The Political Whore

‘Memba when Charlie Crist went to Europe last year? Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab (a former student of mine at UF years ago) takes the opportunity of the 1-year anniversary of the hobnobbing journey to see what exactly Crist accomplished.

Answer: not much.

The big news out of the trip heralded in a news release from the Governor’s Office last year – and the only point Crist mentioned to me when I asked him last week about results of his travels – was that Spanish solar energy company Renovalia would consider building a Florida plant.

Renovalia and Tampa-based Seminole Electric Cooperative signed an agreement to discuss that possibility.

Today those discussions don’t appear to have gone very far.

The formal agreement expired in December, and the two companies didn’t bother to extend it, though talks are still “ongoing,” said Seminole Electric spokeswoman Michele Collet Kriz.

And this man wants to be our next US senator? Can you say, junket??

North Carolina is the best state to start a new business, the study by the American City Business Journal chain finds.

Tampa Bay (53rd best place) sits near the bottom for the state of Florida, behind Palm Bay-Melbourne (43), Bradenton-Sarasota (44) and Daytona Beach (51). Let’s face it; when you are behind Daytona Beach in anything but biker festivals and tattoo shops, you need to re-examine your business development effort.

From the Bizjournal’s study:

The highest scores in Bizjournals’ study went to areas that have prosperous economies, are expanding rapidly, and are densely packed with small businesses. (Bizjournals defines a small business as any private-sector employer with 99 employees or less.)

Seattle ranks third in the overall standings, putting it just behind Raleigh and Charlotte in terms of small-business vitality. Austin and Boise, Idaho, round out the national top five.

The South and West offer a definite advantage for entrepreneurs, accounting for all but one of the 10 metros with the best small-business scores. The South is home to five of the leading markets, the West to four.

Yes, I know, the furniture retailer Ikea is a phenom; people line up for days to get in when it opens new stores, as was the case recently in Orlando. But still, given some of the response over at Tampa City Hall to Linda Saul-Sena’s criticisms of the planned Ybor City Ikea, you’d think that landing Ikea was our make-or-break moment.

Saul-Sena (full disclosure here: I did political consulting work for her before returning to journalism in 2004) rightly points out that Ikea’s design is not real green. She lost a city vote to force the retailer to up its game, so she has sent a letter with a more pointed message, threatening to post a critique of Ikea’s plan on YouTube.

You go, digital girl.

This, of course, has some in the city in a snivet. Here’s the Trib’s account:

As Thursday’s council meeting wound down, Councilman Joseph Caetano requested that the city council attorney write a letter to Ikea reaffirming the council’s approval of the company’s plan to build a store in Tampa.

Caetano is upset that Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena wrote a letter on council stationery to Ikea last month threatening to post a video on YouTube about the project.

During rezoning hearings last summer, Saul-Sena cast the lone no vote, saying the project wasn’t environmentally friendly.

“It was a 6-1 vote,” Caetano said, clearly annoyed. “It’s a dead issue.”

The city’s economic development butt-smoochers (at least when it comes to large, out of town companies; when it comes to local businesses, it’s a different story) already have sent an abject apology to Ikea for Saul-Sena’s stridency, but Caetano wanted Council members to join in apologetica. His motion failed to get the required four votes as two Council members were absent. So it appears the Council will be about the only folks not to pile on Saul-Sena; the Tribune editorial board, never noted for its commitment to change, blasted her as well:

Ikea is an economic powerhouse that creates jobs, stimulates other businesses and attracts out-of-town visitors. Landing one of the chic Scandinavian furniture mega-stores causes most any city official in America to jump up and down with joy.

But Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena is stomping her feet, threatening to embarrass the company that plans to build a store on Adamo Drive near Ybor City.

In doing so she is embarrassing herself, the city and her environmental cause.

Hogwash! This kind of attitude begs the larger question: How long do we have to wait in Tampa for the public to demand its city government be something better, something innovative, something sustainable? How long do we continue to accept mediocrity and laziness? Having an Ikea is fine, and it will offer a new retail option and draw some shoppers here. But the larger principle remains: if the hipper, cooler businesses won’t go green, won’t try innovation, how in the hell can we expect to force the Wal-Marts and chain restaurants of the world to do likewise?

Saul-Sena and colleague Councilman John Dingfelder have been more strident than the Pam Iorio administration about moving toward greener, more environmentally friendly designs in urban planning and construction. They may be ruffling some feathers, but from what I hear out there in the neighborhoods and among activists, there’s room for a little ruffling.

My piece examining the Tampa Bay Rays new stadium proposal is on the streets and on our website:

I have a buddy who has been a baseball nut for decades, who knows the sport inside and out, a season ticket holder, a true fan. He’s also a successful business owner and civic leader. Two weeks ago, he sent me 12 reasons why the Rays won’t get a new stadium.

Twelve, count ‘em, 12. He didn’t even stop at 10. Surely it couldn’t be that bad? The Tampa Bay Rays’ new ballpark and vision for Downtown West (the new name for the Tropicana Field site if it is torn down) is ambitious and surprising and smart and visionary. It gives us a chance to revisit St. Pete’s biggest mistake — building a subpar indoor baseball stadium on spec, without a team to play in it, without the support of MLB, to the indignation of residents and beach businesses that saw tourist taxes sapped away to pay for it.

Finally: a remedy for one of St. Pete’s biggest municipal blunders.

But, unfortunately, my buddy may be right.

Where was this plan 20 years ago? Where was this ownership group 20 years ago? And why not put a winning team on the field before considering asking voters for their taxes to continue to chase the dream of baseball economic development?

I also gave the Rays their say, and they make a strong case for their vision of how a new stadium and redeveloped Trop site would work. Read excerpts of it here. The larger audio interview is also available.