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.

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:       

Kriseman in a bind on the Rays – Deal or no deal?

Who will Kriseman really be negotiating for when he meets with the Rays St. Petersburg or his ego?

St. Petersburg, FL

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

In a not too surprising turn of events, St. Pete City Council approved the Kennedy Plan allowing the Rays to look for a new stadium outside the City.

Charlie Fargo Tampa Bay Times has the details in his article St. Petersburg approves proposal that allows the Rays to consider stadium sites outside the city.

You would think just getting the controlling political body to agree to let the Rays look would be a victory, but Kriseman started to poo poo the deal from the get-go.

"Typically, you don't see offers get better with time. So that's a concern. The other concern is that the amount that the Rays are being asked to pay is more than they were asked to pay the first time," Kriseman said after the vote.

Actually, deals do get better with time, especially when the other party, the Rays, have a bit of a time crunch themselves.

Add to that Kevin King, Kriseman's Chief of staff comment regarding the Mayor's view: "He'll attend the meeting, but whatever happens, he won't be reduced to playing messenger.  He doesn't have to do anything," King said. "He has to be on board, too."

Really?

See the whole back story in Charlie Fargo's Tampa Bay Times Article Third time the charm? St. Pete City Council considers another deal with Tampa Bay Rays.

Council member Charlie Gerdes plan, which I personally liked, never got a hearing, so he voted against the Kennedy deal. Don't read too much into the Gerdes vote. This way, City Council has a fallback position if they need it.

The chances the Rays can get out of the Trop by 2020 are small so the likelihood they would pay out the whole $33 million of the Kennedy plan is also small. Even if they did and if their bright shiny new stadium was full of beaming fans wouldn't it be worth it?

They wouldn't blink at $33 million for a player they wanted.

What we have now is a Mayor with a wounded ego, a chief of staff who can't seem to keep his mouth shut, a City Council Chair that switched sides and a baseball team that has a tough decision to make.

The Rays would be smart to grab this deal and get the process they have longed for locked in and started.

Trying to play Gerdes against Kennedy would be a big mistake and trying to play the Mayor against City Council would be really stupid.

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, Will Newton for St. Petersburg City Council District 7

BP money for the arts a bad deal for everyone

The decision on where and how to use the BP funds is critical.

St. Petersburg, FL

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

  

A long time ago I was a member of a Southern Baptist church in west St. Pete. One of the widows passed away and left a rather large bequest. This particular church while not really struggling was like most not financially flush.

The ensuing battle between the various factions, the choir wanted new robes; the kitchen ministry wanted all new silver cutlery; the grounds' people wanted new equipment; the roof needed repair, some wanted new hymnals or pews and the list added up to more than even the generous bequest provided.

The ensuing battle left members upset and angry. Some even left the church.

I remember being in the pastor's office as he sat behind his desk, head in his hands and tears in his eyes saying I wish the money had never been given.   

I doubt if Mayor Kriseman or any City Council members really feel like my former pastor, but the battle over the BP money is shaping up to be very similar.

The issue here should be the greater good for the long term.

This money is coming as a result of the greatest environmental disaster ever. The long-term results of the BP oil spill may not be known for decades.

The decision on where and how to use these funds is critical and will say a lot about who St. Petersburg is as a community.

 Take the arts, for example.

The proposal to create a $1 million endowment for the arts has the arts people salivating.

I think it is a really poor use of the BP funds and in the end will do the arts community more harm than good.

Look at the most-recent effort by the Kriseman administration to create a "self-sustaining" sustaining" arts community.

 Let me decode that for you, they want the arts community to no longer be a budget line item they have to deal with every year. An endowment is a great step in that direction.

Now, every year at budget time when the arts community makes their annual sackcloth and ashes begging visit to the administration and City council, they will be pointed to their million-dollar endowment as their funding source.

What makes it an even worse use of the BP money is the Kriseman administration wastes these funds padding the City budget.

A $1 million-dollar endowment will produce around $40 to $50 thousand dollars year and will probably come with some serious strings attached. The arts people can raise that amount of money every year with a bake sale and a silent auction.

Point that same $1 million-dollar endowment at a fund to help struggling schools and public education in St. Petersburg, and you get an enduring legacy of changed lives.

As I remember it, the Church ended up giving most of the money to world missions and the choir got some new, but not too fancy robes.

There is a lesson in all of that.

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, Will Newton for St. Petersburg City Council District 7

The Rays Second Season gets rolling

The really big missing piece here is leadership from Mayor Rick Kriseman.

St. Petersburg, Fl

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

                

For background see my Post The Rays and the Second Season

Widely reported by print and social media St. Pete City Council members are talking baseball one on one with Pinellas County Commissioners. Just the thought of Jim Kennedy and Janet Long having a conversation about anything should be enough to send shivers up your spine.

For detail see Charlie Fargo Tampa Bay Times Longtime foes of Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal mulling options.

The Plans:

The Kennedy Plan, The Kornell Plan, The Gerdes Plan, The Kriseman Plan, the Tampa Times Plan and The Rays Plan which is almost the same as the Kriseman plan. There are a couple of more Council members with "ideas" if not plans.

The Threats:

County Commission says tourist tax dollars in play.

The Rays say it's the last deal or no deal.

The Rays don't want to negotiate with eight people (City Council)

The Rays won't pony up any more money, so they say.

There is not a whole lot of detail leaking out about the Council members plans and the Rays are being a bit coy at the moment. All the drama will begin to unfold at the October 22 St. Pete City Council meeting.

The Rays saga is starting to play out like a poorly scripted episode of the FOX series Empire.

The missing piece here is leadership from Mayor Rick Kriseman. For something seemingly this big to get this far out of control Kriseman has to take the fall.

Kriseman, who continues to prove he much more interested in things shiny he can hang his name on than substance, is the one who let all of this disintegrate into a City Council cat fight. If the Mayor had been a bit more willing to share the glory with City Council, the Rays would probably have a deal, and everyone could be focusing on something really important.

The clock is ticking. That according to the County Commission as the Atlanta Braves spring training complex nears a decision point. However, the clock is also ticking for the Rays.

As things continue to unfold in Tampa, developers and big-money players have to be asking themselves would a huge investment in baseball really be worth it. What if we make that investment, and the same 13,000 or so fans are the only ones who show up?

Remember what Bud Selig (MLB Commissioner) said, this is not a major-league baseball market. He said that almost 30 years ago and so far he was right. 

So be sure to follow the Rays second season on TV.

Unlike major league baseball games which you must have ESPN or some pay channel to see most of them, the Rays second season is available free on your cable system Bright House Channel 641, Verizon Channel 20, WOW channel 15. Check St. Pete City Council for times and replays. 

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 Rays and the Second Season

As the fall negotiating season opens, the Rays management wants to avoid a repeat of past performances.

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

For the last few years, the Tampa Bay Rays have been playing four seasons in St. Petersburg.

There is spring training, the regular season, the fall politics season and the winter negotiating season.

You are probably pretty familiar with spring training and the regular season, the fall political season and the winter negotiating season maybe not so much.

The fall political season is that period where the St. Pete City Council, the Pinellas County Commission, Tampa and to some degree Hillsborough County tries to get their various proposals, positions, money and ducks in a row.

Typically, there are a lot of pitches, mostly softballs, a few strikes and a lot of outs.

This year the tension between the Mayor Rick Kriseman, Council Chairman Charlie Gerdes and City Council has boiled over into the St. Pete City Council elections where at least one media outlet, the Tampa Bay Times, has tried to make the District Seven City Council race all about baseball.

The Second Season will actually kick off later this month when a new proposal from City Council is supposed to surface on October 15th, and we may find out if Mayor Kriseman is going to throw hard balls by refusing to do the studies the City Council has requested or refuse to present the City Council proposal.

The Rays will hold their wrap-up  news conference later this week, and you can look for some preliminary public talks with the Mayor and someone from the Rays probably in a month or so. The Mayor's office would like everyone to think some talks have been ongoing, but I think that is not likely.

The other players, The Pinellas County Commission and the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council are now touting a mega sized spring training initiative at Toytown the former landfill (dump) and making soft but definitely threatening noises to move tourist tax revenue from a Rays stadium to the dump... err landfill.

Most curious has been the lack of any major-league  baseball interest from Hillsborough County or Mayor Kriseman's buddy Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Since Jeff Vinik indicated that baseball was not the "best and highest" use of his downtown development property a major-league baseball stadium has not been a hot topic across the Bay.

Look for some high and outside pitches from across the Bay just to keep things interesting, but unless a really deep pocked angel shows up or MLB becomes so disgusted with St. Pete and Pinellas County they are willing to pony up some serious money and/or concessions the pickens for a new stadium in Hillsborough may be a bit slim.

As the fall politics season wraps up and City Council and the Mayor try to get a unified game plan in place things could get a bit testy. Kriseman has not had a political win in some time and getting a Rays deal to look for a new stadium on his terms would be a big win.

If Charlie Gerdes can be the one who puts the Rays stadium deal together, the Mayor and his dream team will continue to look like the ineffective bunch the really are.

As the fall negotiating season opens, the Rays management from President Brian Auld right on down want to avoid a repeat of past performances where they got asked questions they could not or did not want to answer and ended up in political fights, they 1) had no interest in and 2) could not win.

Just given the Rays trepidation and speed at which baseball approaches problems like the Ray's stadium dilemma, don't look for much to happen before the November election, and if that goes badly it could be January before any really substantive talks result in a new and acceptable proposal.

Meanwhile, the spring training proposal for Toytown will continue to move along.

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

Is St. Pete City Council being marginalized and bullied by the Mayor?

This is the first time since the 1992 Charter changes a strong mayor has refused to provide critical information requested by City Council.

St. Petersburg, Fl

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

  

As we watch the Rays/City Council/Mayor Kriseman/MOU argument continue to unfold, the relationship between the Mayor and City Council is becoming more strained.

Twice now the Kriseman administration has refused to provide studies, read that as information, the City Council has requested.

First was the City Council request for an economic impact study that would have provided real information about the economic benefits or lack thereof regarding the Rays impact on St. Petersburg.

Then there was the City Council request for a land use study that would provide information about development opportunities with and without a baseball stadium.

At this Thursday's City Council meeting, in the most conciliatory terms, Council Member Jim Kennedy asked, the Mayor to reconsider the land use study and Kriseman basically said no way.

Under the current Charter provisions, City Council can only "request" the Mayor to provide information. They cannot direct such a request be filled nor can they undertake the effort on their own.

Since the Charter change in 1992 implementing the strong Mayor form of government, this is the first time a sitting mayor has refused to provide critical information requested by City Council.

My view on the economic impact study which Kriseman said, "might weaken our bargaining position with the Rays" was that the report would show there is little economic benefit derived from the Rays presence in St. Pete and if one factors in the amount of tax money the Rays suck up it may actually be negative.

Regarding the land use study, it is hard to follow the Mayor's logic on this one. One school of thought is that a detailed, independent study might reveal some serious issues with the site such as the extent of known soil contamination and seriously impact the whole redevelopment equation.

There is perhaps a much bigger issue as Kriseman tries to hold City Council at bay by denying them the information they request.

Kriseman is holding the City Council hostage by refusing to let them explore areas of the Rays deal he does not want either made public or in the Council's preview.

All of this sets a dangerous precedent and could result in this Council and future council's becoming unable to function.

If Kriseman gets away with stonewalling City Council on this one, he will continue to operate this way until he is voted out of office in two years.

For now, it's time for some hard ball.

While some would argue, it is not a good idea to let the Rays become a pawn in St. Petersburg political power struggle, there is a lot more at stake here than baseball.

City Council should merely tell the Mayor, give us the economic impact study and the land use study, and until you do the Rays, deal is on hold.

If the County Tourist tax money for a stadium is lost, and /or if the Rays just get tired of the whole mess and leave it will be Kriseman's fault.

Something needs to be done to prevent this type of deadlock in the future.

It may be time to consider a Charter amendment that allows City Council to commission their own independent studies; soliciting them through the City Purchasing Department when a Mayor has denied them information they feel is necessary to make a decision.

Such a change should be fairly narrowly drawn, require funding for such studies and could contain a restriction that such requests for information can only be made following an absolute refusal by an administration to provide requested information or studies.

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

Kriseman beats a hasty retreat in City Employee Social Media witch-hunt

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

  

The Kriseman administration has made it clear they are more than willing to go after employees who aren't in agreement with them.

The Kriseman administration did an about-face from an ill-conceived decision to suspend one employee for her Facebook comment and "discuss" with another their Facebook comments.

You can get more detail in Janelle Irwin's saintpetersblog Post: Rick Kriseman overturns suspension of employee who called him a ‘clown,’ will pay lost wages.

From the Irwin Post:

According to Kriseman’s communication director, Ben Kirby, the City rescinded the suspension to avoid negativity in the bargaining process currently underway.

“The mayor spoke with Ms. Wynn yesterday. Based on his review of the totality of the situation, in light of the current bargaining process, and in order to avoid negatively impacting the lives of our workers in the bargaining unit, the mayor has withdrawn Ms. Wynn’s suspension,” Kirby said. “He reiterated to her his expectation that we engage in respectful discourse and refrain from name-calling.”

Let me attempt to translate that for you.

The Kriseman team was more worried about looking bad when a major negotiation went bad than reasonable treatment for the City employees.

If the employees union, SEIU Florida, had not stepped in and proposed to make this a negotiating issue, Ms. Wynn would have lost five days pay, and the other unnamed employee would have likely been subjected to a similar if not more dire fate.

According to HR director Chris Guella, the section used for originally suspending Wynn called for employee dismissal for “unlawful or improper conduct either on or off the job, which would tend to affect the employee’s relationship to the job, fellow workers, reputation, or goodwill in the community.”

Unlawful is pretty clear, improper is wide open to interpretation, but I doubt the original writers had social media political comment in mind.

Note the rule, which should be updated to reflect current reality, indicates it is the employee’s relationship to the job, fellow workers, reputation, or goodwill in the community”

The Kriseman administration has made it clear they are more than willing to go after employees who aren't in agreement with them.

The SEIU team is to be complemented for coming to their member's support, and all City employees should be sure they know who they can count on to represent them. It's not the Kriseman administration and certainly not Human Resources and the HR Director.

Think all of this doesn't work? As I write this, my Post Kriseman muzzling City employees  has had over 120 views so far and not one comment.

No matter what the Mayor says in front of the cameras and at those award meetings, City employees now know what he really thinks of you. You are the best as long as you agree with him. If you don't, it appears that your constitutional rights, civil rights and personal opinion mean little.

You might want to consider this come election time. Don't worry about remembering, I'll remind you.

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.

Who owns the Pier Park Problem?

Answer – Rick Kriseman

St. Petersburg, Fl.

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

The Pier Park rhetoric seemed to have ratcheted up a bit this past week. Posts on the voteonthepier Facebook page turned more caustic. In a saintpetersblog Post, Janelle Irwin complains Pier Park critics’ points are a stretch at best, and followed that with Pier Park is coming — meet its creators.

I am totally in on the thought that whining and especially over the top vitriolic whining about Pier Park is useless, but so is whining from the other side of the table about people who genuinely feel the citizens of St. Petersburg got screwed in this deal and they did.

In the follow on saintpetersblog Post, Irwin begins to provide information about those who will actually be designing and running the project. Most of the information is Bid Proposal filler and promotional brochure comments, but in all honesty given the political volatility of this project that is about all you'll get from the participants until the public input and final design is completed.

All of which brings me to my point. The folks who are vehemently against this project are not going to change their minds and the folks that are passionate for the new concept are not likely to change their position. The Facebook, Twitter and Blog battle will likely continue to rage right up to the ribbon cutting and perhaps beyond.

There is, however, a very large group in the middle of these two opposing positions whose minds may be changed. 

It is not really clear where the public stands on Pier Park yet, even though those opposing like to refer the City survey.

Doing a poll right now before the public input and at least a preliminary final design is on the table might be pointless.

Regarding the upcoming public process I would expect the public's input to be given about the same degree of respect and attention they were given in the past.

The real issue I see is if all of this bickering and fighting between a very few people on both sides is successful in poisoning the general public's view of Pier Park, that would be a real disaster that could take years to over come.

All of this name calling is the result of the Kriseman administration's overt decision manipulate the selection committee, ignore the results of the process they put in place and that was simply a dumb move. It set the stage for all of this bickering.

Now that Kriseman has run off Mike Connors he owns Pier Park lock, stock and sloping event field. No shill to blame.

Pier Park will be built, and it will look like whatever Kriseman and those pulling his strings want it too. Railing against the project, while it may be fun, is more self-serving than effective.

What does need to be fixed is the political process that allowed St. Pete to get into this mess and that is a much more difficult problem to solve but you can start at the ballot box.

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.

St. Pete City Hall for sale – at least the Flag Pole

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

The Kriseman administration seems to be building a record of imposing their ideas, goals, concepts and ideological positions on the public.

There has been an ongoing shuffle between the Kriseman administration and pro-life  activist Scott Mahurin regarding Mahurin's request that the Pro-Life Flag be flown on the City Hall flag pole in September for the Forty Days of Life event.

You can get the details in Janelle Irwin's Post in SaintPetersBlog; Pro-life activist pushing for flag over St. Pete City Hall has been answered: ‘No’

This whole flap arises from the Kriseman administration's decision to fly the Gay Pride Flag celebrating the City's Gay Pride event. I think we all knew this would be a problem at some point.

Mahurin's position seems to be what is ok for the gay community should be ok for all of those unborn fetuses that are about to be killed.

The Mayor has the sole right to determine what flag flies where around City Hall. That should probably be changed, and City Council is wisely letting the Mayor take the heat.

There is a hint that the whole issue may be based on money, since the Gay Pride event does bring in a lot of visitors who spend a lot of money. Pro-Life, probably not so much.

The City also flies flags for the St. Pete Grand Prix and the Rays home opener both large money events.

Maybe what Mahurin and his group should do is organize a public event, request a parade permit, estimate the financial impact and see if that would move the Kriseman administration.

I am not particularly Pro-Life, but the point simply is if the Office of the Mayor, who controls what flags fly around City hall is going to make the decision on what they allow represented on what is really the people's flag pole based on economics, then the people no longer have a voice.

The Kriseman administration seems to be building a record of not caring what the people think but instead imposing their ideas, goals, concepts and ideological positions on the public.

It won't be too long before we have a chance to see how this form governance in St. Petersburg plays out at the ballot box.

I can hardly wait.

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 Mike Connors Void

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

 With Connors gone, there is a real vacuum in experience, engineering talent, political insight and power within the Public Works area.

 If you follow this Blogger, you know I am not a particular fan of St. Petersburg Public Works Administrator Mike Connors. I worked around him for 20-plus years and I never really trusted the guy.

The abrupt decision By Connors to retire is very un-Connors like. Even though he has been under some serious pressure lately, Connors has weathered storms before. Mike is steady, resilient and not affected much by what most people think.

There are rumors of a growing tiff with the Mayor's Office, but no one will confirm them.

The fact is Connors is apparently gone. There are a lot of people in the City administration, on City Council and in the general public that are happy he is gone, but that joy may be short lived.

As I have stated before one of Connors' most interesting traits was his effort not to hire anyone any smarter than he is and that makes an internal hire or promotion very difficult.

There is a definite lack of talent.

Tom Gibson, Engineering and Capital Improvements Director, appointed as interim Public Works Administrator has neither the political savvy to handle the job nor the administrative ability, and the Water Resources Director Steve Leavitt would be a dismal choice.

Nobody could handle a batch of wayward contractors on a major project any better than Connors. That steely eyed look and very fast logical mind could outwit even the most clever of them, and they knew it. The Engineering Department is easy to bamboozle along with Inspections, but if Connors got involved things straightened up in a hurry.

With Connors gone, there is a real vacuum in experience, engineering talent, political insight and power in the Public Works area.

While Connors will not be missed for his political maneuvering, manipulation of City Council and general disregard for what the public thought of his antics, he will soon be missed for his ability to keep the Public Works Departments, Water Resources and Engineering Departments in line.

He will also be missed for his ability to work large-scale projects with the Construction Manager at Risk format as this relationship assumes someone with both technical ability and political connections from the City's side.

As you can see, while I may not have particularly liked Mike Connors, I do have a great deal of respect for his ability as a professional engineer.

If Kriseman turns this into a political hire, every one of those projects listed above will get into some form of budget or technical trouble.

Kriseman needs to set up a national search, establish an evaluation committee that includes some Public Works directors from the area like Pinellas County and Tampa.

What St. Pete does not need is a selection committee populated by the firms building the Pier, or the police station or anyone remotely connected to them, the Chamber of Commerce or the Pier selection committee.

It would also be nice if the new Public Works administrator actually used a computer and e-mail.

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.