Author: opinionstogo

It’s nestled among other boat builders on Tampa’s Rattlesnake Point, just south of the Gandy Bridge. Only this one has the 300-ton capacity Synchrolift out front. You don’t find it unless you’ve bypassed the trendy Rattlesnake Grille, you’re looking for work or you’re in the market for a seven-or -eight-figure luxury vessel.

Welcome to the 7.5-acre, 6-bay Westship World Yachts, where, indeed, if you have to ask “How much?” you probably can’t afford it. In fact, Westship’s most recently delivered yacht, a 145-foot “Boardwalk” model, sold (to a Houston buyer) for more than $18 million.

Since 2001, Westship has built and delivered two 103-footers at $8.6 million apiece, and another 145-footer for $18 million plus. A 112-footer ($8.9 million) just closed to a Bay Area buyer. Several others in the 112-foot “Liberty” (yacht fisherman) series are in the works.

They are turnkey operations, points out Allan Hollison, Westship’s vice president/operations. “They’ll have everything from electronics to artwork and bed linens when delivered.

“We were building on spec,” says Hollison, “but we prefer contractual. Like anything else, you need to get that first one out. Once the industry sees it, they’re easier to sell.”Westship is actually a reincarnation. Its previous owner was Trident Shipworks, which hit bankruptcy shoals in 1999. EMC Corp. founder Richard Egan bought it in 2000 and renamed it Westship.

With a cash infusion and a more buoyant economy, the sailing has been decidedly smoother. The competition, says Hollison, is limited to about 20 shipyards worldwide, including a couple in Michigan and several in the Pacific Northwest. Others are scattered in Europe, Australia, New Zealand — and the new (price-cutting) kid on the yacht block, China.

To keep up, Westship must accommodate a market that is demanding larger, more sophisticated product, which includes increasingly high-tech touches — especially in communication equipment. Westship, whose on-site shops include cabinet/mill, metal fabrication, interior refinishing, painting, and electronics plus staff engineers and architects, must stay flexible in its customization work, Hollison underscores.

“Put it this way, it’s a lot more than fabric and wallpaper,” he says. More like a range from formal dining areas, hot tubs and a variety of furniture finishes to accommodations for wave runners and Harleys.

“Our goal,” Hollison notes, “is to build and deliver four 112’s a year. Then supplement that with R&R (repair and refit).” Currently, the R&R work accounts for about a third of Westship’s business. (A recent, full exterior paint job on a 145-footer, for example, cost $250,000.) Last year, the maintenance side did about $2 million. The company anticipates a 50 percent jump in 2004.

Westship, whose 100-employee base is expected to grow to 160-180 (two shifts), also will build non-yachts, such as the $1 million, 65-foot speedboat (commercial thrill ride) it’s fashioning for the owner of a national restaurant chain.

“This is a very interesting business,” says Hollison. “The clients (most of whom prefer media anonymity) have worked all their lives to get themselves in a situation where they can buy a yacht. The dynamics are very low key. Casual. No suits, no leather shoes. Who would they be trying to impress?

“It gets personal and one-on-one,” adds Hollison. “It becomes a matter of trust. The dollars are the score card.”

Younger Yachters

Fueled in part by Information Age, whiz kid gazillionaires, the client base for yachts and the “fishing chic” scene has been trending younger. More like 40-somethings rather than the 50-60ish demographic. Even the crews are younger.

“It used to be older and more tradition-minded,” says Westship’s Vice President/Operations Allan Hollison. “And a lot more formal. I mean it was a big deal to drop the flag at sunset. You don’t see so much of that any more.

“The younger customers want their toys (hot tubs, places to keep motorcycles) and their satellites,” adds Hollison. “People now want the capacity to have their office with them and be able to communicate anywhere in the world.”

For 63-year-old Betty Castor, the pinnacle political campaign of her life — running for U.S. senator — unfolded in several critical stages.

* In her position as president of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, she did a lot of lobbying — and a lot of traveling. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 “traveling became prohibitive,” acknowledges Castor.

*Then the former Florida Commissioner of Education was appalled at what she was seeing back in Tallahassee. Most notably, the Legislature was reducing the number of credits needed for high school graduation. Graduates could even opt out of government and U.S. history. “I thought, ‘Why aren’t people enraged?'” recalls Castor.

*When her daughter, Kathy Castor, won election to the Hillsborough County Commission, Betty Castor looked like more than a proud parent. She was. She was a political icon who was reminded how much she missed being a player. “The whole process is infectious,” concedes Castor. “There is an excitement about it.”

*An ill-fated run for the presidency and heart surgery would force the hand of incumbent Senator Bob Graham. When Graham, who is completing his third term, wavered on running for re-election, Castor took heed — and action. “Once you open that (re-election doubt) door and think about it, it becomes more plausible, possible,” explains Castor. Then a Castor-commissioned poll showed that although she hadn’t run for office in more than a dozen years, she still had encouraging name recognition statewide.

By last summer, she had taken the plunge — and a pledge: that she would bow out if the revered Graham ultimately decided to run for re-election. Graham hedged his bets until late October. It was an awkward time for the Castor campaign.

“It was difficult,” says Castor. “I was saying, in effect, to groups: ‘I’m the best candidate, I think.'”

It helped that internal polls continued to show promising name-recognition numbers, an occurrence that came as no shock, notes Castor. She felt her five-plus USF presidency years, a period of unprecedented growth, had kept her profile high — including across the I-4 Corridor. It also had afforded her “the opportunity to be non-partisan,” she emphasizes.

What she didn’t have, however, was a lot of money. “For the working press, money equals credibility,” points out Castor.

That’s why she made the overture to EMILY’s List, the political fund-raising group that supports Democratic, pro-choice women. EMILY’s List signed on and has made numerous contributions — including more than a third of the $1.5 million the Castor campaign raised from April to June.

So how has candidate Castor fared being back on the hustings for the first time in 14 years? Most observers agree that Castor — more than three decades removed from her historic, first-female election to the county commission — hasn’t lost her podium skills, can still “work a room” and remains unflappable under pressure. She’s retained her middle-of-the-road political compass.

The various forums and the statewide debate with her major Democratic primary rivals, 40-somethings U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch of Hollywood and Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, have had their “intense” moments, Castor concedes. But on balance, they’ve been exercises in discipline. She comes across as the above-the-fray adult between a street-fighting congressman and a slick, smart-aleck mayor.

“You need to look professional and sensible,” Castor points out. “Don’t go out there looking for dramatics. And try to stay on message — education, jobs, healthcare — although the process can get in the way.

“What really did surprise me, though, was the intensity of the (Bernie) Friedman attack,” states Castor. Friedman, a friend of Deutsch’s, formed the American Democracy Project, which has hammered Castor over Sami Al-Arian, the indicted, incarcerated former USF professor with alleged ties to terrorists.

“We had no doubt that it would be an issue,” says Castor. “We were prepared — but not for a separate group. We’ve constantly been ahead in the polls, and the only way they could get my ratings down was to attack. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The polls consistently say I’m still ahead.”

“Centrist Democrat”

“Betty Castor is one of the very few people who could pull this off,” avers John Belohlavek, a USF historian and political consultant, “although she’s not exactly re-emerging from obscurity. She’s a centrist, Democratic woman, and the South will vote for a woman if you give them a moderate. She really fits the Askew, Chiles, Graham progressive model. Plus her opponents will split the vote in South Florida.

“I’m not surprised she is where she is,” underscores Belohlavek. “She’s a very quick study. Now she has to stay on the high road and not alienate the losers.”

Castor’s core message remains education-jobs-healthcare — along with a corollary of veterans’ benefits. She acknowledges there are those who ask, and not necessarily rhetorically, “What does she know?” when it comes to foreign affairs. That can be code for national security.

She knows what she didn’t know and does her homework, which includes a daily reading from the 9/11 commission report, which she feels has “hit it on the head.” She’s particularly adamant about the “demand for more cooperation among agencies.”

Her security and war positions tend to be moderate — and safe. She supports the Patriot Act — but not all its provisions. She would not have voted for the resolution authorizing the war in Iraq — if we knew then what we know now about the rationale for so doing. She is, not unlike everyone else, a strong supporter of the men and women in America’s armed forces. She’s pushing for a Military Families Bill of Rights and agrees with John Kerry’s plan to add 40,000 troops to “relieve the burden on our overstretched military as well as National Guard and Reserves.” She would also like to see a significant increase — even doubling — of Special Operations. She would not “draw a line in the sand” by agreeing to an arbitrary troop-withdrawal schedule in Iraq.

She also implores the U.S. to get better at attacking the roots of terrorism. She sees education as a key weapon. “We need to do a better job of teaching about other cultures,” she posits. “And it’s a tragedy there are so few Arabic speakers.”

As to our allies, notably the Europeans, she stresses the importance of America “trying harder to restore faith and confidence.” She also urges “a little more humility when looking at the rest of the world.”

Castor seems unflinching in “continuing our support for Israel.” She is much more nuanced about backing the Saudi Royal Family: “We need to explore our relationship over time.”

On Cuba, Castor is “totally opposed” to the latest restrictions on travel and remittances. They’re “not humanitarian,” she says, and they “won’t topple Castro.” As to the ongoing economic embargo, per se? “It could be examined,” she notes equivocally.

Given a slew of major newspaper endorsements and recommendations, her double-digit lead in the polls — and the fact that her opponents share the same South Florida media market — should bode well for Castor in next week’s primary. And being the lone female hardly hurts.

The Castor campaign also has maintained its fund-raising momentum: most recently netting $625,000 in the July 1-Aug. 12 period — compared to Deutsch’s $225,000 and Penelas’ $100,000. Overall, Castor has raised $4.4 million; Deutsch, $5 million; and Penelas, $3.5 million.

After Tuesday (Aug. 31), the stakes will escalate, the GOP hitmen will target Florida and the really big money will pour in — as if very control of the Senate were riding on this senate race. It just may.

You don’t have to be a cop, a merchant, an investor, a tourist — or Bill Cosby — to find fault with what’s been happening of late in Ybor City. You simply have to possess a modicum of common sense. And that would tell you that “Club Bling,” a teen dance club at 1910 E. Seventh Ave. that is open until 1:00 a.m. on weekends, makes about as much sense as cock fights in Hyde Park.

Ybor City is, in addition to Tampa’s historical soul, the area’s entertainment district. Especially Seventh Avenue, the wet-zone capital of Hillsborough County.

It can be argued that too many high-decibel gin mills catering to too many young adults are incompatible with an older, more affluent demographic looking for anything but that. It can also be argued that Ybor’s ultimate viability depends on accommodating both.

What can’t be argued, however, is that adding a teen club to such an incongruous mix will only make matters worse. Worse in that something very bad will ultimately happen to one of those teens (ages 13-18 and younger) or to a luckless, adult visitor who runs afoul of young marauders. And worse in that Ybor can ill afford any more image hits that would further discourage visits by those not interested in piercings, tattoos or two-for-one drink coupons at Club Cacophony.

Defying credulity — as well as a semblance of sense — was the rationale of Club Bling owner Richard Boby. To Boby, the owner of something called Sky High Records, he is simply offering these teens a “safe haven.”

So he chose the night club and bar scene of Ybor? What about this fiasco makes any sense at all? Were there no open-mike, talent-show opportunities along the Dale Mabry or Adamo Drive strips? Nothing available in Drew Park?

He said he couldn’t do anything about the kids, presumably the real “wilding” element, outside Club Bling. Of course he could. Call it the light-and-moth phenomenon. He can pull the plug. It would send the blameless to a safer place and garden variety predators somewhere other than the city’s historic entertainment district. And it would obviate the need for other Ybor businesses to increase their security costs to deter the terrorizing of patrons.

The solution is obviously two-fold.

First and most fundamental, parents need to act the part. Police shouldn’t be their proxies. What’s the matter with them? But lots of luck waiting for the religion of socially responsible parenting to manifest itself. It’s more likely that Godot will appear at Coyote Ugly.

Second, a curfew is a must — protestations of the ACLU notwithstanding. Start with a limited one in Ybor, until the Florida Supreme Court finally makes a determination on Tampa’s citywide, youth curfew that was ruled unconstitutional by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in 2002.

A couple of other points. This is not a generation-gap issue. Would that it were. It’s about adults outsourcing their kids to Club Bling. It’s about being irresponsible; it’s about dereliction of duty.

And neither should this be a racial issue, although Boby thinks otherwise. He said, according to a Tampa Tribune account, that police and club owners who complain were, in effect, discriminating against the Blingers because they were largely black.

The Pied Piper of Pique needs to discard that racial lens. You can bet that police and club owners would be no less alarmed — and up in arms — if it were marauding young Anglos or Hispanics who were threatening anyone in their way. In fact, in such a scenario the crackdown, arguably, would be even more severe — in the absence of any potential race-card leverage.

Finally, this is about the unique place that is Ybor. It has survived cigar-industry automation and urban renewal. It is struggling to survive recent makeovers.

It is what it is — not what it was. But it doesn’t have to be this. Ybor is still special and it deserves better. Much better.