Deep Something

Scales of Justice weighted to Insurance Companies

Josie Tomkow, Insurance Reform, and a Trail Worth Following

September 18, 2026 B. John 74 Views 0 Comments David Altmaier, Josie Tomkow, Florida Legislature, Campaign Finance, Insurance Reform, homeowners insurance, Florida insurance, attorney fees

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Florida homeowners have heard “insurance reform” so often that the phrase almost deserves its own ZIP code. But behind that label were years of very real changes to what happens when an insurance company denies or underpays a claim and a homeowner has to fight back.

Josie Tomkow voted yes, again and again, as Florida changed the rules around lawsuits, attorney fees, assignment-of-benefits claims, and insurer liability. Those laws may sound technical, but their effect can be painfully simple: even when policyholders have a valid dispute, taking an insurer to court can now carry more financial risk.

Then there is the campaign money. Tomkow’s contribution records show recurring support from insurers, insurance-industry organizations, civil-justice reform groups, and people tied directly to Florida’s insurance-policy world, including former Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier. This cycle alone, at least $2,500 has come from three interests closely connected to this issue.

No, campaign contributions do not come with thank-you notes for specific votes. But voters are entitled to look at the money, look at the voting record, and decide for themselves whether the two tell a story worth following.

General Featured Places Tampa Politics Election

Daniela Simic Has Been Preparing for This Job for Years

September 8, 2026September 8, 2026 B. John 190 Views 0 Comments Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance, Hillsborough County School Board, community leadership, Daniela Simic, classroom experience, teacher endorsements, Public Education, District 2

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Daniela Simic’s campaign is built around something school board races could use more of: deep experience with schools themselves. She has spent about 25 years in education, from the classroom to district leadership, with years of PTA and community work layered on top of it.

Her fundraising tells its own story. Simic and Brittany Lyssy have raised roughly the same amount from outside donors, but Simic reached that total through far more contribution transactions, a lower median donation, and broader support from individuals, educators, labor groups, and community organizations.

The race gives District 2 voters a clear factual comparison in background, donor base, and connection to Hillsborough’s schools. The full piece looks at Simic’s record, the people backing her, and the experience she brings to one of the largest school systems in the country.

Education Gay Issues County Commission Featured Places Tampa Politics Election Society

A Polite Version of Josh Wostal Is Still Too Much

September 3, 2026 B. John 142 Views 0 Comments Wostal, Ron DeSantis, Hillsborough County Commission, Hillsborough School Board, Campaign Finance, Stacy Hahn, Neil Manimala, developer contributions

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Stacy Hahn doesn’t sound much like Josh Postal. She’s thoughtful, qualified, and generally pleasant. But votes count the same whether they come with a scowl or a smile, and Hahn’s eight years on the Hillsborough County School Board show a record that’s much more conservative than her polished image suggests.

Hahn opposed letting voters decide on more funding for teacher pay, voted against defending that referendum when Postal and the County Commission tried to block it, rejected a Pride Month proclamation, and publicly aligned herself with Ron DeSantis’s political group. There are some exceptions in her record, but when it comes to taxes, LGBTQ recognition, sexual-health education, and DeSantis-era politics, the pattern is clear.

Now Hahn is running for the County Commission with a campaign mostly funded by construction, development, real estate, and government-relations groups—including businesses that have worked with Hillsborough County. These contributions don’t prove improper influence, but voters have a right to look at who is supporting a candidate and what choices that candidate might make in office. Dr. Hahn may be a more pleasant version of Josh Postal, but the real question is whether Hillsborough County needs another version at all.

Featured Places Tampa Politics Election Society Gay Issues Crack Pots

Ambition, Attendance, and the Race for HCSB District 2

August 31, 2026 B. John 174 Views 0 Comments Tampa Politics, Hillsborough School Board, District 2, Brittany Lyssy, Local Governance, Public Education, Hillsborough County

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

When someone wants to lead a multi-billion-dollar school district, authenticity comes first. Brittany Lyssy’s campaign for Hillsborough School Board District 2 asks voters to believe that a family of five lives in a 680-square-foot, one-bedroom condo while also keeping a homesteaded home in Manatee County. From barely attending advisory board meetings to repeating national talking points, District 2 voters deserve real community representation, not a staged political act.

Featured Places Tampa Politics Election

Before We Choose Together

August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 B. John 235 Views 0 Comments Civic Engagement, Tampa Politics, Campaign Finance, political power, Democracy, voter influence, political access, community leadership, special interests, representative government

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

We like to tell ourselves a comforting story about democracy: everyone gets one vote. The developer who can spend thousands on campaigns gets one. The teacher gets one. The restaurant worker gets one. The college student voting for the first time gets one. On Election Day, at least, the arithmetic is wonderfully simple.

But political power starts working long before Election Day. Candidates need money, introductions, endorsements, volunteers, organizations to support them, and people who can get them into the rooms where political relationships are built. By the time most voters start paying attention, a much smaller group may have already spent months deciding which candidates have the money, visibility, and standing to be taken seriously.

That raises a question I hadn’t fully considered when I wrote What We Choose Together: What needs to happen before the word “together” is really true? In Before We Choose Together, I look at money, access, community ties, and the kind of public officials who still answer the phone and talk with regular people. Our vote matters, but so does our ability to be heard before we cast it.

Featured Places Tampa Politics Election

Would This Resume Get the Job?

August 1, 2026August 1, 2026 B. John 295 Views 0 Comments Hillsborough County School Board, Hillsborough County Public Schools, School Board Election, Leadership Experience, Local Politics, education policy, Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

Would this resume get the job? That’s the question every voter should ask before electing someone to help govern the seventh-largest school district in the nation. Hillsborough County Public Schools oversees more than 218,000 students, employs over 23,000 people, and manages a budget exceeding $4 billion. If this were a private company, would this résumé earn a seat in the boardroom?

This article examines Brittany Lyssy’s publicly presented qualifications alongside her campaign finance reports, which show that, excluding a personal loan to her campaign, nearly four out of every ten identifiable donor dollars came from outside Hillsborough County. It’s not a partisan argument. It’s a hiring question. Before entrusting someone with one of the most consequential governing positions in our community, voters deserve to ask whether the experience matches the responsibility.

Congress Constitution Election Religion Society Culture Featured Politics

What Are We Going to Do Now?

July 5, 2026July 9, 2026 B. John 325 Views 0 Comments 250th Anniversary, Democracy, Civic Engagement, Social Justice, American Democracy, Citizenship, We the People, American Values, Political Participation

This entry is in the series The 250th 4th

Essay 3 of a series examining where we are at 250 years

That question is easy to ask but far more difficult to answer. It is tempting to surrender to cynicism, retreat into anger, or simply conclude that one person’s voice no longer matters. Yet history tells a different story. Every major step toward a more just America began because ordinary people refused to believe that tomorrow had to look exactly like yesterday.

This concluding essay in my 250th Fourth of July trilogy is not about despair. It is about responsibility. It is a personal reflection on the kind of citizen I have decided to be, regardless of the political climate, and an invitation for each of us to consider the role we will play in writing America’s next chapter. Because history will move forward. The only question is whether we will help hold the pen.

Featured Politics Election Legislature

Tallahassee Keeps Telling Local Communities to Sit Down

June 23, 2026 B. John 375 Views 1 Comment local democracy, Hillsborough County, worker protections, Florida Legislature, heat safety, Tallahassee, zoning, Home Rule, Preemption

This entry is in the series Florida Legislature

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

There is a word in Florida politics that sounds dry enough to cure insomnia but is quietly reshaping life in our communities: preemption.

Preemption is what happens when Tallahassee tells local governments they are not allowed to solve local problems. In recent years, the Legislature has used it to block local worker protections, weaken local control over zoning and development, and shift more decisions away from the people who actually live with the consequences.

My latest article examines this growing pattern, including Florida’s ban on local heat protections for outdoor workers, recent development bills that override local planning, and the legislators who keep voting to shift power away from communities and into the state’s hands. This is not just a procedural fight. It is about whether local democracy still means anything when powerful interests want it out of the way.

Society Education Featured Politics Election

Hillsborough School Board District 2: The Choice Between Proven Dedication and Outside Ambition

May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 B. John 936 Views 0 Comments Public Education, Hillsborough School Board, District 2, Chris Taylor, Brittany Lyssy, Campaign Finance, Local Governance, Tallahassee Influence, Education Leadership

Is a seat on our local school board up for grabs by the highest out-of-county bidder? For months, the District 2 race was a focused contest between candidates with deep, functional ties to our classroom, including professionals like veteran educator Chris Taylor, who has spent years in the trenches of our district. Chris understands student achievement because he has managed it from the front lines, and his commitment is rooted in the actual lives of the students he has taught and the teachers he has led. His vision is focused on stability, inclusivity, and the professional integrity our schools need to thrive.

In sharp contrast, the late entry of attorney Brittany Lyssy introduces a jarring shift toward outside influence and corporate-backed interests. While Chris Taylor’s support is local and organic, an analysis of Lyssy’s campaign finance reports reveals that nearly 45% of her total donations—excluding personal loans—flow from outside Hillsborough County. Backed by Tallahassee-based PACs and out-of-county law firms, her candidacy suggests an agenda more beholden to a state-level political machine than to our community. Hillsborough deserves a board member whose only “client” is the child in the classroom, not a strategist using our schools as a policy laboratory.

Featured Politics Election County Commission

The Tale of Two Doctors

May 4, 2026May 6, 2026 B. John 994 Views 1 Comment Hillsborough County Commission, Local Government, Donna Cameron-Cepeda, Dr. Neil Manimala, Affordable Housing, Accountability, Social Safety Net, 2026 Election, Healthcare Policy

This entry is in the series 2026 Elections

In a political era where labels are often used as shields, few examples are as stark as the “Dr.” honorific Donna Cameron-Cepeda wears to project authority over Hillsborough County’s $12 billion budget. While she cites her background as a financial analyst for a global corporation, her actual policy record reveals a troubling pattern of “pulling up the ladder” behind her. Having once relied on the very social safety nets and affordable housing she now votes to dismantle, her leadership has become a case study in the disconnect between personal history and public consequence.

The upcoming election presents a rare, high-contrast choice as Dr. Neil Manimala, a board-certified physician, enters the race with a platform centered on “healing” the damage done by recent regressive shifts. While Cameron-Cepeda’s tenure has been defined by culture-war distractions and the defunding of vital community nonprofits, Manimala represents a return to verified, professional competence. With even members of her own party filing to challenge her, the message is clear: Hillsborough is ready for a leader who values evidence over ideology and people over performance.

To understand the full scope of this “Doctor vs. Doctor” showdown and why this race has become a focal point for the future of our county, read the full analysis.

A gently rising two-lane road at sunrise, narrowing toward the horizon in soft golden light.

Deep Thoughts Featured Places Kings Mountain Politics Election

Looking Back at 2025: A Year of Loss, Resolve, and Reckoning

February 11, 2026February 11, 2026 B. John 1479 Views 0 Comments grief, aging, Reinvention, Intentional Living, Stoicism, Resilience, Civic Engagement, Reflection

At 66, I did not expect 2025 to take as much as it did. My mother died. I lost my job. Certain illusions about stability quietly disappeared. It was not a year of fireworks or easy victories. It was a year of subtraction. And yet, beneath the loss, something steadier emerged: clarity. About health. About purpose. About what still matters when titles and timelines fall away.
If 2025 was the year of endurance, 2026 must be the year of intention. Fewer illusions. More intention. The road continues. In this year-end reflection, I write honestly about grief, layoffs, aging, civic resolve, and the discipline of choosing steadiness anyway. I hope you’ll read the full piece and walk a little of that road with me.

← Previous