By Yacob Reyes, Axios
More than a hundred people are expected to attend Wednesday’s Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting, even though a commissioner described the agenda as “very dull.”
Why it matters: Sheila Simmons Tribble, co-president of Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality (HOPE), knows no major action is planned — that’s the point.
- Residents will use the 45 minutes set aside for public comment to urge commissioners to advocate for affordable housing.
Catch up quick: The organization successfully lobbied the commission in 2019 — then under a Democratic majority — to create an affordable housing trust and commit $10 million to it each year.
- Republicans slashed the HOPE trust fund’s annual allocation from $10 million to $2 million after gaining control of the commission in 2023. The commission did so again last year.
- Three commissioners tried to eliminate the trust fund last year, but Commissioner Ken Hagan (R) sided with Democrats to save it. With fewer Democrats now, the trust fund may not survive another vote.
The big picture: One-third of Hillsborough County’s residents pay over 30% of their monthly income on housing, making them among the most financially squeezed in the state, the Florida Housing Coalition reports.
- The HOPE fund has helped build over a thousand new affordable housing units, Simmons Tribble tells Axios.
- The commission also tapped it to help those Hurricane Milton displaced last year, a move that Commissioner Joshua Wostal (R) supported, even though he often swings the axe at the fund.
What they’re saying: “There is no vote tomorrow,” says Simmons Tribble. “But our presence, our numbers will be our voice, advocating for a community-centered priority: affordable housing for all.”
- “This isn’t something that we’re just going to walk away from,” she adds. “We will be there in our purple shirts, in the name of progress and equality because that’s what we want for our county.”
What’s next: Simmons Tribble believes the commission might attempt to scrap the trust this year.
- That decision could lie with new Commissioner Chris Boles (R), with whom she says the organization had a “good meeting.”
View the original story here.
