Camping with Tampa's Housing Don
Calling all corrupt builders, slimebag developers, and slumlords! Heed the death knells! Steve LaBrake's trial begins today!
This kind of thing tickles me in all the right places. Why? First off, you can take the girl outta Jersey, but you can't deny her the creamy familiarity of federal housing scandals, municipal officers with silky, lined pockets, bank girls in thigh highs diverting funds for fun, and last, but certainly not least, grandiose concrete palaces built on kickbacks and all the wrong sorts of favors. Yes, it's my own shortcoming, but I think it's devastatingly glamorous.
Secondly, I think I might be in love with LaBrake's attorney:
Then, on a more serious note, I'm interested in the trickle-down effect the publicity will have on how we react municipally to subsidized housing - its planning and placement, its funding, its construction, its improvements, its residents, all of it.
I'm using 'subsidized housing' as an all-encompassing term here. Within the five miles surrounding downtown, there are four federally subsidized projects, two more subsidized by a combination of federal and state funds, and three mixed-income developments funded by bank interests and federal bonds, with two more slated for construction by 2007, one of which will be in the dying-to-be-tony Channelside district.
And that still doesn't figure the many privately owned homes throughout Ybor and Tampa Heights that are rented out on the old 70/30 split, either.
Now -
Pretend you're Steve LaBrake. Think of the potential for, shall we say, pick-up money.
Pretend you're County Commission or HUD. Think of the impact of such ruinous disgrace.
Pretend you're the average local constituent. Think of the general feeling of disenfranchisement.
Now - and, wow, are we sure we even want to go here? - pretend you're a resident of subsidized housing, or better yet, on the thousands-strong waiting list for subsidized housing in Hillsborough County.
Think of the mob mentality.
The whole time I've been typing this, I've had the intro from that Nas song, "I Gave You Power," [#4] looping through my head - you know the part before the actual track starts and all you can hear is a bunch of cracked voices running through the woods, and right before Nas starts rhyming you hear, "We gon' have ourselves a hangin' tonight!"
Mr. LaBrake, you are seriously f*cked.
This kind of thing tickles me in all the right places. Why? First off, you can take the girl outta Jersey, but you can't deny her the creamy familiarity of federal housing scandals, municipal officers with silky, lined pockets, bank girls in thigh highs diverting funds for fun, and last, but certainly not least, grandiose concrete palaces built on kickbacks and all the wrong sorts of favors. Yes, it's my own shortcoming, but I think it's devastatingly glamorous.
Secondly, I think I might be in love with LaBrake's attorney:
Among the possible witnesses listed by the defense is ABC Action News, Channel 28, reporter Robin Guess, who first reported the story about the construction of the LaBrakes' home.
As is done in most trials, Doherty asked the judge to issue an order excluding witnesses from the courtroom, which the judge said would go into effect after jury selection. The judge issued the order, apparently without realizing Doherty had the reporter on his witness list. Guess was in court covering the case and had not received a subpoena.
Then, on a more serious note, I'm interested in the trickle-down effect the publicity will have on how we react municipally to subsidized housing - its planning and placement, its funding, its construction, its improvements, its residents, all of it.
I'm using 'subsidized housing' as an all-encompassing term here. Within the five miles surrounding downtown, there are four federally subsidized projects, two more subsidized by a combination of federal and state funds, and three mixed-income developments funded by bank interests and federal bonds, with two more slated for construction by 2007, one of which will be in the dying-to-be-tony Channelside district.
And that still doesn't figure the many privately owned homes throughout Ybor and Tampa Heights that are rented out on the old 70/30 split, either.
Now -
Pretend you're Steve LaBrake. Think of the potential for, shall we say, pick-up money.
Pretend you're County Commission or HUD. Think of the impact of such ruinous disgrace.
Pretend you're the average local constituent. Think of the general feeling of disenfranchisement.
Now - and, wow, are we sure we even want to go here? - pretend you're a resident of subsidized housing, or better yet, on the thousands-strong waiting list for subsidized housing in Hillsborough County.
Think of the mob mentality.
The whole time I've been typing this, I've had the intro from that Nas song, "I Gave You Power," [#4] looping through my head - you know the part before the actual track starts and all you can hear is a bunch of cracked voices running through the woods, and right before Nas starts rhyming you hear, "We gon' have ourselves a hangin' tonight!"
Mr. LaBrake, you are seriously f*cked.
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