The Political Whore

Angela Rouson stepped into the Creative Loafing recording studio this week to discuss her campaign for St. Petersburg City Council in District 5, against fellow newcomers Steve Kornell and retired police officer Joe Smith. Yes, she’s the wife of powerhouse (and controversial) African American politician Darryl Rouson; but she came off as her own person — bright, articulate, well-informed and passionate — in her recent Suncoast Tiger Bay Club event, and she likewise was engaging in this interview.

I asked her if she felt that St. Pete cops were being “reined in” and not fighting crime to the fullest of their ability, and she said:

I’ve talked with the sheriff, Sheriff Coats, I’ve talked with Chief Harmon (and done ride-alongs with both agencies), and the general consensus is there is some of that. And there is also a lack of resources to be able to address issues, because if you are going to take down, for example, a drug house, you need more than one officer on the beat. I think they are being held back to some extent, but I think resources play into that as well.

Is there a racial political component to the police being held back?

I can’t really answer that question. But what I can say is there is no rational reason for not addressing the crime. …As a member of City Council I’m going to work to make sure that the mayor works with the chief of police to be more aggressive in addressing the issues.

I also asked her — given her husband’s controversial anti-gay statement that being gay was “morally wrong” (he later apologized for saying it) — if she would participate in St. Pete Pride and about her stance on domestic partner benefits. Hear her answers after the jump in the full podcast:

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Scott Wagman gets some help in his attempt to the be the next mayor of St. Petersburg, and two council candidates — incumbent Karl Nurse, long known for his conservation efforts, and newcomer Steve Kornell — also get the nod from St. Pete Sierra Club, which endorsed in just three municipal races.

From the Sierra Club announcement: Read the rest of this entry »

Cross-posted from The Daily Loaf blog

By Denis Baldwin
Daily Loaf contributor

Last week, I attended the Rhino Political Action Committee’s political mixer at NOVA. Like the first event I attended, local mayor candidates and other politicos met with the common man, answering questions and trying to convince us that they were the right person for the job.

Unlike the first one I attended, the candidates actually seemed to have an agenda now. Many spoke on the importance of keeping our children in programs to avoid gangs. Others spoke of keeping the streets clean, both of garbage and of drug users and prostitutes. Still others pushed issues involving the St Pete Pier and its ongoing subsidy by taxpayers. It seems that everyone was making good points, making this a valuable (if somewhat overwhelming ordeal).

Here are some more photos from the mixer: Read the rest of this entry »

Of the Big Six candidates for St. Petersburg mayor (Jamie Bennett, Kathleen Ford, Bill Foster, Deveron Gibbons, Scott Wagman and Larry Williams), the only one that I have not had a chance to have in the CL Studio was Williams — until now. The former St. Pete city councilman came in recently to tape his half-hour on the HoCast, talking about how to battle the city’s crime problems and whether he is behind the eight ball because he got into the race late.

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By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor,“feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field

Charlie Miranda has come up with a plan to turn hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater into drinking water. All in the name of self-sufficiency.

Yes, we are in the middle of a drought. But we aren’t desperate:

In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a study of the treated wastewater from the city’s Howard F. Curren Wastewater Treatment Plant and found 27 different kinds of micropollutants in the recycled water even after it passed through a filtration process.

A plan to punish South Tampa homeowners who refuse to use reclaimed water on their lawns is the way to go.

That’s right, let’s go after Buffy and Thurston Howell III.

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For decades, Tampa has faced a conundrum; every day tens of milions of gallons of treated wastewater is dumped into Tampa Bay, wasted in a word. In St. Petersburg, treated wastewater is used for residential lawn watering, thanks to the foresightful construction of special water lines in neighborhoods. But Tampa’s attempts to re-use its wastewater hasn’t met with the same success.

So now the Tampa City Council wants to skip the whole lawn watering step and move right to drinking the highly treated sewer water. It voted yesterday to ask voters in a 2010 referendum if they want to build a system to deliver the potty product back to their drinking faucets.

From Bay News 9:

Councilman Charlie Miranda is all in favor.

“This will solve our situation for water in this area for at least 50 years,” Miranda said.

The concept isn’t new.

In the 1980s, Tampa initiated a program to treat waste water. The program failed to get support.

Miranda said the potable wastewater system could cost as much as $200 million.

So the question is: Would you drink it?

My column for next week’s print edition is about St. Pete City Council candidate Steve Kornell, who faces a tough run against Angela Rouson for the seat that Jamie Bennett is leaving. I caught up with him at an Ybor City fundraiser attended by Hillsborough progressives for this podcast chat.

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He’s got plans this summer for vacation with his family, but the most interesting thing about speaking with St. Petersburg City Councilman Wengay Newton for our CL Summer Guide 2009 was hearing him talk about the old days, growing up in a large family that didn’t have a lot of financial resources (translation: money):

“It was eight of us with a single mom, so there wasn’t a lot of vacationing. We’d go to Busch Gardens … one or two of us, then we would come back and tell the rest how it was.”

Watch the full video of Newton and his summer vacation plans/memories after the jump.

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There is a lot of talk about the 2011 Tampa elections, how all or almost all of the City Council could be turning over, due to higher ambitions, term limits and (in the case of Joseph Caetano) susceptibility to being beaten.

Caetano has had his hair styling business in Chapter 11 bankruptcy court (just like my own publication!) since November, but now comes a headline that surely will be on attack mailer ads in 2011: Caetano bought pricey Super Bowl tickets despite his financial straits.

From Mike Deeson at 10 Connects:

Meet Tampa City Councilman Joseph Caetano, who has fallen on tough times. But, despite the fact Caetano closed his Bostonian Hair Studio and Spa and filed bankruptcy in November, he took advantage of the offer to elected officials and bought two Super Bowl tickets for $1,000 a piece.

Caetano says it was one of those last minute decisions that he debated whether he should or should not buy the tickets. In the end, Caetano decided he should buy the tickets.

Caetano says he worked hard all his life and he felt he deserved it.

This is the biggest staff I’ve seen for a City Council race, but former legislative aide Gershom Faulkner seems ready for battle after announcing five appointments this morning.

Coming aboard are two campaign managers (Jett Jackson and Mitch Kates), a communications director (Peter Schweitzer) and two consultants, the mother-daughter team Ana Cruz and Janet Rifkin, both prominent Tampa Democratic consultants.

Faulkner, who was chief of staff for St. Pete Democratic state Rep. Frank Peterman and a campaigner for Congresswoman Kathy Castor, is running for Rene Flowers’ District 7 seat. Flowers is term-limited.