Last year, the issue of the Pinellas County Commission's 2011 vote to remove fluoride from the water supply exploded, partially because of the Tampa Bay Times editorial page that raged against the four commissioners who supported that measure — John Morroni, Norm Roche, Neil Brickfield and Nancy Bostock. (Times writers Tim Nickens and Dan Ruth ended up receiving Pulitzer Prizes for the editorial campaign.)

With Bostock and Brickfield running for re-election last fall, the issue hung around their necks like an albatross, and was used in every possible campaign forum or event by their respective Democratic opponents, Janet Long and Charlie Justice. In case you forgot, Bostock and Brickfield are now former Pinellas County Commissioners.

Like Pinellas County, the city of Portland, Ore., was one of the biggest areas of the country to not add fluoride to their drinking water supply — until last year when their City Council voted to do so (Pinellas did not do so until 2003). A backlash to that vote led Portland to put a referendum on their ballot today, and indications are that the "self-consciously liberal city" (as described by the Wall Street Journal) could very well vote to ban the additive.

A poll taken just a few days ago indicated that the issue is losing, but obviously anything can happen on election day. Interesting to note that Roche continues to insist to this day that the measure in Pinellas should go up before the public for a vote. That isn't going to happen in the near future but in Portland, the citizens demanded that it did go up for a vote. The way that electorate votes could end up stunning a lot of folks.

Turning back to local politics, you read it here first: Michael van Hoek, whose only previous dip in the political waters was an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for Congress in 2006 in Pasco County, is the new chairman of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee.

It's already been reported that local Tea Party groups in the Tampa Bay area feel they were scrutinized excessively by the IRS when they applied for a tax-exempt status several years back. In the case of Tampa's Karen Jaroch, it's the second time she's been let down by the government's tax collection agency.

And while Hillsborough County's transit agency, HART, seems to never get much respect, who could be upset about this news: the agency's CFO said that by findings savings in different departments, they're able to add extensive nighttime and weekend services to current bus routes, even while their budget will be dramatically lower next fiscal year.

This article appears in May 16-22, 2013.