The evolution of a mayor, 1974-present?
In Tampa these days, playing “Will Dick Greco run for mayor in 2011?” is getting to be nearly a full-time sport, the rumors are just that hot-and-heavy. So I picked up the telephone and gave him a call and asked him, “Are you getting ready to run for mayor – yet again?”
The answer?
From tonight’s Green 100 party: Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena says she is a candidate for mayor in 2011, when Pam Iorio has to step down due to term limits. The field is already crowded: On Monday, her council colleague Tom Scott announced his candidacy, former Councilwoman Rose Ferlita is already in and others (Bob Buckhorn, Dick Greco and Ed Turanchik) are rumored and in various stages of likely. Saul-Sena said she won’t formally announce for some time, believing that opening a campaign two years before actual balloting is not smart.
Saul-Sena said she is hiring Democratic consultants Mitch Kates and Larry Biddle to assist her in running the campaign. Kates-Biddle are currently busy running the Scott Wagman St. Petersburg mayoral campaign.
Disclosure: Saul-Sena was a client of my former political consulting firm in the 1990s.
Tampa Electric's Big Bend Plant in Apollo Beach
(A final vote on the Tampa Electric franchise agreement is set for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, in the Tampa City Council chambers at 301 E. Kennedy Blvd. It is a public hearing, so you can go and let your opinion be known.)
It’s time to tilt at windmills again. Except this time, the windmills are powered by coal.
Civic activists, health advocates and three Tampa City Council members are trying to block a long-term deal with Tampa Electric Company. They say it doesn’t require the utility to clean up its coal-burning plants, won’t lead to power lines underground and doesn’t force Tampa Electric to move toward greener, alternative energy sources.
“I really believe if we work together, in good faith, for six months, we can come up with a better deal for our community,” said Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena, who is leading efforts to delay passage of the Tampa Electric contract.
Here’s the issue: Tampa Electric has negotiated a 25-year agreement with Tampa to continue to be the city’s main power provider. In return for the right to use the publicly owned rights-of-way, Tampa Electric will continue to pay more than $20 million to city government, a substantial budget line item in these days of Amendment 1-fueled budget cutbacks.
The power company’s shareholders make good returns on their investments. The people get fairly cheap electricity. The city gets more revenues. A win-win-win, right?
Not really.
This from the local chapter of the Sierra Club:
The Tampa Bay Sierra Club is proud to announce that Tampa City Council member Linda
Saul-Sena is being awarded the prestigious 2008 Black Bear Award, the group’s highest honor.
The award will be presented at the club’s holiday party on Weds. Dec. 10 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Latam restaurant at the historic Centro Asturiano in Ybor City. Ms. Saul-Sena will be present to accept the award during a brief ceremony at 8:30 p.m. The party will include heavy hors d’oeurves of traditional Spanish foods, live entertainment, a short awards banquet and a silent auction fund-raiser.
Linda Saul-Sena is being honored for her longtime support of Sierra Club goals and initiatives for the betterment of Tampa and the environment. She has served on the Tampa City Council since 1987 and has been a solid supporter of establishing sustainable practices for a greener and healthier community.
Her initiatives include developing a city tree ordinance, establishing a light rail plan, creating a River Roundtable and Preservation Roundtable, establishing livable roadways and a utilities task force, refurbishing Sulpher Springs Tower and Park, and many other improvements for our community. She is a strong advocate for mass transit, a longtime member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization and an avid supporter of the arts.
This gala is open to the public; a donation of $5-$10 is kindly requested at the door. A cash bar will be available and a DJ will be serving up some dance music. Centro Asturiano is located at 1913 N. Nebraska at the corner of Palm Avenue in the heart of Ybor City. Latam’s is on the lower level; doors open at 7 p.m. Gated and secure parking is adjacent to the building, enter from Nebraska Ave.
For more information, call the Tampa Bay Sierra Club at (727) 797-6261.
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.
