Opinions to go Online

The other night a vacant storefront that used to be an Old Hyde Park Village shoe store housed a City Council forum. Afterward, District 4 candidates Gene Wells and John Dingfelder (Clay Phillips did not attend) addressed an issue of obvious interest to immediate neighbors. What, if anything, can — or should — the city do to help the Village?

Once part of the “New Urbanism” vanguard, the Village has been buffeted by economic downturns and marketplace winds gusting out of the new International Plaza and the retrofitted WestShore Plaza. The Village is a key community linchpin and a valuable visitor amenity.

“It’s got to be tough in here,” assessed Wells, “with some major tenants leaving. But you have to recognize that the dynamics have changed, and this is not a mall. Having said that, however, you don’t have to lose the war.”

Wells, the owner-founder of Computer Parts of America Inc., noted that he has to compete with Office Depot and Staples. “It’s not easy, but it can be done,” he stated. “Service is certainly one factor.”

Fostering a business-friendly climate is another.

“I think we have to help create an environment for businesses to grow,” added Wells. “That includes help with zoning and land-use. We might have to provide tax credits or incentives.

“This was the grand experiment, and we can’t give up on it,” said Wells. “The property owners and the city made the investment here. The city has to keep an eye on that ball.”

Dingfelder sees a “mediative” role for the city to “facilitate better communication” with the neighbors. To see what they want — to “survey the neighborhood.”

“I think it’s an unbelievably unique asset,” emphasized Dingfelder. “Twenty years before Celebration and Westchase. The Village is ripe for a bunch of smaller shops like in Europe.”

He’d also like to look at ways to encourage traffic into the Village.

Along Rome, for example, he envisions bike lanes. “I’d like to encourage Bayshore bike traffic to come up into the Village,” said Dingfelder. “Maybe a sign down by Bayshore as well. These are relatively inexpensive propositions that the city could certainly look at.”

There are more pricey propositions that Dingfelder would also look at. Along Swann.

“The trolley is something I’ve mentioned,” noted Dingfelder. “If and when it takes off, Tampa Heights and Seminole Heights and circling into Hyde Park is logical. Coming up Swann.

“I’m open to ways the city can help — within economic balance.”

Joe Redner’s campaign brochure reminds voters that he is “MORE than an adult club owner.” That he is.

The City Council District 6 candidate can speak credibly about rehabbing real estate and creating green spaces. He cares about the environment outside the Mons Venus. He’s an astute, successful and understandably controversial businessman. He has name recognition most candidates can only fantasize about. He doesn’t exactly owe a ton of political favors.

Frankly, if he could ever lose the arrogance — but not the sense of humor — and dress for forums as if he weren’t going bowling or getting a lap dance, he might have a shot. Don’t forget, the opposition isn’t exactly invincible.

*At the most recent Tiger Bay Club of Tampa luncheon, Redner had the best line regarding Ye Mystic Krewe’s men-only policy. “Personally,” deadpanned Redner, “I wouldn’t involve myself in any activity where women aren’t included.”

*Some Tiger Bay takes on the Gasparilla drunkenness that filters through Hyde Park neighborhoods:

John Dingfelder: “Limit drinking to folks’ homes and Bayshore itself.”

Clay Phillips: Consider “opening up both sides” of Bayshore Boulevard for all.

Gene Wells: “Public drunkenness gets down to an enforcement issue.”

Joe Redner: “Take it or leave it. It’s Gasparilla.”

There are mayoral endorsements and there are mayoral endorsements. From the Builders Association to the Sierra Club. It’s all fair game. The lone anomaly, however, is Bob Buckhorn’s formal support from the hard line, anti-Castro Cubans.

It’s certainly his prerogative to fundraise in Miami and to honor those who lost so much in the revolution. No one could doubt where he stands. He has even flown with Brothers To The Rescue.

But the atavistic, Cold War Cuban position has no place in this 2003 mayor’s race.

By stridently and effectively exercising its political leverage over the years, the anti-Castro, pro-embargo crowd has, in effect, worked at cross purposes with the best interests of U.S. foreign policy. Moreover, American business interests and luckless Cuban citizens would have benefited by a common sense, humanitarian approach to Cuban-American relations.

Until recently, the Port of Tampa has been deterred from looking into even legal opportunities in Cuba — let alone properly preparing for post-Castro Cuba. That obviously has not been in Tampa’s best interest.

Perhaps Ralph Fernandez can deliver some votes. Perhaps the rest of the voters will not notice. Or care.

Perhaps.

Al Austin was named Civitan’s Citizen of the Year. It could have been for any number of years. His impact has been as far-reaching as it’s been unremitting.

Austin was a visionary in developing the West Shore office district and a champion in standing tall for MacDill Air Force Base. He’s always been the proverbial busy guy who could get important things done — whether for the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, the Red Cross, the American Heart Association, the University of Tampa or the Tampa Bay Partnership.

He’s long been a major GOP player statewide and nationally. He has been at his partisan best, however, whenever it came to Tampa.

Al Austin is also the consummate gentleman.

Congratulations.

And thank you.

Imagine this.

After early reports were confirmed that there had, indeed, been a shuttle disaster, word went out to halt the Gasparilla parade. Whether it was canceled or just postponed, it was over. Please understand and go home.

Yes, there was a flotilla in the water, and hundreds of vendors and several hundred thousand spectators, a number from out of town, were already positioned. And many more visitors were flowing in — with still more on the way. Traffic, not yet clued in, was inexorably inching its way forward, as others were now looking for escape routes. The police were doing what they could. Still, it was an ad hoc mess, one that not all drivers handled with proper Columbia reverence.

In fact, some drivers, amid the near-chaotic dispersal, were as confused as they were imprudent behind the wheel. U-Turns and alley exits turned South Tampa into a labyrinthian nightmare. Barricaded exits on the Interstate resulted in several chain-reaction accidents.

Gridlock behavior was obviously incongruous with memorial deportment. And that, in itself, was sad — but all too human. And predictable. Some pedestrians and motorists were unluckier than most. A couple of accidents were beyond fender benders. One, alas, was fatal. A teenager was backed over by someone in a hurry to go nowhere.

Mayor Greco, we know you give more than a rat’s patootie about doing the right thing, but what were you thinking? Doesn’t point-of-no-return have any meaning to you? Had it been, say, the smaller, bawdy Night Parade, it might have been manageable. But doing a 180 on Gasparilla when so many and so much were already in place?

You were, we’ll acknowledge, faced with a no-win situation, but you didn’t have to add to the loss. We’ll concede that your heart was in the right place, but you issued an order that resulted in an eighth victim. Not an astronaut, mind you, and not a hero, just an otherwise anonymous kid who was merely very important to a lot of other anonymous people. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time because there were no right places in that fire-drill-gone-wrong of an exit.

It’s fitting, however, that there will be an inquiry into the resultant chaos. Next time there is an unexpected exodus of nearly a half million people, things should go better. There is at least one family, though, that will find that scant consolation.

Of course, there’s no denying that there’s precious little in a Gasparilla Parade that lends itself to proper respect for the Columbia 7. What would you have done? Periodically pause for a moment of silence? But, still, people — especially the ones with young children — would have understood — and agreed — had the parade gone on.

Admittedly, it’s easy to scare up a scenario like this. Maybe it’s a cheap shot.

And Mayor Greco certainly made it easier for armchair critics by saying that drive-by moments of silence “will honor them even more.” Hardly. That ill-phrased comment, however, was a function of wishful thinking and deliberation-challenged timing. It wasn’t “seedy,” as one pundit cynically characterized it.

Given the logistical fait accompli , proceeding with the parade was not “insanity.” It was the less worse option. However quick on his rhetorical feet, Greco isn’t a reincarnation of Ronald Reagan.

But, then, neither is anyone else, including cheap shot-delivering Sunday-morning quarterbacks.

Congratulations are certainly in order to Debbie Gill Leslie, Hillsborough County’s Teacher of the Year. Good — let alone exceptional — teachers certainly don’t get enough recognition. And reward. In this case, the Pride Elementary School kindergarten teacher received $2,000, a ring, round-trip airline tickets, a crystal apple, tickets to various sporting and entertainment events and more. By all accounts, she was still under-rewarded.

As admirable — and fitting — as such an honor is, the selection process needs improvement. It needs to be fair. Hillsborough County selects its Teacher of the Year from its total ranks, K-12.

The comparisons are challenging enough when comparing elementary teachers to each other — or secondary teachers to each other. To choose one winner among all the elementary and secondary teachers, however, is beyond challenging. It’s impossible — if fairness is to be more than a nominal consideration.

Call it the pedagogic equivalent of the apples-to-oranges metaphor. Only here it’s the more child-oriented, patience-of-Job elementary teacher incongruously compared to the more subject-oriented, adolescent-relating secondary instructor.

Surely, what’s worth rewarding is worth rewarding fairly.