Trials are far more boring than I expected. They weren't calling for them to tear down the wall or anything like that.
But I got to see a couple of trials done the way they're always done in the real world. The judge and the commanding presence that comes with him called the courtroom to order, one of the three cops sits down the delinquent, and the other two stand guard.
Both cases involved violation of probation. I know a lot of people on probation, too. It sucks because they can't ever really party with me, but it's not that hard to not violate probation. One of the men on trial was Lorenzo Rubio. According to his probation agreement, Rubio is not allowed to drink alcohol or have weapons on him or in his house.
When the police came to his house (as part of a gang bust operation, the police pick a few random people on probation as well as the listed gang suspects), Rubio smelled of alcohol and had a scuba knife in his house that he claims he uses for fishing.
Now even if he just uses his knife for fishing, he should know that cops are going to be ass holes about things like that. Police do not take kindly to people violating probation.
I remember one of the hoes at work being carried out of the club because she violated probation. I found her record on the sheriff's office website. Her bond was $10,000 and she had previously been arrested several times for dealing drugs. But a $10,000 bond over some stinkin' pills. I know it's pills that ruin young girls' lives, but she ended up going to prison for a couple of years at least.
With that in mind, I think how stupid is this Rubio guy? It's not like the probation officers don't tell their crooks what's going to happen when they violate probation. He shouldn't have taken his chances keeping a fishing knife in his house. If I was on probation, you bet your ass I would not take any chances. I bet he knew that having a knife in his home was risky.
I didn't stay to see what the ruling was, but I don't really care either way. I can see how he can be completely innocent and maybe it was just a silly fishing knife. I mean, seriously? Was he going to filet his wife? Of course not. But he shouldn't be so stupid to end up in court in the first place, so I really wish him the best of luck and all the intelligence in the world.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Planning Commission Experience
“The Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission is an independent community action agency, led by appointed citizens, which serves all citizens of Hillsborough County by providing a vision for improving the quality of life.”
That’s what one of the big signs on the wall said.
I’ve never been to a planning commission meeting before, so this was a big learning experience.
This meeting was very formal, very standard, and very intense. Well, maybe not intense for what was going on, but the people on the planning commission’s board have a lot of homework.
I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on when they were talking about the comprehensive plans for Plant City. I was happy to see that they were working on “improving the quality of life” for Plant City, my hometown. Well, my mom lives there, so Plant City has a bit of importance in my life.
During the public hearing, it seems like you have to have read the plans in detail before voting in favor or against it because I couldn’t have decided on that plan with the amount of time given to the board to vote. They obviously did their homework and read the plans over and came to a decision.
There were four comprehensive plans presented at the hearing and the only people to show up to this hearing were the people speaking about the plans. No regular citizens showed up.
And this meeting is so structured. The board had copies of their agenda for the public (so I grabbed one). On the agenda, which they followed, they had a call to order, purpose and order of meeting and roll call. I thought that was a bit silly but it’s just procedure. They’re covering themselves.
They had at least four cameras along the top parts of the walls and a small camera on the podium. There was a producer sitting in a small desk with a laptop switching camera views to the big screens for us to see who was talking.
The way the hearing went was the presenter would give a brief overview of what the plan was, and I still couldn’t quite understand the full impact of it because I didn’t read the whole plan like the board members did.
After the presenter refreshes the board on what the plan will do, the presenter opens the floor to the board to ask the presenter any questions. After the board asks questions they open up the floor to the public for questions. Once they finish questions they vote on it.
The board unanimously voted for each plan.
I think for the next time, if I were ever to go to a planning commission meeting, I would do my homework. The agendas are printed in advance to let the public know what the board will be voting on.
To start, I would look up the comprehensive plan amendments. The codes of the plan amendments are printed on the agenda so they are easier to find. For example, the meeting I attended discussed four Plant City comprehensive plan amendments, two were map amendments and two were text amendments.
One of the codes was displayed as:
PLANT CITY: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT PC/CPA 10-01 – MAP AMENDMENT (ALABAMA AND HITCHCOCK STREETS)
So I would go to the planning commission’s website at theplanningcommission.org and look for PC/CPA 10-01 to read it. And to make it easy for you, I found the page for it here.
Overall, I learned a lot about board meetings. I learned that hardly any citizens show up for them (it seems), the board makes frequent decisions on what to do with the millions of dollars in budget money, records it, actively asks the public (if they show up) what it thinks, and casts the vote.
I also learned that I need to do my homework, as always.
That’s what one of the big signs on the wall said.
I’ve never been to a planning commission meeting before, so this was a big learning experience.
This meeting was very formal, very standard, and very intense. Well, maybe not intense for what was going on, but the people on the planning commission’s board have a lot of homework.
I had a very hard time figuring out what was going on when they were talking about the comprehensive plans for Plant City. I was happy to see that they were working on “improving the quality of life” for Plant City, my hometown. Well, my mom lives there, so Plant City has a bit of importance in my life.
During the public hearing, it seems like you have to have read the plans in detail before voting in favor or against it because I couldn’t have decided on that plan with the amount of time given to the board to vote. They obviously did their homework and read the plans over and came to a decision.
There were four comprehensive plans presented at the hearing and the only people to show up to this hearing were the people speaking about the plans. No regular citizens showed up.
And this meeting is so structured. The board had copies of their agenda for the public (so I grabbed one). On the agenda, which they followed, they had a call to order, purpose and order of meeting and roll call. I thought that was a bit silly but it’s just procedure. They’re covering themselves.
They had at least four cameras along the top parts of the walls and a small camera on the podium. There was a producer sitting in a small desk with a laptop switching camera views to the big screens for us to see who was talking.
The way the hearing went was the presenter would give a brief overview of what the plan was, and I still couldn’t quite understand the full impact of it because I didn’t read the whole plan like the board members did.
After the presenter refreshes the board on what the plan will do, the presenter opens the floor to the board to ask the presenter any questions. After the board asks questions they open up the floor to the public for questions. Once they finish questions they vote on it.
The board unanimously voted for each plan.
I think for the next time, if I were ever to go to a planning commission meeting, I would do my homework. The agendas are printed in advance to let the public know what the board will be voting on.
To start, I would look up the comprehensive plan amendments. The codes of the plan amendments are printed on the agenda so they are easier to find. For example, the meeting I attended discussed four Plant City comprehensive plan amendments, two were map amendments and two were text amendments.
One of the codes was displayed as:
PLANT CITY: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT PC/CPA 10-01 – MAP AMENDMENT (ALABAMA AND HITCHCOCK STREETS)
So I would go to the planning commission’s website at theplanningcommission.org and look for PC/CPA 10-01 to read it. And to make it easy for you, I found the page for it here.
Overall, I learned a lot about board meetings. I learned that hardly any citizens show up for them (it seems), the board makes frequent decisions on what to do with the millions of dollars in budget money, records it, actively asks the public (if they show up) what it thinks, and casts the vote.
I also learned that I need to do my homework, as always.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Trigg strikes back!
Preston Trigg came to see us again today. He gave a quick rundown on how to read a budget. It was surprising to see how fast I learned in that hour.
He made it clear that a budget is really quite simple, not as complicated as it may look. He told us a budget is simply money in and money out. He even stressed his quote from his last visit, "follow the money." Since it's very important for a reporter to understand a budget, we kept that simple lesson in our head that it's really just money in and money out. All the rest falls into place.
Well, at least it should. So if it isn't falling into place, that's where we journalists come in.
Trigg reassured us that the law requires every government agency to have a public budget. Private businesses don't have to make their budgets public, though.
We also learned that it's okay to ask the budget officials questions if something is unclear to us. Trigg said budget officials are often a journalist's best ally if the journalist stays on their good side.
Trigg also said that the summary (at the top of the budget) may make it easier to see the big things to look for but the summaries only contain what they want us to see. They may leave some big (perhaps unpopular) changes out of that summary that could affect a lot of people.
Other than that, a budget is pretty cut and dry. The thing journalists need to look for is the major increases and decreases from the previous fiscal year (that I learned starts from Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30).
He made it clear that a budget is really quite simple, not as complicated as it may look. He told us a budget is simply money in and money out. He even stressed his quote from his last visit, "follow the money." Since it's very important for a reporter to understand a budget, we kept that simple lesson in our head that it's really just money in and money out. All the rest falls into place.
Well, at least it should. So if it isn't falling into place, that's where we journalists come in.
Trigg reassured us that the law requires every government agency to have a public budget. Private businesses don't have to make their budgets public, though.
We also learned that it's okay to ask the budget officials questions if something is unclear to us. Trigg said budget officials are often a journalist's best ally if the journalist stays on their good side.
Trigg also said that the summary (at the top of the budget) may make it easier to see the big things to look for but the summaries only contain what they want us to see. They may leave some big (perhaps unpopular) changes out of that summary that could affect a lot of people.
Other than that, a budget is pretty cut and dry. The thing journalists need to look for is the major increases and decreases from the previous fiscal year (that I learned starts from Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30).
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Election Day 2010
I can't believe how much I actually paid attention to the election! I'm so proud of myself for checking news websites and learning more about politics.
This video from The Associated Press is a very helpful guide to this past election. If you missed something in the news around the nation, this video will tell you what elections were hot.
So it all started when I decided to go vote around 6 p.m. yesterday. Now, why would I wait that long to decide to just vote? Well, I just couldn't decide who to vote for. I didn't like any of the gubernatorial candidates. I liked Charlie Crist, though. Even though I'm a registered republican, I liked what Crist said in his campaign messages.
I rode, fighting traffic for 30 minutes on a 20 minute ride to the polls, (and Plant City drivers are MEAN!) got off my motorcycle and walked inside the church where the precinct was set up. The nice lady standing at the door said I could drop off my stuff and she'd watch it for me. She was referring to my stuff as my backpack and helmet. It was a good 25 pounds off my shoulders.
One thing I didn't like was the line. I always seem to get stuck behind the ones that always have a huge problem that takes forever. So I stood in line for a good 8 minutes waiting on this stupid bitch. The lady finally moves on and the woman at the table takes my ID and checks it. I forgot my address had changed since I was using my mom's address, so while she's checking that, I'm thinking, "omg hurry up."
She finally gave me the ballot and I went behind the little cardboard props to fill it out. I read every question and voted as best as I could for the right person. That was what took me so long to vote.
I then put the ballot into the machine, which gets better every year. I think it's so funny that ten years ago, Florida was the retard of the nation with figuring out the ballots. I once saw a picture of the ballot and saw how confusing it was. How stupid of Florida's ballot designers. They should know that Florida is the land of stupid drivers, including stupid voters! Anyway, I'm glad to see that the technology is improving in Florida, good for this state!
I then left the polls to go see my mom and chat with her, then I went back home and logged on my computer to see the election results. I probably wouldn't have done this if I didn't vote. Even though I could care less who becomes governor, I also forgot that I was voting for more than just the governor. I was voting to change laws and commissioners' jobs.
I'm glad I voted, even though I'm not happy with the outcome of this election. I think the republicans need to get their heads out of their asses and just do what the people ask them to do. And to stop lying, it's really annoying.
This video from The Associated Press is a very helpful guide to this past election. If you missed something in the news around the nation, this video will tell you what elections were hot.
So it all started when I decided to go vote around 6 p.m. yesterday. Now, why would I wait that long to decide to just vote? Well, I just couldn't decide who to vote for. I didn't like any of the gubernatorial candidates. I liked Charlie Crist, though. Even though I'm a registered republican, I liked what Crist said in his campaign messages.
I rode, fighting traffic for 30 minutes on a 20 minute ride to the polls, (and Plant City drivers are MEAN!) got off my motorcycle and walked inside the church where the precinct was set up. The nice lady standing at the door said I could drop off my stuff and she'd watch it for me. She was referring to my stuff as my backpack and helmet. It was a good 25 pounds off my shoulders.
One thing I didn't like was the line. I always seem to get stuck behind the ones that always have a huge problem that takes forever. So I stood in line for a good 8 minutes waiting on this stupid bitch. The lady finally moves on and the woman at the table takes my ID and checks it. I forgot my address had changed since I was using my mom's address, so while she's checking that, I'm thinking, "omg hurry up."
She finally gave me the ballot and I went behind the little cardboard props to fill it out. I read every question and voted as best as I could for the right person. That was what took me so long to vote.
I then put the ballot into the machine, which gets better every year. I think it's so funny that ten years ago, Florida was the retard of the nation with figuring out the ballots. I once saw a picture of the ballot and saw how confusing it was. How stupid of Florida's ballot designers. They should know that Florida is the land of stupid drivers, including stupid voters! Anyway, I'm glad to see that the technology is improving in Florida, good for this state!
I then left the polls to go see my mom and chat with her, then I went back home and logged on my computer to see the election results. I probably wouldn't have done this if I didn't vote. Even though I could care less who becomes governor, I also forgot that I was voting for more than just the governor. I was voting to change laws and commissioners' jobs.
I'm glad I voted, even though I'm not happy with the outcome of this election. I think the republicans need to get their heads out of their asses and just do what the people ask them to do. And to stop lying, it's really annoying.
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