Author: opinionstogo

Downtown’s Non-Partner

In her role as president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, Christine Burdick makes many presentations chronicling downtown developments and underscoring priorities of the private, not-for-profit organization. Among those who are regularly privy to her project updates and mantra about the value and impact of a hub city’s downtown: the Hillsborough County Commission.

For all the good it does.

“Some still can’t find relevancy,” she acknowledged at a recent Tiger Bay Club of Tampa luncheon.

“I get not so much a brush-off,” added Burdick, “as a polite finger-tapping and ‘see you next year.'”

Black Eye For Decorum

Just when you think you’ve seen – and heard – it all at City Council meetings, doesn’t that activist cut-up Tony Daniel go and top himself again.

The other day Daniel laced one of his routine rants with a bunch of obscenities aimed at City Councilwoman Mary Alvarez, who wasn’t even there. (The obscenities were bleeped out on TV replays.)

He also did a drive-by railing of Councilman John Dingfelder, who had referred to the Tampa Museum of Art fiasco as a “black eye” for the city. As if Tampa could easily be perceived as not having its “city of the arts” act together. As if the interminable site-selection process didn’t reflect well on anyone in Tampa officialdom.

As if Daniel had a clue.

In an episode that gives non sequitur a bad name, he called out Dingfelder for using a term (“black eye”) with racial connotations. Really. For the record, Dingfelder exasperatingly denied such was the case.

It’s beyond woeful ignorance and political correctness that the term “black eye” needs to be explained. It’s a good thing Dingfelder didn’t accuse the city of being niggardly with its arts-related financial support.

A police officer was finally called to escort Daniel out of the chambers.

But Daniel could have even more “racially insensitive” material to erupt over. Council members have asked City Attorney David Smith to find a way to keep Daniel’s disruptive, insufferably boorish, occasionally obscene butt away.

If successful, Daniel would be, well, black-balled.

In which case, have at it, Tony.

Tracking Tampa

The Tampa literati scene now includes Wall Street Journal reporter Theo Francis. He recently included his newly adopted hometown in the Journal’s Travel Page feature: “Off The Beaten Track.”

According to Francis, here’s where to go to:

Commune with nature: Crystal River, Fort De Soto Park

Refuel: Hurricane restaurant (St. Pete Beach), Bern’s Steak House

Cut loose: Weeki Wachee Springs (honest), Ybor City, Columbia Restaurant

Bend your mind: Salvador Dali Museum

Rays On A Roll In The Off-Season

The feel-good feeling feels fine, thank you.

For those keeping score, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are still pitching shutouts. Still undefeated in the off-season. Still scoring PR coups during football and hockey season.

Even Devil Rays’ press conferences are upgrades. The most recent one, the well-orchestrated announcing of Joe Maddon as manager, had a nice buffet spread — with no side orders of Naimoli. The principals – President Matt Silverman, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations Gerry Hunsicker and Maddon – were accessible, affable and lingered late. No one wore a Hawaiian shirt or a disingenuous expression.

The message: We are big league, and we will act like it. Neat concept.

Maddon, 51, was as billed: the quintessential, new-age field boss for the “Moneyball” generation of Major League Baseball executives. College educated, computer literate, podium savvy. Upbeat and personable. Known as a “player’s coach” when he was with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Also known as a numbers guy.

Friedman saw a lot of them first-hand. At the first interview. That’s when Maddon strode in with a thick binder of Rays’ statistical information. The executive veep was impressed.

“He’s extremely prepared,” understated Friedman. “And there’s also a willingness to embrace new ideas. We liked his enthusiasm for the game; we liked his scouting and player-development background; we liked his communication skills. He has the full skill set.”

A sense of humor was in evidence as was a familiarity with the mainstream culture that spawns all of today’s players.

“Well, they say 50 is the new 30,” Maddon noted drolly. “I have no problem relating to younger players. I like ’em. I get involved in their culture a little bit. It’s fun. I think you can separate business from having a good time. Interpersonal relationships matter. You need that balance. There’s enough pressure from the outside world. We don’t need to apply any more.”

He even managed to look credible and sound serious while sporting that goofy mismatched ensemble required of all new managers: baseball cap plus uniform jersey incongruously draped over a dress shirt and tie.

He put into context his well-publicized utilization of computers. “It’s a tool,” he explained. “I like numbers, but I also like instincts. I think with my brain, my heart and my gut.”

Maddon also made it clear that fundamentals were not a part of the game to be relegated to spring training. He underscored “situational hitting and situational base running.”

He then put the consummate competitor’s spin on much-maligned Tropicana Field.

“Well, it’s unique,” he said diplomatically. “But it can be a home-field advantage. You can take advantage of the nuances of a ballpark. I’d like to make it into a (deafening) pit for visiting teams. A place where people hate to come here to play.”

Maddon was candid on Rays’ shortcomings and complimentary on what he personally saw of them last year. The Rays beat the division-winning Angels five out of nine in 2005.

“The pitching needs to be improved upon,” he said, “and the defense definitely needs to be improved upon.” He’s also a “big bullpen guy,” he emphasized. “You need four functional guys out there you can pitch when you’re even or ahead.”

For those reading between the lines, this is further confirmation that the Rays will not be in the free-agent hunt for any pricey starting pitchers. It also shows that Maddon and Hunsicker, the general manager in all but title, are on the same page.

“The fastest way to improve your pitching staff is through your bullpen,” asserted Hunsicker. “If you can own the last three innings, you’re on your way to dramatically improving your team.”

Maddon lauded the Rays for “a great group of young, offensive players. The nucleus is great.” He said they were “tough to play against” and nobody in pennant contention, including the Angels, “wanted to see those guys.”

And now “those guys” are his guys.

Three years ago Vince Naimoli brought in Lou Piniella. However accomplished and popular, Piniella wasn’t the right guy in the right situation. Probably no one would have been. It was called the return of the native.

Now the Rays are “Under Construction.” Business acumen, marketing smarts and public relations savvy are in. As is a 10-20% hike in payroll. League-wide credibility has ratcheted up with new principal owner Stuart Sternberg and the recent addition of Hunsicker, a well-regarded baseball insider.

Now the Rays of Sternberg have added Joe Maddon, who comes with the highest of recommendations from his Angels’ tenure that included the better part of a decade as bench coach. The Angels reached the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and won the 2002 World Series. Credibility begets more credibility.

Call it an early return on investment.

Calling For Cell-Phone Sense

State Senator Jim Sebesta, chairman of Senate Transportation Committee, is considering the sponsorship of a bill that would restrict teenaged drivers’ cell-phone use. Here’s some advice for the St. Petersburg senator: Don’t consider it any longer.

Just sponsor it.

Sebesta will be researching statewide accident statistics to look for correlations between cell-phone use and crashes. But the data will likely be less than conclusive. The Tampa Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, for example, don’t track how frequently cell-phone use may contribute to accidents.

What we do know, however, is that Florida ranks seventh nationally in fatality rates for drivers between 16 and 20.

We also know from common sense that talking on a phone while driving is at least a distraction, at most a danger. We’re not going to rebottle the genie that is cell-phone ubiquity, but preventing cell-phone use by the most inexperienced drivers is doable.

So do it.

Redner’s Ironic Image Aide

Ronda Storms, quite arguably, is the best thing to happen to Joe Redner since nudity was declared a form of speech.

Redner regularly runs for public office, gets on the right side of issues such as environmentalism and works at mainstreaming his image beyond the sleaze-connoting “Tampa’s Strip Club King.” His holdings are as diversified as they are legal.

Now, thanks largely to Topical Storms Ronda, he has high-profile, moral high ground.

Recall that Redner was juxtaposed to the posturing, pandering Hillsborough County commissioner in the embarrassing controversy over recognition of Gay Pride. Now there’s the flap over Redner’s contribution to the Auction for Angels charity. The inclusion of his innocuous “Joe Redner Enterprises” logo set the Arbiter of All Things Moral into another sanctimonious lather that involved phone calls to other sponsors.

Calls to needy children would have put it into a more appropriate context.

Fortunately, cooler, non-grandstanding heads prevailed, and the event was held as scheduled.

Meanwhile, Redner enjoys the view – and the irony — from the moral high ground provided by the dredge-and-fill politics of Storms.

Bull Roar

USF’s football season could turn out to be special. If it does, here’s hoping the home town media coverage will be commensurate with the success.

To date, USF still gets short-shrifted on game day when other state programs of note are also playing. The time, frankly, has passed for treating USF as a novelty act overtaken by events – as a lesser priority than the more tradition-laden campuses: notably Gainesville and Tallahassee. For example, how many more over-hyped “Bowden Bowls” will there be?

Go Bulls.

Tampa’s Slogan Search

Once again the city of Tampa is on the hunt for a civic-pride slogan. It can be a fun, prideful exercise. Or, in the long, sardonic wake of the “America’s Next Great City” moniker, a mordant one.

Some more entries:

“Tampa: America’s Next Straight City,” “Tampa: ‘Sick Transit Gloria,'” “Tampa: We Got Your Stormwater,” “Tampa: Intelligent Design At Work” and “Tampa: A River Really Runs Through It.”

Bush Can’t Make Case At Soapbox Of The Americas

With his popularity ratings now spiraling into unprecedented, second-term depths, the president had hoped that last week’s foray to the Summit of the Americans in Argentina would at least prove diversionary. What it proved, however, is that changing context and continents no longer works. At least not for George W. Bush.

While it got Libby-gate out of the news, the sojourn south was superceded by something much more serious: the realization that the perception of this president – and, much more importantly, this country — is costing us across the foreign-policy board. Big time.

Flying to Mar Del Plata was not a strategy for looking presidential and burnishing an embattled image. Not when your sheer presence provokes well-chronicled, globally-transmitted, anti-American street protests that include burning flags and Hitlerized effigies.

It was a reminder that a large portion of the world – not just “Old” Europe and the Middle East “street” — doesn’t see the Iraqi occupation as a necessary front in the war against terrorism. They perceive an increasingly unilateral, arrogant and pre-emptive hegemon. This is beyond PR nightmare.

As for the Summit, per se, the invasion of Iraq rekindled the bad old days of “gunboat diplomacy” a century ago. It also helped revive memories of U.S. intervention in Latin American sovereign affairs – from Guatemala in the 1950s and Cuba in the ’60s to Chile in the ’70s and Nicaragua in the ’80s. And no one will convince Venezuela’s populist powder keg, Hugo Chavez, that Pat Robertson is the only American who wants him cashiered from this life. It’s not a quantum leap for know-nothing socialists to blame everything on Uncle Scapegoat. Iraq just makes it easier.

Such volatile geopolitics helps Chavez dust off the old anti-imperialist rhetoric. It also reminds other leaders – more of whom have been leaning left of late – that now is not the time to appear to be in the pocket of the U.S.

And that arguably and regrettably works to the detriment of Latin America — historically enamored of big government and wary of capitalism — as well as the U.S.

Even with allowances for our farm subsidies, there were still enough reasons for Latin American economies to sign on to the United States-supported free trade agreement. Substantially lowering – or eliminating – two-way tariffs and streamlining customs is still a net benefit with job-creation implications. It would not have overcome, of course, onerous taxes, stifling over-regulation, obstructionist labor unions, entrenched monopolies and endemic corruption, but it would have helped.

In fact, a majority were willing to move ahead, but if Argentina and Brazil aren’t with you, nothing happens.

And nothing happened. Except the refutation of an old political axiom about presidents hitting the international low road to help ride out domestic turmoil.

Foreign Concept In Florida?

Thanks to a bill filed by state Senator Les Miller, D-Tampa, there’s something more substantial to debate educationally than religious holidays, class-size loopholes and choice-plan cosmetics. He has proposed mandatory Spanish instruction for all students in kindergarten through second grade.

Make no mistake; this is not some by-the-numbers paean to diversity.

There are serious – but not deal-breaking — questions about cost and personnel, but not about timing, priorities and value.

Children learn a foreign language easier than adults; it’s not a debatable point. For most Americans, it’s early on or never. As a result, never.

What also should not be up for debate: the value of being privy to a more expansive world and another means of communicating in the global village. It’s never been more important.

And if you want to get downright pragmatic, students with a foreign language arrow in their career quivers are at a decided advantage in the marketplace. The converse, increasingly, is also true.

Especially in Florida, especially in Spanish.

What mustn’t happen here, however, is for the foreign language issue to be blindsided and undermined by other agendas. It’s not, for example, at cross purposes with the effort to get all students to speak English. The goal to mainstream the non-English speaking and prevent immigrant balkanization must remain a priority.

But it must not lead to an ethnocentric over-reaction that sells short the prospects of those who are our future.

Gracias