The New St. Pete Pier is starting to look like a financial train wreck

If  St. Pete has to put another $5, $10 or even $20 million into the project to get something workable, it is time to step up to the plate.

St. Petersburg, Fl

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

John Romano the Tampa Bay Times converted sports writer has an interesting and insightful piece in the Tampa Bay Times Romano: The St. Petersburg Pier is too important to get all cheap now

Reality has set in and what was carefully manipulated through the "public process" cannot be built for the amount available.

I don't know about you, but I am not surprised. I had a bit of the same sensation this weekend as my wife and I, who are looking for a new home, found this really lovely one for about $400,000, which seems a bit out of reach.

Romano comes up with the perfect solution: increase the budget.

I agree.

If  St. Pete has to put another $5, $10 or even $20 million into the project to get something workable, it is time to step up to the plate and do it. (I hate baseball metaphors, but it seems to work here.)

Romano takes exception to the bait and switch argument see my post Bait and Switch? Entice and transfer? Deflect and deceive? The New New Pier design is here.

Need more? Check out my Post The stampede to the new pier

I doubt if John knows what a bait and switch really is, but I did 10 years with Sears Roebuck 5 in management in the 80s and believe me, I know bait and switch when I see it.

The real issue is when Kriseman, and his crack dream team decided to turn Mike Connors lose to derail the public process, so they could tear down a $20 to $30 million asset they had no clue that they were being hoodwinked by the designers they were pushing. Or did they?

Sort of brings up the question did this design team know in advance they were a shoo in? Maybe Mike Deeson can take a look at that one.

Since I am waxing metaphorical, the horse is out of the barn, the die is cast, the chickens have come home to roost, or add your own the St. Pete Pier has become the expected mess.

All you folks in the arts community had better start tightening your belts and before those of you working on South, St. Pete programs funded by the City start spending, I would make sure you have the promised money in the bank.

The thing I really like about the City pitching in extra millions of dollars to build something most people do not want is that it makes a great Kriseman scoreboard.

Every dollar Kriseman has to squeeze out of somewhere to build the Pier is another reason not to vote 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:
Contributor: Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff

Bait and Switch? Entice and transfer? Deflect and deceive? The New New Pier design is here

No one should be too surprised given the Kriseman efforts to push this disaster through the process and get the old Pier torn down.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

The long-awaited  St. Pete Pier Design proposal is here, and I bet you thought it would actually resemble the design the Kriseman administration crammed down your throat.

Boy were you wrong.

My original graphic was closer than I ever dreamed.

This thing looks like an outhouse on stilts.

No one should be too surprised given the Kriseman efforts to push this disaster through the process and get the old Pier torn down.

Here is an e-mail I received:

Speaking of jokes, bad jokes, this new pier design is even worse than the first one.  The Times' blog is so telling, nobody likes it and they are roaring again.  I have heard that there is a petition to take it on via the City Charter.  They are making a royal mess of the waterfront and I remember the people at the Birchwood Hotel objected to the City fostering restaurant development on the pier and how parking is being reduced.  HELP!  Isn't there something that someone of your stature can do?  Nobody listens to us "little people"  You know, when St Pete designed their own piers, they were great.  This one is terrible and will have huge subsidies and reduced attendance.  That picture of the upscale crowd at the proposed restaurant is telling.  They don't want us locals down there.  How dare they?  If you remember, not one restaurant company put in a bid for the proposed restaurant at the end and do you think that they would listen?  nope.  Everyone is calling it Potty Park again as the fresh water wading pool is still in the design and since they are working to get the homeless people out of Williams Park, they will proably gravitate to the wading pool and ample bathrooms.  I hate to say it but this mayor is worst than the last one. - JC

Tampa Bay Times Waverly Ann More asked the $46 million question in her article Is the new pier design what City Council approved?

Will Kriseman's fellow Democrats fall in line with the Mayor praising the new design as what the people want or will someone have the courage to blow the whistle on this mess and go back to the drawing board?

Their answers will be interesting.

Where was the City staff responsible for this project during this process? It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out this design is going to be a serious problem with the public and reopen some old wounds.

It looks to me like a lot of money is going into plans and politics that should be going into bricks and mortar...

Unless I miss my guess, Kriseman and his team are in for some rough meetings as the public process goes forward.

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: Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff

Kriseman/Tomalin plan for South St. Pete approved

There are people in St. Pete, who make a lot of money from the area defined by the TIF.

St. Petersburg, FL

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

  

Thursday's St. Pete City Council meeting consideration of the South St. Pete CRA and TIF and the plan to implement them was a high-water mark in the City's long running struggle with south St. Pete. Mayor Rick Kriseman and his team deserve a lot of credit for getting the City to this point.

Not all went smoothly as the President of the local NAACP president spoke against the plan.

You can get a good sense of the plan and the issues in these two articles by Tampa Bay Times writer Charlie Frago:

Tampa Bay Times, Charlie Frago, St. Petersburg City Council approves South St. Pete TIF programs

Tampa Bay Times, Charlie Frago, In effort to boost Midtown, City Council approves anti-poverty program

After an intense debate and agreement to modify, the plan slightly by making more of the funds available for workforce training City Council adopted the plan unanimously.

During the discussion on a number of occasions, speakers referred to the plan as a multi generational change. Current thinking puts a generation at 20 to 25 years.

The plan looks solid, if it works, as it should it would be self-funding through the life of the TIF.

Assuming it takes a generation and a half to affect serious change that is over 30 years. What does the City do in the meantime?

There are serious questions.

Unrest and discontent run deep in South St. Pete.

In the midst of the discussion, the meeting was interrupted by a protest from the UHURUs

St. Petersburg Tribune, TBO Staff Bag accidentally left in St. Pete city hall after Uhuru protest triggers brief evacation

See my Post from one year ago The Two Faces off South St. Pete.

Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch commented that the plan was a good strong foundation and now "it is time to build the house."

If you buy into the general fact, a generation is 20 years, then the current generation is probably the easiest group to get to with the plan's elements.

Can the plan provide training and create jobs for this group more attractive than drug dealing and more acceptable than having babies and living on ADC, food stamps and Welfare programs?

Moreover, not to be overlooked is a group of people who will not want these programs to succeed.

Poverty is big business.

There are people in St. Pete, who make a lot of money from the area defined by the TIF.

The easy ones to pick out are the drug dealers, pimps, gang leaders and the crime lords, but equally egregious are the slumlords, absentee property owners, payday loan operations, social service groups and even some churches that would exploit the very programs meant to break the circle of poverty.

The subset of our society that lives off south St. Pete's poverty is neither small nor powerless.

Plans that plant trees, pave streets and put up streetlights do not bother them much, but plans like Mayor Kriseman's strike at heart of their enterprises.

Lisa Wheeler-Brown said it best when speaking about accountability, "So that people who have their own agenda will not be able to pocket what is really the community's. I have lived here my whole life, and it is no secret what I'm saying."

Ken Welch is right we have the foundation now let's build the house. Everyone in St. Petersburg has a stake in seeing things improve in south St. Pete. The resistance will be subtle at first, perhaps like the comments from the NAACP President, and stronger as the programs begin to roll out and become successful.

Mayor Kriseman, Deputy Mayor Tomalin and the team need to be diligent in their implementation of this plan and not afraid to call out those who would pervert the process.

This plan is a long road. Those starting it will not be the ones that finish it. It is up to the people to stay the course.

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: Carly Fiorina for President, Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff

Mayor Kriseman stepping up on South St. Pete

Kudos goes to Mayor Kriseman for stepping up and taking action on a serious St. Pete issue.

St. Petersburg, Fl

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb, PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

  

Sunday Mayor Rick Kriseman did the right thing and pledged 1 million dollars in immediate aid to St. Pete’s south side.

Here are a couple of links with details:

Tampa Bay Times Claire McNeill Mayor Kriseman pledges $1 million to fight violence and poverty in St. Petersburg

Janelle Irwin, saintpetersblog: Rick Kriseman pledges $1 million for immediate South St. Pete improvements

Kudos go to Mayor Kriseman for stepping up and taking some immediate action on a serious St. Pete issue.

Kriseman plans to focus his latest spending on creating opportunities, including improving education, skills training and job placement.

Kriseman also wants to focus efforts on what he calls a “catalyst for commerce” by increasing job recruitment and business retention. He wants to increase efforts to boost cultural, arts and improve neighborhoods.

There are some questions and some serious concerns.

First, was City Council aware of the Mayor’s plan before the announcement or was this another Kriseman “surprise." Given the serious nature of the problems the Mayor is trying to address the whole chicken and egg question should not be a big issue, but some,  ala Jim Kennedy may be a bit miffed.

A second and much more serious issue is how all this money will be managed. I can imagine even as I am writing this the line is forming outside City Hall with all the usual suspects who like to get their hands in a City pie. With Kriseman throwing in arts and culture, he just made the line longer.

There is a real opportunity to do some good with the Mayor’s initiative if it is well managed and focused.

Giving money to the same organizations that have been running programs that feather their nest and do not work would be a big mistake. The last thing we need is this money being used to buy cars, office space, trips and consultants.

City council should hold this one close to the vest; maybe even manage these programs in house through the Deputy Mayor’s office. It would be better to add a little internal administrative overhead than have this thing blow up in a scandal.

It might be better if the task force were more advisory than managerial.

I believe everyone in St. Pete would be in favor of spending the Million and probably a lot more in south St. Pete if we could get a structure that could actually deliver results.

  

Which brings me to my final point.

This is not a onetime effort. Even if it is applied absolutely perfectly, one million dollars will barely scratch the surface. This effort needs to be a City budget line item that should increase by at least 25% for the next five years. Even that may not be enough.

If you think I am going overboard, I encourage you to get in your car and drive through south St. Pete.

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. 

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

The St. Pete-Tampa Ferry - A real fairy tale

If the Ferry brings three full loads to a Rays game that's 300 people or about 2.2% of the average attendance.

St. Petersburg, FL

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

  

While south St. Pete struggles with just about every conceivable problem a community could have the Kriseman administration is in a head long rush to get a pilot project for a ferry from downtown Tampa to downtown St. Pete.

Part of the hype from the Mayor's office is what a boon the Ferry will be for attendance at the Rays Games.

The numbers just don't play out. Look at our Post from Eye on Tampa Bay by Sharon Calvert: The Ferry and the Numbers

If the Ferry brings three full loads to a Rays game that's 300 people.

Assuming an average attendance of 13,500, that is a total impact of about 2.2% per game.

Why not ask the Rays for a couple of hundred thousand dollars to test the effort, so we can get an idea of how they feel about the concept.

The trip from Tampa to St. Pete is just over 20 miles. Estimates the Ferry trip would take a little over an hour is probably low. If you add boarding and unloading, it is more like 1.5 hours.

Let's look at an estimate of total commute time to and from Tampa for a Ray's game:

To the Rays game from Tampa
Drive time to Ferry landing and parking 35 minutes
Ferry boarding 20 minutes
Ferry Trip to St. Pete 1 hour 30 minutes
Unload Ferry 20 minutes
Commute from St. Pete Ferry Port to Tropicana Field 20 minutes
One way time to game 3 Hours 5 minutes

Return to Tampa
Return from the Trop to St. Pete Ferry Port 30 minutes
Ferry boarding and departure 30 minutes (Assumes departure delay due to multiple trips from Trop to the terminal to get all riders to the Ferry)
Ferry Trip to Tampa 1 hour 30 minutes
Unload Ferry and get to car 20 minutes
Drive Home 35 Minutes
Return Trip 3 hours 25 minutes

Round Trip for first group of 100 would be about 6 hours and 30 minutes.

If you are in the second group of 100, you have to wait for 2 plus hours for the Ferry to return from Tampa for your trip, and if you are in the third group 2 or more hours more for your ride to Tampa.

Assuming the game is over at 9:30PM the total commute and wait time of the third group could be over 10 hours.

Most practical would be an inter modal approach with a Ferry ride to the game and busses to take everyone  back to their cars in Tampa when the game is over.

Throw in the fact that Tampa Bay can get rough in a hurry, sea fog, foul weather and night time commercial traffic in the ship channel and the Ferry is interesting to say the least.

Similar scenarios can be developed for casual daytime tourist Ferry riders and people who would use the Ferry to commute to work.

Keeping the Ferry full of paying customers will be a challenge. The City must be careful to avoid a per seat subsidy or some other costly financial arrangement. The Ferry operator should bear the risk.

The Kriseman administration is more interested in the hype and PR potential than they are providing transportation services. It's one thing to have 66 passenger buses running around the County with three people on them. It is a totally different thing to be supporting a 100 passenger Ferry and associated costs with few passengers, so we can have some pretty brochures for the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development people to hand out.

Buckhorn is right. Everyone should take a serious look at the numbers and let's make sure that the taxpayers are not subsidizing the Ferry operator to store his boat in a nice warm place.

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

It is time to get the Rays deal done

The Kriseman administration and/or City Council should put a reasonable deal on the table.

St. Petersburg, FL

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

  

St. Petersburg has been dragging out the Rays stadium issue for far too long. Trying to position the Rays into a deal they simply do not want has caused a lot of unnecessary strife and contention.

It is time for the City to allow the Rays to look in the Bay area for a new stadium site.

Jim, Kennedy's position regarding compensation is a laudable one, but looking at the time frame for a new stadium, wherever the Rays decide to build it and 2027 when the existing lease expires, a big dollar request to the Rays will simply not work.

Here is a recent comment from a reader:

Happy New Year.  Just read in the Trib that the mayor is asking each council rep to meet with the Rays.  Please, please consider just letting the Rays look, as they probably are doing now within a legal framework, and to let the forces that be unfold when they find a place.  There is really no need to set a price for them to break their lease right now, that is putting the cart before the horse.  Market forces will be different when they find a location and if council cannot come up with a fair penalty, then the Courts will, which is what the Rays don't want so the incentive to settle then is strong.  St Pete will be in a rightfully stronger position then.  Please consider and do have a happy new year.  

Thanks.  

JC

With the economy booming and local development both residential and commercial exploding throughout the Bay area, owners of currently viable sites may have to think carefully about committing a large parcel of land to a sport that barely draws 14,000 fans to each of its events.

Furthermore, egos aside, getting Hillsborough County and private investors to pony up any significant portion of the hundreds of millions of dollars required to build a stadium may be very difficult.

St. Petersburg has already put the Rays in the unenviable position of coming late to the relocation game. Time is no longer on the Rays side. They need to start the search for a site sooner than later.

The Kriseman administration and/or City Council should put a reasonable deal on the table, allow the Mayor the joy of harvesting "his" new yes vote and get on with it.

There are things much more pressing to deal with in St. Pete.

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

Are guns really the problem in St. Petersburg or is the Kriseman Administration letting its citizens down?

It is easy to stand in a crowd like Friday's march and decry firearms as the reason for these recent incidents.

St. Petersburg, FL

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

  

Worry continues over the recent string of shootings in St. Petersburg and the worry is well founded. Friday's article in the Tampa Bay Times by: Hanna Marcus and Kathryn Varn, Times Staff Writers: As a community reels, St. Petersburg police find no pattern in string of fatal shootings sets the scene.

Marcus and Varn cut right to the point with their view about Mayor Kriseman's comments and proposals as "weak" and "not plausible.

Kriseman's public approach was a hastily arranged short march to allow for some expression of public concern and outrage. The march got some media time, produced a couple of sound bites but really accomplished very little given the Mayor's lackluster comments.

It is probably not fair to politicize these events, but Republicans have one view of this problem and Democrats have another and Kriseman being a good Democrat is singing the company line. Let's blame all of these issues on guns.

I agree we have a gun problem in the United States and quite likely in St. Petersburg. However, guns are the mechanism not the cause. If all ten of these homicides or even half of them had been caused by people being beaten to death with baseball bats would everyone be calling for stricter control on base ball bats?

The last time I checked illegal trafficking in guns was a crime and perhaps the St. Pete PD should be backtracking a little harder on where these guns are coming from a making some prosecutable cases on those providing the firearms. It is way past time to start taking some illegal gun dealers off the street along with the drug dealers.

It is easy to stand in a crowd like Friday's march and decry firearms as the reason for these recent incidents, but it could just as easily be a knife or a tire iron.

After promising the African American community just about everything you could think of to get their vote,  the Kriseman administration has really done very little to address the root cause of poverty and the conditions that lead to the level of frustration and anger that foment incidents like we have seen in the last few weeks.

A couple of hours of the Mayor's time marching down a street will not solve these issues.

Kriseman and his dream team need to stop playing to the millennials, the downtown rich, the Chamber of Commerce and focus on helping those in St. Pete who need it most.

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 Sunday Post – Low income housing, Baseball, BP Money and the Pinellas County Commission

December is usually a slow month in local politics

St. Petersburg, FL

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

  

Now that we are in that mad rush shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas things tend to be quiet in the political arena- especially local politics.

On the National scene, interests may remain a bit higher with Carson in Jordan, Trump only opening his mouth long enough to change feet and all the rest of the Republican wannabes struggling to catch up.

It does not seem that there are any serious efforts in St. Petersburg to rush something past a distracted electorate and before the new City Council Members are seated, but it would be a good idea to keep a wary eye on the Kriseman administration as they tool up for the New Year.

Waverly Ann Moore has an interesting piece in the Tampa Bay Times: Commission rules against St. Petersburg neighborhood in fight against affordable housing. On the surface, this may seem like a lot of noise about nothing, but the Riviera Bay Civic Association is not a group to be taken lightly. Look for this one to continue to be a hot button.

Baseball should be relatively quiet for the month of December, the boys of summer like to enjoy their holidays without any distractions.

 Mayor Kriseman would like to put off any vote on the decision to let the Rays look for a new stadium site in the Bay area until the new City Council Members are seated. Primary reason is, so he can enjoy his handpicked vote from Lisa Wheeler-Brown and shore up his position as political mover and shaker.

Look for the BP money issue to come up next month. Outgoing City council members would like to get their stamp on how the money is spent. The spectrum runs from Darden Rice, who would give it all too esoteric causes like the arts and other social programs to Karl Nurse who would put it all in the sewers.

Compromise likely? Only after some uncomfortable discussion.

Some good news from the County scene, at least from my perspective, Charlie Justice will be serving as Chairman of the Pinellas County Commission. Bad news Janet Long will be serving as Vice-chair. Charlie will be dragging an anchor all year.

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

Progress on Pier demolition continues as the Pelican parking lot closes

If a walk out on the Pier with your family was a Thanksgiving family ritual, you might want to pass this year.

St. Petersburg, FL

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

The City has closed the Pelican Parking lot (south side) at the base of the Pier approach.

Until this week, the lot was  open for those wishing to stop by and watch the inverted Pyramid come down and for the few fishermen who are regulars on the parking lot sea wall.

It is unclear at this point if people are prohibited from the parking lot and sea walls.

I have been stopping by regularly for the last month or so as the pier demolition proceeded. It was surprising how many people would drive through the parking lot stop and take a few pictures.

Many would just stand and look while shaking their heads.

A few tears were not uncommon.

The inverted pyramid is now totally gone.

There have been some issues with turbidity barriers and navigation lights other than that, things seem to be going along as planned.

The Pier deck will be dismantled next, and then the approach will be removed. These are big jobs and as we approach fall and winter, the Northeasterly winds could cause a few problems.

If you're planning on going down and want to walk out on Spa Beach for a closer look, be sure to park on the street or over in the North lot which is still open.

If a walk out on the Pier with your family was a Thanksgiving family ritual, you might want to pass this year. Thanks to the Kriseman administration it's really just a sad sight with some remaining rubble and demolition equipment.

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

In Defense of Momma "T" Lassiter

If you think she is brash now, you should have been in City Council meetings 10 or 15 years ago.

St. Petersburg, FL

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

  

Last week Janelle Irwin, saintpetersblog, took Momma "T" to task in a post Momma Tee Lassiter: Activist or antagonist?

In the interest of full disclosure, I have known Momma "T" for over 25 years.

I worked with her on a couple of issues and was a regular at her 'Law Day" event for a number of years. I like Momma "T". In fact, it goes way beyond like I have a deep respect for the woman.

Momma "T" has spent a large portion of her life trying everything she can to improve conditions for people on the south side and really in all of St. Pete.

Momma "T" has been promised help that never came, lied to by staff and virtually every administration, and yet she keeps coming back and trying to move forward.

If you think, she is brash now, you should have been setting in City Council meetings 10 or 15 years ago or better yet sat down with her one on one.

Momma "T" is running out of time.

She is frustrated by the City's inability to get things moving south of central. The kids in South St. Pete, her "babies" as she calls them, are still underserved by the schools they go to, arrested too often and many die way too young.

Poverty in her world is not getting better it is getting worse.

The Kriseman Administration isn't much better than their predecessors, lots of promises but not a lot of results. All the redevelopment promises are just that promises for the future but Momma "T's" people live right now in the present.

She can be brash; she has a way with words, a short temper, a mean streak and absolutely no tolerance for indecision.

Part of the problem with cites is as they grow elected people on City Council become more of the elite and less of the people. Those like Momma "T" become more of an annoyance than a source of valuable direction such is the case in St. Petersburg.

Momma "T" doesn't need to be "shamed" and she doesn't need to be thrown out of City Council meetings.

Could she tone it down a little – sure?

However, think about this: If you went home every night after dedicating a good portion of your life to trying to improve the lot of your community and your last thoughts as you dropped off to sleep were after all these years things are still going bad.

The people who could change all that have no problem spending $70 million on a downtown park and play ground for the wealthy, but you have to beg for after-school programs.

They won't step up and take on the School Board for allowing the school mess in south St. Pete, and their solution for South St. Pete is a long term development plan that will have no immediate impact, and in all likelihood will never come to fruition.

You would probably be angry too.

As for me, I will sit there and listen to every word "T" Lassiter has to say, smile at some, be shocked at a few and know that pretty much all of it has value.

I think we would all be amazed at the number of people, white and African American, that watch "T" Lassiter on television and wish they had the courage to "wag their finger" at City Council.

Love ya Momma "T". I always have always will.

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 new St. Pete City Council will anything change?

Newton and Dudley gone, Montanari and Wheeler-Brown in will there be less strife more congeniality – maybe.

St. Petersburg, FL

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

There is quite a bit of speculation about how the outcome of the recent St. Pete City Council election will change the balance of power on the City's governing body.

Ed Montanari will be a steadying voice on the new City Council starting January of 2016. Montanari, a jumbo jet pilot by trade, is a calm and steady thinker who spends time understating the facts and the options. His long run of public service, including his work in the airport group and the Pier task force gives him a lot of back ground. Look for Montanari to be insightful, and cooperative. He is not a big conflict person and will like to have things well worked out before they go to a vote.

Lisa Wheeler-Brown could be tagged as an inexperienced newcomer, but that would be a big mistake. After several years of navigating her neighborhood association and a stint as head of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, she is not coming to City Council as an uninformed light weight. She has already had time in front of Mayor Kriseman. I sat down with Lisa in March of 2014 for a Casual Conversation with CONA President Lisa Wheeler-Brown.

Lisa took some hard knocks during the election and got some great support in the process. There was concern among many, me included, that she may be a bit of a rubber stamp for the Mayor. I expect the Mayor will get a couple of favorable votes from Wheeler-Brown, especially on the Rays issue.

Look for Steve Kornell to be more bullish on the issues he is concerned about,  Charlie Gerdes will stay steady with a possible eye toward a bid for the Mayor's seat, Amy Foster is a bit of a question mark given her support for Wheeler-Brown's opponent, look for her to be a calming voice.

Kennedy now term limited will be more aggressive and with his nemeses Wengay Newton gone meetings should be less frustrating for the two-term council member.

Biggest issue on the table seems to be the Tampa Bay Rays driven by the Tampa Bay Times obsession with getting a "deal" so the Rays can look for a new stadium site within the Bay area.

There is a growing understanding upon the part of City Council that continuing to be tied up in the Rays dispute is a waste of valuable time. Pressure from the County Commission is also adding some immediacy to the discussion. I expect this issue will be quickly dispatched with or without Wheeler-Browns vote.

The whole Rays deal could be done before the new council members are seated in January, but look for Kriseman to try to drag out the process, so he can cash in on his support for Wheeler-Brown and try to flex his political mussels a little.

Without the constant questioning by Wengay Newton 2016 meetings should move more quickly. There will be less actual decision making as things should be pretty well hashed out before they get to the Agenda. 

South St. Pete, failing schools, stormwater/wastewater, Pier Park, The Uplands Project, the Toytown Sports Complex, crime, roads and public transit: this Council has its hands full.

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