Richard Danielson, Times Staff Writer
Richard Danielson covers city government and politics in Tampa. He grew up in Clearwater, graduated from Vanderbilt University and joined the Times in 1987. This is his second tour at City Hall (the first was from 1992 to '97). His other reporting assignments at the Times have included covering local government and politics in Pasco County, federal courts and higher education. He also has worked as the Times' Palm Harbor bureau chief and Clearwater city editor. In his current assignment, he is a main contributor to PolitiFact Florida's Buck-O-Meter, which tracks Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's performance on nearly three dozen campaign promises
Phone: (813) 226-3403
Email: danielson@tampabay.com
Twitter: @Danielson_Times
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Along Adamo, a statement to match the bold history of Ybor City
05/18/13 Human InterestTAMPA
Rolling by on Adamo Drive, thousands of motorists have gotten glimpses under the scaffolding of the work in progress, but a huge mural painted to tell the story of Ybor City makes its official unobstructed debut next week.
"I love it," said Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who will dedicate the mural at 2 p.m. Tuesday. "It is a tribute to the diversity and the history of Ybor City. Ybor City is not shy and reserved. Ybor City is bold. Ybor City is colorful. I'm a big believer in public art anyway, and I think it's a great addition to Ybor City."...
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Count (and recount) finds 2,275 homeless in Hillsborough County
05/17/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — Advocates for the homeless found a total of 2,275 homeless people in Hillsborough County — about half the number from two years ago — in a count and recount this year.
The last count, in 2011, found 4,681 homeless people.
The good news: The drop suggests that several new efforts to address homelessness are making a dent in the number of people living on the streets, in emergency shelters, in transitional housing or in jail....
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City, TECO plan $1.5 million in electrical upgrades to Tampa water plant
05/16/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — Improving the reliability of electrical service to the city's David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility could cost the city and Tampa Electric Co. a total of $1.5 million, officials said Thursday.
The water treatment plant lost power Feb. 22 after a squirrel gnawed into a power line and set off a cascading series of problems. The outage led to an unprecedented 37-hour advisory for residents citywide to boil their water....
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Tampa moves to muffle loud car stereos
05/16/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — Blast your car stereo in the city of Tampa and you could soon be fined $250 or more.
The City Council on Thursday approved a new, tougher noise ordinance giving police the authority to cite drivers whose stereos are plainly audible 50 feet away.
If it wins final approval June 6, the ordinance would make a first offense a $250 civil infraction and a second offense a $450 infraction. Three or more violations could bring up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine....
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Tampa City Council okays Water Works Building lease with Columbia Restaurant's owner
05/16/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — It's been more than a year since Tampa officials picked Columbia Restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart to renovate the city's old Water Works Building.
But on Thursday, Gonzmart finally got the lease he needs to create a new restaurant — though not a Columbia — inside the historic pump-house.
"This is going to be my legacy," Gonzmart told the City Council before it approved the lease....
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Green Party of Florida to meet in Tampa
05/14/13 BlogThe Florida Green Party will hold its annual membership meeting in Tampa May 24-26.
Along with electing officers and working on outreach and recruitment strategies, the party will hold a Q-and-A session with Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party's 2012 presidential candidate, from 7 to 9 p.m. May 25 at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, 335 Second Ave. NE.
Sessions are scheduled for:...
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Tech-savvy aide to Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn leaving
05/13/13LocalTAMPA — Siobhan Harley, special assistant to Mayor Bob Buckhorn and a rising star in local Democratic politics, is resigning to go to work for a political consulting firm in Nashville.
Harley will leave City Hall on Friday to take a job as a campaign manager with the Calvert Street Group, which does work in 30 states and Canada. There, she will be closer to her boyfriend, Patrick Kavanaugh, a law student at Vanderbilt University....
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Tampa planners, Carnegie Mellon researchers look for social hot spots
05/12/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — Lines on a map are one thing.
But maybe real-time data on where people shop, eat and hang out can reveal more about the life of the city.
That's the idea behind a new collaboration between the city of Tampa and computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
The two are teaming up for a project to analyze social media data that tags places its users visit — the coffee shop, the gym, a ballgame, a nightclub....
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Proposed apartment tower near Straz Center hits delay
05/09/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — An ambitious plan to build a 36-story apartment tower overlooking the Hillsborough River was delayed Thursday night amid questions about its impact on traffic, the riverfront and cultural arts institutions.
The City Council postponed votes on two aspects of the project until Aug. 8 after hearing concerns from representatives of the neighboring John F. Germany Public Library and David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts....
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Burdened by unexpected debt, Davis Islands Chamber of Commerce to dissolve
05/09/13BusinessTAMPA — When he committed suicide last year, Tampa publisher and homeless advocate Bill Sharpe left behind a financial mess that is now forcing the Davis Islands Chamber of Commerce out of business.
"This is an unfortunate turn of events, but the only option we have," chamber past president Ken Elmore wrote in a recent letter announcing the decision to dissolve.
The problems go back to the Tampa Bay Seafood Festival, which Sharpe organized at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in March 2012....
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Funk Fest teaches Tampa a few lessons
05/09/13 BlogAfter three years in St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park, Funk Fest brought its old-school hip-hop, soul and R&B to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park last weekend, and Tampa officials learned a few things along the way.
"People do not like sound checks at 7:30 in the morning, and if you're going to get your get your funk on, it takes a little more bass than a regular concert," said Bob McDonaugh, the city's administrator for economic opportunity. "But it was very well-attended, people had a good time and I believe we'll see it next year."...
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Tampa's lucky streak continues with two grants from the EPA
05/09/13 BlogThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week awarded Tampa two $200,000 grants for its "brownfield" program, which seeks to help reclaim and redevelop sites whose reuse might be complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination.
The $400,000 will be used to assess properties throughout the city that may be contaminated by hazardous waste or had petroleum storage on site....
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Library, Straz worry high-rise could hurt patrons' access
05/06/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — As a proposed high-rise apartment tower heads to a key City Council vote this week, library and performing arts patrons are urging developers to preserve covered pedestrian access to their two neighboring institutions.
The proposed tower — called the Residences at the Riverwalk — would be built west of the John F. Germany Public Library and south of the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts....
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Tampa looks to county for help on homeless services
05/06/13 Local GovernmentTAMPA — When it comes to providing services to the homeless, Mayor Bob Buckhorn and all the members of the City Council are not yet on the same page.
Last week, the council voted to explore tighter restrictions on panhandling in downtown and Ybor City, as well as on sleeping in city parks and on sidewalks.
But while she voted for restrictions supported by Buckhorn's administration, council member Yvonne Yolie Capin criticized the mayor's record on the issue....
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Tampa's hope to hold city-only transit referendum dies in the Legislature
05/03/13 Mass TransitTAMPA — It was a long shot from the start, and now Tampa's hope to hold its own transit tax referendum is dead for the year.
The proposal was a top legislative priority for Tampa, where Mayor Bob Buckhorn wants his own shot at passing the kind of transit tax proposal that three years ago failed county-wide while winning precincts inside the city.
"It just never saw the light of day," Buckhorn said. "It's unfortunate, because that really could have given us an opportunity to jump-start this process."...
