Legacy At Highwoods Preserve Resident Celebrates Her 106th Birthday In Style!

My mother’s mother lived until three weeks before her 92 birthday and my beloved Nana’s older sister lived until a week before her 100th birthday, so long life thankfully runs in my family.

Even so, both my Nan and Great Aunt Molly were still quite a few years younger when they passed than New Tampa resident Frances Brassey, who just celebrated her 106th birthday last month.

Frances is a resident of The Legacy at Highwoods Preserve Assisted Living & Memory Care (a Lifewell Senior Living community), located at 18600 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. (where West Meadows meets Richmond Place) who was born on October 4, 1912 “the same year the Titanic sunk,” Frances reminded folks in attendance at her birthday party at The Legacy.

Frances got to celebrate her 106th birthday with her son Wayne and her daughter-in-law Dorothy at an event attended not only by her family and the other residents and staff at The Legacy, but also by District 38 State Rep. Shawn Harrison and District 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist, both of whom not only posed for pictures and chatted with Frances and her family, they also each brought a framed item for Frances to keep.

Comm. Crist’s was a proclamation, signed by all seven commissioners, that said, “The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners is pleased to recognize Frances Brassey on the celebratory occasion of her 106th birthday, and applauds her for uplifting, inspiring and sharing knowledge with people throughout her well-traveled life.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Harrison brought a framed letter he wrote to Frances that said “It’s good to be able to celebrate with you again. I’m so happy to share this special day with you. You are a great inspiration, and I’m sure that your full life has impacted many people in many positive ways.”

Although I didn’t get to talk to Frances because I got there a little late, as the party went into it’s third hour, but I could see how much Frances loves The Legacy and her fellow residents.

And, when asked about the secret to her long life, Frances said, “drinking a Coke a day,” which is not only a pretty decent testament to Coca-Cola, it also reminded me of something said at a luncheon following my Great Aunt Molly’s funeral, which was held at a Jewish delicatessen in North Miami.
My cousin Arthur, the younger of Molly’s sons, asked everyone to raise their sandwich as he said, “Mom, you always said the salted, cured meats and French fries were the secrets to long life, and after almost 100 years of life, who could argue with you?” I’m pretty sure no one’s arguing with Frances, either.

The Legacy also recently welcomed two new top-level staff members — executive director Virginia Rice and chef Dennis Millet.

For more information about or to schedule a tour of The Legacy, visit LegacyatHighwoodsPreserve.com or call (813) 375-9858.

District 63 Seat Once Again Slated To Be A Close Battle

State House District 63 candidate Fentrice Driskell is hoping to return incumbent Shawn Harrison’s seat to Democratic hands in the General Election on Tuesday, November 6.

There was never any doubt, at least in her mind, that Fentrice Driskell was going to one day run for office.

It was just a matter of when.

Well, when…is now.

In February, Driskell filed to run for the Florida House District 63 seat currently held by Republican and long-time New Tampa resident Shawn Harrison.

District 63 includes New Tampa, as well as Carrollwood, Lutz and the Lake Magdalene and University of South Florida areas to our south and east.

Driskell’s entry into the race was greeted with great enthusiasm by many Democrats, who consider it one of the most flippable State House seats.

Shawn Harrison

Harrison won the seat in 2010, lost it to Mark Danish in 2012, then reclaimed it in 2014. In 2016, Harrison held off Democratic challenger and fellow former Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione by 1,363 votes, or 51-49 percent.

“I’ve known for quite some time I would like to run one day,” Driskell says. “I thought it would be later in life, though. But, the 2016 election motivated me.”

Driskell was almost immediately endorsed by prominent local Democrats like Betty Castor, Alex Sink, Pat Kemp and State House Democratic Leader, State Rep. Janet Cruz, after throwing her hat in the ring.

Driskell felt that women’s voices were missing from the political debate, and felt like public schools, where her mother taught for 35 years, were under attack. She saw a political landscape dominated by acrimony and inertia, instead of focusing on providing affordable housing, a safe and clean environment and economic policies that would benefit everyone.

“After the 2016 election, I really decided that if I don’t like the way things are going, I can either keep talking about it or do something about it,” Driskell says. “I started attending candidate trainings and really thinking about some of the issues I care about the most.”

Driskell said her passion for government was ignited while she attended Lake Gibson High in Lakeland.

During her junior year, she attended Florida Girls State, a week-long workshop that focuses on government, politics and Americanism.

“It completely changed my trajectory,” Driskell says.

She graduated from Lake Gibson No. 1 in her class and attended Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, where she was the school’s first African-American female student body government president.

She graduated from Harvard and then Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., and has been president of the George Edgecomb Bar Association for black lawyers in Tampa. She is currently a partner and business litigator at the Carlton Fields law firm near Tampa International Airport.

When she decided to run and looked at the open races, she saw District 63 as a perfect place to bring what she says will be an inclusive style of representation.

“I looked at the level of representation that District 63 is getting and felt I had something better to offer,” Driskell says.

According to the Lakeland native, District 63 is roughly 38 percent registered Democrats, 32 percent Republicans and 30 percent unaffiliated.

“When you have a district that balanced, you have to be able to lead from a place that is reflective of that and inclusive of everyone,” Driskell says. “My opponent has moved too far to the right for this district.”

Driskell (see ad on pg. 6) has attended a few New Tampa town halls, and organized some meet-and-greets in local communities, most recently in Arbor Greene, and hopes to strike a chord with local voters, who trended Democratic in 2016.

“We’ve been able to build a lot of great momentum and enthusiasm around our campaign,” Driskell says. “What we’ve found is that people want to talk about the kind of bread-and-butter issues that affect us every day, like schools, gun safety, keeping kids safe. Because we have been able to engage them directly, people are excited to have the opportunity to have a representative who will listen to them.”

Rep. Harrison’s Support Of Avis Harrison A Headscratcher For Jim Davison

State Rep. Shawn Harrison urges voters to support Republican candidates at a candidate fair held in Carrollwood on September 13. (Photo: North Hillsborough Republican Club/Facebook)
State Rep. Shawn Harrison urges voters to support Republican candidates at a candidate fair held in Carrollwood on September 13.
(Photo: North Hillsborough Republican Club/Facebook)

When District 63 State Rep. Shawn Harrison, a Republican who is running for re-election on Nov. 8, stood before a crowd at a candidate fair sponsored by the North Hillsborough Republican Club at Carrollwood Country Club on Sept. 13 and urged them to help put a Republican on the Tampa City Council for the first time since he had served on the council, Jim Davison, M.D., couldn’t help but smile.

Dr. Davison, a longtime Hunter’s Green resident and a friend of Harrison’s, had just spoken a few minutes before to the same crowd, and he viewed Harrison’s comments as something of an unofficial endorsement of his candidacy in the District 7 race.

But, it wasn’t.

The next day, Harrison sent out Facebook invitations for a fund raiser he hosted at his home on Sept. 22 for one of Davison’s opponents – Arbor Greene resident Avis Harrison, a former elementary school teacher and registered independent who proudly touts her lack of experience and is no relation to Shawn.

“She has been a family friend for several years, and I think she would be an excellent member of the City Council,’’ Harrison said.

Shawn had already co-hosted a fund raiser for Avis Harrison on Sept. 8 at the Avila home of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, and raised more than $8,000. But, Davison was still surprised, considering what he heard at the candidate fair.

Dana Young, who represents Florida’s 60th District and is the Florida House majority leader, spoke right after Davison and also delivered glowing remarks. While the City Council race is non-partisan, it is no secret that Davison is a registered Republican and the only one so registered in a field that includes Luis Viera, Gene Siudut, Cyril Spiro, Ph.D., Orlando Gudes and Avis Harrison.

While Davison can’t refer to his party affiliation on campaign information because he is running for a non-partisan seat, Republicans who are not running for non-partisan offices are not bound by that rule.

“I just met (Davison) last night and this is a big deal,’’ Young said. “If you live in his area, he is the only Republican running for City Council, and he’s got like five Democrats running. So, if every Republican votes for him, he wins.”

Once the applause died down, Young added, “This guy is a Republican and if you are a Republican, you need to vote for him.”

She then turned the microphone over to Shawn Harrison, who is defending his Dist. 63 seat against Democrat Lisa Montelione, who is vacating the District 7 City Council seat for which Davison, Avis Harrison and the other candidates are competing.

“Everyone up here is a real quality conservative who you need to get out and support,’’ Shawn Harrison told the crowd. “I want to plug my friend Jim Davison, as well.”

Harrison also told the crowd that when he served on the City Council for eight years, he was, for some of that time, the only Republican.  Since he left, there haven’t been any.

“There are seven democrats on our City Council now and our mayor is a Democrat,’’ Shawn said at the candidate fair. “Can’t we have just one of us? Just one? Is that too much to ask? So we’re going to get out and support Jim in his efforts here. We need one out of those seven seats to be red.”

Harrison said since he was at a Republican event, he was appealing to the Republican voters. “Frankly, I’m not sure any voters from New Tampa were there,’’ he added.

Davison said he was then completely blindsided by Harrison holding a fund raiser in his home for one of his non-Republican opponents. But, he plans on staying loyal to his party and his friend.

“Am I still voting for Shawn?,” Davison said. “Yeah.  Am I disappointed? Yeah.”

Harrison says he has no obligation to support Davison just because he’s the only Republican in the race. He said Siudut has reached out to him for campaign advice, and he touted the endorsements he has received from Democrats in his race vs. Montelione.

“If you are a good candidate, party identification should play less of a role,’’ Harrison said. “I want the best person in that seat for New Tampa.”

MONEY GAME: The Gruden fund raiser for Avis Harrison helped launch her from the bottom of the fund raising race to near the top.

She raised $10,250 for the Sept. 3-16 filing period, putting her at $20,188.34 overall, right behind Viera and Spiro.

Viera, a Hunter’s Green resident and lawyer with Ogden & Sullivan, P.A., raised $6,195 during the most recent filing period, and now has $58,954 overall, which keeps him comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

Dr. Spiro has raised $26,217.83 overall, the field’s second-largest fund-raising haul. Siudut, an editor with La Gaceta, has raised $18,630, while Gudes, a former Tampa Police officer, is at $15,766.10. Davison, who got into the race a little later, is at $7,395.30.

ENDORSEMENTS: Davison has offset his low fund-raising numbers by picking up some endorsements he says are as big as anyone else’s.

Davison received an endorsement from former Tampa City Council member Joseph Caetano, and another from Gus Bilirakis, the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 12th congressional district.

Caetano recently received 10,681 votes in his unsuccessful bid for the Hillsborough County School Board. Viera picked up an endorsement from the Tampa Bay Builders Association last week, which is generally considered an important “get” for candidates.

Rep. Shawn Harrison Recaps The Legislative Special Session

Dist. 63 State Rep. Shawn Harrison represents New Tampa in Tallahassee.
Dist. 63 State Rep. Shawn Harrison represents New Tampa in Tallahassee.

By Rep. Shawn Harrison

In the 2015 Florida Legislative Special Session, the State House and Senate came together to pass a $79-billion budget that includes $400 million in tax cuts, returning money to the pockets of hard-working Floridians, and of special note, extending the normal, three-day “Back to School” sales tax holiday to 10 days. The 2015-16 budget allocates a record-breaking $19.7-billion in funding to Florida’s public schools, approximately $7,097 per student. It was my pleasure to serve on the House K-12 committee, looking out for our New Tampa public school students. Continue reading