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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Hillsborough County BOCC Regular Meeting - October 21, 2026

Hillsborough County Archive View Page — Wednesday, October 21, 2026

BodyHillsborough County, Florida

SessionHillsborough County Archive View Page

DateWednesday, October 21, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:54:28

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

To that dog call right now.

0:01

So we'll go out, we'll assess the situation.

0:04

I mean,

Speaker 2

0:04

look at it.

0:04

These dogs look like garbage.

Speaker 3

0:06

I mean, that's just about.

0:07

Did you see those facts through there?

Speaker 1

0:08

She was very upset about losing all of her cats.

0:12

She she called me up a few times in tears.

0:15

I need my photos.

0:16

I need to be able

Speaker 4

0:16

to paint this picture for the judge so that he sees what I see.

1:46

Representing District One, Harry Cohen.

1:52

Representing District Two, Ken Hagen.

1:56

Representing District Three, Gwen Myers.

2:01

Representing District Four, Christine Miller.

2:06

Representing District Five, Donna Cameron Cepeda.

2:11

Representing District Six, Chris Bowles.

2:16

Representing District 7, Joshua Wostel.

2:21

The County Administrator is Bonnie Wise.

Unassigned speaker

2:26

The

Speaker 4

2:26

County Attorney is Julia Mandel.

2:29

Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue.

2:35

So we have time for everyone.

2:36

Speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes.

2:41

Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning by Hillsborough Television.

Unassigned speaker

2:51

Good

Speaker 5

2:51

morning, and welcome to the October 21st, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners.

2:58

Would everyone please rise for the pledge and invocation given by our chaplain, Commissioner Gwynmyers.

Speaker 6

3:09

And to the Republicans, who we stand one nation under God, indivisible with liberty

Speaker 7

3:16

and call.

Speaker 6

3:19

All powerful and almighty God.

3:22

Thank you for each day that you sustain us and to allow us to do your will.

3:29

Thank you for um young leaders, the middle students and high school students who are leaders here today to receive the Yay Award.

3:41

Continue to bless our first responders as we recognize them this morning.

3:56

Father, I ask and I thank you for our raise making it to the world series.

4:20

Again, bless this meeting.

Unassigned speaker

4:51

Uh

Speaker 5

4:52

awards, the youth excellent and achievement awards.

Unassigned speaker

5:00

Uh this is the 16th year of the program, which was created to recognize young people's positive contributions in areas such as academics, community service, and the performing arts.

Speaker 5

5:06

I look I look forward to this ceremony every year, and I know the entire Board of County Commissioners and staff does as well.

5:12

It gives us great hope for the future to see how much these young people have accomplished in such a short amount of time.

5:19

Before we introduce the winners, I want to recognize members of the Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women.

5:25

The COSW does an outstanding job each year of selecting the YA award winners.

5:31

I know it must be a challenge to pick uh just a handful of winners from all the wonderful uh nominees that we have.

5:38

We appreciate their work.

5:39

So please, if the members of the COSW, please stand so we can uh recognize

Unassigned speaker

5:44

you.

Speaker 5

5:50

At this time, I would like to invite uh Chair Lee Lowry uh to come up forward here.

5:55

And I know there's another special guest.

5:57

Also like to invite uh Tony.

5:59

Uh Tony's not here.

6:01

Okay.

6:01

He has a difficult last name, so I'm glad I didn't have to say that.

6:04

Makes it easy.

6:05

So uh lee, thank you very much for being here and for uh your your service.

6:09

If you please come and uh say a few words.

Speaker 8

6:12

Thank you, Chair Hagan, and thanks to the whole commission, especially the person who appointed me, Commissioner Rostal.

6:18

Um, so I'm very pleased to be the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, and this is one of the most fun things we do every year is to these amazing students.

6:27

Um we'll talk about them in just a second.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Youth Programs███████████████15%

Agricultural Support█████████████13%

Public Safety█████████9%

Substance Abuse Recovery████████8%

Policy Review████████8%

Procedural███████7%

Animal Welfare██████6%

Affordable Housing██████6%

Tourism█████5%

Summary of Proceedings

Hillsborough County BOCC Regular Meeting - October 21, 2026

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners held its regular meeting on October 21, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. The meeting included ceremonial recognitions, public comments, several public hearings, and votes on funding, ordinances, and land-use certifications. Key actions included approving $5 million for ZooTampa capital improvements, reallocating $2.9 million in HOPE funds to the Pet Resource Center, denying an agricultural enclave application, and receiving reports from Visit Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council.

Consent Calendar

A-1 (Removed for discussion): Five SHIP program funding agreements for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation and demolition/reconstruction, totaling $6.85 million, were approved except for the East Tampa Business & Community Development Alliance (ETBCDA) agreement, which was voted down 5-2 (Commissioners Bowles and Wostal voted no) after Commissioner Wostal’s motion to divide the question. The remaining five agreements passed 7-0.
A-6 (Removed for highlighting): Ordinance relating to e-bikes, bicycles, motorized scooters, and micromobility devices – approved to advertise and schedule a public hearing for November 10, 2026.
All other consent items (A-2 through A-62) were approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

Animal Shelter: Multiple speakers (including Julie the dog’s owner John Marinello, Dr. Betsy Coville) urged immediate construction of a new animal shelter, citing dangerous conditions (recent electrical fire) and the $43 million already allocated. They opposed using funds for temporary fixes and requested a timeline matching the pace of the Rays stadium project.
Kratom Ban: Several speakers (Ellen Snelling, Mary Huff, Dana McDonald, Olivia McDonald, Rachel Reynolds, Leanne Bennati, Teresa Bennati) testified in favor of banning all kratom products, describing personal tragedies of overdose deaths and addiction. They urged the Board to expand the proposed synthetic drug ordinance (Item A-5) to include natural kratom and its active compounds.
Towing Rates: Anthony Huffman (towing association) and Stephen McCalini supported a rate increase, citing rising costs (fuel, insurance, equipment). Justin Heller (Professional Wrecker Operators of Florida) requested a 25% adjustment rather than the proposed 15%.
E-Bikes: Frank Santini, a personal injury attorney, shared data on e-bike crashes and urged careful definitional strategies in the upcoming ordinance.
ZooTampa CIT (Public Hearing): Chris Masaro (ZooTampa) spoke in support of adding ZooTampa capital improvements to the CIT project list, noting the zoo lacks CRA funding available to other cultural institutions. Andrea Thomas spoke in opposition, concerned about potential impacts to Lowry Park green space.
Agricultural Enclave (Public Hearing): Multiple opponents (Jane Graham, Dr. James Barry, Brittany Barry, Nathan Smith) argued the property is not undeveloped (active mining operation) and does not meet statutory perimeter requirements. The applicant (Jim Porter, Sam Sabelli) maintained the property qualifies under the “700 acres or less” alternative and that the mining had ceased.

Discussion Items

YEA Awards & First Responders Day Proclamation: The Board recognized six middle and high school students for volunteerism, leadership, and overcoming adversity. Commissioner Boles presented a proclamation declaring October 28, 2026, as First Responders Day in Hillsborough County.
D-2 / B-3: ZooTampa CIT Funding (Time Certain 10:00 a.m.): The Board conducted a public hearing and voted 4-3 (Commissioners Hagan, Cohen, Myers dissenting) to add ZooTampa Capital Improvements to the Renewed CIT project list and approved a $5 million FY27 budget amendment from CIT Extension reserves. The $5 million is the first installment of a planned $75 million contribution over 15 years.
E-1: Visit Tampa Bay Activity Report (10:15 a.m.): President/CEO Santiago Corrada reported another record fiscal year with hotel taxable revenue exceeding $1 billion for the fourth consecutive year, and highlighted marketing successes, tourism academy partnerships, and free media value of $24 million.
E-2: Tampa Bay EDC Activity Report (10:30 a.m.): President/CEO Craig Richard reported 22 companies announced, 1,130 new jobs, $187 million capital investment, and $2.8 million in non-government funding. The Board noted the $100,000 budget increase for enhanced branding.
B-1: Cass Street Underpass Extension: Approved a $200,000 funding agreement with Friends of the Riverwalk for preliminary engineering design, matched by the City of Tampa. Motion passed 7-0.
B-2: CDBG-DR Workforce Training Program: Approved a $1.545 million subrecipient agreement with Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida for a trades training and certification program benefiting lower-income residents and increasing the construction labor pool. Motion passed 7-0.
Commissioner Items:
- F-1 (Cameron Cepeda): Increased funding to Veterans Helping Veterans by $10,000 to $30,000 (7-0).
- F-2 (Cohen): Renamed the Warren Elly Media Room to include Mark Zewalk (7-0).
- F-3 (Myers): Approved sponsorship for 2027 United Bikerz Jamboree ($22,500) (6-0, one abstention).
- F-4 (Myers): Approved sponsorship for 2027 Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival & Music Fest ($46,875) (5-1, Cameron Cepeda dissenting).
- F-5 (Myers): Approved sponsorship for Be Out Day Tampa Bay ($10,000) (6-0).
- F-6 (Myers): Approved sponsorship for 2027 Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival ($18,750) (5-1, Cameron Cepeda dissenting).
G-1: Towing/Immobilization Rates Review: Staff presented a report on rate adjustments. Commissioner Miller moved to direct staff to bring back a resolution updating rates as staff recommended. Motion passed 7-0.
G-2: Board Policy Workgroup Report: Staff presented a comprehensive review of 251 board policies, recommending rescinding 104, updating 122, maintaining 25, and creating 3 new ones to reduce policies to 150. Commissioner Bowles initially moved to adopt the recommendations; after discussion about needing more time to review, the Board voted 7-0 to accept the report and bring back a block vote at the next meeting.
G-3: HOPE Affordable Housing Trust Funds Report: Staff reported $12.8 million unspent, with $2.9 million unallocated. Commissioner Miller moved to reallocate the $2.9 million to the Pet Resource Center project, preserving the $3.2 million under an active RFP for affordable housing. Motion passed 7-0.

Key Outcomes

Approved: ZooTampa CIT amendment and $5 million budget (4-3)
Approved: SHIP program agreements (5 of 6, 7-0; ETBCDA voted down 5-2)
Approved: B-1 Riverwalk design funding (7-0)
Approved: B-2 Workforce training program (7-0)
Approved: Commissioner sponsorship items (various votes)
Approved: G-1 Towing rate review (directed to bring resolution) (7-0)
Approved: G-3 HOPE fund reallocation of $2.9 million to Pet Resource Center (7-0)
Denied: D-1 Agricultural Enclave certification (6-1, Cameron Cepeda dissenting)
Deferred: G-2 Board Policy Workgroup recommendations to next meeting for block vote (7-0)
Scheduled: Public hearing for kratom ordinance (A-5) and e-bike ordinance (A-6) for November 10, 2026.
Recognized: YEA Awards recipients and First Responders Day proclamation.

Meeting Transcript

To that dog call right now. So we'll go out, we'll assess the situation. I mean, look at it. These dogs look like garbage. I mean, that's just about. Did you see those facts through there? She was very upset about losing all of her cats. She she called me up a few times in tears. I need my photos. I need to be able to paint this picture for the judge so that he sees what I see. Representing District One, Harry Cohen. Representing District Two, Ken Hagen. Representing District Three, Gwen Myers. Representing District Four, Christine Miller. Representing District Five, Donna Cameron Cepeda. Representing District Six, Chris Bowles. Representing District 7, Joshua Wostel. The County Administrator is Bonnie Wise. The County Attorney is Julia Mandel. Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue. So we have time for everyone. Speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes. Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning by Hillsborough Television. Good morning, and welcome to the October 21st, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Would everyone please rise for the pledge and invocation given by our chaplain, Commissioner Gwynmyers. And to the Republicans, who we stand one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and call. All powerful and almighty God. Thank you for each day that you sustain us and to allow us to do your will. Thank you for um young leaders, the middle students and high school students who are leaders here today to receive the Yay Award. Continue to bless our first responders as we recognize them this morning. Father, I ask and I thank you for our raise making it to the world series. Again, bless this meeting. Uh awards, the youth excellent and achievement awards. Uh this is the 16th year of the program, which was created to recognize young people's positive contributions in areas such as academics, community service, and the performing arts. I look I look forward to this ceremony every year, and I know the entire Board of County Commissioners and staff does as well. It gives us great hope for the future to see how much these young people have accomplished in such a short amount of time. Before we introduce the winners, I want to recognize members of the Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women. The COSW does an outstanding job each year of selecting the YA award winners. I know it must be a challenge to pick uh just a handful of winners from all the wonderful uh nominees that we have. We appreciate their work. So please, if the members of the COSW, please stand so we can uh recognize you. At this time, I would like to invite uh Chair Lee Lowry uh to come up forward here. And I know there's another special guest.

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