Kevin's facts

In today's Tribune:

Ad Watch: Kevin White

Kevin's newest ad and a supporter's comment on the blog lamblast Chloe Coney's accomplishments for East Tampa.

The Trib reviews his facts.

"He also discusses how . . . a market, has become a haven for drug dealers. . . a laundry, can't keep tenants and is for sale. A third, the Audrey L. Spotford Youth & Family Center, was on the verge of bankruptcy because of mismanagement, he said. He also claims that the Spotford building received a subsidy.

Fact check: The farmers market is near Lake Avenue and 29th Street, which had been a major drug haven as recently as three years ago, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

White, a former Tampa police officer, said he has watched drug deals take place at the market. But McElroy said the market and surrounding area are a source of pride for Tampa police. (Did Kevin report the activity to TPD? As the City Councilmember for that area who suspected drug activity at that location did he push to get it dealt with?)

"We don't have any drug complaints there," she said. "In the last three years, we have really cleaned that up. We don't have any complaints. We don't have any drug activity at that location."

The Nehemiah Coin Laundry is for sale, but it hasn't had issues keeping tenants. Toni Watts, who replaced Coney as head of the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa Inc., said the CDC has owned the property since 1999 and has operated it since then. The property has been for sale since 2004.

When White referred to a subsidy for the Spotford building, he was speaking of money the Tampa City Council and Hillsborough County Commission provided in late 2005 to the Youth Opportunity Movement of Tampa, a program the CDC runs at the center.

The education and mentoring program, also known as Yo!, lost its federal funding and was preparing to close. The city and county allocated money to keep it open, at Coney's request, in memory of three participants who were killed in a car accident."

In City Council did Kevin White support this funding? If he has concerns of mismanagement did he bring it up then? If I get a chance I will review the City Council transcripts to see what he said.


Update. I did. he was the chair of the Finannce Committee that proposed the funding;

6/30/05 City Council Meeting:
>>MARY ALVAREZ: I forgot. I had something else. I don't
know whether you-all had seen it, but there was an article that
came in through the Internet where it's called "Two Grants Dry Up,
At-Risk Youth Might Lose." It's based on the nonprofit
organizations in East Tampa where the grants from the neighborhood
department they funded the youth movement known as YO and the
other is grant from financial service company CapitalOne that
supported the afterschool learning program in the East Tampa
Learning Center.
To me I think that's a travesty when you have at-risk youths
and you have a labor department that are drying up grants to help
these children. I don't know what we can do about it, but I
certainly want to take a stand here and say this is not the thing
to do. Because you've got kids that are at risk, and they start
at quite an early age. And when you take away funding for a
program that is absolutely needed, it is incomprehensible to me
that something like that could really happen. So I don't know
what we can do about it by I certainly would like to like to ask
the administration to look night to see if we can't do some
funding for them.
Especially, one of these is Coney Coey ^ . You know how
hard she works in her area and for grants that she's worked so
hard for. To dry up is not a good thing. So I would like to make
a motion to have the administration to look into seeing if we can
do some funding for them.
(Seconded, carried.)

9/29/05 City Council meeting:

Finance Committee
Kevin White, Chair and Linda Saul-Sena, Vice-Chair
31. File No. B2005-2 Resolution making certain changes in the budget of the City of Tampa for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005; approving the transfer, reallocation, and appropriation of $200,000 in the General Fund to other accounts within

>>KEVIN WHITE: I was distract add moment ago with Mr.
Daniels, and I failed to recognize in the audience Ms.
Clooney who is here in response to resolution 31, which
is under my committee.

And since we just moved these, for the listening
public, to read Watt says, it says red resolution
making the changes in the budget, City of Tampa fiscal
year ending September 30, 2005, approving the transfer,
reallocation of proposition of $200,000 in the General
Fund, said fund for nondepartmental youth opportunity
contributions.
This was an organization that is located in East Tampa,
that Ms. Chloe coney runs, and budget approximately
$400,000 a year.
Last Wednesday the county commission agreed to match
that $200,000 with the City of Tampa in a partnership,
because they realized the impact that her organization
was making in the lives of youth in East Tampa.
You may also remember a few weeks ago the three young
ladies that were tragically killed in an accident on
the way back to college up in Tallahassee, all three of
those young ladies were scholars and A-plus students
and they graduated from this youth opportunity program
and were part of that.