Gripe, let the lleaders know what you want and need, otherwise you are enabling the problem.

It is supposed to be a democracy so speak and get involved.

People like you, and I mean small minded rednecks when I say that, need to accept that admitting the problem is the first step towards solving it.

As long as we got small minded scared whiners like say, you, we will not make progress.

So why don’t you leave if you are not willing to be part of making this town better, why don’t you love Tampa Bay enough to help out?

Oh wait, youm ust be one of those fools who think as long as we all kiss ass and play nice somehow this stuff will get worked out eventually. Who needs active citizens who make demands on the politicians and institutions, who needs people actually involved?

Anonymous p this attitide of your is what ENABLES the problems Tampa has. Take pride in your town, love it, speak up for it, fight for it. Don’t be an enabler.

Well guess what buddy, they are leaving and we are left with a town of idiots like you who go after the people who care enough to try and foster change.

Simple minded rednecks all longing for the small town days and so affraid of this city growing becuase it might risk your little pool of importance.

Join and support groups like TIBA (Tampa Independent Business Alliance) and foster the growth of local businesses. Have something to offer besides the same old chain store /chain restaurant / traffic jam BS that people can get anywhere. I can’t find a good cup of Cuban coffee in the greater Washington DC metro area, and God knows I have looked. What else makes Tampa unique? Find those things and nurture them. Create an identity beyond drinking and shopping and strip bars (no offense to Joe Redner, I like the guy).

There’s hope for Tampa, and there are enough people who recognize how to save it. The days of the developers are almost over. Who will seize the reins of power and bring Tampa to its full potential?

It is all a self-perpuating system–bad schools producing uneducated voters, or criminals, retirees who don’t give a $$$t about educating other peoples kids, the perennial real estate investors over their heads and looking for a bail out, tax dodgers who don’t believe in paying taxes, and a region that favors their own local yokels as compared to an “outsider” who may actually know what he’s doing.

Of course this mindless ssyetm will one day fall under its own weight and lack of direction. We can either escape to another city that has it going on, or be here to pick up the pieces and build something new and better.