and Republicans,” Cohn says. “While people are skeptical (of politicians), they find in me a candidate who has called it out on both sides and has worked to make the community a better place already.”

This will be Cohn’s third attempt at winning a Congressional seat. He lost in 2014 to incumbent Republican Dennis Ross (60.3 percent to 39.7 percent) and in 2020 defeated Adam Hattersly in the Democratic primary before losing to Scott Franklin (R-Lakeland) 55.5%-44.6%.

However, the new congressional map for this election shifted CD 15 more towards Cohn’s favor as a Democratic candidate, while Franklin is now running in Florida’ 18th Congressional District. The new map doesn’t change CD 15 from being a Republican-favored seat but it’s closer to a 50-50 split than it was in 2020 and encompasses more of Cohn’s home turf.

“This is not the same Congressional District,” says Cohn, who was the last Democrat to enter the five-candidate field. “I waited for the maps to be final and looked very hard at this District. There’s only about 1,000 voters that separate Democrats and Republicans. This is a swing District.”

According to the Cook Political Report’s 2022 Partisan Voting Index (PVI), it also will be Florida’s closest, with whoever the Republican representative ends up being to be a 4-point favorite. The Republican field includes some well-known names in GOP circles, including former Secretary of State Laurel Lee, Sen. Kelli Stargel and Rep. Jackie Toledo and political newcomers Demetries Grimes and Kevin McGovern.

Cohn is running against four others in the Democratic primary — comedian Eddie Geller, political consultant Gavin Brown, third-generation Army veteran Cesar Ramirez and 30-year postal service veteran Bill VanHorn.

The heart of the new CD 15, Cohn says, is New Tampa, where he and wife Patty have raised their family. Their children, Ann and Aaron, graduated from Wharton High; Aaron is now pitching with Class A Stockton in the Oakland A’s organization.

Not only is Cohn recognizable from his time as a television reporter, but he has been a familiar face around New Tampa and Wesley Chapel.

“This is where we are ingrained in our community,” Cohn says. “Most people have seen me on the ballfields. Patty and I have been so involved with the community. It’s such an incredible opportunity to serve now.”

Upon entering the race, Cohn quickly collected several big endorsements from the likes of former Governor and current gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, former State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, former Florida Education Commissioner and USF president Betty Castor and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the co-chair of the Florida Congressional Delegation who also is the co-chair of candidate recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Cohn told FloridaPolitics.com he raised more than $100,000 in the first 14 days after filing to run on June 16.

“We have worked in this community and have voted in this community and will win because, in the short time I’ve been in the race, I have raised the resources to reach the voters that we need to reach,” Cohn says.

And, he says, those need-to-reach voters are predominantly independents. According to Cohn, how those with no party affiliation break in their voting, especially in CD 15, could determine the results of the upcoming election.

“That’s really our key,” Cohn says.

The Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, August 23, and the general Election will be held on Tuesday, November 8.

“We have been working with people who are interested in candidates who do reach across the aisle, who are problem solvers. That’s what I aspire to be,” Cohn says. “The fact of the matter is the last 9-10 months I’ve doing a lot of writing on the national level and here in Florida and calling out both parties when it’s been needed to be done.”

Cohn has a number of issues he is focused on, such as lowering taxes, fighting against rising prescription drug costs, veterans’ issues, investing in education and much-needed improvements to our transportation infrastructure.

And, he thinks he can get other members of Congress on board as well. Despite the frayed nature of this country’s political discourse these days, where sides are taken based solely on political affiliation, and working with the opposition is frowned upon by the fringes of both parties, Cohn thinks his record shows an ability to reach across the aisle to get things done. And, Congress has to be fixed, he believes.

“If we fail, the country is in danger,” he says.

As one example, Cohn cites his work with District 12 Republican Congressman Gus Bilirakis in 2010, when Cohn exposed companies charging veterans large illegal fees. The law, however, had no teeth, and Bilirakis saw the report and filed a bill to give the law more of a bite, via criminal penalties.

Cohn, a 1985 graduated of Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, has a won a number of awards for his investigative reporting, most notably the prestigious 2007 Peabody Award for uncovering that defective parts had been installed on U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

“My record stands apart from anyone else’s,” Cohn says. “If you are a Republican, a Democrat or an independent, you’re frustrated and understandably cynical. And I’m a guy who not only wants to get results but has gotten results. Voters are tired of the nonsense they see on TV and read in the newspapers. I’m the guy who they remember getting solutions to real problems in this community, and I think that stands above anything.”

Chamber Up For National Award

CEO Hope Kennedy has had a hand in putting Wesley Chapel on the map with her stewardship of the former Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, now known as the North Tampa Bay Chamber (NTBC).

Later this month, Wesley Chapel, and its massive growth, could play a hand in putting the Chamber itself on the map.

On July 26, Allen and Board member Michael Berthelette will be in Indianapolis answering questions from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) judges in a final test to see if the NTBC is named the Small Chamber of the Year for the entire country.

The extensive application process got the NTBC to the finals, but the 45-minute Q-&-A session on July 26 will account for 2/3 of the NTBC’s score.

The following night, at the Awards Show at ACCE’s annual convention in Indianapolis, the winners will be revealed.

“When I first looked at the application I giggled,” Kennedy says, referring to how difficult it looked. “But Javan (Grant, the current Board chair) convinced me to do it. (The application) ended up being 31 pages long. It’s very comprehensive. However, the end result is that we are a Chamber of the Year finalist.”

The NTBC touted two of its programs in 2020-21 in its application — a Road Show in which Kennedy went to businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and filmed interviews for social media, letting people know which businesses were still open, and the Chamber’s reimagined Celebration of Excellence awards program, which was held both in-person and virtual last November.

The NTBC is a finalist in Category 1, the smallest category, along with the Mason City (IA) Chamber and the Zionsville (IN) Chamber.

The ACCE is comprised of more than 1,600 Chambers of Commerce from across the U.S. It will name four winners in four different categories (according to size, budget and location of the chamber).

“This is the Academy Awards for Chambers of Commerce, Kennedy says. “For me, this is the pinnacle of my career.”

The NTBC has 570 members, many of which are from Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, although there also are member businesses located in western Pasco and north Pinellas counties. Kennedy said when she started at the Wesley Chapel Chamber 11 years ago, there were roughly 200 members.

Awards are nothing new for the NTBC, which won the 2019 Small Chamber of the Year for the state of Florida from the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP).

Hope kennedy North Tampa Bay Chamber

Be ready for upcoming road closings

As work continues on the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at S.R. 56/I-75 and the widening of S.R. 54, some lanes will need to be closed at times to finish the job. Here’s a few upcoming things to keep an eye on, from the Florida Department of Transportation:

S.R. 54: The $42.8-million widening project from east of Curley Rd. to east of Morris Bridge Rd. (above) will have some around-the-clock lane shifts (essentially the closing of lanes in one direction while all traffic will use the lanes going in the other direction) scheduled from Monday, July 25 to Wednesday, July 27. The lane shifts are not represented on the map above, as they will be from just west of Curley Rd. to west of Meadow Pointe Blvd.

This project is widening the existing two-lane road to a four-lane highway with medians. A sidewalk will be built on the north side of the road and a 10-foot wide multi-use trail will be built on the south side. The sidewalk and trail will run the entire length of the project, from east of Curley Rd. to east of the Morris Bridge Rd./Eiland Blvd. intersection.

DDI

The S.R. 56 entrance ramp onto northbound I-75 may be closed from 10 p.m. Tuesday, August 2 to 5 a.m. Wednesday, August 3, weather permitting. Drivers will be detoured to enter from Wesley Chapel Blvd. The ramp could also be closed Wednesday, August 3 and/or Thursday, August 4 nights.

Here are the detour routes:

Eastbound S.R. 56 onto northbound I-75: Continue east past the closed ramp to S.R. 581 / Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. Turn left and go north on S.R. 581. At S.R. 54/Wesley Chapel Blvd., turn left and go west to the entrance ramp onto northbound I-75.

Westbound S.R. 56 onto northbound I-75: Continue west past the closed ramp to C.R 54 / Wesley Chapel Boulevard. Turn right and go northeast on C.R. 54. After passing under I-75, turn left onto the entrance ramp to northbound I-75.

Southbound I-75 exit to SR 56 to be closed Monday night, August 1

The southbound I-75, exit 275 ramp to S.R. 56 may be closed from 10 p.m. Monday, August 1 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, August 2, weather permitting. If necessary, this ramp could also be closed any night from Tuesday, August 2 through Thursday, August 4.

Detour Route to S.R. 56: Use Exit 279 to S.R. 54/C.R. 54. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left and go east on S.R. 54. Turn right onto S.R. 581 (Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) and go south to S.R. 56.

Furniture Medic Can Make Kitchen Cabinets Look Like New

Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations owner Joe Rakocy says he can fix basically anything, but when it comes to wood, he is a specialist.

At his Furniture Medic franchise based in Wesley Chapel, Rakocy and his team have tackled a number of big projects but repairing and restoring is the No. 1 goal.

“We basically work on anything that’s wood,” Rakocy says. “We repair, restore, we build, we install, and we do a lot of furniture repairs, antique work and a lot of cabinet work.”

Furniture Medic is part of a 30-year-old national franchise based out of Memphis, TN, with locations in 42 states including nine in Florida, and is part of the Service Master Group, which specializes in franchising home service businesses like Merry Maids, Two Men & a Truck and others.

Furniture Medic’s specialty is, essentially, reviving your furniture. Not only does Rakocy’s franchise, which he has owned since 2014, focus on home services, it also does commercial work.

He says they have spruced up the desks at the Mayor’s office in Orlando, refinished the furniture in the State Attorney’s office and even gone in and fixed up the chairs in Rakocy’s cardiologist’s office.

Bob Wilson, a Land O’Lakes resident, says he has used Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations a number of times to fix up older Ethan Allen mahogany furniture he has in his home. Joe and his team fixed up some dog scratches, a table top damaged by an overflowing candle and about 15-17 pieces in all. One piece they took back to Roakocy’s shop because it needed to be sanded and color-matched.

“They did a beautiful job on every piece in the house,” Wilson says.

Residential cabinet work, however, is an area of emphasis these days for Rakocy’s Furniture Medic. While technicians Frank and Chuck will still take the nick out of a piece of furniture or make an older, worn piece look new, cabinets have emerged as a high-priority area of expertise, due to growing demand.

A Different Approach?

While Furniture Medic can come in and install a whole new set of kitchen cabinets for you, they specialize in what can be a much more affordable option – refreshing your look. In fact, Rakocy says sometimes people will call for a second opinion of getting a whole new kitchen, only to find they can save a lot of money with Furniture Medic by taking a different approach.

Joe’s team can come in and tackle any gouges or other imperfections in your cabinets, give them a new face, repaint them and have them looking like new again.

“We can basically come in and clean and repair and fill nicks and gouges and stuff like that,” Rakocy says. “We can bring your cabinets back to looking pretty close to new for a small fraction of what it would cost you to put in new cabinets.”

Furniture Medic can give your home an entire new look just by upgrading and refurbishing your existing kitchen cabinets, as owner Joe Rakocy and his team did above, or even restore a variety of different cabinet doors, like you see on the next page. (Photos courtesy of Joe Rakocy)

It can be as simple a job as fixing some drawers and/or drawer gliders to revitalizing doors that are falling apart.

If the cabinet boxes are still good, it can just be a matter or replacing the doors. But, if more work is needed, Rakocy says his crew can custom-build new boxes as well.

“Nowadays it’s actually probably quicker for us to custom-build it than to order them,” he says, referring to supply chain issues that can make ordering the right cabinets a 10-week to 6-month wait for the customer.

But, Rakocy says that if the cabinet boxes are still in good shape, which is many times the case, Furniture Medic can do wonders with the doors. From refacing the doors or completely changing the wood to giving you an entirely new color — with high-quality, water-based paint and a hard surface topcoat for durability — “we can completely refresh your kitchen.”

Furniture Medic even offers a yearly program where Rakocy’s team will come out and clean and refresh your cabinets.

“You’d be extremely impressed with what we can do,” he says.

Furniture Medic can do the same with your kitchen or furniture set as well.

Another fix the team at Furniture Medic can provide in your kitchen is replacing the box under your sink, a problem area for some. If the shelves, walls or floor have been damaged by a leak, Rakocy says Furniture Medic’s disaster restoration can be a lifesaver.

In the case of the sink, the box can be pulled out and replaced without touching the rest of the kitchen, making it an easier repair that doesn’t involve gutting the entire kitchen.

Almost all repairs are done onsite, so Furniture Medic doesn’t require a large office – unless you count Rakocy’s 1,000-sq.-ft. shop on his property in Wesley Chapel where he works on other projects like preparing to build a small office addition at his daughter’s home — and those savings are passed on to his customers.

Still More Expertise

While Furniture Medic doesn’t repair upholstery or re-upholster furniture made of fabric, it does repair everything else involving your furniture, like leather repairs (mending holes and rips, as well as restoration) and structural repairs like motor mechanisms. Rakocy even has built and installed a barn door in a home at the request of a customer.

Rakocy says recliner work is very popular these days, and he sometimes jokes that the business should be called “Recliner Medic” due to all the repairs his team does on the popular chairs.

Furniture that has been chewed or scratched by a pet also is a common repair. The Furniture Medic can fix bed posts or chair legs and do a color match to make them look like new (although deep scratches and gouges that go across the grain may not be repairable.)

Even chairs and tables that have stains, watermarks or are just showing their age can be buffed and beautified by Furniture Medic, and antiques and heirlooms can get spruced up with just a little TLC.

“It’s pretty amazing what we can do,” he says.

And, if you call the company and send them a photo, Rakocy and his techs can tell you whether they can fix your problem or not, roughly how much it would cost and whether or not it’s even worth the effort, like with cheaper wood or even faux wood.

Furniture Medic by JFC Restorations is open Monday-Friday, from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, visit the Furniture Medic franchise website at FurnitureMedic.com, or call locally at (813) 982-4192.

Home Is Where Mom’s Heart Is For Local Family

Nazeraeh Montrond has thought about it a lot, and the first thing she says she is going to buy for her family’s new Wesley Chapel townhome is a nice wooden table, or maybe a wooden chest.

On it, she will place side by side the urns of her parents — U.S. Army Sergeant Alberto Montrond, who was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device in Afghanistan in 2006, and Christl, who died in 2021 from several health issues.

“It will have to be nice,” Nazeraeh says. “It will have to be something I know she would put in her living room. My mommy had high standards.”

The three-bedroom townhome in the Wesley Reserve community at Chapel Crossings, which Nazeraeh and her three siblings will move into next month, is being built and provided mortgage-free by PulteGroup’s Built to Honor® Program in partnership with Building Homes for Heroes®, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has provided 300+ homes for injured military veterans and their families since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

PulteGroup’s program, launched in 2013, thanks returning military personnel who have been injured during their term of service by providing mortgage-free homes to veterans and their families. The program has built and donated more than 70 homes across the country, including five in the Tampa Bay area since 2016.

“We are honored to provide Nazeraeh and her siblings a home of their own,” said Sean Strickler, President of the West Florida Division of PulteGroup. “Their story truly touched all of us….We hope this home will not only provide comfort and make life easier for the Montrond family but will also be the source of many joyful memories.”

Nazeraeh was only six years old when Alberto was killed during his fourth tour of Afghanistan. She remembers riding bikes all day long with him, going to the park and stopping at Krispy Kreme along the way, where he would drink his coffee black, just like she now does.

Nazeraeh grew up fast. She helped Christl take care of the home, looked after her siblings, cooked and cleaned and became a rock for the rest of her family.

“I loved it, changing diapers, and cooking and cleaning the house,” Nazeraeh says. “I just loved making my mom happy.”

But, when Christl got sick in late 2020, the combination of kidney failure and Covid-19 giving her limited time left to live, Nazeraeh couldn’t help but fear for the future.

“I didn’t want to believe it,” she says, “but I just knew she wouldn’t leave this earth if she didn’t think I could handle it. I just had to keep my composure, because of my siblings. I’m their only person.”

She was only 21, and was trying to balance life as a full-time college student with a full-time job, and had three younger siblings — 10-year-old Bentley, 14-year-old Arabella and 18-year-old Kevyn — that would be her responsibility.

And then, in March of 2021, Christl passed away.

“They told us in September 2020 she had three months to live, but she lived three months longer than that because she was a fighter,” Nazeraeh says.

Nazeraeh is continuing that fight.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s tough,” she says. “You go from fun sister to parental mode. “I’m responsible for how they turn out as adults. They learned everything that my mom taught them, and now everything else is up to me. It has been tough, but it works. We all make it work, we’re a team, and we get things done as a team.”

Christl had been friends with Sally Farrell of the Military Warriors Support Foundation, that has helped other military veterans and their families in the past receive homes, helped pass along the family’s story. Nazeraeh says she was encouraged by Farrell to apply for housing. Nazeraeh did so, but didn’t think much of it, knowing there were lots of other families in similar predicaments.

But, while on a cruise in March with her siblings on the one-year anniversary of her mother’s passing, Nazeraeh received a call from Gina Cerami with Building Homes for Heroes, which works with PulteGroup’s Built to Honor program by identifying recipients.

Cerami said there was some property in Wesley Chapel she wanted Nazeraeh to look at, and she took her siblings to check it out.

“I told them not to get their hopes up,” Nazeraeh says. “I told them we were just window shopping for the future.”

The home, just a mile from where Christl last lived, was already under construction. As they walked in between the home’s framing, they were told, “This is where a bedroom will be”…”This will be the kitchen,”….and so on.

Ten minutes later, they let Nazeraeh know – “This is your home.” She and her siblings were handed sharpies to write messages on the wooden frame. Nazeraeh started crying, writing her messages while wiping away tears.

“For He will order His angels to protect you where you go.” (Psalms 91:11 NLT)

“Peace be to you and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.” (1 Samuel 25:6)

“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.” (Psalms 73:26)

Nazeraeh and her siblings also doodled some drawings of their parents.

“It was really an emotional moment,” she says. “My siblings, they don’t really understand, it was just a house, ‘Why is this girl crying; what is wrong with you?’ But in reality, this alleviated a huge stress of mine, because when I graduate college next summer, my benefits from my father that helped me pay for our living right now will be cut off. I won’t have to scramble next summer thinking about where we were going to live…those tears were real, so real, my siblings laughed but I didn’t care. I just bawled my eyes out because I really didn’t know what I was going to do. This genuinely has saved me and my family.”

Nazeraeh couldn’t help but think her mother had something to do with it all. Not only did she make an impact on someone who was willing to help her children, but the townhome was so close to where they used to live, and in a school zone that was so important to her mother.

“It’s like she brought us back to where she wanted us to be from the beginning,” Nazeraeh says. “It’s like she chose that house.”

And, not that Nazeraeh needed any more convincing that her mother had a spiritual hand in the family’s good fortune, it’s very likely the move-in date will be August 25, Christl’s birthday.

Nazeraeh, who graduated from Tampa Catholic High, is expecting to graduate from USF next summer with a degree in Health Sciences. She currently works in database management with Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy to elementary, middle and high school students.

She continues to stay focused on her siblings, while planning for the future. She is burdened by responsibilities that most 22-year-olds don’t have to deal with, and she is tackling them all head-on. Having a place to live has opened the door to a brighter future for everyone in her family.

Sometimes, for fun, she and her family will visit the model home and just look around. Her siblings have picked out the colors of their rooms and can’t wait to start painting, and Nazeraeh is determined to find that perfect table to honor her parents. Moving day is coming up fast. Nazaraeh may have wondered how she was going to make it all work in the past, but now she is certain brighter days are ahead.

“This really is so life changing,” she says. “This is our last home. We have moved around a lot. We’ve never been at a school for more than two years. It’s nice to know that this is permanent. I love that feeling knowing that they know this is their space and it’s not going anywhere.”

For more information about Building Home For Heroes®, visit BuildingHomesForHeroes.org, and for more information about PulteGroup’s Built to Honor® Program, visit PulteGroupCares.com

Built to Honor Nazareah Montrond