The Political Whore

Tampa Tribune City Hall reporter Ellen Gedalius is leaving 202 S Parker for the warm and comfy confines of politics. Ironically, she replaces Agustina Guerrero, who left for PricewaterhouseCooper, the destination for nearly a dozen other Trib scribes.

Here’s the Castor news release:

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) announced today that Tampa Tribune journalist Ellen Gedalius will serve as Castor’s new Press Secretary effective September 8, 2008.

Gedalius has a familiar byline to Tampa Bay area residents as a primary reporter on Tampa City Hall, the Hillsborough County Commission and government for The Tampa Tribune since February 2002. Gedalius also served as the Tribune’s South Tampa bureau education reporter and covered the Florida Legislature and politics, including the 2004 Florida U.S. Senate race. Her primary assignment since April 2005 has been Tampa City Hall. “Ellen Gedalius is a talented writer and communicator. Her work ethic, experience and knowledge of the Tampa Bay area will serve the community well as we advocate for a change in the direction of the country, high quality affordable health care and access to education,” noted Castor.

Before joining the Tribune, Gedalius was the county government reporter for The Courier News in Bridgewater, N.J. She has graduate and undergraduate degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a minor in Spanish.

Castor’s former press secretary, Agustina Guerrero, joined the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Tampa as a Communications Senior Associate. Guerrero’s hard work, creativity and zeal for public service helped get Castor off to a strong start from her first day in Congress. “Agustina Guerrero is a true professional,” said Castor. “Her communication skills helped bring hope to our neighbors by communicating the efforts and accomplishments of the New Direction Congress and tackling the many challenges that face families today.”

Before joining Castor’s staff, Guerrero, was a reporter in her native Argentina, in Chicago, New York and with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Guerrero also hosted programs on Bay News 9 En Espanol.

Ellen Gedalius, like her predecessor, will be based in the Tampa Bay District Office. She will begin working with Castor on September 8.

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 Remember the good old days, when the presidential campaign used to be nothing but shits and giggles? Way back in Nov. 2007?

• From the Difference Between Democrats and Republicans Dep’t.: Targeted Congressman Feeney, a Republican, secretly supports the weaker Democrat in the primary. Sneaky.
•  The surest sign yet of the coming of the apocalypse: Uber-annoyer Billy Mays is getting his own reality show.
• Semi-reliable robo-poll puts McCain barely ahead in FLA.
• 13 days in August.
• From the Difference Between Democrats and Republicans Dep’t., Part 2: Jennings and Buchanan both face FEC complaints, but Jennings’ comes from someone formerly in her own party.
• Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite loses her husband to cancer.
• From the Difference Between Democrats and Republicans Dep’t., Part 3: The Democrat running in the seat suddenly being vacated by Trey Traviesa isn’t actually a Democrat.
• It’s official (again): e-voting sucked.

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Today marks the launch of a new staff blog at CL, Daily Loaf. Wander over when you get a chance and take a look and let us know what you think. The idea is to provide you a one-stop news source for all things creative in Tampa Bay.

Our food writing from Brian Ries, formerly found in Eat My Florida, moves to Daily Loaf, as does Fix It Now civic activism blog posts from our guest bloggers Kelly Cornelius and Spencer Kass. We’ve also recruited some new guest bloggers for Daily Loaf, adding some new and interesting voices to the mix.

As part of that launch, Joe Bardi’s wonderful morning Short List moves to Daily Loaf as of this morning. He’s already let you know that, though, didn’t he?

With Joe moving, I’m going to reinstate my Morning Roundup, which will pointedly focus on political stories and angles you may have missed, plus media biz stories and fascinating reads. I will be shooting to have the Roundup online each morning by 9. Just not today.

Let me know what you think of the changes and what else you would like to see in Daily Loaf and PoHo.

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You may recall that I blogged a while back about Jessie DaSilva, a Tampa Tribune intern whose blog post defending the new direction at the Tampa Tribune, as elucidated by editor Janet Coats, drew lots of praise and criticism online.

Now, a former Trib reporter who left just before that incident, Billy Townsend, has weighed in on the issue with a very thoughtful analysis of the problems of the news biz. I point this out not only because he says nice things about my piece but because he hits the nail on the head:

Mass audiences don’t pay to read content. They never have, at least not since the rise of free television.

Advertisers, who have funded the major newspapers, have never cared about journalism. They paid for the press – the means to reach a mass audience. With the rise of the web and Google, advertisers can now reach almost infinitely larger audiences with measurable, local precision. The marriage of journalism and advertising, which I think never existed, is undergoing an ugly, irreversible divorce.

I also had a chance to meet DaSilva last week at Bill McKeen’s book-signing and found her a very bright journalist. She’s headed back to Gainesville, where she will start a term as the editor in chief at the Independent Florida Alligator. I wish her good luck.

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Faithful readers please note: The Short List has moved. Starting this morning, my daily roundup of news and happenings will make a new home on CL’s latest and greatest blog, The Daily Loaf. You can view today’s List here.

See you on The Daily Loaf!

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Been covering politics or in it for nigh on to 25 years in Florida and I have never seen anything like last night’s candidate forum at the Metropolitan Community Church in Tampa. Don Kruse, who is running in the primary against anti-gay rights Commissioner Brian Blair, showed up to speak to a storm-dwindled audience of about 35 people at the event co-sponsored by Equality Florida.

A few days ago I asked in a blog post, “What does somebody have to do to lose newspaper endorsements to Blair?” Last night I might have received my answer.

So let me set this up: I was a panelist at the forum, along with EF Executive Director Nadine Smith and moderator Chris Krimitsos of The Bleepin’ Truth on public access. It was later in the evening that Kruse’s turn came, and he was solo on the stage, as Blair did not show up to the gay-friendly event.

So I asked the first question: Given Blair’s anti-gay record (voting against gay pride displays, criticizing the anti-bullying Day of Silence in public schools), where did Kruse stand on gay rights?

Kruse started in explaining that he wanted some enlightenment from the audience. “Educate me,” he said. Then he veered to the issue of hate crimes. Crimes are crimes, there are no distinctions of shades of right or wrong depending on the skin color or sexual orientation of the victims involved. “They are crimes against humanity,” he said.

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A fitting video of the arrival of Fay, a storm we in the CL Weathercenter 4000 find highly suspect. Stay dry, folks.

• A weakened Fay lands at Cape Romano as a minimal hurricane (at worst).
• The NOAA storm track predicts a hard left turn near the FL/GA border.
• Large swath of Florida under tornado a tornado warning (but not the Bay area).
• Hillsborough and Pinellas counties call off evacuations.

And in non-storm news:

• The choice is made.
  
• Tampa Bay’s water supply sure is leaky.
• College presidents rethink the drinking age.
• The Rays win again.

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Fully 40 percent of the locally experienced work force there over the age of 50, reports the Times media critic Eric Deggans:

In a memo to staffers this morning, St. Petersburg Times editor, CEO and [c]hairman Paul Tash tells staffers that strong response to the company’s early retirement incentives means “we can avoid the general layoffs I warned might be coming” when the voluntary retirement offer was closed.

Tash says 200 staffers across the company, 150 full time and 50 part time, accepted the enhanced retirement benefit, or 40 percent of all staff aged 50 and up with five years’ service or more.

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Today’s feature presentation: Baracky II. (Which somehow uses Rocky III as its inspiration, skipping Rocky II entirely.)

• The latest on Fay.
• Down goes Pakistan’s Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
• Who’s it gonna be for V.P.?
• The candidates give their opinion on how much income makes you “rich”? Obama: $250,000. McCain: $5 million.
• Obama rakes in $51 million in July.
• Did McCain rip off one of his prison camp anecdotes?
• R.I.P. Jerry Wexler.
• The Bucs beat down the Patties.

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Charles McKenzie is a Democrat trying to unseat brand-new state Rep. Darryl Rouson in District 55, including St. Pete south of Central and parts of Bradenton, Sarasota and Hillsborough, and logged three new endorsements today.

This from the campaign:

Three additional civil rights organizations have announced their support of Charles S. McKenzie, Jr. in the House District 55 race.  The Florida Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW PAC), Equality Florida PAC and the Suncoast Stonewall Democrats have announced their support of McKenzie.  McKenzie was also endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats of Pinellas County a few weeks ago.  These endorsements come on the heels of two large newspaper endorsements this past week, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

In their recommendation of McKenzie, the Tampa Tribune praised McKenzie’s record of community activism and his service in defense of civil rights.   According to the Tampa Tribune recommendation, “McKenzie has an impressive civil rights resume.”

Upon hearing news of the endorsements, McKenzie said, “My life has been committed to protecting civil rights and rooting out discrimination wherever it exists.  I do not believe the law should ever discriminate against anyone and I will work to see that all people are treated fairly and with dignity and respect in the eyes of the law.”

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Cut Taxes Now, the anti-tax effort fronted by St. Pete neurosurgeon David McKalip, has issued a “Final Report” wrapping up its efforts to put tax-cutting referenda on the ballot. McKalip writes:

It is a bittersweet moment for me and for Cut Taxes Now.  In August of 2006, a small number of fed up taxpayers met in the City Council Chamber of St. Petersburg.  We quickly grew into a new grassroots organization that joined with others around the state to work for smaller government and lower taxes.  Today, it is time to close one chapter and begin a new one.  Cut Taxes Now is officially disbanded as an organization.  The www.CutTaxesNow.com website will remain open for a month or two so anyone who likes can copy the files and research freely and use in any way.  This it the last email from Cut Taxes Now.

Full text after the jump:

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