10/8/26 – Gone fishing, budget changes wait on Amendment 3
Not much on this week’s CRA and evening land use agendas. Catch up on the Inspector General series, plus council dropped the October 12 budget special call until after the November Amendment 3 vote.
This week at a glance
- CRA Regular Session
- Evening Session
Apologies, not much of a preview this week. Council sit as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board Thursday morning with land use cases that evening. Nothing jumped out and I had a last-minute opportunity to get out on the bay and participate in the 25th Annual American Legion Post 138 Fishing Tournament.
Instead, I recommend getting caught up on the Charter amendment proposal to create an inspector general position. Last week Bobby Creighton shared a follow-up to his first post on the subject with a closer look at the changes proposed by council. He also spoke with the Chief Inspector General for the State of Florida on the importance of independence.
One note, I must have misheard last week, council are not considering reversing the residency requirement. The language as proposed by the Charter Review Advisory Commission as a cleanup was presented by the lawyer retained for the Charter work and will be moving forward. The next step will be presentation of the final language (based on feedback during the October 1 meeting) during the October 15 meeting. A vote there sends the language to a November 5 public hearing and then November 19 for final adoption before going to the voters next March.
If you were following the budget approval, you may have heard them discuss an October 12 special call meeting to formally make the changes recommended by council through a budget resolution. The mayor mentioned it in her newsletter. Council unanimously approved (Carlson absent) a motion by Council Member Lynn Hurtak to remove that meeting and wait until after the Amendment 3 vote in November.
Speaking of which, I oppose Amendment 3 as written. I’ll write a full argument soon but despite my disappointment in the Rays vote and having process questions, what is proposed in Amendment 3 is too severe and would have widespread impacts. Any hopes I’d have for improvements to my neighborhood park would be gone.
A new fishing pier in Tampa would be out of the question. Ballast Point Pier is still out of commission from Hurricane Helene and no offense, wasn’t much of a fishing pier. Picnic Island’s pier started collapsing at the beginning of this year.
The Legion’s tournament is geared to include a youth category and doesn’t require you to have a boat. In past years Picnic Island Pier provided an opportunity to participate. As humble as it was, the pier was a place disabled veterans and families regularly got an opportunity to experience the bay in a way few places can provide.
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