Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Once again, Ronda Storms uses her colorful language skills to dis an entire class of citizens.  But this time I happen to agree with her.

We wrote about the recent tax cut hike, and briefly mentioned a million dollar allocation for a noise wall at Cheval.  The Tribune’s Mark Holan’s article on Saturday tells us of a bit of the history about the Great Wall Of Cheval (the bold below is always my emphasis).

Cheval residents and the Florida Turnpike, operators of the Suncoast Parkway, have been fighting about the wall since before the road opened in February 2001. A sound wall provides a buffer along both sides of the road, but there are gaps. On the east side of the road, the gap includes the eighth fairway of the Tournament Players Club of Tampa Bay…

The state says two rounds of noise tests show there isn’t sufficient benefit for spending the money to close the gaps. The opening next to the golf course “isn’t benefiting enough people to warrant the wall,” [Florida Turnpike environmental manager Raymond] Ashe said Friday…

Apparently TPC wants to help improve their customers’ games, and have decided to blame the highway traffic.

The state says two rounds of noise tests show there isn’t sufficient benefit for spending the money to close the gaps. The opening next to the golf course “isn’t benefiting enough people to warrant the wall,” [Florida Turnpike environmental manager Raymond] Ashe said Friday…

So the State won’t pay for it. But Norman wants it done. And is willing to spend $1,000,000 of your county money for it:

Norman wants… to coax the state into a partnership to complete the wall. He linked his effort to the [previously] planned widening of the Veterans Expressway… “They’re eight-laning up to Van Dyke, which is a quarter-mile away from this gap, and… it’s going to greatly impact one of our communities,” Norman said.

The million-dollar county offer surprised state transportation officials, who are unaccustomed to offers like this… “In the past, we have not had any local government funding for any noise abatement” said Matthew Click, intergovernmental coordinator for the Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise. “This is also precedent-setting because they are asking us to consider construction outside the identified project area.”

The main thrust of the article suggests Jim Norman offered to help those poor, destitute Cheval residents with their noise-abatement wall because they contribute to his election campaigns.  I didn’t want to believe that.  I mean, no one expects direct help from an elected official simply because they donated money to the campaign, right?  But I don’t see any other plausable explanation.

Back to Ronda Storms: Norman suggested that plugging the gaps could cost $5 million, and the county should offer to throw in the $1M:

“I tell you, it’s pocket change,” Storms said.

“For who?” Norman asked.

“For the people who live in Cheval; they spend that on hot dogs on Saturday,” Storms replied.

Blair suggested that Cheval make use of the commission’s property tax cut, saying they “could take the millage reduction, put it together, and build two walls.”

Aye, aye, aye! So, not only do I agree with Ronda, but Brian Blair is making sense too? I gotta see a doctor.

Hey, as county commissioner, Jim Norman should be looking out for all his constituents, including those who happen to live in Cheval. But Jim Norman works for all of us in this county. This wall will never benefit anyone outside of that neighborhood, and only a few people within the neighborhood. If the State says they don’t need the wall, then they don’t need it.

Commissioners Ronda Storms, Brian Blair and Kathy Castor voted against the $1 million allocation. Ken Hagan, Tom Scott, Mark Sharpe, and Jim Norman voted to spend your money on this. November is right around the corner.

The Washington Post reports that just about every company that can slap together a proposal to help with the dangers of roadside bombs is doing so. This includes St. Petersburg-based Octatron, Inc.

I have never heard of Octatron. Basically they are a local provider of wireless camera and sophisticated surveillance systems. We found a photo set of one of their products, the SkySeer drone, being tested by the Los Angeles County Sherriff. The company website seems to be a portal to buy products produced by other companies.

I would guess that Octatron is a pretty small outfit. Searching Sunbiz.org indicates they are not actually incorporated in Florida. But like I said, with millions of dollars up for grabs, everybody who can put together a reasonable package is doing so.

Good luck Octatron, Inc. whoever you are!

If you have kids in school, and don’t qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, you better pay the school lunch bill. Otherwise your child will be stuck eating a cheese sandwich every single day. The school district placed the rule in effect at the beginning of school last year, and the results are immediate and impressive.

At the end of the 2004-05 school year, parents owed $655,000 in unpaid charges for school lunches. After the new rule went into effect, school lunch debt went down more than 90%. Cheapskate parents are still on the hooks for $63K owed from last year, but their children will enjoy more cheese sandwiches beginning Thursday. If only we could deliver those parents to the same fate.

A beautiful young woman died in a car crash in New Jersey a couple weeks ago. She has now been identified as Tampa area supermodel Heather Bratton. 

The young girl from Wesley Chapel was making her way through the glamour business, and was recently showcased on the cover of Vogue-Italy. 

Please direct your good thoughts toward the entire Bratton family.

65 years ago…

July 31, 1941 – The Tampa Housing Authority and MacDill Field open Gadsden Homes, a $900,000 housing project consisting of 300 units, to the families of enlisted men and civilian Army employees. The homes, located on MacDill Avenue adjoining the base, were the fourth government-housing units established under the Tampa Housing Authority. The project, operated on an income rental basis, opened with one-third capacity on its first day.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

A Fort Lauderdale blogger considers moving to Tampa, compares South Florida with West Central, and decides against it.

Boltsmag and the Best Bucs Blog tells us about the TBBJ’s inside look at the Buccaneers new training facility.

Port Tampa is looking for a replacement blogger… no experience necessary.

Stuck in the 80’s is celebrating their one-year anniversary with a makeover! They got rid of blogger and have integrated the “Tampabay.com” logo along the top, so you easily know where the blog hails from … We here at Sticks love the new look (The Buzz has also adopted the new look.  Now, if only Media in the Mirror would follow suit), and wish Steve Spears and Stuck in the 80’s many more happy blogiversaries!

30 years ago…

July 30, 1976 – Hillsborough Sheriff Department detectives and Florida Beverage Department agents recover 2,532 cases of hijacked beer in a raid on a refrigerated truck parked at a Gibsonton marina. The Budweiser beer, valued at $15,000 ($51,497 in today’s dollars), was stolen on July 26 from the Wes-Flo Co., Inc., warehouse at 10050 Florida Avenue. The thieves drove the truck to Gibsonton and rented space for three months in a refrigerated truck parked near a marina on Ohio and New York Avenues. An informant, described only as a “cooperative citizen,” led the police to the cache of beer.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

So last month we learned that Tampa is a finalist for the 2008 Republican National Convention. Actually I found it more facinating to see our two biggest local papers fall all over themselves to tell us about the horror that would be visited upon us were we to host the latest Republican coronat… I mean nomination. Things seems quiet now.

I want to look more closely at an example of unity between historic enemies that the middle east could learn a few things from.

He heads the GOP finance committee in Florida, but Al Austin says everyone wins if Tampa lands the 2008 Republican National Convention. “Even Democrats enjoy spending Republicans’ money,” Austin said Wednesday. “It would be, in my opinion, a terrific thing for the community.” Janet Zink - Times 8/11/05Tampa apparently is going to put in a bid to host the 2008 Republican National Convention. My only disappointment is that so far we haven’t offered to host the next world’s fair. Where is Ed Turanchik anyhow? A world’s fair would be his kind of windmill tilting. Steve Otto - Tribune 8/17/05

Both papers start off kind of nice, poking a little fun. Everybody seemed to remember the bid for the 2004 convention that fizzled rather early. But some comparisons of the cities show what appears to show better organization in Tampa Bay and dwindling opponents elsewhere. Things get a bit uglier when we all seem to realize that between we actually have a real shot.

The Tampa Tribune filed a lawsuit Thursday to compel the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau to disclose its bid for the 2008 Republican National Convention. Carrie Weimar - Times 6/2/06

Hosting the Republican National Convention in Tampa could cost about $124 million, with about $85 million coming from public sources. Ellen Gedalius - Tribune 6/6/06

In trying to lure the Republican National Convention to Tampa during the height of the 2008 hurricane season, officials are rolling the dice that a storm won’t hit while 50,000 delegates, journalists and visitors are in town. Neil Johnson - Tribune 6/11/06

Though an $85-million taxpayer tab for the 2008 Republican National Convention might smack you with some serious sticker shock, Tampa would look great on TV, right? Except for those protesters. What a buzz kill. Sue Carlton - Times 6/12/06

They continued:

Convention Venues Could Lose Revenue

GOP Bid could be a bad idea

Tampa is a not-so-exclusive GOP Finalist

Too Much for Tampa?

It was unrelenting for most of June. I could find no examples of papers in New York, Minneapolis, or Cleveland voicing similiar concerns. Instead I read about how we might get hit by a hurricane on those particular days. Or how 500,000 protestors would cover the city like flies on a fresh cow pie (incidentally, this number was dropped by a Fire Dept. administrator and picked up by reporters from both papers before Janet Zink at the Times seems to have debunked it with a few phone calls). Both dailies lamented the waste of taxpayer dollars, although the same papers have also reported how local budgets are bulging after 6 years of property tax growth.

My concern is this attitude that the papers have taken - so stridently and uniformly negative. I have to wonder would they be so vehement if the Democrats were thinking of coming to our city?

I don’t really care if the GOP comes here or not, although it would be fun to see them all scrambling if a hurricane does threaten. Plus, if you were to stand on the pedestrian overpass at the end of Morgan St. and timed it right, I bet you can moon all the fancy politician-carrying limos as they drive into the parking garage beneath. There’s just enough clearance so your bare ass will likely be seen on national TV. That might be fun, too.

C’mon and pick Tampa Bay.