Author: opinionstogo

An inaugural is a unique event. Take this city’s most recent one.

It’s part civic pep rally: celebrating the avatar of the democratic process – even if many voters elected to stay home.

It’s also a most welcome respite, however brief, from the purely political. A time reserved for swearing in, not swearing at. For this freeze-frame moment, public service is not a glib euphemism for politics. And all things are possible again.

And who doesn’t love some gratuitous pomp? A poet laureate, judges, the presentation of the colors, oaths, an invocation, a benediction, the Pledge, the National Anthem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

We’re also reminded, often movingly, that among Tampa’s natural resources are poet laureate James Tokley, historian Gary Mormino and the First Baptist Church of College Hill Choir.

In her inaugural address, Mayor Pam Iorio picked up where her state of the city speech left off. She outlined her priorities — and notably underscored the need to develop a mass transit system. It’ll be a political hot potato, to be sure, but bully pulpits are overkill on inauguration day. That’s why this one wasn’t prosaically presented. Inaugural presentations always deserve better, and Iorio’s was rhetorically framed by Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”

Afterward, the new city council convened to pick a new leader and put an abrupt end to the kumbayah interlude. Four rounds of votes later, the new chair was the same as the old chair: that consummate compromise candidate, Gwen Miller.

The political respite was history. Indeed, so much for another opportunity for the city council chair to project a substantial, professional image. A city of Tampa’s stature deserves no less.

And then there was the fiasco about who Miller would appoint to the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization, a key transportation policy group.

Notably included: New Tampa’s Joseph Caetano, who’s no fan of rail, and had to have been surprised by his assignment. Notably excluded: Linda Saul-Sena, who has served on the MPO for two decades, and had to have felt blind-sided by her exclusion.

The “road not taken” moves on a lot of levels. And that makes all the difference.

For last week’s city council run-off, the turnout (15 per cent) was higher than expected. But, then again, we didn’t have any expectations. Anyway, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that the District 7 seat on city council went to a guy, Joseph Caetano, who doesn’t much like being part of the city and was endorsed by — and campaigned with — Charles “White Chocolate” Perkins.

Recall that Caetano introduced “de-annexation” to the political conversation. He will represent the Duchy of New Tampa the way it wants to be represented – reluctantly until secession.

Then there’s the District 1 seat that was retained by the incumbent, 72-year-old Gwen Miller. If ever an election made the case for undervoting, this one did.

For 12 years Miller has been the beneficiary of a political conspiracy of silence: She’s the nice, quiet lady of color that no one wants to be seen as beating up on. She’s less than conversant on the issues and doesn’t speak well when she tries. But she does have people like Jim Davis, Dick Greco and Les Miller speaking up for her.

As it turned out, Miller Lite also benefited by having Joe Redner, 66, as her run-off opponent. That he was more articulate, better on the issues and no longer dressed in a bowling alley ensemble for public forums didn’t matter enough. He had serious baggage and never quite lost that dismissive attitude. His congratulatory phone call to Miller has yet to be placed. Arguably, the anti-Redner sentiment trumped the “what-the-hell,” shake-up-the-establishment vote.

Gadflies, to be sure, can be fun – as well as effective – but this one was a millionaire nudie-club owner who had sued the city countless times. And lest anyone focus unduly on his pertinent views, he went out of his way to remind everybody of his strip-joint rep with that political manna for Miller, the counterproductive “I Voted!” promotion.

Redner’s election would have guaranteed Tampa exposure, so to speak, on Comedy Central. He — and his club, the Mons Venus — were the reason that marquees in places such as Las Vegas would — and did — advertise “Tampa-style” lap-dancing. Even consenting adults didn’t want his kind of business near their neighborhoods.

Had, say, Randy Barron or maybe Julie Jenkins made the run-off instead of Joe Redner, the results might have been different. MIGHT have. That still presupposes an electorate moved more by candidate qualifications than apathy, party fealty or political correctness.

In the end, there were two winners but no reason for anyone else to be celebrating.

Apparently, we haven’t come such a long way after all.

When it comes to race and education, “equality” — that civil rights shibboleth — isn’t enough. In fact, not nearly enough, according to a lawsuit that has Pinellas County educators under the gun in defense of their policy of equal access for all students.

The case, William Crowley vs. the Pinellas County School Board, was brought by a parent who contended that his 7-year-old son, whose academic issues were “typical of those difficulties commonly faced by students of African descent,” was not, like so many other black students, getting an adequate education. The county, in effect, was not customizing education to fit the black experience.

The Crowley case has now morphed into a class action suit that uses the still cavernous racial gap in educational achievement as Exhibit A. Mere “equality,” goes the contention, only reinforces the status quo disparity. This ironic upshot is not what was envisioned for post- Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka society.

Three points.

*Should this suit succeed, it would be a quantum leap forward for all those who can never get enough social engineering. Where does it end? With “Ebonics: The Sequel”?

With equal results? Not unless the outside variables – from a dysfunctional rap culture and nearly 70 per cent out-of-wedlock birthrates to the “acting white” pejorative sometimes foisted on achieving black students by black contemporaries – are eliminated. Students at their core are individuals – not group adjuncts or mere racial puzzle pieces.

*The numbers game. While white students continue to significantly outpace blacks in academic performance (reading and math) and graduation rates, so do Asian, American Indian and Hispanic students. In fact, Asians top everybody on both lists. These other minorities are not part of the suit, nor are they clamoring for special treatment beyond help for the non-English speaking.

*Education can never be solely about facilities, books and teachers. There are intangibles, such as motivation and aptitude, and life-style variables such as parents, home environment, role models and re-enforcement of what is being taught — from academics to behavior — in school. What you don’t want to be first in is suspensions.

The schools, including those of Pinellas County, can always do better; it’s an ongoing challenge, especially in FCATWorld. But this is no Jim Crow time capsule. Call it classic scapegoating.

It’s much easier to play the race card than to deal with the real issue of properly preparing for success. This is really about what happens – or doesn’t happen – at home and what attitudes are brought to school. What it shouldn’t be about is the premise that one of the largest school systems in the country should be dovetailing its curriculum to accommodate a single minority.

Last year 13,000 black students took the reading FCAT. About 4,300 did well. Better to ask how that happened – than to cite the school district as the pedagogically-challenged reason for those who didn’t.

Adamo Drive and Raymond James Stadium don’t typically get mentioned in tandem. Recently, however, they were part of a very high profile, successful Tampa parlay.

Last Monday Ikea, the international furniture retailer, announced that it would be calling the intersection of Adamo and 22nd Street home for its 29th store in the U.S. and third in Florida. The massive, 353,000-square-foot retail location will be its largest in the state.

Ikea’s business model, which assumes a regional shopping base within a radius of 60 miles, bodes well for favorably impacting Ybor City and downtown. It would be the first major retailer anywhere near downtown since Maas Brothers called it an era in 1991.

Now call it a vote of confidence for the Tampa market. It’s more than condos.

The day before, the Ray-Jay hosted a soccer match between the national men’s teams of the U.S. and Ecuador. It was the first time in 12 years that the American national team had played here. The crowd of 31,500 was the largest to watch an international friendly match in this state. Ever.

It meant that the U.S. squad, which outscored Ecuador, 3-1, wasn’t the only winner. Word now is that Tampa has positioned itself for more of these nationally televised, international “friendlies” – plus more credibility as a potential World Cup venue.

When Saddlebrook Resort opened a quarter century ago, there was no mistaking what it was. It was a resort designed for meetings. Exclusively. Nearly 500 rustic, Wesley Chapel acres – about 30 miles north of Tampa International Airport – devoted to the care and comfort of corporate America away from home. Plenty of places to meet, eat, sleep, schmooze and play.

Fast forward 25 years. More than 80 per cent of its business is still conferences – on average between 450 and 475 a year, ranging in group size from 10 to nearly 900. From Heineken and Harlequin to ITT, Nestle-Purina and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

But the differences are as notable as they are noticeable: the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy; the Harry Hopman Tennis Academy; a 270-foot-long, 500,000-gallon SuperPool; 45 tennis courts; a luxury spa; a five-acre, wooded team-building venue; a prominent sports village and fitness center; and more than 250 private homes, such as the one that Jennifer Caprioti is building on bucolic Fox Hunt Drive. And the (pooled condo) accommodations now number 800 guest rooms and one-, two- and three-bedroom suites. Wireless, high-speed internet access is ubiquitous. The ranks of employees have swelled to 850. There’s even a fully-accredited (K-3) school, Saddlebrook Preparatory.

“We’re a resort first,” emphasizes Alberto Martinez-Fonts, Saddlebrook’s director of marketing, advertising and public relations. “We are a local business driven by large corporations.”

But while meeting planners have Saddlebrook on speed dial, it’s golf and tennis that have given the resort its international renown. From early on, Saddlebrook has been much more than well-regarded camps and clinics. It’s been a legend magnet.

There are the iconic names of (the late Australian Davis Cup captain) Hopman and Palmer, and the latter’s two signature courses plus a host of tennis luminaries who have learned and lived here. To name-drop a few, in addition to Caprioti: Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, James Blake, Martina Hingis and Justine Henin-Hardenne. There are also the surfaces, which replicate those of all four Grand Slams: Har-Tru, Deco-Turf, grass and clay. Saddlebrook is also the official resort of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

You never know who you’ll find hitting – or living – here. And you never know who you’ll find that may be tomorrow’s Tiger Woods or Roger Federer.

There’s even a chance that they are among the 132 students enrolled at Saddlebrook Prep. About 45 per cent are from overseas – from Venezuela to Vietnam. Approximately 60 per cent of the students (grades 7-12) combine academics with an intense focus on tennis instruction, the remainder on golf. Classroom ratios are about 10:1. Room, board, tuition and instruction runs $37,500 per year.

Headmaster Larry Robison pointedly notes his school’s priorities.

“Our mission is to prepare them for college,” states Robison, a former principal at Zephyrhills High School. “And we support the sports endeavors. In that order.”Indeed, he has the numbers to underscore his point. Nearly 95 per cent of Saddlebrook grads earn college scholarships.Cole Conrad, 17, an 11th grader from Fairfield, Conn., expects no less.

“Connecticut in the winter isn’t exactly ideal for tennis,” he says. “Here I get to play all the time, and I like the mix of coaches. I’m probably three times better than when I arrived (the previous year). I’m hoping for a scholarship; preferably here in Florida.”