This time the crowd left its rhetorical pitchforks and flambeaus at home.
The 50 or so residents who turned out recently at the Kate Jackson Center in Hyde Park came to hear how those in charge were going to improve the Gasparilla Parade. To make it safer for both attendees and local residents.
Word was already out that the police would be cracking down on young, drunken, trespissing anarchists. Moreover, there would be a lot more port-o-lets, additional water-side viewing areas and an extended parade route. There would even be a formal initiative to educate youth – and their parents – about alcohol abuse.
The good-faith game plan and presentation — by city officials and (promoter) EventFest — for Gasparilla 2010 was obviously appreciated. This was no mere lip service to placate complaining residents. Some attendees were downright praiseworthy of the game plan.
But the new, multi-faceted strategy was also notable for what it didn’t address: venue change.
Bayshore Boulevard, say those in charge as well as many in the media, is the iconically perfect place for Tampa’s signature parade. Moreover, it’s such a hallowed tradition. By all means, let’s “tweak” the venue – that’s Neighborhood Services Coordinator Santiago Corrada’s preferred verb – but don’t even dare consider relocating it from Bayshore.
Well, some still dare. Especially those who remember when the “tradition” meant a Kennedy Boulevard parade route and more emphasis on high school marching bands than flasher-inspired bead tossing. Especially those who live at or near today’s Gasparilla “ground zero” – South Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood. By way of disclaimer, that includes me.
Here’s the essence of the issue. A neighborhood adjacent to a huge event – and 350,000 plus qualifies – is, by definition, an inappropriate juxtaposition. And unfair to the residents. “Tweaking” won’t render it fair – or appropriate.
There’s a reason why big, prominent parades – think Carnival in Rio, Macy’s in New York, the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena and the Mummers in Philadelphia – are held in downtowns and not by front lawns and neighborhood alleys. At approximately 1,400, there are still too few cops and too many drunks for an abutting neighborhood to be anything but vulnerable to invaders. “Zero tolerance” signage and smarter police deployment won’t, arguably, be deterrent enough to those inclined to societal mayhem.
And it certainly won’t obviate the need for homeowners to pay for property fencing and security guards. It’s called legal extortion.
And one final thought. If you read any of the immediate, post-Gasparilla, online comments or alternative newspaper coverage, you would have noted the barrage of proletarian piffle. As in, “If you’re lucky enough to live in a Bayshore neighborhood, then shut up about Gasparilla. Who the hell are you to complain?” It gives new meaning to non sequitur.
Here’s this resident’s response:
“For the record, residents of neighborhoods adjacent to the Gasparilla Parade route are not chronic ‘complainers’ and whiney elites who resent being ‘inconvenienced’ by the Gasparilla Parade Pirate Fest. In reality, we don’t mind ‘taking one for the team,’ when the team is Tampa and its signature parade.
“We’re no less proud of our traditions than anyone else. But we are outraged when they are perverted. And largely at our expense. We don’t think it’s a character flaw to be intolerant of those at odds with civilizational norms. Those who have had a one-day free pass to convert a ‘signature’ parade into the street party from hell.”