I endorse Chloe Coney for Hillsborough County Commission District 3.
This has been a difficult decision.
I can no longer support Kevin White for several reasons.
1. The deception involved in the suit incident. I would not have a problem with him trying to get the suits as a campaign expense, howwer it was pretty clear than an attempt was made to hide it. After it was disclosed, he was not contrite.
2. His support for the beltway as noted in the Trib. We need more mass transit and less development.
3. And mostly the financial support he has received from two groups, the fireworks people and Ralph Hughes. I cannot support anyone who receives money from Ralph Hughes. Early on Kevin had told me, basically he was just taking the money but was not going to let it affect his decisions. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but #1 and #2 have shaken that. Again, I cannot support anyone who takes money from Boss Tweed Highes.
So now that I can no longer support Kevin, whom do I support?
Chloe Coney is a very good candidate. I have followed her career over the years, starting from when she became the manager of the Lee Davis Service Center in College Hill. She has a done a lot of good in East Tampa and has tremendous experience. My only concern has been will we in Seminole Heights get abandoned after the election? I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt. To assuage this, the 3 civic associations and BGOSH should aggrresively invite her to meetings and activities.
I support Chloe Coney.
31 comments:
After reading the same article yesterday, I must say that the other candidate sounded the best of the three. I know that she is newer to Tampa, but maybe that is what our political system needs. Fresh, untainted blood.
The interesting thing is, I have yet to see Chloe in the neighborhood. With it being just weeks until the election, you would think she would really be in the neighborhood. However, that does not seem to be the case. I guess she feels that her East Tampa voters can carry her through.
For what it's worth, Chloe did attend the August 10, General Meeting of BGosh. She showed her interest in the business corridors of S.H. Specifically, E. Hillsborough Ave. and Nebraska Ave. in S.E.S.H. I agree, she needs to be invited to our civic assoc. meetings, and I think she'd come. To me, she was very approachable.
I have ALWAYS had my doubts about Kevin White. He has always been more concerned about his bling and has had a very long history of only showing up in our neighborhood when election time starts rolling around. It is unfortunate that Mr. White is only concerned with courting the traditional Black vote in East Tampa where he knows that he can get votes just because he is Black. Oh, well.
When are some bright candidates going to run for office? Both of these candidates are less than inspiring.
It seems like 9 times out of 10 political races attract duds.
You end up voting for the least worst candidate instead of somebody you really support.
At least we know what we get with Kevin White.
I have no idea who Chloe Coney is. She sounds like something you order at Bo's.
I guess the American system is the best but man is it flawed.
Neither candidate can be counted on to support the diversity in Seminole Heights. A choice of one homophobe over another is no choice at all. Might even make more sense to vote for the candidate least likely to get re-elected next time around and hope for someone decent in 2010.
I absolutely agree with liz by the river. Chloe is grass roots and for sure got her start in East Tampa, but I also think she is sharp and will learn. We will just need to be there to let her know what we expect.
I think we would be doing the community a big diservice by not including Dorothy "Nicole" Admire in the debates. In yesterday's tribune, our answers were more on target than the other two candidates. I think her "newness" is exactly what this city may need.
shawn-non-anonymous:
The most tiresome type of activist is the one who thinks that the world is divided into "those who are with us" and "those who are against us". They never seem to realize that there is a third category: "those who don't really care because they're busy making a living and taking care of their families."
Chloe Coney leads the pack. Her experience, passion and commitment to everything her hands have touched have made not only East Tampa a better place but is a true example of the effectiveness of grassroots leadership. I am willing to hand her the baton because I have seen how she can take an idea and run with it to get measureable results.
The more I learn about Kevin White the more I am surprised he has surprised any kind of public scrutiny. Kevin's latest escapade to commit fraud with elections campaign money and his attempts to cover up his deeds, involving three different transactions to purchase $6100 for expensive clothing, justifies your endorsement of Chloe Coney for Hillsborough County Commission District 3. Good work.
Can we resurrect Sylvia Kimball?
I think I'll vote for Ms. Admire.
The crop of candidates is pretty dismal...as always for this seat. Chloe will be another homophobic "Rev. Scott" and after the election will be like every other candidate to come from the east tampa area...never seen in a white neighborhood or a significantly mixed neighborhood.
Think Gwen Miller, Les Miller, Rubin Padgett, Perry Harvey, Thomas Scott, etc.
Again, can I vote for Ms. Kimball?
Anon 3:04 - Is that your main and only issue? "Tolerance" or "not being a homophobe"? If it is, please tell us how someone proves they're *not* homophobic. According to dictionary.com, homophobia is defined as:
1. Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men.
2. Behavior based on such a feeling.
Is there an entry for "homoindifference"? As in, we don't really care if you're gay or not. It has nothing to do with us straight people. We have things in our lives to worry about that are much more important to us. How does someone prove, to everyone else's satisfaction, that they're not homophobic? It can't be done. Ever.
You have to look at it the other way around - assume she's *not* a homophobe until she does something overt to prove that she is. It's the basis of our system of justice (innocent until proven guilty) and scientific research (null hypothesis - assume there is no effect until the results indicate that there is), so it ought to work pretty well in this situation.
In the meantime, please go somewhere else and troll.
It has been said before here, but apparently folks dont get it. Chloe Coney is firmly AGAINST DISCRIMINATION be it by sexual orientation, race, class, or economic status. I urge folks to go to her party tonight in SEMINOLE HEIGHTS to ask her yourself and find out what she's all about. If you think Chloe is another Less Miller or Tom Scott you're VERY misinformed...she is a strong, independent forward thinking woman with a lot of integrity. Do your research before you make generalizations...
Anonymous 4:31, all she'd have to do is either a) fill out the standard questionare she got from Equality Florida (a GLBT PAC) in a positive or at least favorably neutral way, or b) publicly state she'd overturn the anti-gay vote passed by all but one commissioner. Why she's done neither of these things would be great to find out.
"Homoindifference" is today's politically correct way of saying "homophobe". After all, if you're indifferent to the institutional bias your elected officials enforce on your neighbors, that's a political stand in itself. "Let them suffer. It doesn't affect me." And all you'd have to do to fix that is vote for people that would, among voting for good taxes, defense, and other important laws, also vote in a way that doesn't dehumanize your neighbors. How hard is that?
People often say "I'm against any form of discrimination" but they are also against any form of law that attempts to grant or at least approach equality for gay and lesbian citizens. They'll frame that as "special rights" as if being able to marry, adopt, or even have a gay author presented in the library is somehow an extra bonus right or something.
Why does this always seem to boil down to an either/or excuse? Voting for good politicians that would treat all your neighbors as equals is just good policy. Fiscal responsibility and equal rights are not mutually exclusive.
shawn-non-anonymous - Now we're getting somewhere. Ms. Coney is making appearances all over the place - you can look in the paper and ask her at one of those appearances why she never filled out the questionnaire, then report on the answer. I guarantee the answer would be in the papers. It's possible she never got it, or it got lost, or she didn't *want* to fill it out.
"homoindifference" is not the same thing as "homophobia", no matter how politically convenient it would be to conflate the two. I have a post in another thread that details my own views about those issues. But I have to say that you're skating on the edge of hyperbole here. In fairness to Storms' constituents, as a parent I wouldn't have wanted my kids to see books on the sexual revolution in a presentation in the library either. Defending someone's poor judgement as a basic right isn't the best way to go.
Anonymmous 10:31am:
Who said they were books on the sexual revolution?! They were books on a variety of non-sexual topics by authors who were also openly gay. Nothing about that display was overtly sexual at all.
Where was the poor judgement in that?
And it wasn't a vote to remove a display in a library; it was a vote to prohibit recognition of gay pride "small g, small p" in all county facilities. Not "Gay Pride" the event, but any positive representation of gay and lesbian persons.
Do people really _get_ how dehumanizing that vote was?
Shawn-non-anonymous, you're exaggerating. Do you mean to tell me that the County Commission has voted to disallow any positive representation *at all* of Alan Turing, or Leonardo da Vinci, or King James III? How about Eleanor Roosevelt? Or other famous people who have done something notable or fantastic that would *be* notable and fantastic whether or not they were gay?
Sounds like everyone is saying the same thing "Vote for Kevin White" because he has the experience as an elected official with your neighborhood issues whether you had a chance to see him or not. If you check the record he has attended meetings day and night on Thursdays (Cable 15) in city council chambers for over 31/2 years, successfully resolving issues in your immediate neighborhoods and the city as a whole.
Now we want to “Throw the baby out with the bath water”? My how soon we forget the opportunities Mr. White has provided the neighborhoods voices to be heard and resolutions to their issues in such a short period of time. Why wouldn’t Mr. White want to continue his efforts and hard work to get problems solved at the County level, if not at least try now that he is seasoned and has a clear and polished vision? Personal experience as an elected official Trumps a “Hat Trick any Day” Tried to get an answer at city hall lately? Have not your neighborhood issues been heard at city hall by Tampa City Councilman White?
Now we want to say that Giddens Park wasn’t renovated? Star Bucks is still a dream? Historical Preservation doesn’t happen? Crime is not going down? We want change and we want it now? Why? Tampa City Councilman White has served us well.
Kevin White has made a change in our neighborhoods and his voting record on neighborhood issues speaks for itself. The things that matter, like rezoning hearings, wet zoning hearings, plan amendments, code enforcment,appeals,appointments,public hearings,etc. Remember “Not in my back yard”? Well it is your back yard, because Kevin White is there and asking each one of us to vote on September 5, 2006 for Kevin White County Commission District 3.
I leave you with this thought:
“A bird in the hand is worth two hats in the bush”
except that he's a crook!
Hey Kevin, er...uh I mean "Anonymous 6:27" that was quite a speech.
haha...I noticed that too! Who does he think he's fooling...save that worn out speech for people who don't know better. All of those 'accomplishments' that Mr. White, I mean, "Anonymous 6: 27" just listed were not done solely by the hands of Mr. Expensive Suit
Well, here is a thought to ponder. If Mr. White is in our back yard, why hasn't he come around to the front yard and help us fight this sex house. Tampa Code has put every hurdle possible in front of us to shut this down. Thier ignorance has almost had this case closed on numerous occasions. We have had our neighborhood in almost every media outlet this week so it is not like you haven't heard the story. Where is our leader to help fight this one?
Anon 12:47, google up the articles on the vote and have a read.
The motion was vague but specifically mentioned gay pride as "little g, little p" which appeared to be in contrast with "Gay Pride", the formal noun for the event itself.
Librarians and journalists attempted to get a clearer answer from Ms Storms on her intent and how it should be interpreted into policy. She said something to the effect of "I was pretty clear the first time" and left it at that.
The motion that followed was one to require a super-majority to overturn the first vote. (likely unenforceable)
So, to more directly answer your question, could the Library put books on display about a famous gay person like, say, Alexander the Great? Yes. Could the library put up a display entitled "famous gay persons in history" and list those books? Probably not.
However, since even the Librarians have no clue what the new rule allows or prohibits, it's likely to be enforced in a way that preserves their employment.
That's our hard-earned, over-taxed dollars at work! Nebraska avenue is a crumbling pothole mess but Libraries are morally safe for children.
Shawn-non-anonymous...
I think that was the point. There are famous gay people who are famous for things that have nothing to do with them being gay, just like there are famous straight people who are famous for things that have nothing to do with them being straight.
In other words, when putting up a display of Alexander the Great, or Alan Turing, or George Sand, or Lily Tomlin it isn't enough just to talk about their accomplishments; they have to be promoted as gay?
Methinks we're closing in on the problem here.
Thank God you're here to save us from ourselves!
To comment on the endorsement of Chloe Coney, I think many people have forgotten that it was KEVIN WHITE along with other members of Tampa City Council that voted not to hinder the rights of those in the gay community. KEVIN WHITE is a resident of Seminole Heights and supports all people. His experience on City Council will only cut the learning curve as he moves on to County Commission. The residents of Seminole Heights and surrounding communities can only benefit from his experience. His opposition does not have a proven track record of working with governmental departments and gaining high levels of success. Several of the projects she boasts about recieved direct support/funds from KEVIN WHITE and other members of the city council. To date many of projects have come up unsuccessful in the African American community. What do you think will happen in other areas? VOTE 4 KEVIN WHITE FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT (3) ON SEPTEMBER 5TH.
"their corner" not "there corner" What is a whelm? Joe Redner made a very small contribution to the Coney Campaign. Why has Ms. Coney been lauded so much for her work in the community? What awards have YOU received?
When people start making exaggerated accusations & pointing out irrelevant things its apparent...they are running scared! Sitting down & listing all of the bad things that you can think of is a waste of time...
All of Chloe Coney's endorsements are from people and organizations that actually endorse her.
Who is Gary Banghart?
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