This Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Democratic party activists say they intend to march in front of freshman GOP Representative Dana Young's South Tampa district office. This follows a similar protest in front of fellow Hillsborough Republican Representative Rachel Burgin's office last week.
Organizer Tim Heberlein writes in a Facebook message to supporters that:
Dana Young promised she would bring jobs to Tampa. Instead she's marched instep with Scott in attacking our children's education and the middle class. Join us tomorrow to ask her "Where are the jobs?" Does she stand with us, the people of Florida, or does she stand with the extremists in Tallahassee?"
Yesterday approximately about 20 protesters greeted Governor Rick Scott's appearance in Tampa yesterday as he spoke at Pepin Academy, mostly against his signing SB 736 earlier in the day in Jacksonville. Now Scott wants to pivot towards expanding charter schools.
A week from tonight Scott will be back in the Bay area, where he'll throw out the first pitch of the 2011 MLB season at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg as the Rays host the Baltimore Orioles. Blogger Peter Schorsch and Progress Florida's Mark Ferullo have organized a Facebook page to encourage fans to boo Scott at this event as well.
It's certainly a healthy exercise for those already frustrated at what the Scott era portends, a little more than 6 percent into his four-year term.
Generally when one is unhappy with their political situation, they're encouraged to contact their state legislators – but in Florida, let's face it, the majority of those leaders are Republicans, and most are on board for what the Scott administration is all about than against it. Certainly not all are, and on certain issues, Paula Dockery, Jack Latvala, Mike Fasano and others have made their disagreements known, and will continue to do so.
This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2011.