Editor's Note: Cesar Padilla of the HCPTC will resign Friday after corruption charges came to light. I posted this article in 2008. Seems nothing's changed
" I came across this info recently. It seems one of the Hillsborough county Commissioners Kevin White was attempting to bribe Hillsborough County Transportation Interim Commissioner Cesar Padilla for a political payoff.White has been pushing the TPC to double Padilla's salary to $100,000. Why? White had a campaign advisor named Victor DiMaio who Padilla subsequently hired as a lobbyist for $5,000 a month. Some things never change.Does Padilla know how little money the taxi drivers are making at this time because of the climate created by his agency. What makes him worth this much money paid for by fines to cab drivers for not wearing collared shirts and having dirty cabs. This agency needs reform...not more graft. After John Cox, I really thought that would happen.
Read this by By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
At the last Public Transportation Commission meeting, board chairman Kevin White suggested hiring a lobbyist to handle legislative matters.Now, a little more than two weeks later, the agency has a lobbyist: Victor DiMaio, who was a consultant on White's winning campaign for the Hillsborough County Commission last year.White said he had nothing to do with hiring DiMaio.He simply told Cesar Padilla, interim executive director of the PTC, to find someone familiar with the commission, which licenses taxis, limousines and tow trucks.Padilla said he settled on DiMaio."He's been affiliated with the industry for a number of years," Padilla said. "He knows our laws and our rules. It was a short period of time. He fit the profile."He said White, who last month pushed for the PTC to more than double Padilla's salary to $100,000 when he made the leap from chief inspector to interim executive director, never mentioned DiMaio to him."
The PTC should be shut down. This Padilla guy should be thrown in jail like Kevin White was and on top of that, the rest of the employees should be fired and the company eliminated. The employees at the PTC harassed and stalked a friend of mine while they were all on duty because an employee that works there lied to them because she is a vindictive idiot over my friend leaving her. Its imperative that this company be put to rest. My friend is currently thinking about fiulig suit vs the PTC.
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