Public Meeting One - Mayor Iorio/TECO

On March 25^th I was fortunate enough to attend a public meeting between Mayor Pam Iorio and the TECO Energy Conservation Task Force.

As the public meeting began, and as the Florida handbook identifies, an open-door policy was enacted as well as having a conference room recorder record the dialogue of the meeting. Funny thing is Mayor Iorio was the one who said, “Do we have the sunshine covered?”

The meeting was led by Tom Snelling, Tampa’s Deputy Director/Green Officer of growth management and services, with a PowerPoint presentation followed by interaction between the task force, a TECO representative and the Mayor.

The point of the TECO Energy Conservation Task Force was to analyze current efforts TECO is making to promote going green, having sustainable energy and what rebates or financial incentives TECO is offering their customers. Recommendations for these efforts were then created by the Task Force.

The issue of education and communication was the most thoroughly discussed topic. Prompting consumer awareness and participation were main components of the dialogue.

Whether it was a reporter, environmental activist or home/factory builder, the idea of marketing to a segmented, target audience became the mechanism needed to satisfy the Task Force’s goal of educating the public about what incentives and innovative technologies TECO has to offer and how it can be put in your home.

Mayor Iorio’s response to that suggestion was whether or not to target people who use lots of power and typically don’t change their ways or the homes that use little power, and somewhat leave only a “small footprint” in the big picture. She followed up by asking the TECO representative if TECO has any commitment to funding this type of market research as well as offering services to their customers that showcase how to lower your bills and be more visible in the community.

In response, the TECO representative (who apparently was sitting in for someone that day) could only say that TECO already has a marketing program and they have not set aside any resources to contribute to the education funding.

This became somewhat of a sour meeting because of that and to the fact that no executive from TECO actually came to the meeting. The Task Force had already been working on this project for one year and this was supposed to be the Final Project meeting; however, Mayor Iorio decided to ask the members back for another session once she speaks with TECO officials.

Overall, it was interesting to sit in such a small room, the Mayor’s conference room, and interact with her, highly educated individuals as well as experts, and community representatives. I took pride in covering this event and Mayor Iorio specifically thanked us, the public/students, for attending.

Hillsborough County Medical Examiner - Dr. Vern Adams

Although you’d say the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner isn’t quite a lively place, there sure is some thrill when walking in.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner looks similar to a hospital lab, except for the part where bodies are laying face down on autopsy tables. But before we get to that, Dr. Vern Adams, Chief Medical Examiner gave a detailed account about what type of documents are held at the office, which aren’t and other details of the lab.

The 1-year-old office, located on N. 46^th street and eerily close to campus, is responsible for autopsies, determining the cause of death, establishing evidence for crime cases, documenting undiagnosed diseases and disposing unclaimed bodies.

HCME has nine forensic investigators performing nearly 1,200 autopsies per year and has the capability to hold 400 bodies on-site.

The office works hand-in-hand with the public, and their request for particular documents; however, some forms are not available. “Everything in a case file is public,” said Dr. Adams, all autopsy reports, external examinations by doctors, transmittal sheets/evidence, correspondence from attorneys and meetings with family are public. Although, if the death is still in an active criminal case, the documents found in the public file will not be made public. HIV test results and records from hospitals and nursing homes are exceptions as well.

A big plus, noted by many students, was the fact that if a person sends in a pre-addressed envelope to HCME with a public records request, HCME will send out all the documents available at no charge. That sure beats 15 cents a page!

HCME also produces death certificates for all of the bodies brought in, yet the medical portion of the certificate is not a public record. The autopsy report is.

Questions regarding photos and videos of death cases were covered by Dr. Adams as well. According to Dr. Adams, the Dale Earnhart Act, an emotional-driven, bad law, gives the next of kin the property right to photos and videos in death cases. Everyone else needs a court order. Thus, autopsy photos are not public, but more importantly, scene photos are.

I learned a great deal about what actually goes on at a medical examiner’s office and why they perform what they do, medically and constitutionally. This field trip, in my opinion, has been the most interesting … how many people can say they walked happily into a dead man’s office.

Hillsborough County Court

Imagine a world that didn’t have courts to settle criminal or civil disputes. What would people end up doing? Loitering, stealing and committing felonies?

This parable could become an actualization. Due to the recession, the Hillsborough county court office may be closing to survive budget cuts.

After already facing cuts that left 1 in 8 employees without a job, slashing retained employee salaries and closing down one branch (Floriland mall) legislature is asking for another 8% cut in total budget.

Clerk of the Circuit Courts and Chief Financial Officer for Hillsborough County Pat Frank plans to argue with legislatures over the fee they are requesting. Frank said, “I don’t want to put any more people on the street.”

Also because of the recession, there has been more of a demand on the clerk’s office. More foreclosures, violence and petty theft cases are occurring, from about 3,000 in past years to 22,000 cases now.

These cases place a burden on the clerks. Clerks tediously prepare dockets and documents for the judge to review; however, facing budget cuts, the Hillsborough county office can’t afford to hire more clerks to relieve the strain on these employees.

Although the office is facing tough times, they still keep the public records and evidence in all cases. Official records (OR) and any record, in line with state statute, can be found at the clerk’s office. Felony records are kept for 75 years while juvenile records are kept forever. DNA, tires and bloody fingers are all types of evidence the office maintains as well.

On a tour of the courthouse, guided by Dana Laranante, particular courts and public record request departments were made known. Laranante instructed users on how to look up and case and distinguish the type of case it is, the case number, the court date and any updating status.

One of the differences I noticed on this tour was the lack of bailiffs on duty in the corridors, being that there are committed felons walking around, and how that “certified” copies of requested documents are $1 a page, which is awfully ridiculous.

Hopefully with those $1 a page requests and public support, the court house won’t have to close down.

http://www.hillsclerk.com/publicweb/home.aspx

Steve Andrews - WFLA Investigative Reporter

Being respectful and logical are key components to being a top notch reporter.

Steve Andrews, News Channel 8 Investigative Reporter, established the need for future reporters to be polite when investigating persons of interest but to also be logical when determining what the next step needs to be to carry on the story.

Andrews, a reporter with other 25 years of experience, believes in the importance of tenacity in an individual as well as their listening instincts, to flip tips and calls, will determine how successful they are in uncovering data that needs to be reported.

It’s essential to be prepared, says Andrews. He recommends at least having three questions prepared when you approach someone that you want answered. Knowing the rules and regulations of the establishment or person in question is vital to understanding what to ask for as well.

Andrews says basic investigative work is just calling people. However, to get better, you must comb through, tediously, public records. Thinking that public records are only documents limits you as a reporter too. Andrews has been able to use photos and videos that were used by contractors but paid for with public spending to uncover truths. Although the video Andrews viewed was over ten hours long, finding the ten second clip that portrays the exact and conclusive details is gold.

The word “You” is thought to have the best resonating power in news reporting. Andrews knows the reporting is where the money is and says, when you say YOU paid for it this… or YOUr money bought them… while reporting, the people listening form a wall between themselves and that individual and see them as a crook, a bad guy. And that’s what we are trying to uncover.

The importance of silence within a news report was also introduced by Andrews. Silence is golden, says Andrews. Having an image on the screen but no noise allows the viewer to boldly understand what is taking place action wise or legally speaking.

Andrews has done cream of the crop reporting in Tampa for years. His tips and guidance to being a good reporter and using what public records are available is imperative when performing investigative work.