On the agenda at this Thursday's Tampa City Council meeting will be an update by city officials about the conditions of Voice of Freedom Park in West Tampa, which has been the home for members of the activist group Occupy Tampa since last December.
Earlier this month Joe Redner, who owns the park, said he had made an arrangement with Occupy Tampa that would have them leave their encampment by the middle of next month. But that didn't satisfy City Councilman Frank Reddick, who refused to cancel Thursday's hearing on conditions at the facility.
Also on the agenda will be the second reading of an ordinance that would allow Cigar City Brewing, the acclaimed brewery run by Redner's son Joey, to expand its facilities off of Spruce Street.
When the issue came before the council for first reading in June, only Reddick and Charlie Miranda voted no.
Redner says he feels an animosity emanating from Reddick that he doesn't appreciate.
"He hates me," Redner told CL in a conversation last week, reflecting on the opposition that Reddick and parts of the black community in the Lincoln Gardens area of town have voiced whenever the issue of Cigar City has come before the Council.
When contacted by CL, Frank Reddick said,"I don’t hate him. I think what Mr. Redner has done is ignored the total interest of the community with Cigar City Brewing. He failed to realize that when they do that one special event per year, they attract over 1,000 people, and those people are parking or blocking people's driveways, and he not willing to address that."
