January 22, 2026
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Deep Something

The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters

Tampa

This category is used of the post has some direct relationship to Tampa.

@020 Candidates for Hillsborough County School Board District 7
Society Education Featured Places Tampa Politics Election 

2020 Election – Hillsborough School Board District 7

B. John 1069 Views 0 Comments , , ,
This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series 2020 Election

This is a county-wide seat and the only school board race I vote in this round. Lynn Gray, the incumbent, is being opposed by Sally Harris who previously served on the board and was voted out. Harris served in 2017 and 2018 as Chair of the Board of Education, but her entire tenure was pretty lack-lustier. Given the challenges that will be faced by the district in 2021 and into next year, that’s just not going to cut it. I talked to Lynn Gray this time and in her previous election. She has over 40 years of classroom and school administrative experience and is involved in the schools as more than just a member of the board. She shares my concerns about the loss of funding to for-profit charter companies. So, for all those reasons, I’m going with Lynn Gray for Hillsborough School Board District 7.

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2020 Candidates for Hillsborough County Commission District
County Commission Featured Places Tampa Politics Election 

2020 Election – Hillsborough County Commission District 1

B. John 504 Views 0 Comments , , ,
This entry is part 6 of 9 in the series 2020 Election

Democrat Harry Cohen and Republican Scott Levinson are vying for this seat. I did not get a call from Levinson, but I did hear from Harry Cohen. In fact, that’s not the first time we’ve talked. Cohen is a policy wonk. He makes sure he knows what he’s talking about, and he will have thought through any proposals he makes, and he takes the long view. So for Hillsborough County Commission District 1, I’m recommending Harry Cohen.

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202 Candidates for Hillsborough County Tax Collector
Featured Places Tampa Politics Election 

2020 Election – Hillsborough Tax Collector

B. John 858 Views 0 Comments , , , ,
This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series 2020 Election

The two candidates are Democrat Nancy Millan and Republican T.K. Smith. I put out my usual call to both but spoke only with Millan. McMillan has 30 years of experience at the tax collector’s office. In speaking with her she was suggesting some innovative ways to meet the needs of the citizens with some simple common-sense approaches to the many tasks performed by the tax collector. She was open to minor suggestion I made, and I thought she was smart and practical. I’m recommending Nancy Millan based on her years of experience, knowledge of the office and its duties, and her commonsense approach to the office.

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2020 Candidates for Hillsborough County Sheriff
Featured Places Tampa Politics Election 

2020 Election – Hillsborough County Sheriff

B. John 579 Views 0 Comments , , , ,
This entry is part 4 of 9 in the series 2020 Election

The incumbent is “married into money” Chad Chronister opposed by Independent Ron McMullen and Democrat Gary Pruitt. Pruitt is the only candidate who returned my calls (and you know my rule). I didn’t expect to hear from Chronister. Chronister is the recommendation of Times Editorial Board, and we could do worse. In my conversations with Gary Pruitt I found him to be genuine and level-headed. He seems to care a lot more about “law enforcement” than about politics. He wants body cams and windshield cams. He also favors an actual “Citizens’ Oversight” function over just an “advisory committee.” I’m recommending Gary Pruitt.

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Places Tampa Politics Courts Society Gay Issues Right Wingnuts Hate Groups Featured 

Judge William Jung-Douchebag of the Day

B. John 2357 Views 1 Comment , , , , ,
This entry is part 53 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

In 2017, Tampa passed an ordinance that prohibited conversion therapy for children under 18. As they always do, Liberty Counsel and their perpetual “client,” Las Vegas-based Robert Vazzo (not even a resident of Florida), and a David Pickup of Dallas (not licensed in Florida) filed a lawsuit to get the ordinance overturned. However, Republican Trump-appointee William Jung had to bend himself into a Gordian Knot of legal reasoning to give them that win.

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Feature Photo for Castor Office Detention Protest
Featured Places Tampa Politics Congress 

Immigrant Child Detention Protest

B. John 569 Views 0 Comments , , , ,

Tuesday morning I received a Move-on email announcing a protest against the Child Detention Centers at the local office of U.S. Representative Kathy Castor. I decided to attend. News stories estimated the crowd at a few dozen, I’d put it a little higher, but it was not a huge crowd. It seemed somewhat hastily called, so that may account for it.

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Featured Fun Stuff Places Tampa Society Gay Issues 

Politicians and Pride

B. John 706 Views 0 Comments , , ,

This past Saturday I went with some friends to the annual Tampa Bay Pride parade over in Ybor City. The parade was led off by a couple of Grand Masters of course, but then came all the candidates (Tampa is having municipal election runoffs) and local office holders. They kept coming and coming, and finally when the first actual float came by I looked at my watch, and it had taken nearly 25 minutes for all the pols to get by.

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Food Places Tampa Restaurants 

Deviled Pig – A Restaurant Review

B. John 831 Views 0 Comments , ,

The Deviled Pig opened within the past few months at 3307 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33629. I was getting good comments on a neighborhood message, and over 4.5 stars on Yelp. It does turn out it didn’t rate quite that high once Yelp realized that there were a sizeable number of recently created accounts that one review giving the location 5 stars (guess who that restaurant was). However, once that was cleaned out, it still had decent reviews, so we decided to try it last night (Friday) early.

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Places Tampa 

Entitled Tampans And Tampa Airport

B. John 757 Views 0 Comments , , , , ,

I don’t know if some people just don’t think, or feel entitled in some extreme sort of royalty-like way. I recently came across a Facebook Group for people who are complaining about the sound of airplanes landing at Tampa International Airport, despite having bought homes they knew to be right under the primary approach path. Go figure.

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Tampa Politics Election Places 

Hillsborough County Commission District 7

B. John 751 Views 0 Comments , ,
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series 2018 Elections

There are three candidates for this at-large seat on the County Commission. In keeping with my commitment to talk to people running in local elections, I’ve talked to Kimberly Overman and Todd Marks. I’m endorsing Kimberly Overman.

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