Day 27: February 16, 2010

How great it was to have my mother and chairwoman of the Lawton Chiles Foundation, Rhea, join us in Tampa. At USF's Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center, the venue chosen for our awards luncheon, my mom came to present prizes to the Pasco High students from Dade City who won the Worst To First education video competition. In addition to those receiving awards, a number of community leaders and some elected officials, like Commissioner Kevin Bechner, attended as well. The Commissioner led an important discussion regarding the need for juvenile justice reform in Florida and in particular, Hillsborough County. With the highest teen incarceration rate in the state and the associated costs of incarceration in the hundred millions, the Commissioner reiterated that the need for reform is intense. The priority to stop spending tax dollars on failure and start investing them in success seems an easy decision to make.

Later on that day, I was joined by Lloyd Dunkleberger of the New York Times papers for a five mile walk from USF to Sulfur Springs Boys and