Category: Tampa Bay

So will Stetson, the private, 102-year-old law school that will be setting up shop in Tampa Heights, be some racially retro neighbor? According to one of its tenured, constitutional law professors, yes. Stetson University College of Law Professor Mark Brown says the school does an awful job of recruiting minority students. He cites a relatively stagnant black enrollment of about 5 to 7 percent for almost a decade, a figure that is lower than other law schools in this state.

Brown may or may not have valid points when it comes to Stetson’s aggressiveness in minority recruiting. He also may or may not be getting picked on for his racial critique of Stetson (“Affirmative Inaction: Stories From A Small Southern School”) that he published in Temple University’s Law Review and e-mailed to the entire student body during finals week.

But he’s definitely off base on one facet. He apparently thinks it’s Stetson’s responsibility to produce a black enrollment that’s reflective of this state’s black population, which is approximately 15 percent.

Stetson is a private law school, not a social experiment in diversity — which is typically defined in higher education circles by ethnicity and color. It is not the University of Michigan. Stetson shouldn’t be burdened with having to reflect the dubious presumption that abilities, aptitudes and attitudes — to cite just three factors — are proportionately parceled out in the population. Any population.

If that were the case, then obviously certain groups are disproportionately over-represented. Anyone want to tell Jewish Americans, for example, that their numbers are inordinately high for law and medical schools? Anyone want to make the case that venerating family, education and achievement is not a good enough reason for disproportionate representation?

“I’m embarrassed for my generation,” Brown told the Associated Press. So be it. So likely is the entire American Civil Liberties Union.

That, Stetson should be able to live with.

In answer to a query about why the media seem so obsessed with bad news, Walter Cronkite once responded that it was “Because most people aren’t interested in all the cats that did not get stuck in trees today.” That’s true in that the unexpected and unusual is more the nature of “news.” The unbribed judge, for example, is not normally news. Cronkite’s glib response, however, doesn’t address pandering, sensationalism and ratings, but that’s another issue.

What’s been heartening, as always, is that the holiday season is accompanied by accounts of those who do for others. While we’re still reminded that the economy is dicey, terrorism palpable and storm water pervasive, we’re also mindful of the good that people do. Good for its own goodness. And it’s not just such societal stalwarts as the Salvation Army, Metropolitan Ministries or The Spring. It’s also individuals just doing the right thing because it needed doing immediately.

The twin towers of heroic, Good Samaritanism are Army Staff Sgt. Scott Gellin and University of South Florida basketball player-high jumper Jimmy Baxter. Gellin saved a drowning 12-year-old girl who had fallen into Tampa Bay, and Baxter pulled out two men trapped in a submerged car in a drainage ditch along I-275.

Whether “Heroism Happens” becomes a bumper sticker staple or not, the point is that there has never been a better time to focus on the good in a world increasingly impacted by evil and cynicism. Thanks, Scott and Jimmy, we needed that.

Also answering needs were numerous individuals, organizations and companies across the Tampa Bay region. They range from Tampa’s Hawkins Electric making sure that the Interbay Boys & Girls Club had a heated pool to the Bucs’ Keenan McCardell playing Santa to needy kids to the gardening efforts of students at Philip Shore Elementary School, who donated produce to the homeless.

There are a lot of good stories out there because there are a lot of good people out there. It’s not always “news.” But always important. Now more than ever.

I guess we’re supposed to be flattered, but frankly I hope we’ve grown beyond the point where we are ecstatic that others see us as more than a lot of sun, sand and salty water. Case in point: the recent visit by a Boston Globe journalist who was impressed that we were not culturally challenged. The writer “discovered top-notch museums” that “offer art, education and hands-on activities for children.”

The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg drew the biggest raves — and well it should have. If ever the banality “world class” applied to anything around here, it applies to the Dali. Its renown is truly international. Sorry to sound like an ingrate, but “the jewel in the crown of St. Petersburg museums” is faint praise.

Also finding favor with the Globe journalist were St. Petersburg’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Florida Holocaust Museum, as well as Tampa’s children-focused Museum of Science and Industry and The Florida Aquarium. As for the lower (pre-Vinoly) profile Tampa Museum of Art, it wasn’t mentioned. Not only is TMA very hands-on in its outreach programs to elementary students, but it possesses the finest antiquities collection in the Southeast.

So, thank you for acknowledging that we are much more than sun-and-fun Philistines, but please do your homework next time.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

This political lull, that is, before the mayoral race cranks up — and likely gets down and dirty — after the holidays. The gubernatorial and county commission primaries and elections kept much of the mayoral machinations below public radar in 2002. Not so in the truncated new election year. It will be an all-out, bombast-away campaign through the March 4 election to the run-off on the 25th.

It’s a given that Frank Sanchez will be further characterized as a return-of-the-native carpetbagger in need of a long learning curve. Expect to see him skewered over his affiliation with the Bill Clinton Administration, where he was assistant secretary of transportation.

Look for Bob Buckhorn to be further flayed for ambition portrayed as blind and calculated and priorities parodied as too enamored of potholes and six-foot ordinances.

Charlie Miranda will be referenced, albeit more politely, as an old school Luddite with a narrow base. Not having an ATM card or a high-speed internet connection won’t be seen as a folksy quirk in a high-tech age.

Don Ardell will just keep reminding folks that he is not to be taken seriously.

And then there’s Pam Iorio, the highly visible, highly regarded Patron Saint of Elections.

An early Christmas stocking stuffer was that recent poll commissioned by friends that showed her with big margins over the competition. The results, says Hillsborough County’s Supervisor of Elections, were better than expected.

“Frankly, I needed convincing,” acknowledges Iorio. “I had totally taken myself out of the race. I had totally focused on the election.”

The poll, which had her blessing, was reassuring, she says.

“I’ve gotten a lot of positive reinforcement this year,” Iorio says, “and it’s been occurring every single day of my life for the last six months. Yet, you don’t want to read too much into that. But I’ve been in public life for 18 years, and that didn’t happen for the first 17.

“Now this poll, which I think was very objective, showed a lot of popular public support,” adds Iorio. “I think it’s reflective of a larger pool of public opinion out there. I also think it demonstrates that there’s still a void in this race.”

For the record, Iorio doesn’t see herself as “wavering” in her decision, which will be announced right after the holidays. “I’m being analytical,” she notes.

And could she make up for lost time? “Whether or not I can raise a certain amount of money in a short period of time is a factor,” Iorio concedes. “I think I will be able to. But money is not the most important thing.”

So will she? “I’m going to wait until after the Christmas tree comes down,” she says. “However, I’m much more encouraged than discouraged.”

Which hardly sounds like “no.”

Conventional wisdom, which may be as wise as it is conventional in this case, says that an Iorio candidacy most impacts Sanchez. He has, for example, key supporters who were on the early Iorio bandwagon. They’ll remain with Sanchez, but it underscores the overlap.

Sanchez’s take on candidate Iorio? “She is a good public servant and a good supervisor,” he says. “I don’t think we’ll be doing anything differently no matter who else gets in the race. Beyond that, I don’t want to get into the analyst business.”

He is, however, very much in the battle plan mode, he underscores, preparing for “an air and ground attack.” He’s even added savvy media meister Kevin Kalwary as a press secretary for the final push.

“I’m focused on implementing our campaign plan and getting our message out,” he says. “And it’s about to be unleashed. This is grass roots the likes of which this city has never seen. We’ll be mounting very strong direct mail and TV campaigns. In mid-January I’ll be on TV, and I won’t come off until election day.

“I’ve been at this for 11 months,” Sanchez points out. “We’ve raised the money we need. We have 1,000 volunteers. We’re geared up.”

As for Buckhorn, he had appraising grace for Iorio as well as a rationale for why her entry wouldn’t alter his status.

“Pam is eminently qualified, a very viable opponent and clearly raises the level of debate,” he says. “But from my perspective, it doesn’t affect me at all. We enjoy a loyal, solid base that isn’t going to be swayed by the flavor of the month.”

But what of that poll?

“That’s a temporary snapshot,” reasons Buckhorn. “Pam is coming off an election cycle with a lot of free press. And you expect that. But does that translate into good governance? That’s up to the voters.

“And frankly, I don’t intend to talk about her during the campaign. I’m not running against her. I’m running for something. For mayor, the CEO of this city.”

Charlie Miranda stayed true to form. Blunt and deadpan.

“With polls, it’s a matter of which one do you believe,” noted Miranda. “Everybody’s got one but me. It’s a waste of money. It can tell you something that you want it to say.”

But he definitely believes in welcome mats. The more, the merrier for Miranda.

“I welcome Pam Iorio to the race,” he says. “In fact, I say to her: ‘Just go on and do it. It’s not hard to say yes.’

“The public should have a variety of choices,” maintains Miranda. “I’m looking for three or four more. It helps me. My base knows I’m ‘Plain Charlie.” I don’t candy coat; I’m only about the facts. My base is not going to move, waver or change. You can’t say that about the other candidates. I’m gonna sit back and watch this for a while.”

For those still indecisive about New Year’s Eve, you may want to usher in 2003 at Ybor City’s historic Cuban Club. The Circulo Cubano de Tampa and the Krewe of Mambi will be hosting the annual New Year’s Eve Ball in the Grand Ballroom of the 85-year-old facility at Palm Avenue and 14th Street.

The semi-formal event will feature dinner, live music by the seven-piece Son de Mi Tierra, a champagne toast, one free drink, an open bar, party favors and a continental breakfast. Cost is $50 per person, with proceeds benefiting restoration efforts of the Circulo Cubano. Doors open at 8 PM for cocktails; dinner will be served at 8:30.

For reservations, please call the Cuban Club office at 248-2954. Seating is limited

When it became official earlier this year that the class size-cutting Amendment 9 would be on the fall ballot, Hillsborough County reacted immediately. It stopped getting rid of its portable classrooms.

“We worked hard to get out of the portable business,” ruefully recalls Hillsborough County Superintendent Earl Lennard. “But we ceased liquidating our portables when that Amendment got on the ballot.”

That action, however, was it for proactive moves undertaken by Hillsborough County. All else awaited the Amendment’s outcome. Its Nov. 5 passage — although voted down in Hillsborough County — meant Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature would have to hash out the details, which included settling on some key definitions and finding requisite resources in a brutal budget year.

“The Amendment itself left a lot unanswered,” says Lennard. “But the people have spoken. It was done in good faith. It’s over with. We will do it.”

What they will have to do is hire more teachers and provide more classrooms and pay for it with money they don’t have. And the 8-year, phased-in, mandated class sizes (18 for K-3; 22 for grades 4-8; and 25 for 9-12) commence next August. Hillsborough, which adds, on average, about 1,000 teachers a year, will need about 1,600 next year. Amendment 9 hits at the same time attrition rates among teachers are spiking with retiring boomers, including the first group of DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) retirees.

“We’re under ever greater pressure to provide teachers in a diminishing market,” says Lennard. “We will do it, but we will have to put on a full court press to get teachers. But I remain concerned that we NOT lower our standards to meet the intent of Amendment 9. That would create a worse teaching situation than higher numbers with qualified teachers.”

What Lennard wants above all, he says, is flexibility. Especially in the first year. Especially when it comes to figuring out class sizes. He hopes countywide averages prevail.

“Not every district is the same,” he points out. “Not every school within a district is the same. For example, some schools have no room for portables; schools such as Gorrie (Elementary) and Wilson (Middle). So it’s absolutely necessary to have maximum flexibility.”

Currently the county is “looking at everything,” says Lennard, which ranges from “co-teachers” presiding over large classes to teachers losing their planning periods.

If nothing else, Lennard notes ironically, the Amendment 9 crucible is putting educational nostalgia into a new context.

“It used to be that the ‘good old days’ were when you were in school, the ’50s and ’60s,’ Lennard notes. “Now it may be four weeks ago — just prior to Nov. 5.”

The Tampa Port Authority’s recent ranking of bidders for a contract to provide private security services certainly rankled one member of the port’s governing board. That’s Gladstone Cooper, the board’s only black member. He objected to the minority-owned Sykes Security being ranked 10th out of 11 companies that submitted bids.

I don’t claim to know how valid his complaint is. I do know this. There is no more viable terrorism target in this whole Tampa Bay region than the Port of Tampa, one of the biggest in the country. One that is awash in tanker traffic.

If there is one sector that must never be compromised by either cronyism or tokenism, it’s security — in all its forms — at the Port of Tampa. Cooper may be an irritant in the bid process, but security may be better served by a resident gadfly.

Political junkies attending last week’s Tampa Bay Tiger Bay Club luncheon were treated to something other than candidate-speak. Served up were election postmortems by the Bay Area’s consummate political junkie, the University of South Florida’s Susan MacManus.

Over the last decade, the USF political scientist and author has been carving out a national name for herself — and USF — from Time magazine to USA Today . The homegrown MacManus and Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia are among the more frequently quoted sources nationally.

MacManus had a number of interesting takes on what happened here in Florida. A sampler:

* “Senator Bob Graham should have been draped around Bill McBride — not Gore or Clinton or Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.”

* “You can’t run a single-issue campaign in such a diverse state.”

* “McBride exasperated his staff by refusing to do mock debates.”

* Re: Voters re-electing Bush, yet passing the class-size amendment he was so adamantly — even deviously — opposed to. MacManus said it really wasn’t the dichotomy it seemed. McBride gets credit for having “pushed the agenda” on education, which resonated with enough voters, she noted. And Bush, she said, got credit for knowing how to be governor. As a result, “Voters thought Bush was the better person to push it” to implementation, opined MacManus.

* “The independent voter is what’s happening. One fifth of Floridians are independents. The swing group went heavily Republican.”

* Jeb Bush’s out-of-school comments on ‘devious plans,’ lesbian references and smug debate demeanor “should have been enough to lose.”

* The attack ads in Florida’s 5th Congressional District, where Republican challenger Ginny Brown-Waite squeaked by Democratic incumbent Karen Thurman, were the worst of the worst. Actually, “hideous,” assessed MacManus.

* Re: Jeb Bush’s second term. “His first four years will seem like a picnic.” His challenges, opined MacManus, are hardly limited to the daunting likes of DCF, the bullet train, the class-size amendment, roads, water, et al. They also include a “crazy Florida Legislature” and “trouble with his own cabinet. Look for a lot of jockeying (for Jeb’s job in 2006).”

This city has realized a major redevelopment milestone with the announcements that Tampa Heights will be home to Bank of America-developed condos and town homes and a Stetson University College of Law campus.

But here’s a scenario no one could have foreseen not long ago: competition. Three developers have submitted bids for the same city-owned property not far from the BOA and Stetson parcels. Plans range from office space to office-and-retail to more condos.

Obviously the Stetson deal has been catalytic. Florida’s oldest law school bought the old police station property from the city and paid for site preparation. Anyone regret not being able to give that land away to FAMU last year?

In an action well noted by Tampa officials and residents of Ybor City, Lakeland has passed an ordinance making it legal to tell pushy panhandlers to take a hike or face arrest. Seemingly, downtown merchants are as pleased as the resident homeless who are also unnerved by some newly arrived, aggressive panhandlers.

Such ordinances, however ultimately necessary, are always dicey legal gambits — protected speech under the First Amendment-type stuff. Moreover, they sometimes can have unintended, ironic results.

In a Tampa Tribune story last week, a homeless Lakeland man underscored the dilemma. “If they stop us from panhandling,” noted Johnnie May, “people are just going to refrain back to stealing.”

Should Lakeland officials hear more such refrains, they may also want to have extortion statutes at the ready.