Category: Tampa Bay

A couple of months back channel-surfing landed me at “The Mayor’s Hour” on CTTV-Channel 15. Sorry, Mayor Pam, but this is how I find you and Jack Harris. I usually stay with it until Harris soon ceases being a cordial facilitator and morphs into a verbose co-host, often restating the obvious. Where’s Tony Danza when we need him?

Anyhow, the focus of that particular show was the Mayor’s Youth Corps, now heading into its third year. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the MYC is comprised of high school students who want to be involved in their community and are drawn to the pursuit of public service. Several were on hand to chat about the experience. None seemed liked budding Brian Blairs or Ronda Storms.

Actually, one would have thought the mayor had ordered out to central casting. These teenagers were uniformly well-scrubbed and well-spoken. No jocks; no cheer-providers; no nerds; no attitudes. Just kids you wouldn’t mind calling your own.

“These are students who are not already involved in 27 other activities,” explains Rebecca Heimstead, the Youth Corps and Volunteer Coordinator. “They are the kind of students who are curious and appreciate the opportunity to know city government on a first-hand basis.

“They have leadership skills, but they understand the need to follow,” adds Heimstead. “They also have a work ethic and can manage their time.”

The latter quality is critical for the spectrum of activities that range from team-building projects, regular meetings and community service to open discussion forums with Mayor Iorio and even the production of a monthly television show, “From the Corps.”

Another common denominator, says Heimstead, is that these students tend to have lofty ambitions, which are typically manifested during interviews.

“They’ll tell you they want to be the first African-American or female president or they want to be governor or an international diplomat,” says Heimstead.

One Class of ’04 alumnus, Nathaniel Betz of Temple Heights Christian School, interned at the U.S. Senate this past summer. Betz, now a student at Colby College in Maine, worked for Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

And some Corps members get to travel.

Earlier this year Heimstead took several students to San Antonio for a national meeting presentation under the auspices of the National League of Cities. In addition, Heimstead also accompanied students to Washington, D.C. for a National Youth Summit.

“This isn’t the high school equivalent of resume padding,” underscores Heimstead. “They fill an important role. Their input matters. Instead of guessing, we’re actually asking youth what they think or what they want. And, frankly, it’s no less important to have adults see that youth can be responsible and creative.

“These students get to see how things work and be a part of it,” reiterates Heimstead. “These are our emerging leaders.”

I cite this now because the MYC is again looking for a few good teens. Forty Tampa students – freshmen, sophomores and juniors – are selected annually for a one-year term. Applications for the upcoming Class of 2006 are still available at city schools’ guidance offices – and are due by this Friday, Oct. 14.

So, if you’re the parent of a teen who fits the aforementioned criteria but needs a nudge, consider applying it. Tomorrow’s leaders have to come from somewhere. And they might as well be attracted for the right reasons.

The big news out of Ybor City right now is that Seventh Avenue is open again to weekend auto traffic for the first time in a decade. It will take a while to assess the impact of what is touted as another step by Tampa police to decrease crime in the historic/ entertainment district.

Suffice it to say, not all the bouncers are happy. But hopefully the net result will be that the lion’s share of the partying on La Setima will now be channeled into the clubs – although the beer-by-the-can crowd might not be overly receptive.

Meanwhile, a couple of other happenings of note in Ybor:

*Joe Redner’s strip club, Inferno , has closed after less than a year in operation. But not because it was ordinanced out of business. It was losing money, and Redner is, to be sure, an astute businessman.

The reason it lost money was that the concept of a “first-class gentleman’s club” was incompatible with all the nightclubs catering to the 20-something set.

It was the marketplace that shut down “Inferno” – not city hall. It closed for the right reason.

* Arts Ybor , the second-Wednesday-of-the-month gallery hop, had a successful debut last month. More than 30 galleries and gift shops are taking part in the 6-9 p.m. event plus the Ybor City State Museum, the Colombia Restaurant’s Centennial Museum and participating restaurants, boutiques and retail outlets. Also included: live performances, musicians and free streetcar rides.

Observed Ybor City Chamber of Commerce President Tom Keating: “It was good to see people with shopping bags after dark.”

*Ybor has seen a jump in film production interest in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans.

The homeland war on terrorism impacts relatively few terrorists. Security concerns necessarily inconvenience the masses.

It’s the nature of asymmetrical warfare. It’s also the price we pay not just to improve our chances of avoiding an atrocity and staying alive – but living our way of life.

Having said that, we can still do some pretty stupid things in the good name of national security and self preservation. The National Football League’s pat-down policy comes readily to mind.

It’s perversely egalitarian; everybody gets searched. As a result, you have 2-year-old tykes, senior citizens in wheelchairs and Cindy Gruden submitting their hips, bellies and backs for frisking. You never know who may be packing mass-destruction heat.

About the only thing more outrageous is the Bucs asking the Tampa Sports Authority to pay for it. Most NFL teams cover the increased security that comes with a post-9/11 world. But Malcolm Glazer isn’t most owners. The TSA is paying $9,500 per pat-down game at Raymond James Stadium. And it’s still out $237,000 for past unpaid security bills since 2001.

To be fair, the Bucs have a technical case. Its stadium agreement, which dates to 1996, stipulates that the TSA pay for security. The TSA construes that to mean the 1996 level of security. No one was anticipating the post-9/11 ratcheting of security measures.

That was then and this is now, says the TSA. That was then, and this is an extension of then, say the Glazers.

To be fairer, still, the Bucs should at least compromise with the authority. There’s plenty of precedent around the league for teams doing a lot more. But the Bucs remain public-relations and good-will challenged when it comes to their bottom line. Even for relatively chump change.

Obviously, Malcolm Glazer would rather be checked for explosives than write a check.

Perhaps you saw the photo. If not, you’ve seen their like before.

It showed a seventh grade English teacher in Tampa taking a whipped cream pie in the face, much to the delight of an auditorium full of middle schoolers. The context: It was part of the school’s celebration of a successful magazine fundraising drive and recognition of its track team.

Here’s another context.

In a profession crying out for the best and brightest and beseeching society for respect, this doesn’t help, however well intentioned. There are plenty of fun, creative ways to motivate and reward children shy of belittling slapstick.

Granted, the Mr. Chips approach is probably passé — but Soupy Sales?

As local news stories go, it was a one-day wonder. Mayor Pam Iorio announced an initiative and named a committee to spearhead it. Another day at the office.

Then it was back under the headline radar, giving way to disaster contingency jurisdictions, the fiscal ’06 budget, storm water fees, the art museum soap opera and a testy city hall-city council contretemps.

This initiative, however, is too important and this committee too high-profile to be relegated to a bureaucratic lost-and-profound department. The charge is to drum up more worldwide trade, a challenge more formidable than pitching a Super Bowl.

The economic implications are far-reaching and long-term. The global marketplace is not an option; it’s a necessity. How much longer can phosphate define our international trade identity?

For too long Tampa has not taken full advantage of its Hispanic history and proximity to Latin America or the international potential inherent in a world class airport and one of the country’s busiest seaports. It’s evidenced in the dearth of international flights out of Tampa International Airport, in a stillborn free trade zone and in a nominal – albeit incrementally increasing — container cargo business at the Port of Tampa.

As to the nine-member Mayor’s Global Business Committee, it includes a lot of the right people. Notably Louis E. Miller, the Executive Director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority; Richard A. Wainio, Director of the Tampa Port Authority; Arthur Savage, President, A.R. Savage & Son Inc.; Bronson Thayer, Chairman of the World Trade Center – Tampa Bay Inc.; as well as Mark Huey, Tampa’s Economic Development Director. It is chaired by the savvy Jeff Knott, Vice President International for Rooms To Go Corp.

“Our global business mission is not well-focused and needs to be more coordinated,” understated the mayor.

Indeed, the rule of thumb for local entities engaged in foreign commerce has long been to work independently in research and marketing. Sharing of information was tantamount to spilling state secrets. Proprietary has too often been confused with parochial, such that the enlightened self-interest of this market is undermined. And “this market” must mean more than Tampa. The sooner that regional partners, such as Pinellas County, are brought into the fold and the master strategy, the sooner the Tampa Bay area gets on the globe – not just the map.

Another critical issue is the chronic need for a clearinghouse on raw data, such as what exactly is imported and exported – both products and services — and the amount of foreign investment.

The mayor thus put forth a formal focus on quantifiable goals. There are no theoretical bottom lines here. The proof is in the numbers. It’s how you keep score in the global trade game. Tampa and the Tampa Bay area have to play as if they’re behind and want to become major global players.

They are, and they can.

It’s no secret that the relationship between Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa seems like a wreck in progress right now. As a concept, the city-as-economic-hub might as well be the quantum theory to the county commission. Tampa, along with Plant City and Temple Terrace, is seemingly just another incorporated city – only one with an attitude.

But should this area suffer the brute force of a major hurricane or other disaster, Tampa will be a lot more than Temple Terrace on steroids. It will be ground zero. But it also will be, in effect, everybody’s ground zero.

That’s why Mayor Pam Iorio has been adamant about the city’s role in any disaster scenario. That’s why it has been disheartening to see how the county-city dynamic has been playing out here between Iorio and Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean. Think: Son of Civitas.

Of course, the county is responsible for coordinating all emergency activities within its purview, which is everything within its boundaries. State law and county ordinance codify it. And any effective chain of command only has one person at the top, where the buck necessarily stops. That’s Bean, who’s also the designated emergency management director.

That said, however, why wouldn’t the county administrator want the mayor on board as her out-front, go-to person for Tampa, the county’s flagship and its most vulnerable area?

What can’t continue, however, is the ongoing antipathy between the city and the county. It’s debilitating on a good day; absolutely disastrous should a disaster strike — a time when we all have to pull together as residents without label.

Hopefully, cooler heads will truly prevail, and Iorio and Bean (and Commission Chairman Chaperone Jim Norman) will sit down – outside the posturing context of a press conference – to hash out the appropriate role for the mayor of the county’s keystone. A good start would be for Bean, who’s ultimately in charge, to stop sounding like Alexander Haig in the process.

In retrospect, a lot of folks are agreeing that the departure of the Signature Room Grill from Channelside was not all that shocking. High-end chop houses are usually incompatible with informal entertainment and dining venues. A 1930’s dinner club ambience with jazz – nestled between Bennigan’s and Hooters was not a recipe for success.

And speaking of Hooter’s, which was directly under the Signature Room, here’s a December ’03 quote from Signature Room owner Rick Roman in answer to a question about his (under construction) restaurant’s juxtaposition to Hooters: “We love the exposure.”

Funny line, but not enough did.

For the second time this summer, City Hall has come up embarrassingly short on a public presentation. First it was a poorly organized forum on site options for a new Tampa Museum of Art. Then there was last month’s stormwater fiasco in front of City Council.

Four points:

Don’t bet on a City Hall hat trick. Pam Iorio is not about to endure a third mayoral mea culpa. Her hands-on reputation was well earned. Assume that those hands are now a lot heavier when it comes to high-profile staff presentations involving the public.

Second, it was a major gaffe for stormwater department director Chuck Walter to make a cursory, one-minute presentation to City Council — no matter what the rationale, including redundancy. (There was a previous detailed presentation to council, and there has been plenty of information in the media – as well as resident mailings — about the $12-to-$36 fee increase as part of a five-year, $60-million plan to address some of the most pressing stormwater priorities.) No politician wants to be perceived as a rubber stamp. It’s a counterproductive insult, however unintentional.

Third, these presentations need to be done – and done well — not just because they’re part of good governance, but because it’s also prudent public relations. Don’t forget, any time there’s a public presentation, especially one that involves residents’ own money, there’s a civic rule of thumb that kicks in. That is, those in opposition – whether it’s to a retrofitted courthouse as museum or to a stormwater fee hike — will usually be the largest in number and loudest in noise. They may or may not speak for the community at large, but they can create the next day’s headlines, sound bites and momentum. At the very least, that has to be factored and, where necessary, countered.

Fourth, good government means both listening – and leading. This has to happen. Tampa is not only among the state’s most flood-vulnerable cities, it’s among the lowest in stormwater fees. A fee hike is no panacea; there are none. But it is a common-sense quality-of life and maybe preservation-of-life step that’s long overdue.

For the next month the sports media will be especially attuned to the soap opera that is George Steinbrenner’s New York Yankees. That’s a given. They are what they are – all high-profiled, highly-scrutinized $200 million dollars worth.

But what also is a given to anyone around here is something that has nothing to do with pennant races and Steinbrenner’s managerial second-guessing. It’s about doing something for the real home team: this area.

When vandals recently destroyed musical instruments at Hillsborough High School, it was Steinbrenner who stepped in with a $10,000 check for replacements. When Tampa Catholic announced a fund-raising campaign for a new football stadium, Steinbrenner kick-started things with a $250,000 contribution. And these are just the most recent examples of Steinbrenner going to bat for Bay Area causes, big and small, in a public way and behind the scenes.

On so many levels, Tampa Bay is beholden to Steinbrenner. The gratitude, however, ends between the lines. Especially this season. If the Yankees miss the post-season, a major factor will be their inability to handle the Devil Rays. Too bad.

The Museum of Science and Industry is lucky to have Wit Ostrenko for president – for the same reason that the Florida Aquarium is fortunate to have Thom Stork as its president/CEO. They both know that to be successful you have to be both an educator and an entrepreneur. The former speaks to the why, the latter to the how.

Stork knows, for example, that following a drop of water from its underground source to the open sea is as fascinating as it is important. But without sharks, sting rays and “Explore a Shore” excursions, not enough people will pay to be privy to the critical message about the precious resource – and commodity – that is water. It’s a function of human nature and the marketplace.

MOSI’s never been about science in the abstract. A premium is placed on application – and the interactive. Don’t just talk of gale-force winds, experience them. MOSI’s mantra could be that learning should be fun – and need not be a static activity.

Ostrenko, ironically, is not above taking static himself on occasion. More the pragmatist than the purist, he’s been known to push the envelope for the cause. He sees nothing inherently incompatible with museums and show business. You have to be aggressive, and you have to compete. And at the end of the day, something educational has transpired.

These past few years MOSI has had to weather the hurricane season from hell plus an economic downturn and fallout from terrorist attacks. Not blessed with an endowment or cash reserves, the South’s largest science museum had to lay off employees. It needed an economic jumpstart to keep doing what it does so well.

Cue “Bodies, the Exhibition.”

Ostrenko had taken the initiative, and plans finally fell into place early this summer. The respectful yet controversial exhibit of posed, preserved cadavers – plus more than 200 organs and partial body specimens — is currently playing to record crowds and will run through February.

Not everyone, of course, is comfortable with unclaimed, unidentified bodies as point guards. And undoubtedly the morbidly curious have found their way to MOSI. Then there’s the obscure Florida Anatomical Board that refused to endorse “Bodies.”

When confronted with the unexpected obstacle presented by the Anatomical Board, Ostrenko didn’t blink. MOSI had been above board and ethical – the bodies were legally obtained from China — and state law was unclear. And even if that were to change, it would be after the fact (as in February). Moreover, the controversy only lit a firestorm of local – and even national – publicity. Ostrenko, hardly sound-bite challenged, was center stage; it was all economic upside. The first four days drew more than 12,000 visitors, including nearly 6,000 for the first Saturday.

But for all the chutzpah and controversy, the response has been overwhelmingly positive by the medical and educational communities as well as the general public. Ostrenko is even making sure that information and forms are available regarding the donation of bodies to science and organs to LifeLink of Florida.

At the end of the day, education has, indeed, happened – on several levels.