A Quiet Week

It may have been the 4th of July hangover effect, but last Friday Morning was a quick, quiet meeting at the Friday Morning Group. It was an interesting one nonetehless.

The talk on Friday centered around the looming budget cuts for local governments. But this one had a twist. Almost all local governments are saying that they have to cut social service and arts funding to protect law enforcement functions. That includes the City of St. Petersburg. But it turns out that there is one law enforcement function that St. Pete has no qualms about cutting.

So, which function is this you ask? St. Petersburg is eliminating its Human Rights Office. This function is going to be handed off to Pinellas County. There is one slight problem with this, however. Pinellas County does not have the authority to enforce St. Petersburg's Human Right Ordinance. That little factoid has the practical effect of killing off the Human Rights ordinance that the Mayor didn't support in the first place. That's because no one will be around to enforce it. So, in effect, the Mayor is cutting law enforcement.

There was also some discussion that the City Council was likely to restore some funding to Arts and Social Service organizations. The question was, how much. The number $500,000 was floated previously by Council Member Leslie Curran. It turns out that was the number that was restored in yesterday's City Council Budget workshop. That's still an 80% cut from last years levels. At least it is not a 100% cut. Stand by now for the scramble as organizations make a mad dash to get some of that money.

This Week in St. Petersburg

It was an interesting week in St. Petersburg, my hometown. It started off at the home of Larry Newsome. Newsome, the developer of the Midtown shopping center anchored by SweetBay, graciously opened up his home in support of Gershom Faulkner. Faulkner is running for the St. Petersburg City Council seat being vacated by the term limited Rene Flowers.



Faulkner lined up an impressive host committee for this event. Former Florida House Speaker Peter Wallace and and current County Commissioners Ken Welch and Calvin Harris were joined by restaurateur Dan Harvey as headliners on the host committee.



The question of the night was, what was Bob Kersteen doing there? Kersteen is running against Herb Polson. Polson, the City's long time lobbyist, was appointed to fill the seat vacated by now Representative Rick Kriseman. Look for Jack Latvala to continue his losing streak as Kersteen has hired him to lead the smear campaign against Polson. Kersteen and Jack Latvala. There's a recipe for electoral failure right there.



Thursday saw the St. Petersburg City Council approve the Greater Childs Park Strategic Initiative. The consultant for the City produced a plan document that certainly passed the weight test. There are two glaring problems with the Childs Park plan. First is the fact that it was adopted by the City just as the full extent of the first round of property tax cuts were being examined. That does not bode well for the ability of the City to actually spend the funds needed to implement the plan.



The second problem was a statement both in the covering memo and the plan itself. Every table at the City's first public meeting on the plan listed crime and crime related problems as an issue. However, somehow the consultant determined that crime was not a predominate issue. It remains to be seen if that was an accurate statement.



On Friday, the City Council received a briefing from Mayor Rick Baker on his suggested budget cuts resulting from the first round of property tax reforms signed by the governor this week. In all, the mayor recommended that 70 positions be eliminated, including 25% of the Codes Compliance Department. As he threatened to do earlier, the Mayor suggested cutting off all funding to social service agencies and arts organizations. Only Council Member Leslie Curran suggested that cutting all funding to the social services and arts organizations was maybe not the best way to go.



After the somber budget briefing, Council Members Herb Polson, Jamie Bennett Jeff Danner and Ernest Williams attended the Tiger Bay luncheon featuring Florida CFO Alex Sink. Sink showed her growing political maturity by deftly handling the lead off question. An unapologetic boor Republican hit man tried to to rattle Sink with a question about her religion and homosexuality. He failed to rattle Sink and also failed to win the coveted Tiger award. Just another example of the failed conservative worldview that is going the way of the dinosaurs.



And that brings us to the scoop of the week. County Commissioner Bob Stewart was asked about the rumor that he may not run for reelection. His response (with a twinkle in his eye):

There may be some truth to that.

The week is going to end on a high note for St. Petersburg. A portrait of Governor Charlie Crist will be unveiled at the St. Petersburg History Museum on Saturday afternoon. Crist, the first native of St. Petersburg to occupy the governors mansion will also headline a fundraiser for the museum at the former Rutland Estate.

Wish List Version 2.007

When I ascend to my rightful place as Queen of the Universe, I will return to the year 2007 and make these wishes come true (or not):

Gershom Faulkner announces his candidacy for the St. Petersburg City Council seat to be vacated by term limited Council Member Rene Flowers. Ed Helm moves into Flowers' district and announces his candidacy as well. Jamie Bennet decries the move saying "Helm promised to run against me."

The Florida Gators thrash Ohio State University 65-3 in what Brent Musberger describes as the most exciting BCS Championship Game ever. Florida coach Urban Meyer says he will be relieved when the Gators finally learn to execute his spread offense.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is arrested for assaulting Council Member Leslie Curran for telling Baker "That might not be a good idea." St. Petersburg City Council Chair John Bryan ascends to Mayor after Governor Charlie Crist suspends Baker. Crist reinstates Baker one hour later after receiving a complaint from Bakers' mother. Before Bryan leaves the Mayors' office he issues an executive order banning the hiring of consultants by the City.

At her first regular meeting of the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee, Chair Toni Molinaro announces the appointment of Bill Bucolo as chair of the newly created Kumbaya Committee. Jack Smack immediately stalks out of the meeting followed by, well, nobody.

The St. Petersburg Grand Prix is won by Danica Patrick, who announces from the winners circle that she is moving to St. Petersburg. All 5 people in attendance cheer wildly.

Ronda Storms complains that the state insurance crisis is all the fault of gay insurance agents. Governor Charlie Crist appoints a rainbow ribbon committee headed by Katherine Harris to investigate the allegations. This comes on heels of the the special legislative session where legislators aproved a 350% rate increase for insurance companies as the best possible solution to the crisis.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is arrested again. This time it is for distrubing the peace. Seems Baker was playing his guitar again at the Saturday Morning Market. The crowd cheers when Baker smacks his head while being put in the back seat of the new hybrid police cruiser. Charlie Crist announces he would suspend Baker, but Bakers' mother would only complain and he'd have to reverse himself.

The Florida Legislature adjourns its 2007 session after three days. On the first day, the legislature passed a bill banning property taxes in the state of Florida. On the second day, the legislature passes a resolution proclaiming the 350% rate increase passed in the special session has, in fact, solved the insurance crisis. And on the third day, the legislature passed a budget outsourcing the entire state government to the new company formed by Jeb Bush, Haliburton Florida.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is convicted of disturbing the peace. He is sentenced to 300 hours of community service telling Charlie Crist what not to do.

The Hillsborough Expressway Authority announces it is moving to St. Petersburg where it plans to convert the Pinellas Trail to a barge canal. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio immediately announces plans to expand the trolley system from Channelside and Ybor City to Brandon, citing the increased need after the elevated section of the Selmon Expressway collapses crushing both cars under it at the time.

Bill Young announces he is dead and he is not running for re-election in 2008. George Critikos immediately endorses Karen Seel as the Republican candidate in the special election to succeed Young. Seel says, "I'll probably only serve 45 years, since I'm kind old already."

Developer Grady Pridgen announces he is buying Progress Energy Florida in a leveraged buyout. All of Prgress Energy Florida's generation capacity will be turned into wholesale production. Retail production will be generated from the new green urban village that Pridgen has planned for the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal site.

Rod Smith wins the Academy Award for the worst political ad ever. Smith confesses his main disappointment is coming in second to Donald Trump in the worst hair category.

Jeb Bush announces that Haliburton Florida is taking the state of Florida private in a private equity deal underwritten by the Carlyle Group. Bush 41 breaks down in tears at his favorite son's accomplishments.

Hillary Clinton announces she is not attending the Florida Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson gala. Her spokeswoman says Hillary has already taken the last remaining Democratic dollar in Florida. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's keynote speech is delivered to all three Florida Democrats attending the event. The other 7 million Florida Democrats are all accross the street listening to Steven Colbert's announcement that he is running for President. Rush Limbaugh donates $2 billion to the Colbert for President PAC.

Ed Helm fails to receive a single vote in the St. Petersburg City Council primary elections. Extensive reviews of the voting machines and the computer source code prove conclusively that Helm forgot to vote and the his wife voted for Gershom Faulkner.

The Republican Party of Florida unanimously proclaims Jeb Bush as their favorite for the 2008 nomination. Katherine Harris files an immediate protest, clainming the election was rigged.

Surprise candidate Peter Wallace wins election to the St. Petersburg City Council seat vacated by the term limited Bill Foster. The St. Petersburg Gay Straight Alliance announces the appointment of Foster as special counsel.

Barack Obama wins the Florida Democratic Party Conventions' straw poll after announcing he will name Bob Graham as his running mate when he wins the nomination. Graham is not in attendance because he is in Gainesville watching the Florida Gators demolish the FSU Seminoles 96-3. Florida Coach Urban Meyer rubs his crew cut and says his team has a chance to be pretty good if they ever learn to execute his spread offense.

Arrested again upon a sealed indictment, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker announces from the Pinellas County jail that it is another great day in St. Petersburg. Reminded by a reporter that the jail is not in St. Petersburg, Baker responds, "That's the second part of my announcement. The City of St. Petersburg has just struck a deal to acquire Pinellas County in a private equity deal financed by Haliburton Florida.

If you can figure out which, if any, of these wishes I would make come true, I'll buy a damned tractor.


Florida Kossacks Rock

Save O'Neill's Marina

St. Petersburg Mayor, Rick Baker, is a "free market" guy. We know this because he told us, several times. Baker kept repeating that he was a "free market" guy while he was engineering a communist style coup. What was this free market vs communistic clash all about?

It seems the City of St. Petersburg has land er, uh, water grabs on their minds. There has been a lot of talk lately about the lack of marina slips and boat ramp access in Florida. Seems marina owners are selling out to developers who are building, you guessed it, condos on the former marina sites. The City has just discovered that they, in fact, are the owners of a couple of marinas in St. Petersburg that they don't already operate. The City is leasing the two marinas to private operators and receiving well in excess of $200,000 per year from the two marinas combined. This isn't good enough for the City. No, the City does not want to renew the leases on these marinas for any appreciable length of time. They want to take over operations of the marinas themselves. The Harborage Marina on the Bayboro Harbor waterfront deserves a diary all of its own. This diary is going to concentrate on O'Neill's Marina.

O'Neills website has this to say on their home page:

For more than 50 years O’Neill’s Marina has given boaters and fisherman
what they’ve asked for. Good products, fair prices and great service. O’Neill’s
Marina is a family owned and operated business that takes pride in the facility
and the people it serves.

Our facility is nestled along the coastline in St. Petersburg near the
mouth of Tampa Bay, easily located by land or water. By land, we are just off
Interstate 275 on the west side of exit 16, just North of the Sunshine Skyway
Bridge.

O'Neill's Marina moved to its current location in 1954, at the urging of the City, who wanted O'Neill's to move from the old ferry landing to the approach to the brand new Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It has been operating at its current location for more than 52 years. O'Neill's has been leasing the land from the City all this time. Their current lease expires around the middle of 2007. The city has suddenly discovered that they actually are the owners of the marina, and they want to look into the possiblity of operating it themselves. City staff proposed to renew the O'Neills' lease for only one more year. This would give the city time to pursue the permitting process necessary for the City to "modernize" O'Neill's.

The City Council decided to give O'Neill's a two year lease with the possibility of extensions if the City can not get their permitting done in that time. The member of the O'Neill family who is now operating the marina is 60 years old. All he wants to do is operate the marina for 5 more years and then retire. At that time, he will be more than willing to just let the City have the marina. After all this family has meant to this City, this is an extremely shabby way to treat this man.

So what is up with this self- avowed "free market guy" Rick Baker. His buddy Jeb Bush has just spent 8 years turning every govenrment function he could think of over to the private sector. Baker wants to take marina operations away from the private sector and give it to the government. What kind of "free market" conservatism is that?

Sounds more like that Castro guy than that Bush feller.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker In Your Face - Again

The St. Petersburg Times reported on December 16, 2006 that:

Police Chief Chuck Harmon is ending the city's 15-year-old community policing program

Twelve paragraphs into the story the Times reports:

Mayor Rick Baker said Friday he supported Harmon's decision. "The system we're putting in place is more common than the one we had," Baker said.

Since the Mayor has the first and last word in everything that happens in the Police and every other Department in the City of St. Petersburg, why does the Times wait untill 12 paragraphs into the story to give us Hizz Honor's take on this idiotic plan? And why is this really happening?

The Times alludes to the real reason:

The move, which received a mixed response from neighborhood leaders and was criticized by the police union, comes as the department struggles to retain officers and faces an outside review of its management practices.

Is this the review that Mayor Baker:

Fought tooth and nail to keep from happening?

When he was forced to accede to the review, fought tooth and nail to have the review performed by the consultant of his choosing?

Now that Mayor Baker has been forced to endure a management review of the Police Department conducted by a consultant he doesn't control, all of a sudden he's in favor of ending community policing? That dog just won't hunt.

Mayor Baker has pulled the Mayoral equivalent of taking his ball and going home. His polce department is being forced to undergo this management review that he didn't want and that he can't control. So what does the Mayor do? He authorizes the end of the most popular (from the citizens standpoint) policing program going. The polite way of describing the Mayor's attitude toward City Council and the citizens of St. Petersburg is:

In Your Face

the not so polite way is, well, something else.

Here are some excerpts from the Community Policing Philosphy on the St. Petersburg Police Department web site:

The CPO (Community Police Officer) fosters a partnership with the community in order to mutually identify and resolve neighborhood problems and concerns. They identify repeat calls for service and implement problem-solving strategies to resolve them. They review problem-solving progress with coworkers, supervisors and the community. CPOs also develop mutual respect and trust between coworkers and the community. They interact with residents and merchants, enhance partnerships, and encourage teamwork.

... zone officers are encouraged to partner with the CPO for their assigned area, as well as offer "directed patrols" during uncommitted time. These "directed patrols" are a means for the zone officer to be a part of the problem-solving process, such as providing additional patrols at a problem location or by assisting with a traffic enforcement detail. A "team" is formed consisting of a CPO and at least one zone officer for each of the shifts (days, evenings, and midnights). Furthermore, most of the detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division are also given geographical responsibilities, thus allowing them to become part of the "team" to address emerging crime patterns.

Furthermore, here is the core statement of that philosophy:

The St. Petersburg Police Department is committed to establishing and maintaining a meaningful and productive partnership with the community. The goal is to achieve excellence by facilitating a partnership between members and the citizens in order to mutually identify and resolve community problems. This partnership will ultimately enhance the safety and quality of life for the citizens of our community.

So, what is Chief Harmons' stated reason for scrapping Community Policing?

Harmon said tensions exist between community officers and patrol officers, who feel overworked and think community officers had too much freedom.

Should the potential for this tension have been a surprise to Harmon? Not if he had read this report prepared the U.S. Department of Justice about commuinity policing in St. Petersburg in 1997:

There were a number of distinctions between the behavior of CPOs and that of 911 officers. This suggests that considerable care is warranted concerning how officer responsibilities are constructed if departments are to promote community policing attitudes and behavior.

St. Petersburg has had this report in hand for nearly 10 years. If the Police Department did not take "considerable care ... to promote community policing attitudes and behavior" , that is a management failure. The managers are Police Chief Chuck Harmon and Mayor Rick Baker, and they have failed us.