The Kevin White saga in Hillsborough County has been an interesting one, and will be until August at least, when he faces a Democratic primary challenge at the polls.
White, a former Tampa City Councilman and first term County Commissioner in District 3, has been the source of much opprobrium over the past half year, after he was found guilty of sexually discrimination against former aide Alyssa Ogden. Since then, he's been sued by his fellow Commissioners as they try to recoup some of the $425,000 in legal fees that the county has been exposed to because a judge ruled that they were liable.
So you know all of that. There has been outrage in some parts of the county, and and also a lot of love shown for White, as many in the black community feel he has been beaten up by the establishment media.
So last night was going to be interesting regardless, and it certainly turned out to be a success as a fundraiser for the "embattled"(I think there's a rule that that word must be used before writing his name now) commission was held at the Columbia restaurant in Ybor City.
As we were covering another event in Ybor at the time, we can only go by Mike Salinero's report in today's Tribune on how it went.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2010.