Press Releases
Press Releases
Brian Blair Says "No" to Light Rail
Brian Blair is deeply troubled over a possible one-cent sales tax increase—a 14% hike—that would help fund light rail, buses, and road projects.
“In 2008, there was over $1 billion targeted to spend on roads and BRT ( bus rapid transit ),” Blair said. “And it hasn’t been spent yet. So why ask for more taxes?”
The Hillsborough County Commission has already voted, by a 5-2 margin, to draft language for the sales tax increase so that it can appear on the ballot in 2010.
People can have their voices heard at the County Center BOCC Meeting, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd in Tampa, Florida at 9 am, December 2nd.
“Why we’re even considering a new tax now, in this economy, with the unemployment rate where it is, when we have dollars that haven’t been spent yet, is beyond me,” Blair said recently.
The Tampa Tribune ( supporters of Light Rail ) report that the tax would cost $250 million per year, or about $7.5 billion over the life of the tax, which would be used to fund construction primarily of light rail in an effort to encourage more people to eschew cars as their primary mode of home-to-work transportation.
Blair cites research done by national transit experts in supporting his view that the tax is wrong—both in terms of timing and need. Hillsborough County has one of the highest unemployment rates in the State of Florida and along with the uncertainty of how much more burden federal government will put on our businesses and families makes timing even worse.
“Pushers of this tax will tell you that light rail and buses are the panacea for traffic congestion, but that’s just not the case,” Blair said. “National transit authorities have already indicated that an average community can’t take more than five percent* of traffic off the road simply with light rail and buses.” *USA Today, 2008
“Worse”, Blair said, is what he terms “government greed” at work in this instance.
“We have yet to spend the approximate $1 billion in transportation funds the local government already has in place,” Blair said. “Yet we have the gall to ask the taxpayer for more? This is a time when local government should be cutting taxes and living within its means.”
Blair also pointed out that bus ridership in the county is down 3.1% for the past fiscal year, an indicator that mass transit isn’t as attractive as proponents would have the public believe. It’s likely that Light Rail could compete against buses for ridership.
“We can’t get many people to ride buses,” Blair said. “So how can we expect them to start using light rail?”
Blair referred to Miami/Dade County’s situation with its light rail system.
“They call it ‘Metro Fail,’ ” he said.
Blair also expressed disappointment in fellow Republican Mark Sharpe, who has “carried the water” for this tax, according to Blair. “I like Mark,” Blair said, “but I can’t believe he’s pushing this tax, when the professionals have serious doubts as to the success of light rail in Hillsborough County.”
Blair’s objection to the sales tax increase—hardly the first time he’s opposed new taxes in his efforts to ease burdens on county residents—has many facets to it:
• CUTR ( Center for Urban Transportation Research at USF ) studies have indicated that light rail in Hillsborough County is likely to fail and fall short of expectations
• A 14% sales tax increase would make Hillsborough County the highest-taxed county among the 67 counties in Florida
• With such heavy tax burdens, residents might go to neighboring counties to buy big ticket items like cars and furniture
• A 14% local sales tax increase would oppress residents and small business
• Less than 20% of residents have reasonable access to rail*—including counties where densities were already planned around mass transit
*USA Today, 2008
“Construction of a light rail system would also likely mean the displacement of people from their homes via Eminent Domain”, Blair fears.
“Rail is fixed, number one,” he added. “Bus routes can be changed or altered, depending on need and use.”
“Get ready for a long liberal media spin of the facts about light rail in Hillsborough County,” Blair said.
Blair also invoked the words of former Governor Bob Martinez.
“Governor Martinez said, ’People will not choose rail over car as long as they can afford to drive and park.’ And he’s just as right now as he was then.”
Blair, a Republican, announced in August that he was seeking the State House seat for District 47, which includes portions of Hillsborough County and will be vacated by fellow Republican Kevin Ambler in 2010.
Ambler is term limited and is running for State Senate.
For more information about Brian Blair, visit www.BrianBlair.com.
For Brian Blair interview requests, contact Shannon Rose at ( 813 ) 960-8412; ( 813 ) 389-0801, or info@mediaproductions.tv.
Brian Blair lives in Tampa with his wife, Toni. The Blairs have been married for 23 years and have two children—Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14.
Brian Blair’s Design to help the Homeless
--Renovation of vacant hotel among ideas to ease pain of homeless in Hillsborough County--
Tampa, FL – Florida State House candidate Brian Blair, continuing to offer up innovative, aggressive ideas, has now turned his attention to the plight of Hillsborough County’s homeless.
Blair calls it thinking “outside the box,” and the same visionary approach that has worked wonders in developing new, sheltered bus stops for county residents is now being applied to those who find themselves without a roof over their heads, period.
Blair, the former county commissioner who seeks District 47’s seat in the 2010 election, has proposed renovating at least one vacant hotel so that it may house hundreds of homeless people.
“It makes sense, across the board,” Blair said recently. “Hotels are already equipped for sheltering people. And it would, at the same time, help the homeless and create jobs,” he added.
Blair says the plan would entail selecting a vacant hotel and targeting it for renovation. Then, county homeless people would be moved in—after background checks—with attention paid to grouping them by gender and/or families. Blair said, though, that people wouldn’t be able to stay there indefinitely, in order to ensure that vacancies would be created for others.
Blair says start-up funding would be asked for from the countless agencies already working closely with the homeless, like the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and others. He added that people benefiting from the program could become “in-house” workers to help maintain the premises, through training.
Other potential partners in such a project, Blair said, could be natural tie-in groups like Meals on Wheels and Seniors in Service.
“It’s not that county residents don’t feel that the homeless should have a place to stay, but the question is always, ‘Where?,’” Blair said. “Hotels are generally away from neighborhoods and shopping centers,” he added.
Blair’s suggestion is different from the “tent city” proposal by Catholic Charities that the Hillsborough County Commission killed in a 4-3 vote on October 13, 2009.
Blair noted that he hopes a mechanism could be put in place whereby local people—like those who’ve lost jobs, etc.—are helped first.
Blair said he’s confident that he has some initial support from within the county, encouraged by a discussion he had in 2008 with Department of Social Services department head Dave Rogoff, who Blair said “seemed to really like the concept.”
Blair, a Republican, announced in August that he was seeking the State House seat for District 47, which includes portions of Hillsborough County and will be vacated by fellow Republican Kevin Ambler in 2010. Ambler is term limited and is running for State Senate.
For more information about Brian Blair, visit www.BrianBlair.com.
For Brian Blair interview requests, contact Shannon Rose at (813) 960-8412; (813) 389-0801, or info@mediaproductions.tv.
Brian Blair lives in Tampa with his wife, Toni. The Blairs have been married for 23 years and have two children—Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14.
Florida State House Candidate Specializes in Keeping Money in Taxpayers’ Pockets
-- Hillsborough County residents enjoyed largest ad valorem tax cut in county history --
Tampa, FL – Florida State House candidate Brian Blair keeps it simple when it comes to talking about his accomplishments as a Hillsborough County Commissioner.
“Tax cuts. Fiscal responsibility. And not taking no for an answer too easily,” Blair said recently as he spoke of his qualifications for the Florida State House seat that he seeks in 2010.
Blair served as County Commissioner for District 6 from 2004-08, and in that time frame his accomplishments shared the underlying theme of saving taxpayers money and being persistent.
On Blair’s watch, the county achieved its largest ad valorem tax cut in its history, part of a four-year term which resulted in a savings for taxpayers of over a billion dollars per year.
The list of money-saving measures is impressive: Cutting the storm water tax (saving taxpayers about $300 million); saving $100,000 in sidewalk repairs; opposing cable television fee increases; promoting a Florida Tax Watch audit of county budget and policies; and various other measures designed to create more fiscal accountability when it comes to county government.
All that, plus Blair was instrumental in helping to broker a deal that resulted in hundreds of new, sheltered bus stops being built—after initially being told that it couldn’t be done without spending a lot of money.
“It’s easy to say something can’t be done,” Blair said, “because it doesn’t take much effort to say no. But it’s amazing what you can do, what money you can save, if you commit yourself to being fiscally responsible,” he added.
Blair, a Republican, announced in August that he was seeking the State House seat for District 47, which includes portions of Hillsborough County and will be vacated by fellow Republican Kevin Ambler in 2010. Ambler is term limited and is running for State Senate.
For more information about Brian Blair, visit www.BrianBlair.com.
Brian Blair lives in Tampa with his wife, Toni. The Blairs have been married for 23 years and have two children—Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14.
BRIAN BLAIR SAVES TAXPAYER MONEY, HELPS PROTECT COUNTY BUS RIDERS AT SAME TIME
-- Bus shelters “popping up everywhere” in Hillsborough County --
Tampa, FL – Brian Blair’s refusal to take “no” for an answer is paying off for Hillsborough County residents.
Blair, a candidate for Florida House of Representatives in 2010, has convinced HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority) to build more bus shelters for its passengers. Over 125 in the past nine months, in fact.
“I addressed the board while serving on it that we cannot expect people to stand out in the elements or stand at a bus stop sign,” Blair said recently of his efforts. “We need more shelters, and we need them now.”
But the answer, initially, was no—there wasn’t any money to purchase the shelters.
So Blair simply refused to accept that, and went to work.
“We put out a request for proposal to trade classy advertisement rights in exchange for building bus shelters—at no cost to the taxpayer,” Blair said. The result was over 125 new shelters constructed in the past nine months, according to HART officials—all because of the trade arrangement. And plans are for between 200 and 300 more to be built, thanks to Blair’s efforts.
Blair, a Republican and former Hillsborough County Commissioner, announced in August that he was seeking the State House seat for District 47, which includes portions of Hillsborough County and will be vacated by fellow Republican Kevin Ambler in 2010. Ambler is term limited and is running for State Senate.
Blair launched his State House campaign with the promise that he will be fiscally responsible and a friend to taxpayers, a reputation he built as a County Commissioner.
The deal he brokered with HART for new bus shelters is further proof of that, he says.
“Each shelter costs roughly $25,000 to build, including materials and labor, so the savings to taxpayers, so far, by trading costs for classy advertisement rights is approximately $3.2 million,” Blair said. “And if the projections are accurate, county taxpayers will have over 300 new shelters at a savings of at least $7.5 million,” he added.
Blair says that the new shelters are “popping up everywhere” in the county, and regular passengers should already be noticing.
For more information about Brian Blair, visit www.BrianBlair.com.
For interview opportunities please contact Shannon Rose at 813-389-0801 or at info@mediaproductions.tv
Brian Blair lives in Tampa with his wife, Toni. The Blairs have been married for 23 years and have two children—Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14.
BRIAN BLAIR TO RUN FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DIST. 47, VOWS FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
-- Files paperwork with State Division of Elections on Monday, 8/17/09 --
Tampa, FL – Brian Blair has officially announced his candidacy for the Florida House of Representatives.
Blair, a former WWE pro wrestler and businessman, spent four years as a staunch supporter of the taxpayer, and now he is ready to take that same watchdog mentality to Tallahassee.
“I am running for State Representative because I want to use my experience as a businessman to help create jobs, reduce the size of state government, and defend traditional values,” Blair said immediately after filing his paperwork with the State Division of Elections. “I believe we can accomplish these goals without raising taxes.”
Blair served four years as a Hillsborough County Commissioner. As a Commissioner, he fought for tax relief for residents and businesses and won. As a result of his efforts, the largest property tax cut in county history was passed. “I’m very proud of having kept a lot of the hard-earned money of Hillsborough residents in their pockets rather than the government’s. I feel we need the same kind of effort on the state level,” Blair says of his Commissioner days.
In addition to serving as a County Commissioner, Blair points to his eleven years (1989 – 2000) as owner of Blair’s Health and Fitness Centers, Inc. (d.b.a. Gold’s Gyms), where he created jobs and met payrolls, as giving him the experience to ensure Tallahassee manages taxpayer money wisely.
Blair started his first Gold’s Gyms location in 1989 and soon after, built a multi-location business where he managed a multi-million dollar budget and about 100 employees for over a decade.
“Our Fitness Centers received more achievement awards than any other operation in the Gold’s Gyms worldwide network, which was more than 500 locations,” Blair says proudly. “I know what it takes to balance a budget, make payrolls and make a difference.”
Blair listed access to quality; affordable health care; improving infrastructure; and mentoring programs for children as top issues facing Florida. Blair has over 7,000 documented hours in community service, including managing and coaching baseball at Forest Hills Pony League. He also speaks as part of the Great American Teach-In, American Education Week and other events.
“Mentoring children is something that’s very important to me,” Blair says. “We have to keep our kids safe. The best way to do that is to keep kids on the right path to becoming upstanding citizens and positive contributors to our society.”
Brian Blair lives in Tampa with his wife, Toni. The Blairs have been married for 23 years and have two children—Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14.
House District 47 is being vacated by Republican Kevin Ambler, who is term limited and running for State Senate. House District 47 is comprised of parts of Hillsborough County. The Republican Primary is on August 24, 2010 and the General Election is on November 2, 2010.
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Political advertisement paid for and approved by Brian Blair, Republican, for State House, District 47.