Another New Tampa Resident Taken Too Soon — Joel Miller (1988-2017)

In February of 2015, I finally got to do the exclusive interview that former Wharton High football star Joel Miller had promised from Day One he would give me — where he finally got to tell me and our readers his side of the story of the locker room incident between him and former University of South Florida (USF) head football coach Jim Leavitt that ultimately cost Leavitt his job when Joel was a walk-on onto the USF team.

Unfortunately, that incident became the defining moment of his too-short life and that interview was the last real conversation I ever had with Joel, who passed away unexpectedly on September 10 at the too-young age of 29. Joel was a month or so older than my older son Jared, who first got to know his friend when both played youth football for the New Tampa Wildcats.

Jared and I spoke shortly after we heard the news that Joel had passed and both of us were heartbroken for his entire family — his mother Kathy, his father Paul and his siblings.

“Joel and I became a lot closer after high school,” Jared said. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

Of course, Joel would become one of the top running backs in Hillsborough County when he played for Wharton, where he ran for more than 2,600 yards his final two high school seasons and won Hillsborough County’s 2006 Golden Helmet Award for Class 5A-6A players.

He and Jared remained friends following the Leavitt incident, when all this smart, tough, talented young man wanted to do was to finally be able to tell his side of the story.

We published my interview with Joel in our February 28, 2015, issue, and it was easy to tell that he still hadn’t reconciled how or why the incident happened or how he ended up being blamed for what happened to Leavitt afterward.

“I wasn’t the whistleblower who called the media after the incident,” Joel told me. “I never wanted anyone to find out what happened. I just wanted to play football.”

I was sad that neither Jared nor I were able to attend Joel’s Celebration of Life at St Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd. on Sept. 23, but I tried to picture myself in his parents’ shoes and my heart bleeds for Kathy, the long-time local school teacher who I know loved Joel the way I love both of my boys.

Like many other people, I found out about Joel’s passing on Facebook, where I saw this post from Kathy:

“My baby Joel passed away today. I am numb and heartbroken. As you all know, we were very close… I don’t even know what to say or what to do…I know he knows I love him and hope he is at peace… My Joely.”

And then, after his memorial service on the 23rd, Kathy posted:

“Our family would like to thank everyone for donating money towards Joel’s Memorial Service. It was beautiful. Thank you to all who attended the Celebration of Life. We truly appreciate it very much. It was great seeing everyone and hearing the stories that included Joel. We also appreciate all the cards, texts, phone calls, visits and food. This has been a very difficult time for all of us. It still doesn’t seem real. We want each and every one of you to know how much your support has meant to us. Love, the Miller Family.”

A few days later, on Jared’s own 29th birthday, he posted:  “I dedicate this birthday to Joel Miller. I will forever miss you man! Wish that you were here. Love you, bud. My prayers are with your family!”

And, one of Joel’s former coaches at Wharton (and for the New Tampa Wildcats) Craig Rainey, who also was our neighbor when I first moved my family to Florida, posted this:

“Joel, I really don’t even know where to start and can’t believe it. I will never forget you coming in as a freshman introducing yourself, telling me you were our starting running back. From that day forward I knew you were going to be fun to coach and you were. So glad that we developed a friendship and always kept in touch. I have many memories that I will never forget. You were a great kid and touched so many around you. I love you and am going to miss you kid. RIP. Godspeed. Heaven has gained another angel. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Miller Family.”

Rest in Peace, Joel. You are missed.

  

Buckhorn: New Tampa Should Be Happy With City’s 2018 Budget

City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn spoke with the Neighborhood News recently about a number of issues related to New Tampa, especially the $970-plus million city budget for 2018 (see story on previous page). While some city residents have expressed concern over the proposed property tax increase from $5.73 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $6.21, many local leaders appear pleased with the budget overall.

NN: The wait for the expansion of the NTRC has been a frustrating one for many New Tampa residents. It seemed to make it into your budget proposals, but never survived the final cut. How important was it to make sure it survived this time?

BB: I absolutely understand it is a very popular center. The problem that we’ve had is trying to balance the budget in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and we are not even back to 2007 property tax revenue numbers yet.

In the 10 years since the 2007 recession really hit us, we have lost over $280 million in revenues as a result of the plummeting property values, as a result of reduction in the communications service tax revenues and the fact that interest rates are so much lower now. That loss of $280 million is a body blow to us. We are 700 employees less than we were in 2007, yet we have still managed to do the same job that we have always done and do it better than we’ve ever done it, with far less revenue (coming in). That tells you why some of the projects that would sort of be considered add ons have fallen off. It’s not because we wanted to, it’s because we had no choice.

NN: The local frustration stems from the fact that proposed funding in the past ended up diverted to other projects, like last year with the Cuscaden Pool in Ybor City. Is the perception that you care more about taking care of South Tampa a fair one?

BB: I get it. I understand. I don’t know that we choose one part of the city over another deliberately. There were some needs in other parts of the city that were more critical, but we’re doing far more with far less than we ever have. Hopefully, with this year’s budget, we’ll be able to do some of the things that people care about that five years ago couldn’t be determined to be critical.

Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Thomas Forward speaks to the Tampa City Council on Sept. 28 on behalf of New Tampa’s Fire Station No. 23, which is now in the city’s Fiscal 2018 budget to be built on County Line Rd.

NN: There has been an emphasis on parks in recent years, to the extent I believe one of the City Council members said the budget put parks over people, or something to that effect. How important do you feel the park projects have been citywide?

BB: I think they are hugely important. I think one of the reasons Tampa is in the midst of a transformation is because we are building out the urban core and building an amazing city that is attracting some of the best and brightest talent in the world. If we’re going to compete for that talent, it won’t because we are building great suburbs. It will be because we built a great city and a great downtown.

There is an economic reason that much of the attention over the last 5-6-7 years focused on building the urban core, including things like the Riverwalk and Julian B. Lane Park, because if we’re going to compete for that bright young talent, those millennials out there that can live anywhere in the world, you’ve got to have an urban environment that makes sense. If you attract the talent, then you attract the companies and you attract the jobs…when you add parks and open spaces and are taking advantage of that waterfront, then building an 18-hour-a-day city that people can work, live and play in is critical to that.

NN: Is that hard to explain to people who think projects in their area are being overlooked?

BB: There is a method to the madness and it’s working. By every measure, this is a different city than it was six years ago, with the best chapters still to be written. Parks and green space are a big part of that. If you don’t have quality of life, all the brick and mortar projects don’t make a bit of difference.

NN: For those paying taxes in New Tampa, though, is it not reasonable to expect more bang for their tax buck?

BB: This is the (fourth) fire station that we’ve built in New Tampa. We’ve made a serious commitment to the health and safety of New Tampa for certainly the 6.5 years I’ve been the mayor.  Is there more that people would like? Absolutely. I get it. I understand the disconnect that some people feel from downtown Tampa in New Tampa. I’m perfectly cognizant of that. We work hard to try and eliminate that but I recognize that it’s there.

NN: So, this is a budget New Tampa should be happy with?

BB: I think (District 7) City Councilman Luis Viera has done a great job making sure the needs of New Tampa are reflected in this budget. There’s probably more in this year’s budget, if it passes at the higher millage rate, than there has been in the last 3-4 years…. A lot of things I think the folks in New Tampa will be very very happy with.

NN: The $90,000 to study and design a Sensory Park seemed to come out of nowhere. How did that come about?

BB: If you recall in my State of the City address, we launched an autism-friendly city project to make Tampa a city that is recognized for being autism friendly. (Note: In April, Buckhorn announced the “Autism Friendly Tampa” project, in which the city will work with the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities at the University of South Florida to provide more services to residents with autism.)

I don’t think people realize the number of people in our community that are touched by autism and have family members or friends that are somewhere on the spectrum.

The idea of a park that would be specifically geared towards those kids emerged out of those discussions. We had an obligation to finish building a park in the New Tampa area as a result of a developer agreement going back probably 15-20 years. We saw that location (behind the BJ’s Wholesale Club on Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms) as the perfect place to try and do it. It will be the first that we have done in the city. Hopefully, in next year’s budget, we can get the money for construction.

NN: After some debate, the City Council decided to lower your proposed millage rate increase. The new number won’t bring in as much property tax revenue, but can you still make do with that figure?

BB: We can because we made a decision to move $5 million of the remaining money from the BP settlement over to general revenue, which allowed us flexibility on the millage side. That is what allowed us to be supportive of the (.475 increase). There will still be pain in the budget, but we will be able to do the expansion of the New Tampa Rec Center, and some of the other projects that parts of our community care very deeply about. We also will be able to fund the new fire station (No. 23 on County Line Rd.). There will be a lot of benefit for New Tampa in this budget.

New Tampa Rec Center, Fire Station Survive Budget Battle

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

Despite a Tampa City Council meeting that started on a Thursday evening and ended on a Friday morning — and, at one point, had nearly every Council member throwing up their arms and/or staring off into space in frustration over a property tax stalemate, the final vote at 12:06 a.m. on Sept. 29 preserved the Fiscal 2018 City Budget what most of the people in New Tampa who attended the public hearing were hoping it would:

1) Money for the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) in Tampa Palms,

2) Funding for a new fire station on County Line Rd. near Grand Hampton and

3 Money to plan and design an autism Sensory Park in New Tampa.

“Last night was pretty good,’’ said District 7 (which includes all of New Tampa within the city limits) City Councilman Luis Viera.

The seven City Council members voted 4-3 to raise the city’s millage rate from $5.73 to $6.21 per $1,000 of assessed, taxable property value, the first time in 29 years that city property taxes have been raised.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn requested in his $972.4 million budget for Fiscal Year 2018 (which begins Oct. 1) an increase to $6.63 percent. The increase settled on by the Council means an increase of roughly $100 per year for a home in New Tampa, where the median price is about $260,000.

Buckhorn’s original request to raise the millage by 0.9 percent (and produce $15 million in revenue) was voted down to 0.6 percent at the first budget hearing (by a 4-3 vote) on Sept. 18. But, when the vote came up again at the second meeting on Sept. 28, the Council members voted against the 0.6 by a 4-3 vote, with Council Chair Yolie Capin (at-large District 3) changing her vote.

That set off hours of negotiations between the council members to find an acceptable millage increase. The arguments included angry volleys lobbed at Buckhorn about future deficits of more than $50 million that many of the council members said they were unaware of until recently. Almost every number between 0.3 and 0.6 was debated and defeated— including a motion by Dist. 1 (also at-large) Mike Suarez not to raise the millage rate at all, which would have resulted in massive budget cuts — until an increase of 0.475 passed with votes from Viera, Dist. 5’s Frank Reddick, Dist. 2 (at-large) Charlie Miranda and Dist, 4’s Harry Cohen.

“When Mike Suarez proposed scrapping everything and it lost by only one vote (4-3), I thought I better compromise fast,’’ Viera said, leading to the 0.475 percent increase that pulled Cohen, who had been denied three times after putting through a motion to make the increase .45 percent, to their side.

Because the millage rate increase is less than Buckhorn wanted, and therefore will bring in less revenue than expected, parks and recreation will still endure almost a $600,000 cut in operational costs. But, unlike past budgets that had money included for the NTRC only to see it pulled at the last minute, Viera said this budget was a winner locally, especially with potential lean times ahead due to a $50-million deficit the city is expected to be dealing with.

“We got 100 percent of what we wanted,’’ Viera said. “The cut to parks and rec is a small compromise we had to make. There’s no way we could get the rec center passed next year,; it probably would be a 5-6-year wait. This was the magic year.”

The now-$970 million budget includes $1.9 million for expanding the NTRC, which is one of only two facilities in the city that is home to the city’s highly touted dance, acrobatics and sports readiness program and has a waiting list of roughly 3,000, according to Tampa Palms resident Tracy Falkowitz.

Falkowitz also has said that the current building itself will not be expanded. Instead, a second building will be built on the property to accommodate more children.

An additional $1.4 million of 2018 Community Investment Taxes are budgeted to complete the construction of Fire Station No. 23, which will be located in the Grand Hampton/Grand Colony area off County Line Rd.

The station will house 39 firefighters, an engine company, a truck company and a rescue unit. No. 23 also will be home to a new District Fire Chief, who will coordinate responses between all four of New Tampa’s fire stations.

And, $90,000 is in the budget for study and design of a “sensory-friendly” park on the land behind BJs Wholesale Club, which will be developed in conjunction with the University of South Florida.

Falkowitz, the attorney who spearheaded the push to protect the money earmarked for New Tampa in the budget, sat through the entirety of both budget hearings. She said she wasn’t surprised the debate lasted into the early hours, based on her many discussions with multiple council members.

She said she was only worried twice that the panel might decide on a low enough millage rate that budget cuts would be required. In fact, she said that Miranda approached her during one break and told her “I don’t think you’ve got it”. And, when the .45 rate – which would have required cuts that could endanger the NTRC — came up for a vote.

“This never could have happened without all the community support,’’ Falkowitz said. “Without the New Tampa Council, the neighborhood associations, the rec center moms and dads and kids. That sea of red in front of the council and those that spoke up at those meetings was tremendous. Before this year, New Tampa was never heard and New Tampa was never really addressed. This time, we came together as a community and they heard us.”

Pebble Creek, Cross Creek & Live Oak Could Lose City Fire Services

The City of Tampa and Hillsborough County are in a dispute over usage of Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 21 on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Since it opened in 2002, Tampa Fire Rescue Station No. 21 on Cross Creek Blvd. has not only serviced City of Tampa residents in New Tampa, but has also been contracted to respond to the homes in the New Tampa communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County. That city-county agreement, however, is in peril.

While it may not be time to call 9-1-1 on the negotiations just yet, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says that unless the county bridges the gap between what it has been paying and what the city thinks the county should be paying, Fire Station 21 — located on Cross Creek Blvd. just west of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. — will no longer respond to calls from residents in Pebble Creek, Live Oak, Cross Creek and the other communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County.

“Effective Dec. 31, if some accomodation is not reached, the city is not going to be providing service to Pebble Creek anymore,’’ Buckhorn told the Neighborhood News on Sept. 29.

The county is paying the city $218,000 a year, plus any adjustments related to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to service unincorporated New Tampa,

Buckhorn says that total should be closer to $1.46 million.

“We have told the county, ‘Look, we are not doing this anymore’,” Buckhorn says. “You can pay us what we think we are owed and deserve, or you can go provide the service yourself or contract with Pasco County. We don’t care (which one). We’re happy to be here for you, but we’re going to do it at a rate that compensates us appropriately.”

Without a contract with the city, Hillsborough has limited options. One, according to Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones, would be to stand up some kind of a response unit in the area. Another would be to contract with Pasco County, whose nearest fire rescue station is No. 26 in front of the Meadow Pointe I community in Wesley Chapel, about six miles away from the easternmost part unicorporated New Tampa.

The nearest Hillsborough County fire rescue station is No. 5 on E. 139th Ave. in the University area.

The best option, according to Chief Jones, is reaching some agreement with the city. However, it is requesting that the county to pay 40 percent of the annual costs to operate Station 21, City of Tampa chief financial officer Sonya Little wrote in a letter to Hillsborough County chief financial administrator Bonnie Wise.

According to the letter, Tampa has calculated the annual operating costs of Fire Station 21 at $3,652,432, and 40 percent of that number is $1,406,973.

“In these tight budget times, we’re looking at every agreement we have and making sure we are being fairly and adequately compensated,” Buckhorn says, “and this is one that is so glaring and so out of line, we just said enough.”

Jones said the county found the $1.4 million figure “shocking.” According to numbers he says are from the city, less than two calls a day to unincorporated New Tampa are handled by Fire Station 21, or approximately 40 minutes a day (or 2.78 percent) of service.

“We thought that was a little bit of a jump without some rationale behind it,’’ Jones said. “We measured calls and amount of time, and it’s a very small number for us to pay that amount of money.”

Buckhorn doesn’t agree, however.

“The frequency of the runs have increased significantly,” Buckhorn said. “We calculated down to the man hour, down to the cost of the vehicle, to be 40 percent of our time up there out of Station 21.”

Jones says the City of Tampa is seeking money for everything from the cost of the building to vehicle depreciation to uniforms.

“Basically all the costs to run the fire station,’’ he said.

The county, however, is arguing that many of the costs the city wants to reimbursed for have nothing to do with the contracted services provided. Jones said the county is more than willing to make up for any CPIs that may have been missed in the past, and to pay its share of the operating costs of the fire vehicles used, as well as the materials and supplies associated with the calls to unincorporated New Tampa.

But the city, Jones says, built the fire station for the residents of New Tampa, not to accommodate any contract with the county. It owns the station, and the land it’s on, and Jones doesn’t think costs associated with that should be passed on to the county.

Buckhorn said the agreement between the city and county (which dates back to 1998) has long been an issue downtown, when some of the county’s players involved in negotiations worked for the city. Wise was former mayor Pam Iorio’s chief financial officer for eight years before joining the county in 2011, and Jones was the Tampa Fire Chief before retiring in 2010. He was lured out of retirement in 2015 by the county.

“The two of them well aware of the longstanding inadeuqacies of it,” Buckhorn said.

Buckhorn said Jones complained about the agreement before retiring. Jones says he doesn’t recall ever having that conversation with Buckhorn when he was mayor, or before that when Buckhorn served as a city council member.

Both sides will continue to negotiate. The interlocal agreement they renewed in 2013 states that either party can terminate the agreement upon 90 days notice, which would mean Buckhorn would have had to exercise the option on Oct. 1 to meet his Dec. 31 cutoff date.

According to Buckhorn, the county has offered to pay an additional $40,000, which he said was “pretty much insulting.”

Jones said the county has offered to pay $56,000 more, as well as an additional $32,500 yearly for expendables. Even using Jones’ numbers, the difference between the city and county is still roughly $1.3 million.

“It’s a huge gap,” Jones said. “Is there a meeting place? I would hope there is. I’m confident we’ll come up with a resolution.”

Local Couple Teach How To Mentor At-Risk Kids

Joe & Carol Gravante have turned their love of children and their own empty nest into an opportunity to teach a free mentoring class to help adults mentor at-risk kids. The classes began last week at Bridgeway Church on Wells Rd.

Joe and Carol Gravante, residents of Heritage Isles in New Tampa, are empty nesters who say that God gave them a new purpose after their three boys grew up and left home.

After raising their sons and hosting at least two dozen foreign exchange students, including 12 who stayed with them for a year and attended local schools, the Gravantes have turned their attention to mentoring at-risk kids in our community.

“Carol and I had started working with a mentoring group in Tampa several years ago, and when we first started we had no idea what we were doing,” Joe explains. “The training that we received was more about how the foster care system works, the formalities, not how to actually deal with the kids themselves. There was nothing available (to teach us) how to communicate and how to handle certain situations you might be put in that are different from raising your own kids.”

So, Joe says, he and Carol shared resources with other people they knew who also were mentoring. His sister-in-law in Missouri, for example, who helped him find school resources for a tenth grader who needed help to pass his classes. Joe also did online searches for answers to questions he had, and he tried different techniques with the teenagers he was mentoring.

Now, Joe and Carol have taken their experiences and developed a curriculum to help people learn skills that will help them be good mentors. After teaching the class Joe developed last year, it will be offered again this year at Bridgeway Church, located at 30660 Wells Rd. in Wesley Chapel. The classes started September 25 and meet every other Monday. There is no cost to attend, and childcare is provided for people who sign up for the class and need it.

Class topics include effective communication, anger management, time management, bullying, dealing with attitudes, when to say “yes” and “no” and much more.

“Really, these classes are good for anyone who’s raising kids, or even in the workplace,” says Carol.

Other Options

Joe says they also are currently coming up with a schedule of opportunities for people who want to serve their community and help kids, but don’t have the time to commit to mentoring a child one hour every week.

“We have two focuses,” explains Carol. “Some people want to get involved right away and do something purposeful.”

For those people, the couple is organizing events where anyone can come out and interact with at-risk kids in a large group setting. Joe and Carol say they have a friend with a horse ranch where they have taken groups of kids, and volunteers help to lead the horses and play with the kids.

“People find it’s quite fun!” Carol says. “Some people aren’t comfortable with the idea of working with at-risk kids. They worry they have too many limitations or the kids have too much baggage, but the events help people get more comfortable until they are ready for a one-on-one relationship with the students.”

Their goal is to encourage more people to provide that time to help students who need it. After all, Joe says, every child he’s mentored has benefitted from the experience.

“These kids just need time and attention,” he says.

Joe knows that because he once benefitted from mentoring, too.

“I had this (U.S. military) Colonel who changed my entire life,” he says. “I grew up in the city of Pittsburgh (PA). It was a steel mill town, and that’s all I knew. When I joined the military, this amazing man took the time and energy to make me see I could be so much more than what I was. He mentored me from 20 years old until 30-something. He was the one who really set me on the right path.”

Joe says the cycle of being mentored, and now being in a position to pay his experiences forward and serve his community, continues with the kids he’s impacted.

“I see the kids I’ve mentored already giving back in their communities,” he says. “It’s so good to see that you can make a difference that way, no matter how old you are.”

For more information or to register for the mentoring class, contact Carol at (813) 753-8338.