Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 9-18-15 Edition

Local
NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet Honorees Chosen
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Friday, October 30th, members of the Hillsbor- ough County Branch NAACP and its Executive Committee will host the 2015 Annual Freedom Fund Dinner. The event will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel at USF.
The theme for this year is
“Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice.”
Hillsborough County NAACP Branch President Dr. Bennie Small will serve as the Chairman of the 2015 Freedom Fund Dinner this year. The Honorary Co- Chairpersons for the ban- quet have not been announced.
The keynote speaker for the banquet is businessman Simeon O. Terry, Corpo- rate Director of Diversity Af- fairs for Austin Commercial, L. P., of Dallas, Texas.
Since joining the firm in 2000, Terry has provided strategic leadership for Mi- nority and Women DBE procurement, small busi- ness development pro- grams, business development, diversity and inclusion training, talent management, hiring and re- tention of diverse workforce.
Additionally, he has es- tablished and implemented plans and processes to in- sure continuous growth, de- velopment, procurement opportunities and capacity building with its minority and women-owned busi- nesses.
Terry obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Indus- trial Engineering from Kansas State University. He continued his education at the facility and was awarded a Masters in Business Ad- ministration Finance.
In the past, members of the community nominated individuals as award recipi- ents for the Living Leg- end, Unsung Hero, and Living Bridges Award.
This year, the organiza- tion has chosen to make the selections from within. At- torney Jeraldine Williams Smith is the re-
DR. BENNIE SMALL President, Hillsborough County Branch NAACP
JULIANNE HOLT Hillsborough County Public Defender Unsung Hero Award
Recipient
ATTORNEY JERALDINE SMITH WILLIAMS
... Living Legend Award Recipient
cipient of the Living Leg- end Awards.
The recipients of the Un- sung Hero Awards are Mrs. Renee Panko, Hills- borough County Public De- fender Julianne Holt, and Tampa Fire Chief Tom Forward.
Ms. Lou Ann Wash- ington and Robert Cole, Sr., were chosen as recipi- ents of the Living Bridges Awards.
The NAACP’s kick-off event for the dinner is “Freedom Fund Sun- day,” which will take place on Sunday, October 4th. The Hillsborough County Branch NAACP will partner with community churches to promote the Freedom Fund Dinner on this date.
Executive Committee representatives from the local branch will worship with local congregations and provide information about the dinner and membership following church services.
For additional informa- tion about the dinner con- tact the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP at (813) 234-8683 or visit the website at www.hillsbor- oughnaacp.org.
SIMEON O. TERRY Keynote Speaker
THOMAS FORWARD Tampa Fire Chief Unsung Hero Award Recipient
ROBERT COLE, SR. Living Bridges Award Recipient
MRS. RENEE PANKO Unsung Hero Award Recipient
City Council Approves Property Tax Increase
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
On Tuesday, to keep up with rising property values, the Tampa City Council ap- proved a 5% property tax in- crease for next year.
Council Chair Frank Reddick said they didn’t au- tomatically raise property taxes.
“We are assuming the same tax base we’ve had for the past 8 years.
“The tax increase was nec- essary because of all the new construction projects going on. Homeowners will pay the increase based on the new as- sessment of a rise in property values. With a rise in prop- erty values.”
COUNCIL CHAIR FRANK REDDICK
$5.73 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed taxable property value.
“To put it simply, with a rise in property values, the assessed value of your prop- erty also goes up, and that means you pay an increase,” said Council Chair Red- dick.
Mayor Bob
horn’s $850.2
budget for 2016 is founded on the same property tax rate of
Buck-
million
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015