The Sierra Club Took Over the Hillsborough County Commission and They Are On the Ballot in November.

Activists and leaders with the Tampa Bay Sierra Club, Pat Kemp and Mariella Smith, sit on the Hillsborough County commission. The Sierra Club endorsed them both as well as Kimberly Overman.

The Tampa Bay Sierra Club published this on their website after Kemp won her seat in 2016 confirming Kemp is one of their "activists".

In January 2017 as Kemp was a sitting county commissioner, she ran to be a member of the Tampa Bay Sierra's club Executive Committee. The ballots for this position were sent to Mariella Smith who was then Chair of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club's Nominating Committee. 

The Sierra Club supports the costly, burdensome and Socialist "Green New Deal".

In February 2019, soon after Overman and Smith were elected in November 2018, Kemp, Overman and Smith spoke at a Sierra Club meeting about transportation. They spoke about the direction "they" wanted Hillsborough County to take regarding transportation. All three sit on the HART Board and changes to HART were also discussed. Is that kosher?

As we posted here, in 2019 Kemp, Overman and Smith voted to APPROVE the Final Report about then proposed Tampa Electric (TECO) Big Bend natural gas plant. The plant was part of TECO's plan to cut its use of coal. 

As we reported, after they had already voted to approve in January 2019, the Tampa Bay Sierra Club launched a campaign opposing the natural gas plant and began pressuring the commissioners to oppose it. 

By March 2019 Kemp and Smith were openly opposing and Kemp stated at a Sierra Club rally:

"We are not going to let (Tampa Electric) go forward with this fracked gas plan," Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp said at a rally organized by the Sierra Club before the public comment portion. "It does not make any sense in this day and age for them to do that."

The emails and text messages between the Sierra Club and these 3 commissioners started flowing. By August 2019, Kemp was drafting a letter of opposition behind closed doors to Gov. DeSantis and the Cabinet members. 

Kemp, Overman and Smith collaborated outside of Sunshine on their letter, they all signed it and sent it on official Hillsborough County stationary as if it represented Hillsborough County and the entire county commission.  

Overman, Smith, Kemp collaborated behind 
closed doors to oppose the TECO Big Bend plant

Was this kosher and on the up and up with Florida Sunshine laws? All Kemp, Overman and Smith got was a hand slap for using official county stationary. They were never questioned about or held accountable for collaborating behind closed doors with no transparency outside Sunshine. 

Commissioner Harry Cohen is also a Sierra Club commissioner who opposed TECO's natural gas plant and has publicly stated:

• We should not be building plants that rely on fossil fuels
• We must reduce congestion by getting single occupancy vehicles off the road. 
• I oppose widening 275.

With climate change now the religion of the Left and their top priority, the Climastistas are the base of the Democrat party. Kemp agrees as she said "our climate crisis needs to be #1 on the list" in a post on her Facebook page calling for going to war with our fossil fuel industry.

Left's War on Fossil Fuels 

The Sierra Club commissioners activists are waging a war on those who use their cars. They voted to remove FDOT's planned project to widen I-275 north of downtown within the footprint FDOT owns that taxpayers already paid for. 

The Sierra Club commissioners activists want to tear down interstates, impose road diets on vehicles and create more congestion. Forcing you out of your car and onto public transit is their goal.

That is why the Sierra Club commissioners activists put a 30 year, ONE PERCENT $18 Billion rail tax on the ballot with ZERO dedicated funds for new auto-lane capacity. "Road widening" to them is REMOVING auto-lanes for bike lanes, sidewalks and transit aka road diets for cars.

In 2016 Tampa Bay Sierra club sent a letter to the then county commission that stated: "Sierra Club does not support a 30 year "road tax" with only 25% of the proceeds dedicated to public transportation (and a portion of 10% possibly available in some cases) while earmarking 65% for roads." The fact that 98% of us use our vehicles on our roads everyday and should be fixed first does not matter.

The Sierra Club got their activists elected who put the massive rail/transit tax on the ballot. The $18 BILLION monster tax earmarks $8 BILLION to transit agency HART but includes no funds earmarked for new auto-lane capacity.

Handing HART $8 BILLION when less than 2% use transit in Hillsborough County is absurd and fiscally irresponsible. But the Sierra Club commissioners activists irresponsibility is intentional. They intend to harm the vast majority of their constituents who travel by vehicle.

Hillsborough County can fund its transportation needs without any new massive tax hike if the County properly prioritized its budget. Sierra Club commissioner Overman admitted it.

When Overman was asked about using existing revenues for transportation in 2016, Overman said 

I don’t know that the money’s not there. I’m sure it’s not being allocated in the right way, but that’s going to take an awful lot of commitment from the board to make that happen.

In 2017 then county commissioners began "allocating in the right way" the county budget by funding a 10 year $812 MILLION transportation plan with existing revenues. After the Sierra Club commissioners activists were elected, they eliminated that transportation funding plan and have been holding road funding hostage for a rail/transit tax ever since.

Below are some issues found on the Sierra Club's webpage, scroll their page to read more:

• Completing the oil and gas leasing program review, phasing out fossil fuel development, and permanently banning new drilling and mining on public lands.
• Respect Communities On the Border. Tear Down the Wall!
• Fix Our Broken Democracy and Pass the "For The People Act"
• To meet Biden’s goal, the United States would need to embark on a rapid and thorough transformation of our economic and energy systems that would affect just about every aspect of American life.
• Environmental injustice is real
• The Sierra Club firmly supports reparations for Black people
• Racism has been consciously and systematically erected
• Pass the Build Back Better Act: Congress must deliver these transformative investments now to avert the worst of the climate crisis, create millions of good jobs, and tackle racial injustice.

Democrats tie their climate change agenda into their costly "equity" and "environmental justice" agenda that is never ending.  

As we posted here, the Sierra Club commissioners activists are implementing their "equity" agenda in Hillsborough County:

"Equity" agenda requires a ruling class to implement unequal treatment trying to achieve equal outcomes. It requires coercion and government forced discrimination.

Today the Sierra Club Climatistas have joined with the wealthy downtown special interests. They are both demanding Billions of new tax dollars be spent on rail/transit in Tampa to be paid for by taxpayers in unincorporated Hillsborough. How "equitable" is that?

The Sierra Club commissioners activists want to raise taxes, explode spending, push their climate change, equity and environmental justice agenda and increase the size and scope of local government. The end justifies the means.

The Sierra Club is on the ballot in Hillsborough County.

Remember in November.