Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 4-8-16 Edition

Features
New Chairman Selected:
House Fire Leaves 13 People Displaced
A family of 13 and a dog were displaced by a house fire on Curtis Street.
Activists Upset By Actions At City Council
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Thursday morning, members of City Council se- lected a Chairperson for City Council and the CRA (Com- munity Redevelopment Agency). However, some in attendance at the meeting voiced concerns about the manner in which the individ- uals were chosen.
Bishop Michelle Patty
said, “As a Black community, we have to let them know that we no longer vote down the party line. What they did to Frank Reddick this morning was awful. They voted about 13 times and could not decide on who the next Chairperson would be.
“Then they (Council members) back-doored Frank. The tie was between Reddick, Mike Suarez, and Harry Cohen. Coun- cilwoman Lisa Monte- lione suggested they vote for Harry Cohen as the Vice Chairman and he was chosen.
“Then they voted on
Councilwoman Yoli Capin as the Chairman of the CRA. Then they came back to vote on the Chair- man for City Council because they had the votes they needed to choose Mike
Suarez. They had no prob- lem with Charlie Miranda serving as Chairman for 4 years.
“They (candidates) had better understand that Blacks are no longer voting on the Democratic ticket. We are looking at records and we are not supporting wolves in sheep’s clothing,” she said.
Bishop Patty further said that none of the Council members came to Red- dick’s defense when Vin- cent Gericitano, President of the PBA, made a “throat- slashing gesture during the vote. No one denounced that action.
“We are vetting candi- dates and we are going with what’s best for the commu- nity,” she said.
Pete Edwards said, “The candidates don’t see us as a threat anymore. And, it’s clear that the PBA is still
controlling the City Hall, the Police Department, and the Courts.
“We won’t see another Black as the Chairman of City Council now for another 10 years. I’m disappointed, but not surprised.”
When contacted by the
Sentinel, Councilman Reddick said (Vincent) Gericitano had been calling Council members for about the last 3 weeks asking them not to vote for him to con- tinue as Chairman. He fur- ther said that every time the vote was taken Gericitano made faces and gestures.
“He looked at Lisa (Montelione) and made a gesture and I caught it. That’s why I told him that was totally unprofessional to be gesturing, especially in a public venue. It was a plot to get me out and that’s what they did today.”
At 4:53 p. m. Wednesday, Tampa Fire rescue units re- sponded to a fire at 802 East Curtis Street. When units ar- rived, they found heavy smoke and flames coming from the single-story, brick and wood home.
Due to the size and inten- sity of the flames, crews fought the fire defensively from the outside until they had the fire controlled enough to enter the structure safely. Tenants of the home said everyone was accounted for.
According to the American Red Cross, there were three separate families living in the home, 10 of them children with their ages ranging from 4 months to 16 years old. There was also a dog.
The American Red cross was notified about the people displaced and rendered them assistance. No one was in- jured.
Fire Marshal’s Office ar- rived and instituted an inves- tigation to determine the cause and origin of the fire.
COUNCILMAN BISHOP PETE FRANK REDDICK MICHELLE EDWARDS
PATTY
Fire Damages Ybor City Amphitheater
Tampa Fire Rescue re- sponded to a fire at the Am- phitheater Club at 1609 East 7th Avenue at 7:47 p. m. Wednesday.
The first units on the scene reported seeing heavy smoke coming from the roof of the two-story brick build- ing. Three workers inside the building at the time escaped safely, and the neighboring units in the row were evacu- ated.
At this time, it is believed a welder was doing work to the ceiling when an arc ig- nited material covering the ceiling that spread through- out the structure. The auto-
Scene from the Am- phitheater Fire in Ybor City.
matic sprinkler system did operate, but was not enough to completely extinguish the fire.
Firefighters had the fire under control at 1:30 a.m. and reported that two fire- fighters were injured.
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016