Opinions to go Online

The subplots surrounding the imminent departure of Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean continue to play out. These include an ongoing, de facto endorsement of the county-mayor concept.  

Bean has been the wrong person at the wrong time for too long a time. Even a dysfunctional body such as the county commission deserves better than a reactive leader without vision and sans creativity. Too bad being ineffective and incompetent are not sufficient cause for firing.   

But whatever the final timing — and severance details — this much seems obvious. Regardless of what the FDLE finds or doesn’t find, Bean will not leave “with dignity” — as some editorialists have framed it. That scenario is foreclosed.

Once Bean declined to step down and opted to accept humiliation in the public dock as a tradeoff  for that six-figure severance package, departing with dignity was no longer an operative option.

She obviously has her price — with the cost of dignity factored in.

Call it giving back. Call it helping out the environment. Call it enlightened self interest. But also call it a really good idea.

That’s the Mayor’s Beautification Program that enlists businesses to help spiff up parts of the city through civic adoption projects. Currently 40 companies participate by signing a one-year contract to keep a designated public area — from shorelines and parks to median strips — looking good. That can range from picking up litter to picking up a paint brush.

Company employees are deployed quarterly. In their wake, they leave behind a cleaner public area and a company sign that amounts to free advertising in a high-visibility venue. They also leave behind a reminder that we’re all stakeholders. It’s everybody’s public areas.

The bad news is that there are some residents in SkyPoint, the downtown, high-rise condo, who say it’s getting a little too noisy when there are concerts at the new Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Even though they end by 10 p.m. Even though police say the noise was within acceptable decibel levels. The point is it was loud enough to be close. And loud enough to annoy. These were not the sounds of big band favorites or symphonic classics.

The good news? There are enough people who care. There are enough residents in SkyPoint for some to be bothered. There’s enough inducement to draw the sort of crowds to Curtis Hixon that will produce some serious decibels.

For a city too long associated with a lifeless downtown, one with no “there” there and nothing even approaching a critical mass, this is a welcome growing pain. One that city officials and urban pioneers will easily reach an accommodation on. That’s because noise is part of the fabric of a vibrant downtown. It comes with the territory. Finally.

To the surprise of no one, Bob Buckhorn, who formally entered Tampa’s mayoral race a few weeks ago, has already landed a certain, high-profile endorsement. It’s the Tampa Fire Department. It underscores his organizational jumpstart — and early front-runner — status.

Recall his unsuccessful run for the mayor’s office in 2003. No one was going to beat Pam Iorio, including Buckhorn, Frank Sanchez and Charlie Miranda, but no one had a more detailed, smart-growth game plan for Tampa than Buckhorn. He will be formidable, no matter who else jumps in — and the wings are still crowded with those in waiting.

When Judy Genshaft was chosen USF president a decade ago, a strong selling point was her focus on partnerships. USF was neither commuter warehouse nor ivory tower. It was a key catalytic partner for the area. She has become a prominent, go-to player in regional economic development.

The most recent example: the hiring of former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker for the newly-created position of director of innovation partnerships. Notably, the research variety. It is USF’s gain–and St. Petersburg College’s loss, where Baker’s bid for the presidency was rejected in the spring. But more importantly it is a win-win for the area.

Baker, 53, is business smart, well-connected, affable and an astute choice for a job that will put a premium on building relationships with the business communities on both sides of Tampa Bay. As mayor, he collaborated with Genshaft in recruiting the defense contractor SRI International and Charles Stark Draper Laboratories, an M.I.T. spinoff.

He is by training a business attorney and by predisposition a chamber of commerce sort. In fact, he’s a former chairman of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

Although these are challenging times, it is no time to be less than aggressive when it comes to recruiting,  retaining and expanding businesses. USF is in a prime synergistic position to help itself while helping regional economic development. Baker, whose position will be funded by the USF Research Foundation, is an enlightened, pragmatic hire.

Plaudits to Parade Magazine, which regularly highlights high school All-American teams ranging across the spectrum of sports. Now it has added an “All-American Service Team.” As in economics, education, health, environment and community.

And congratulations to one of our own, Blake O’Connor of Freedom HS, for earning All-American honors in education. O’Connor organized a children’s-book drive and recruited classmates to read to second-graders at low-income Tampa schools. The 18-year-old also hosted a Dr. Seuss-themed festival–with hopes that it could become a literacy-promoting model for other communities.