What else don't we know about the St. Pete Pier AKA Pier Park?

One has to wonder what new surprises await in the "New" St. Pete Pier (Pier Park) design.

St. Petersburg, FL
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want Blog.

  

This past week we were informed that the Kriseman administration has known since June of 2015; the name Pier Park was an infringement of a trademark owned by the St. Joe Company.

See in Bay Post Internet my Post The name game Pier Park now St. Pete Pier.

There was no valid reason to keep all of this on the hush hush when the best the Kriseman team could do for a new name was the St. Pete Pier.

While this may seem a bit trivial in the long run, it begs the bigger question what else are they keeping under wraps?

Most of the design modifications are being conducted just out of public eyesight by the same team that brought us the LENS. Reports to City Council have been broad brush at best, and it is a pretty sure bet that not a single council member has a clue what's actually going on in this phase of a $40+ million dollar contract.

Same can be said for the hastily arranged and approved $20 million "uplands project" where there is even less transparency.

Based on experience it seems unlikely that the Kriseman administration will willingly open up and provide significant information about either of these projects.

One has to wonder what new surprises await in the "New" St. Pete Pier (Pier Park) design. 

The Kriseman administration is desperate to get both projects moving and as this recent revelation would indicate they are really not playing straight with the public or the City Council.

It is time for some serious fact finding. City council would be wise to take some steps to ensure they don't find themselves backed into a political corner on both of these significant and costly projects.

E-mail Doc at mail to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.
Disclosures:

Contributor: Waterfront Charter Amendment (Vote on The Pier), Carly Fiorina for President

The name game Pier Park now St. Pete Pier

St. Pete Pier – kind of bland I think. Here's a thought.

St. Petersburg, FL

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want Blog.

According to a Post in saintpetersblog by Janelle Irwin St. Pete’s Pier Park won’t be named Pier Park the City was notified of a trademark infringement in June.

Additional detail in Tampa Bay Times Waverly Ann Moore article St. Petersburg's Pier Park now simply the St. Pete Pier.

The St. Joe Company owns the Rights to "Pier Park" as shown on their web site Pier Park® North — a joint venture with Casto and Strategic Retail Advisors (SRA), Pier Park® North is a vibrant shopping center located across from Pier Park Lifestyle Center in Panama City Beach. Featuring numerous national retailers, this shopping center opened in 2014 and is currently leasing the limited vacant space it has remaining.

The Kriseman administration reaction from Ben Kirby: "We never really called it Pier Park. Pier Park was the concept name, and we'll call it the St. Pete Pier going forward."

Actually, they did call it Pier Park for quite a while.

It's a pier with a park stuck on it. Obviously, the St. Joe Company doesn't see the irony in all of that and hinted at a law suit. After some significant foot dragging, and I suspect a lot of hand wringing the City opted for the name change.

St. Pete Pier – kind of bland I think. Here's a thought.

Let's set up a committee of citizens to select a more appropriate name.

Kriseman could bring back Mike Connors to chair the committee, for members select a couple of Beach Drive restaurateurs, someone from the Chamber of Commerce, add Lisa Wheeler-Brown for a sure vote on the Mayor's choice, maybe a couple of the lemmings from the original selection committee and an actual citizen or two. Take suggestions from the public and let them think they are actually part of the name selection process.

Connors could write an eloquent rant on why the name St. Pete Pier is a throwback to the past and doesn't capture the grandeur of a park on a pier.

It worked before - right up to the final vote.

E-mail Doc at mail to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:
Contributor: Waterfront Charter Amendment (Vote on The Pier), Carly Fiorina for President

Who would be the next St. Petersburg Mayor?

Too early you say?  Not really.

St. Petersburg, Fl

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want Blog.

  

One of the interesting things about being a blogger, and especially a blogger who writes opinions, is people like to ask you questions.

I have been at several gatherings recently with a number of St. Petersburg employees, and the questions were very interesting.

Apparently Kriseman's inner circle, notably Kevin King and Ben Kirby, are starting to get under the skin of some staffers as they filter inbound and outbound communications with the Mayor's office.

The most recurrent question was "who do you think will be the next St. Petersburg Mayor?' The implication seeming to be Rick Kriseman will either not run or will not be reelected.

I turned the question back by simply asking, "Who would you like to see as mayor?"

The most common answer from senior staff right down to workers was Rick Baker, usually followed with a comment like, "He was tough to work for, but he really got things done and he (Baker) knew how to lead."

Implication noted.

Baker is currently said to be mulling over a run for The US House seat in District 13.

Other names who garnered interest: Karl Nurse and Charlie Gerdes.

Outsiders Scott Wagman and Bill Edwards get favorable mentions.

Now that the midterm City Council election is over it is time to look forward to the next mayoral election.

Too early you say?

Not really.

Some of the knowledgeable political writers, Bloggers and St. Pete movers and shakers need to look around town and throw out some names that are not currently on the radar. Let's see whether some new bolder faces will step up and take an interest in leading Florida's fourth-largest City.

There seems to be a growing consensus that surviving the last two years of the Kriseman administration will be bad enough and four more years of Rick Kriseman will not take St. Pete where it needs to go.

Who would you like to see as St. Pete's next Mayor.

E-mail Doc at mail to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:
Contributor: Waterfront Charter Amendment (Vote on The Pier), Carly Fiorina for President,

Rick Kriseman over playing the strong mayor hand

Kriseman has continued to make unilateral decisions without City Council input.

St. Petersburg, FL

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want Blog.

  

Rick Kriseman seems to have missed the fact he was elected Mayor of St. Petersburg not anointed. From the very outset, Kriseman has pushed the limits of the strong Mayor.

Immediately upon entering office, he appointed two of his top political aids Kevin King and Ben Kirby to highly paid staff positions, making him the first strong St. Petersburg Mayor to practice open cronyism.

Kriseman has continued to make unilateral decisions without City Council input.

His failure to respect the public's view of the Pier and deliberately manipulating the Pier selection process have left many with declining respect for the Mayor.

The poor handling and cover-up of the facts around recent waste water discharges into the Bay, and Clam Bayou have people questioning his honesty and integrity.

Kriseman is the first St. Petersburg strong Mayor to create his own "Communications Director" to distribute what at times could best be described as propaganda.

The problem is getting worse with City Council as reported by John Romano in the Tampa Bay Times article Tension between Kriseman, council becoming harder to ignore.

Kriseman's history is telling.

Kriseman's first City Council terms resulted in lackluster accomplishment along with some hijinks.

His terms in the State legislature were mostly marked by his failure to work with his fellow legislators and accomplish any significant legislative trail. The talk was he didn't work well with his fellow legislators.

Now, here in St. Petersburg, Kriseman and his Chief of Staff seem to be following the Kriseman pattern and alienating City Council and staff.

We are currently just about half way through Kriseman's first term.

If you read the Ben Kirby propaganda post SUNblast, you would come away thinking all is well.

However, on key issues like crime in south St. Pete, failing schools, job creation, the Rays, building a pier "the people want" and transparency on major issues like the waste-water spill the Kriseman administration is coming up short.

Kriseman has about six to eight months before he begins to consider running for a second term.

How long will the Mayor keep his two top political operatives on the City payroll as we head for the next mayoral election?

Will he work to improve relations with City Council?

Will any of the current or soon to be elected City Council members support a Kriseman second term?

Will he live up to his campaign promises of transparency?

Kriseman has a lot of work to do for the City and for his reelection.

E-mail Doc at mail to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:       

The Office of the Mayor – is it worth the money?

St. Petersburg, FL
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb, PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want to Blog

  

During last Thursday's St. Pete City Council meeting the Karl Nurse District 6 City Council member indicated that as part of the City Budget process he had asked Mayor Kriseman for a report on the accomplishments of the team of people hired to staff the "Office of the Mayor".

That would be Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin, Chief of Staff Kevin King, and Communications Director Ben Kirby along with some support staff.

All of that adds up to about $900,000 in salary and benefits including the Mayor and Council member Nurse was looking for information on payback for the public's investment in this new layer of administration.

Council member Nurse indicated he was disappointed because there had been no report or even a response from the Mayor's office.

The office of Mayor was a creation of Rick Kriseman probably before he ever set foot in City Hall as the elected Mayor. King and Kirby are longtime political cronies of the Mayor and these jobs are simply high paid political crony appointments.

King has no credentials for the position he occupies; he is careful to make sure his fingerprints are on as little as possible. Kirby, a writer and Blogger, is at least qualified for the position he holds, problem is one floor down in City Hall is a fully staffed marketing department that should be doing the communications job.

The concept of a loyal office of the Mayor might have been a good idea if Kriseman had staffed it with some qualified, experience people instead of political sidekicks.

Tomalin is a bit different in that the objective was to get a successful African American as high up in the organization as possible. Think Don McRea.

In reality after nearly a year on the job Tomalin has very little to hang her hat on in the way of significant accomplishments. I suspect that is more Kriseman's fault than hers.

Nurse indicated he had hoped the report could showcase some of the accomplishments of the office of the Mayor.

The reason Nurse didn't get his report is because there is nothing to report.

The taxpayers are not really getting much for the money being spent on the Office of the Mayor other than some political maneuvering, some cute posts in the Mayor's e-mail blast and keeping the reelection team well fed.

E-mail Doc at: mailto:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos

Disclosures:

Contributor: Waterfront Charter Amendment (Vote on The Pier), Carly Fiorina for President.