A group of Boy Scouts from across the nation — including New Tampa’s N’Jhari Jackson from Boy Scout Troop 142 in Tampa Palms — spoke Tuesday to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (pictured here) and President Obama, as part of the organization’s annual Report to the Nation.
NâJhari Jackson, an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 142 in New Tampa, was selected as one of 10 Boy Scouts from across the nation and delivered the âBSA 2015 Report to the Nationâ to U.S. Congressional and governmental leaders Tuesday, March 1 in Washington, DC.
“JUST GAVE MY SPEECH TO OBAMAAAAAA,” Jackson texted to friends. “(It went) Great, I didn’t stutter either. OMG. I’m awesome ohhh I feel gosh!”
NâJhari is still just 13 years old, but has already earned an incredible 121 Merit Badges and has set a personal goal to earn all 136. He has been recognized extensively (including in this publication in March 2015) for his outstanding volunteer service, with projects he has created and implemented, such as collecting 1,200 pair of socks for childrenâs group homes in the Tampa Bay area, delivering more than 4,000 Pajama Buddies and Pajama Grab Bags to hospitalized children, raising money to donate an AED (automated external defibrillator) to his school, and delivering blankets and other items to the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
âI am excited and nervous about my trip to Washington, DC,â NâJhari told the Neighborhood News prior to his trip. âI know it will be something Iâll remember for the rest of my life.â
The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative is holding ten â2020 Visionâ Open House events at libraries around the county. The third event was held on Feb. 16 at the New Tampa Regional Library on Cross Creek Blvd., where 73 people expressed their âvisionâ for the local library.
What do you want from your public library?
Cooking classes? Yoga classes? More DVDs or magazines? Less noise?
These questions, and more, were asked on Feb. 16 at a Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC) 2020 Vision Open House at the New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd.
The NTRL stop was the third in a series of 10 open houses HCPLC is holding across Hillsborough County as the cooperative forges itâs agenda for the next five years.
âThis is the public input period in the planning and design of our strategic plan,ââ said Andrew Breidenbaugh, the director of library services for Hillsborough County during the meeting. âWe use this as kind of a guide to what our services are going to look like for the next five years.â
HCPLC had a handful of displays for patrons to look at in NTRLâs community room during the open house, with employees of the cooperative stationed at each display to facilitate conversation and answer questions.
The turnout was the best yet, Breidenbaugh says, as 73 people took part, compared to an average of roughly 40 at the HCPLCâs previous two stops at the Upper Tampa Bay and Jimmie B. Keel regional libraries.
âThat was great and nice to see,ââ said Breidenbaugh, who says he started his career at the New Tampa location when it opened in 1997. âItâs nice to see such involvement from a community that doesnât really have a center. Maybe the library can be that center.â
Although inconclusive at this early stage in the 2020 Vision process, some of the responses at the NTRL open house indicated a desire for the library to partner with museums, schools and neighborhood associations, but not so much with sports teams and restaurants.
Some people wanted the library to start offering yoga, cooking classes and even self-defense classes. Others expressed interest in the library carrying newer-release DVDs and books.
In 2015, the HCPLC hosted 13,452 events and classes in its 29 libraries, ranging from astronomy to computer coding, with 272,463 people participating.
âWe take the public phase input on this very seriously,ââ Breidenbaugh said. âWe were looking for feedback on what we are doing well, what it is we can improve and generally speaking what people want in their future library.â
When the remaining seven open houses have been completed, the HCPLC will solicit questionnaires and surveys through its website and in print, sometime in late March.
That will be followed by focus groups in late May or early June of this year. The HCLPC will analyze the raw data and put together a plan by Oct. 1, the start of the countyâs new fiscal year.
One thing that Breidenbaugh says will be interesting to watch is how the HLPLC balances the technological demands of the patrons who use the library for the internet, and those who prefer it remains a completely silent place for reading books and studying.
Customers who have used the library for a long time seem to like the way it is, but the way information is presented today is far different â and far louder, according to Breidenbaugh â than it was 25 years ago.
âThere are different ideas of what the library should be,ââ Breidenbaugh said. âThe picture is not clear to everyone.â
By October, the HCPLC hopes the picture will be clearer.
The New Tampa Regional Library is located at 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information about future open houses and how to take part in the 2020 Vision, visit 2020Vision.hcplc.org.
Plans to expand the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC) â whether by adding more room for a gymnastics program that already has a two-year waiting list, adding a pool or perhaps building covered areas for parents to watch their kids play youth sports â are on hold.
Again.
For the second time in five years, the Tampa City Council has voted to provide funds for another project, keeping the NTRC as it is and adding to the ire of many New Tampa residents that the area is not getting a fair return on the large share of city taxes they pay.
âWe are tired of being treated as a cash cow for the city,ââ said Tampa Palms attorney Warren Dixon.
The Tampa City Council voted Feb. 4 to spend the money instead to fix the 79-year-old Cuscaden Park pool, which will receive $3.1-million for its upgrade.
In 2005, the city spent $2.5-million on the pool, which was then closed in 2009 because of structural damage that was causing leaks. It hasnât re-opened since.
District 7 Council member Lisa Montelione, who represents New Tampa and the surrounding area, was the lone vote against funding the pool.
While she said she respects the historical and cultural importance of the pool, the money used was not only diverted from the NTRC, but also from another project at the Greco Sports Complex off Fowler Ave. that also sits in her district.
âI wasnât surprised by the vote, based on the previous support for the repairs at Cuscaden Pool,ââ Montelione says. âWhat I can tell the people of New Tampa is they need to reach out to my fellow council members and let them know how they feel. Iâm on the side of New Tampa, I just need others on the council to see how important this is.â
Dixon said he has already written a letter of complaint, and others, like Maggie Wilson, has voiced their displeasure..
âThe prevailing feeling is that there is a disregard for the needs of the (New Tampa) area,ââ said Wilson, a well-known community consultant for the Tampa Palms Community Development District. ââJust send us your tax money.â Iâm not sure thatâs my feeling, but when it comes to enhancements (for our community), it certainly is.â
Wilsonâs feelings are nothing new. Even as folks line up to run for Montelioneâs District 7 seat, they all seem to mention the need to help make the tax monies work for the area.
The New Tampa Rec Center, which was built in 2008, boasts more than 19,000 sq. ft. of indoor space, mostly for bustling gymnastics and tumbling programs, also is home to a skateboarding park and multi-purpose fields in the adjacent New Tampa Community Park.
In 2012, it was announced that the NTRC would be expanding the following year by adding an additional 14,000 sq. ft. to the facility with more gym space, locker and multi-purpose rooms, a workout center and a rock-climbing wall. But, the $1.5-million addition never came to fruition.
âIt was actually in the budget draft, and then when the final budget came out it was gone,ââ says Montelione. âI raised numerous questions to staff about where the money went, and no one could ever really answer the question.â
Dixon says that the original developer of Tampa Palms had to set aside the land for nearby Freedom High and where the New Tampa Recreation Center is located, and with the CDD bonds all paid off, âwe essentially have paid for that land.â
âWhen you realize that we (as Tampa Palms residents) have already made a significant contribution to the rec center, you can understand why we get a little short tempered,ââ he added.
So, will the rec center ever get the improvements promised in 2012, and then promised again for 2016?
âItâs on the books,â Montelione says. âIt does have a line item. Itâs just a matter of making it the mayorâs priority to keep it funded and to keep them from reallocating the funds.
âThis is getting a little repetitive, year after year after year.â
John Barreto not only made it onto âWho Wants To Be A Millionaireâ as part of the nationally syndicated game showâs âWhiz Kids Week,â he answered a handful of questions correctly and walked away with $20,000.
His most impressive feat, however, may have been keeping that a secret for more than six months.
âHow did he do that?,ââ asks his mom, Jill. âHow does a 12-year-old do that?â
John, a Tampa Palms resident and 7th grader at Corpus Christi School in Temple Terrace, was finally able to let the secret out last week, when the two episodes he was on â which were filmed in Stamford, CT, on Aug. 7 â aired locally on WTOG-TV Ch. 4 on Feb. 9-10.
When John walked into school the morning after his first appearance aired, he was greeted with an announcement and an ovation from his fellow students.
âObviously I wanted (to win) a million dollars, but I didnât have my mind set on any particular amount,ââ John says. âI just wanted to get on the show and have fun and have a good experience.â
His questions involved geophagy, palindromes and Thorium, yet John managed to make his way through to $20,000 by answering eight questions â with one assist from his lifeline, his dad Ron â and smartly avoided gambling on his last question.
Nattily dressed in red slacks, a blue blazer and a plaid bow tie, Barreto decided not to risk it all on his last, and trickiest, question: âThereâs not a single United Nationsâ member whose name begins with âXâ or which other letter?
His choices were J, Q, V and W.
John thought the question might be referring to the names of actual ambassadors representing their countries at the U.N., so he decided to go to his final lifeline, the crowd, and 52 percent chose âQ.â That wasnât enough to convince John to risk his fortune, so he stopped there.
The audience, by the way, was wrong: it forgot about Qatar.
âI was kind of disappointed I had to stop,ââ John says. âBut, when the audience was wrong (the answer was W), I was really excited about that. If it was Q, I would be kicking myself all the way back to Tampa.â
His mother, Jill, had hatched the plan for someone in the family to appear on the show, which once enjoyed massive popularity on the ABC-TV network and was picked by TV Guide as No. 6 on its list of the greatest 60 game shows of all time.
Jill says she was doing dishes and watching âGood Morning Americaâ one morning and the host of âMillionaire,â Chris Harrison, was a guest. He mentioned that the show would be filming in Stamford, CT, in the summer. It just so happened that Jill was from Connecticut, and the family was going to be vacationing there while John was attending camp.
âMy mom was like, weâll be in Connecticut this summer, letâs see if they can get your dad or your sister on because they know a bunch of stupid facts,ââ John says, chuckling.
Since it was Whiz Kids Week, Dad was obviously ineligible, and Julia, a 15-year-old sophomore at the Academy of Holy Names, declined.
That left John, who began an arduous process with a 250-word poem on why he should be picked (âInfo and facts seem to stick to my brain, my trivia skills are simply insaneâ). That led to a 30-second video, a 4-page application that involved taking pictures of all his awards and included his IQ (141 when he was last tested, in the second grade), and then an hour-long Skype interview with 42 more questions.
An aspiring magician with an in-progress jump shot he practices while playing on a basketball team at the New Tampa YMCA, John was picked as a finalist, along with 10 other kids, meaning that even if he didnât get on the show heâd still get $1,000 a day with a chance to return within two years. And, he got to extend his summer vacation, which was supposed to end in July, for two extra weeks for the showâs August shooting.
âI told him that at the very worst, how many 12 year olds can say they made $1,000 in one day?,ââ Jill says.
While some of the kids didnât even make it on the show, and others flamed out on one question, John also made a run at some big bucks.
âI think it was more nerve wracking leading up to it, rather than doing it,ââ John says. âI was worried, would I get on the show? Will I have a chance to win some money? Once I knew I was getting on the show, I wasnât really scared anymore. I knew I couldnât walk out of there with less money than I walked in with.â
John hasnât received his check yet, but he plans on pocketing a little of it for fun, maybe indulge himself with some new magic tricks, and the rest heâd like to invest.
Hereâs the other questions John faced on Millionaire. See how well you can do:
$500 Your dentist wouldnât want you to know this, but according to WebMD, what do only about half of Americans do daily? a. Breathe
b. Floss
c. Blink
d. Use the bathroom
$1000 The Declaration of Independence originally said, âWe hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable,â before âsacred and undeniableâ was changed to what?
a. Self-Evident
b. Probably True
c. Hopefully Accurate
d. Possibly Correct
$2000 Which element contains the name of the Marvel Comics superhero who also happens to be the Norse god of thunder?
a. Spidermanium
b. Thorium
c. Magneton
d. Praseodymihulk
$3,000 Which Beatles song has a value in its title that is equal to four cubed?
a. Eight Days a Week
b. Two of us
c. When Iâm Sixty-Four
d. Revolution 9
$5,000 âGo practice geophagyâ is a technical way of telling someone to âeatâ what?
a. Their words
b. Their hat
c. Your shorts
d. Dirt
$7,000 For the 113,760 individual frames of the Disney Classic â101 Dalmations,â animators had to draw a total of how many Dalmation spots â about 57 per frame?
a. 48155
b. 309,400
c. 6,469,952
d. 978,157,554
$8,000 What British author named a villain in one of his most well-known books after his real-life boyhood friend Bob Fagin?
a. Kipling
b. Dickens
c. Tolstoy
d. Wells
$10,000 What phrase completes a famous palindrome that begins with âAÂ man, a planâ and ends with âPanamaâ?
a. A canal
b. A harbor
c. A tower
d. A bridge
$20,000 In 2014, Dr. James Watson raised money for scientific research by auctioning off his Nobel Prize, which he won for discovering that DNA had what shape?
a. Double helix
b. Pascal triangle
c. Convex polygon
d. Cubic honeycomb
The list of those seeking to replace Lisa Montelione on the Tampa City Council continues to grow as two more potential candidates have declared that they will run for the seat she is vacating to challenge Shawn Harrison for the Florida House District 63 seat, bringing the total to three people who have expressed their interest in running for the seat to Neighborhood News.
As we reported in last issueâs News Briefs, Tampa Palms resident and local attorney Luis Viera had stated that he is exploring a run for the District 7 seat. Joining Viera in expressing their intent to run for Montelioneâs seat when it becomes available are Cory Lake Isles Community Development District (CDD) chairman Dr. Cyril Spiro, M.D., M.B.A.; and Tampa Palms resident and La Gaceta (Tampaâs largest Spanish language newspaper) assistant editor Gene Siudut.
Since Montelione has filed to run for the state legislature, state law requires that she resign and vacate her council seat by June 10 of this year, according to Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections office spokesperson Gerri Kramer.
Although all three of the people who have expressed their interest in the seat so far are New Tampa residents, District 7 is actually a large and diverse area which runs north from Waters Ave. to County Line Rd., and includes Forest Hills, Terrace Park, New Tampa and the University of South Florida area.
Dr. Cyril Spiro
Dr. Spiro, who has served on the Cory Lakes Isles CDD for nearly five years, is currently the Chief Medical Information Officer at HealthAxis, a Tampa healthcare information technology company that in 2013 bought M.D. Web Solutions â which Spiro founded in 2004.
Dr. Spiro also founded a not-for-profit organization, the Sunshine Board Cooperation, which is designed to make government more effective and transparent and facilitates cooperation between representatives and their constituents through open online workshops, or forums. The Cory Lakes Isles CDD has been an active user of the workshops to facilitate action.
Dr. Spiro also says that as a city council member, he would emphasize technology, particularly online communications between government officials and their constituents, to fight for what residents in an area really want and need.
âI very much believe in using technology for improving democracy,ââ Dr. Spiro says. âWe have used (resident) survey systems in Cory Lakes Isles with great success. Thatâs very exciting to me. Itâs something that I think can be carried across the country at all levels of government. It will make government more effective at doing what the people want.â
Dr. Spiro, who received his M.D. degree from the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore, has also developed Lotterease, software that is used in charter schools to manage their lottery systems, like at Terrace Community Middle School (TCMS) and Lutz Preparatory School and others.
He says he has worked with Montelione on previous issues, including helping with resident surveys in District 7.
âWe did some surveys in North Park, between Busch Blvd. and Fowler Ave.,ââ he says. âThere, the primary concern is crime. When you go north to New Tampa, itâs transportation. For each of those areas, you have to be aware of what those needs are. Oftentimes, the city will address needs of groups that make the most noise. Iâd like to help identify with data and more evidence whatâs really in need of most repair.â
Dr. Spiro has lived in New Tampa for 13 years, with his wife of 18 years, Laura. The couple has two children, Arden, 12, and Alenna, 14.
Gene Siudut
Siudut (pronounced Sue-Dit) grew up in New Jersey before moving to Florida in 1999, where he landed a job at La Gaceta, which is renowned for being the only trilingual (English, Spanish, Italian) publication in the U.S.
As an assistant to the editor and columnist for La Gaceta, Siudut says he has been active on the cityâs political scene, as well in the community in and around Ybor City.
âIâm familiar with everyone on the (current) city council,ââ he says. âI feel itâs a job I can do.â
The longtime Ybor City resident, married two years ago to wife Keri and a newly-transplanted Tampa Palms resident, Siudut says the job requires a fighter who is willing to get in the ring for the New Tampa areaâs fair share of the cityâs budget dollars. He says he would fight for both New Tampa and the USF area.
âNew Tampa needs to have a strong voice,ââ he says. âWhatever the issue, you have to keep fighting for those dollars.â
The 42-year-old is president of the Ybor City Lions Club, a Board member of the Ybor City Development Corporation (YCDC) Executive Committee and chair of the Ybor City Retail Arts and Special Events Committee, which operated with a $1.2-million budget.
âThe focus of city government is downtown, and everyone has to fight for city dollars to get their fair share, so thatâs a good stepping stone,ââ he says.
Siudut has served as vice-chair of the Hillsborough County Human Relations Board (the countyâs anti-discrimination board), and has done volunteer work for The Cuban Club Foundation, Cigars For Soldiers and the Ybor Mural Project.
Siudut says he has a strong understanding of how city government works after watching it closely and interacting with the players for 17 years. He says that has helped sparked his own interest in serving. âI actually got the itch about five years ago,ââ he says, adding that he had initially planned to get into politics in 2019, at the end of Montelioneâs current term. Her decision to leave the city council, however, expedited those plans.
âThis is a window of opportunity,ââ Siudut says. âAfter 17 years working in Ybor City, I understand that number 1, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and number 2, you have to keep asking. No one is going to ask, âYou know, I really wonder if Tampa Palms needs anything.ââ
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