Alex Sink at Largo Library

Focus on 2008: A Tampa Bay Economic Forecast
Thursday, November 15, 2007
3:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Please join the Greater Largo Library Foundation and welcome Florida CFO Alex Sink and local business experts to discuss the significance of how economic trends and global, national & regional issues' impact on our local economy.


A one-hour reception will follow the program with hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. You will, as well, be helping us support the mission of the Largo Public Library. Call 727-586-7398 for more information!

Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Drive
(turn south off East Bay Drive, about a block east of Seminole Blvd./Missouri Ave.)

Visit My Safe Florida Home.

Update: Talk of the bay: Sink delivers message of harsh realities

"I'm here to say that 2008 - cautious, very cautious," ... "And it is possible that the country will go into some kind of recession."

My Safe Florida Home Web Site

Please visit the My Safe Florida Home Web site. Their mission is to help Floridians learn how to harden our homes to better protect ourselves and our families from windstorm damage.

Photo: Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer, State of Florida

From MY Safe Florida Home:

The My Safe Florida Home program offers eligible homeowners free wind inspections from qualified hurricane mitigation inspectors.
We are currently serving more than 50,000 Floridians who applied during the pilot phase, so new applicants should not expect to be served until late summer. Homeowners who receive wind inspections may also have the opportunity to apply for matching grants to make the improvements recommended on their inspection reports.

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Leadership from our new CFO Alex Sink is welcome as this program has had many
problems getting started. I expect to see a big improvement under her stewardship. From the St . Petersburg Times, "Storm
grants baffle homeowners":

When does half of $10,000 not equal $5,000?
Answer: when the state of Florida is doing the math.
Through the My Safe Florida Home program, the state promised a free home inspection and dollar-for-dollar matching grants of up to $5,000 to make improvements to strengthen homes against hurricanes.
But in letters sent the last several weeks to homeowners detailing grant awards, the numbers have fallen short of the $5,000 match required in state law....

Diane Hodson and her husband, Paul Tower, got a free inspection of their St. Petersburg home. The state recommended additional window and door protection that would cost $9,925.
The couple figured that with the matching grant, they would pay half, or $4,962.50. But in its grant award letter to the couple, the state said it would pay $1,940.
The second state estimate for window and door protection was for a stronger fix at a cost of $22,650. Hodson and Tower figured that meant they would pay $17,650 and the state would pay $5,000. But the state said the maximum grant amount for the job would be $3,975.
"It doesn't match if you take half of what the state says it will cost and then look at the items they have on the sheet," Hodson said. "... It's a mess."...