Being boss of a major municipality’s communications is a hard job. Since taking the position of Tampa’s communications director, Smith has been a highlight reel of unfortunate gaffes. In the introduction to a community forum on homelessness, Smith made a joke about how kids camping out for a nearby concert weren’t actually homeless people. “I'm glad you got parking,” he said. Two months later, when asked for a comment about Neo-Nazi’s camped out with swastika flags outside the Tampa Convention Center he opted not for a forceful condemnation of extremism and instead said it was “a sad time for our country when people from the darkest fringes of society feel comfortable openly expressing their vile hate, but it's understandable why many media outlets refuse to do their bidding by publicizing this garbage." News flash, Adam: white nationalist sentiments have infiltrated the mainstream, and outlets that don’t report on it are more or less turning the other way. @adamsmithtimes on Twitter
People, Places and Politics
As Governor DeSantis cracked down on the ever-elusive CRT boogeyman in public schools, James Michael Shaw Jr. had a different idea: educate the public. But the local lawyer had to do it in a creative way. He made a promo video for a “forbidden” Critical Race Theory event, which would let people know what the words actually meant, rather than just stoking fear in the public, as DeSantis is known to do. @jamesshawjr on Twitter
Tampa Police headquarters is chock full of controversy. Last year, the department was caught in close to two scandals a month. This year, the controversies are adding up. Through a public records request, CL caught the department using geofencing, a spying tactic that has caused uproar around the country, because average citizens can often get caught in an unconstitutional digital dragnet. TPD didn’t offer comment for the story.
The Times editorial board knew that Judge Jared Smith had denied a 17-year-old abortion and that he was found to have abused his judicial discretion in making that decision. But the board still endorsed—or “recommended” in the paper’s eyes—the right-wing evangelist judge. As CL uncovered more disturbing behavior from Smith, the Times continued to stand by its man. But the endorsement didn’t work, and in a rare upset, Smith, an incumbent judge, lost to Nancy Jacobs. You gotta give it to the Times for sticking it out until the end. @tbtimes_opinion on Twitter
The Ybor Misfits started as an apartment living room project, but has grown into a local institution. So much so that the group has teamed up with the cigar-famous J.C. Newman Family to create a micro-sanctuary in Ybor, which can house several chickens in need. The Misfits also fought the city’s attempt to eradicate the chickens a few years back, which would have destroyed an important aspect of Tampa history. @theybormisfits on Instagram
