The Official Unofficial Seminole Heights Blog

From Today’s Tampa Tribune:

TAMPA - A firefighter was injured and a Dalmatian was killed in an apartment-building fire in southeast Seminole Heights that erupted Thursday afternoon from an electrical short, Tampa Fire Rescue said. The blaze in the five-apartment building at 5210 N. Nebraska Ave. caused at least $100,000 in damage and displaced an unspecified number of residents, officials said. The injured firefighter, Mario Parra, a two-year veteran, suffered first- and second-degree burns on the back of his neck from falling ceiling debris, officials said. Parra was treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital and released. The fire began about 1:30 p.m. in a downstairs apartment where no one except the dog was home, officials said. Someone saw smoke coming from the apartment and alerted others to get out of the building. The blaze was under control in about 50 minutes. Investigators said a heavy-duty extension cord that had been used to power a window air-conditioning unit had faltered after being bent around a bedpost, officials said.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/31/na-dog-dies-firefighter-hurt-in-apartment-fire/

Tampa City Council has scheduled a Special Public Hearing on Thursday, November 6th, at 6:30pm to discuss the TECO Franchise Agreement for the City. Please come to express your concerns about this proposed 25-year agreement.

Recently, we have been seeing many trends throughout our neighborhood. Some good. Some bad. For example, many homes are on the market, yet the traffic of new buyers is not flooding to purchase. Therefore, many home owners have decided to rent their properties. Other trends include homes that have been foreclosed upon are taken over by the bank with poor to minimal upkeep. However, on a good note many homes that were vacant for many months with broken windows are now repaired and rented to new families.

Another trend seems to be that new restaurant seem to be eyeing Seminole Heights as a potential area of interests, many have already broken ground. Currently, there are 3 restaurants currently under construction. Two brand new construction, one being rehabbed.
 
What trends are you seeing on your street? How is the economy affecting your area/neighborhood? If we can identify negative trends early, maybe the city can get a jump on solving them before they become long term problems.

Here are the newly elected board for OSHNA.

Pres -Jeff Harmon
VP -Evan St. Ives
Treas- Susan Long
Sec- Christie Freeman
Trustee: Doreen, Bill, Eric, Tommy, Shawn

Did they get it right?

Want to learn more about Form based Zoning? Make Plans to attend

WHAT: Stakeholder Review & Open House for Draft Vision Plan
WHEN: October 29, 2008, between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm (Presentation at 7:30 pm)
WHERE: City Hall, 315 East Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33602

In coordination with the neighborhood associations, the City of Tampa Land Development Coordination Division has been conducting a community planning project for the Greater Seminole Heights Area. A draft Vision Plan for the area has been developed based on community input related to future redevelopment along the commercial corridors and within residential areas of Seminole Heights. You are invited to attend the Stakeholder Review and Open House for the draft Vision Plan to review and provide input on the Vision Planning exercises for this project, including Vision Goals and Conceptual Maps and Graphics.

Tonight is the OSHNA Election.

General Membership meeting is TONIGHT, October 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM,  at the Seminole Heights United Methodist Church (corner of Central and Hanna Avenues). Come make your vote count:

President Jeff Harmon Christie Hess	Vice President Rick Fifer Evan St. Ives
Treasurer Carlos Gomez Susan Long	Secretary Gail Davis Christy Freeman
Trustee Randy Baron Doreen DiBona Shawn Hicks Bill Hunter Eric Krause Jim Kwid Tommy McNeeley

From an email: (Not sure who they will need to contact. If you know who maintains the mentioned site, please notify)

Blogger,

I have noticed that several of your topics are also  on the www.oldseminoleheights.com forum. I am not sure if these are the same sites, or are affiliated, but I have tried on numerous occasions to register for the Old Seminole Heights site as this is my immediate neighborhood. The registration process must be down as it has stated “error on page” for several days. How do I go about registering for the forum?

Finally, it’s here! Election Day for OSHNA is here. Tomorrow, we will be able to cast our ballots for our board leaders. Be sure to attend the general meeting tomorrow to make your voice heard.

From the SSH email group:

Today, in these troubled times, some of us may feel that we want to help others who are less fortunate. Some of us may attempt to assist a homeless person in need by providing them with odd jobs around our house/yard. This is in turn is compensated usually by a monetary donation. By allowing homeless that you do not know on your property can lead to problems. There are a number of homeless in our community with criminal backgrounds. There is no way the unsuspecting homeowner can determine whether they are hiring a homeless person who has a criminal record or with a clean record. I am seeing that the people who believe that they are doing something nice are becoming victims. By providing an odd job for a homeless person that you do not know can increase your chances of becoming a victim of a theft, burglary or other crimes. A lot of times, the homeless person my feel that you did not compensate them enough for the amount of work they did. In turn, they will steel property of yours without remorse. If you allow someone on your property, they start to feel comfortable and experience feelings of entitlement. Once you let them into your community, they could begin to solicit other jobs from neighbors putting them at risk. The homeless person could become a familiar face in the neighborhood causing residents not to question some otherwise suspicious activity. Finally, by allowing them access to certain areas of your property, it gives them the ability to case the area and come back at a later date to commit a criminal act. There are alternative ways to help the homeless without putting yourself at risk. Please pass this on to your neighbors so that we can prevent these types of crimes from occurring. Ofc. Jason DeGagne

Not that the bickering, comments and emails weren’t enough, the Tampa Tribune ran an article for the entire city to see the problems plaguing our upcoming election. Hopefully, after votes are cast, leaders can work diligently to unite us once again.

______________
From the Tampa Tribune: http://centraltampa2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/24/vote-nears-tensions-divide-old-seminole-heights-gr/

As Vote Nears, Tensions Divide Old Seminole Heights Group

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - Most neighborhood elections are pretty humdrum. That’s not the case this year for the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association.

Divisions are splitting the group into two camps, with allegations of unfair tactics and bylaws violations.

No one is happy about the mess.

“It stinks,” Diane Jenkins said during the Oct. 21 executive board meeting. “This organization must do everything it can to derail this damage.”

Recent tensions have swirled around a closely guarded membership database, postcards endorsing a candidate slate that arrived on doorsteps the same day as absentee ballots, new Web blogs and a chat board with board members’ e-mails.

Challenges have been made to the board’s interpretation of the bylaws on absentee ballots and what constitutes a quorum.

Board members, including outgoing President Susan Long who is seeking a term as treasurer, say the election process has been legally correct. They take umbrage at suggestions the board has been unfair or biased.

“Unfounded allegations are little more than gossip,” said board member Bill Hunter, who is running for another trustee term.

Still, the board voted to take steps it hopes will address perceptions of a tainted election.

Postcards will be mailed to association members making it clear the organization does not make endorsements. That message will be repeated when members meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Seminole Heights United Methodist Church to cast ballots for 2009 officers.

Some are not sure any remedy can undo the damage.

“There is always going to be a cloud on this election,” said trustee candidate and former President Randy Baron.

Because postcards endorsing a specific slate of candidates arrived the same day as absentee ballots sent by the association, some say the cards appeared to be the association’s recommended candidates.

Some members already have returned absentee ballots.

“I think we’re in a real dilemma here,” association member Myron Griffin said.

He suggested postponing the election for three months. But the board said bylaws mandate the election be held Tuesday.

Outgoing secretary Helen Kynes said a second postcard mailing is “a Band-Aid” that won’t resolve the dispute, especially if candidates listed on the first postcard win.

“I don’t think it can be fixed,” vice presidential candidate Rick Fifer said. “But this is not the way to run an election.”

The candidates for the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association’s 2009 executive board are:

President: Jeff Harmon and Christie Hess

Vice president: Rick Fifer and Evan St. Ives

Secretary: Gail Davis and Christy Freeman

Treasurer: Carlos Gomez and Susan Long

Trustee: Randy Baron, Doreen DiBona, Shawn Hicks, Bill Hunter, Eric Krause, Jim Kwid and Tommy McNeeley