John Hill

Tampa taxpayers, you’re about to make history — your first $100 million park.The Tampa City Council is expected to approve a contract Thursday to remake Fair Oaks Park. What was envisioned as a repair job five years ago has ballooned into a nine-figure extravagance, another picture of a City Hall that cannot manage money, people or projects.Nobody quibbled about renovating Fair Oaks when the issue first gathered steam in 2019. City officials said the aging East Tampa community center needed new…

Five years and counting. That’s how long Hillsborough residents have been waiting for the proceeds of a countywide transportation tax to finally begin fixing their roads, bridges and sidewalks. It seems everybody has had their say about the money — lawmakers, lawyers, the courts. But not one red cent has returned to Hillsborough. The Legislature needs to break the impasse and send this money back where it belongs.Hillsborough voters approved the 1% sales tax in 2018 by a margin of 57%-43%, an ov…

Wouldn’t Hillsborough County taxpayers like to know how much of their money the state is holding from an ill-fated transportation tax?We thought so, too — which is why I have been asking state agencies that question for weeks, to no avail. The figure is north of $569 million, but exactly how far north, they won’t tell me. With the Legislature working to strike a deal soon on how to spend the money, Hillsborough taxpayers should at least understand exactly what’s at stake. It’s their money and th…

Addison Davis took a seat across from the dais, settling in for his first public interview with the local school board. The superintendent from Clay County in northeast Florida had emerged as a semifinalist for Hillsborough’s top job.In a blue suit and pink-maroon tie, Davis outlined how he’d guide the nation’s seventh-largest school system, promising to work tirelessly to turn around failing schools, to promote equity and to be open and accessible to staff and parents. It was a gripping perform…