Category: Tampa Bay

Timing, we have been numbingly reminded, is everything. Our last-minute diversion from disaster has been well chronicled.

But in our specific case, timing also came in the form of a planned vacation that more than overlapped with Hurricane Irma’s skittishly frightening approach to the Tampa Bay area. It was eerie and anxious to watch from a distance, in this case the Pacific Northwest, about 3,000 miles away.

There’s perverse guilt in being distantly safe, and anxiety about your community and all you own–including memorabilia that you didn’t protect better. There’s also outrage about how the national broadcast media has turned nature’s might into disaster porn. From the apocalyptic-cones drumbeat to worst-case scenarios and tragic aftermaths.

“If it bleeds, it leads” morphs seamlessly into “If it scares, who cares?”

Well, my wife Laraine and I did, and we kept the oversized, hotel flat-screens off and checked in with neighbors and local Tampa-area media. And, frankly, at times such as this, we should regard Dennis Phillips, the WTSP Channel 28 (ABC) meteorologist, as a natural resource. He doesn’t hype; he goes out of his way to provide sane, nerve-calming, meteorological context. His Facebook posts should be required reading during hurricane season. “We got this one” will be his legacy–as well as Rule #7: “Stop freaking out … until I tell you to. We’re fine.”

But not even Phillips was spot on for this protean, once-in-a-century, super storm. He sounded almost apologetic before that last-minute shift back to the east that spared Tampa.

And it was up to Mayor Bob Buckhorn to wear out numerous hats. To those most in harm’s way: Be stern enough to order evacuation. It brought out that Mike Tysonesque quote: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Well, we’re about to get punched in the face.” To those who deserve a special circle in hell: Be intimidating enough to dissuade looters and price gougers. To everybody: hope without rationale for letting down a guard. “We are Tampa strong.”

At times like this, you can’t help envisioning the absolute worst: that long-overdue direct hit that wipes out Tampa and our daily lives as we’ve known them. Anything less than that, is a bonus. A lot less than that is, well, like playing with house money–and a new lease on an old life. One seen through a new lens of perspective. Family, friends, community, pets. That butterfly hovering around the ixora. The smell of jasmine and camellia. The manifestations of electricity. Reminders to selves to replenish the bird–and de facto squirrel–feeders. Seeing Hillsborough Bay with the right distribution of water. Taking nothing for granted, especially each other.

Our party for our neighbors is already scheduled. We’re all in this together. It’s been a collective sigh of relief. Debris has never seemed so immaterial. As Winston Churchill once noted: “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

We are, indeed, #Tampa strong.

If I’m the Rick Kriseman campaign, I’m doubling down on linking Rick Baker with Donald Trump. And then hoping that the Baker campaign doesn’t wise up and change its strategy of ignoring Trump and doubling down on sewage.

And if I’m the Kriseman campaign, I’m also hoping that the loud, off-putting Baker on display on primary night stays away from anger-management classes until the November general election. If not, it would be virtually impossible to resist those “Baker Act Rick” signs and bumper stickers. Hell, that picture of Baker shrieking like some alt-right cheerleader might surface anyhow.

Normally, a blatantly partisan approach in a nonpartisan race would be blatantly inappropriate. You don’t bring national politics into play in a mayor’s race. It’s about local issues. Many in the media have pointed this out. The Tampa Bay Times, in fact, called it “cynical and flat wrong.”

The Times, as we increasingly notice, has been wrong before. And the times, as we’re also acutely aware, are anything but normal. Would that they were.

Trump is the game-changer. His long, pre-Oval Office track record speaks inelegantly for itself. He’s pathologically loathsome, a moral cretin, ethically challenged and a swaggering misogynist. We’ve also come to learn that he is largely unread, temperamentally unhinged and an existential threat, nationally and globally. What’s not to dislike?

Trump transcends all politics-as-usual tenets and precedents.

If a candidate can’t formally disassociate himself from this president–even if there’s an aberrant chunk of the electorate still channeling him–it says something about that candidate’s character. If you can’t disavow the outrageous, the unethical, the immoral and the pathological, you don’t deserve to be the mayor of St. Petersburg, a city that deserves so much better.

Rick Baker should show some character, some class and some smarts. Especially if Barack Obama gets more involved. This is still a Democratic city–one with infrastructure, inclusion, schools, Midtown and Tropicana Field scenarios to prioritize. That should be the focus of this election–once the core issue of character has been settled. If, indeed, it already hasn’t been.

A University of Tampa sociologist makes an insensitive Harvey tweet about “instant karma” and the red state of Texas. Ultimately he “resigned” after being fired. There are more questions than answers.

Can’t academic freedom accommodate the deplorably dumb? Doesn’t the first amendment make provisions for the strikingly stupid? And this wasn’t exactly yelling fire in a crowded theater or requesting a parade permit in Little Havana to honor the Castro brothers. And, frankly, can’t smart people, such as professors, master the art of think-before-send?

The UT incident is also unwelcome propaganda. It has been–and will continue to be–ammo for Republican politicians and right-wing media. In effect, “Remember that Florida professor’s disgusting take on the tragedy in Houston? Said it was karma for being a red state. He really did. That’s what a hypocritical, LIBERAL professor thought. And you know he’s not the only one.”

That’s what really hurts.

The other day I was doing some stretching exercises at the gym–ok, health club–and I couldn’t keep my mind on what I was doing. I was aware of some chronic herniated disk issues that accompany me everywhere. I was also lost in thoughts about Hurricane Irma. Life wasn’t as fair as it should be.

Then, after coming out of a “downward-facing dog” yoga pose, I routinely looked around and happened to glance out the large window facing Azeele Street at the corner of South Dale Mabry. There, along a steamy sidewalk near a Starbucks was a person–couldn’t quite make out a gender–pushing a shopping cart filled far beyond capacity with stuff, likely a life’s possessions.

The person pushed the cart past the coffee icon, where a hipster-looking couple with a pedigreed poodle was savoring away in a shaded area. The cart-pusher, in a raggedy ensemble and shoulder-length hair, turned into the parking lot and moved out of sight. That dog, I thought, had a much better life. And my own travails, I also thought, just received a jolt of much-needed perspective.

It’s welcome news that there is finally an official Tampa City Council “delegation” heading to Cuba in October, even if it’s only two members (Yoli Capin and Harry Cohen). It still counts. More formal ties are important, with the city of Tampa and the state of Florida benefiting in obvious ways, from trade to security to the environment–to a consulate.

Also of note: Among local leaders traveling with Capin and Cohen is David A. Straz Jr. It’s not his first visit. And hardly incidental when your name is in play for the next mayoral election. Tampa needs a progressive point man in City Hall to max out on synergistic scenarios between Cuba and the city with historic roots in Havana.

Some shout-outs are better than others, as anyone familiar with the constant cascade of on-line lists–from relevant to ridiculous–would agree. But a recent list from Entrepreneur Magazine, entitled “Top 7 Cities Competing With Silicon Valley for Tech Entrepreneurs,” was particularly well received around here. Tampa came in second to Salt Lake City. For the record, the rest of the top 7 were, in order, Huntsville (Ala.), St. Louis, Seattle, Phoenix and Albany (N.Y.).

EM‘s biggest rationale for ranking Tampa 2nd: This is where Microsoft’s Bill Gates is putting a big chunk–some $2 billion–of his Cascade Investment capital. As we know, he’s partnering with Jeff Vinik on the Water Street Tampa project. The upshot of the Gates-Vinik partnership, noted EM, is “reinventing the Tampa of the future as an incubator and preparing its infrastructure for growth.”

Also included was input from Dan Wesley, CEO of Tampa-based Quote.com, a website providing price quotes on insurance and loans. “Top-tier tech graduates flock to Silicon Valley but pay dearly while living the dream,” he pointed out. “We want to show there is much to be learned and the same salary to be earned, allowing talented employees to learn and grow professionally without them having to live in their cars … because of the skyrocketing cost of rent.”

What I liked about “The Art of the Brick” in downtown Tampa transcends obvious creativity, ingenuity and whimsy. It is its broad appeal. Amid the 100 pieces of art made of Lego bricks by artist Nathan Sawaya there’s literally something for everybody–whether it’s an homage to the Mona Lisa, David and The Thinker, a shout out to Manet, Monet and Van Gogh or an ultra cool, 20-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. Or maybe, it’s just the interactive build space at the end, which is a fun, creative place for young–and much older–kids to build their own Lego projects.  The Vinik Family Foundation, which sponsors the exhibit, covers the cost, which means free entry for all visitors. To date, there have been more than 100,000 since late June.

Not unlike last year’s Vinik-sponsored “Beach Tampa” exhibit at Amalie Arena–or the Children’s Gasparilla Parade–“The Art of the Brick” looks like Tampa racially and ethnically. At a time when we need venues and opportunities to come together as a community, the Vinik Foundation has stepped up–again–in a meaningful way.

Two quick takeaways from what’s been happening in St. Petersburg.

* Mayor Rick Kriseman is behind former Mayor Rick Baker and needs a game changer while praying for the dodged bullet of a major storm. The Tampa Bay Times even recommended Baker. Ouch. Rick K’s best bet: Passionately play the Democratic Party card, even though this is technically (wink-nod) nonpartisan. Remind communities of impact and influence, notably gay and African-American, that you’ve always been on their side–and you’re not averse to condemning Trump values that too many Republicans have had to rhetorically tap dance around. Note the slippery style of Baker.

Remind them that you actually march in the Pride Parade; you don’t do a GOPster tap dance. Keep recycling that reminder in a multi-media appeal. And why not get your African-American Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin into Midtown to remind the black community that you can be trusted to do the right thing. Tomalin, a native of St. Pete (Boca Ciega High) is a player–not a token–and she could make a turn-out difference by extending Kriseman’s electoral reach.

* Too bad that Black Lives Matter can’t go beyond its cop-killing niche of black lives selectively mattering and use its forum to help rein in the car-theft crime wave that too often involves black teens. Seemingly consequence-free “joyriding” has turned deadly for the teen thieves and imperiled the innocent.

Chris Steinocher, CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, waxed bullish and blunt the other day about St. Pete. He also made a candid comparison with his birthplace city, Atlanta.

On the former: “St. Pete is a hot property, and we do not want to screw it up.” On the latter: “They screwed it up.” He meant, most notably, sprawl and traffic.

As someone who previously lived in the Atlanta area, I can attest to some other things. The city, which has long marketed itself as the “New South,” “the city that’s too busy to hate” and home to America’s most viable black middle class, has issues beyond insufferable gridlock. Put it this way, there’s a reason Atlanta notoriously cooks the books on crime and school testing.

And it’s hardly happenstance that the Atlanta Braves new stadium, Sun Trust Park, is in the suburbs–and not a synergistic part of the urban core.

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is doing well these days. But, frankly, how well are you doing if your dominant carrier is Allegiant Air, which doesn’t fly below the radar of regular, embarrassing incidents and accompanying awful PR.