Author Archive

arrogance, denial, and coverup

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

We have had a rash of stories in which local or national figures get themselves in trouble. Two recent local examples have been Tax Collector Doug Belden unwantedly pawing on a woman and City Council (now County Commissioner) Kevin White buying $6100 worth of suits from campaign funds and trying to hide it as a consultant fees.

Most often the response to these types of incidents is an arrogant denial.  Sometimes there is an attempt at a cover-up.  Then the issue becomes a big blown up affair.

Had Doug Belden, early in the process of his mini-scandal said, “Hey, I am sincerely sorry, I was a jerk, and I apologize for touching you“  there may not have been a police report or any media stories.  And even if there had been a report, there is much less of a story.

History is replete with examples where arrogance and coverup does not work. Why don’t people learn?  Or do they do it because it does work a lot and only occasionally does someone get caught?

group responsibility

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

The Trib has a follow-up article about Dog Belden today. The special State Attorney has declined to file charges against him where he unwantedly touched Julie Irwin in Jackson’s. After Belden apologized, she declined to press charges.

What is interesting in today’s story is that Belden had drank so much he had been cut off by the bar.  However, he continued to drink as he had “members of his group buy him drinks.” After he placed his head twice on Julie Irwin’s breasts (video), he was coaxed away by one of his employees Preston Trigg, as the bartender said something to him. Then Belden approached another group of women touching 3 of them, one quite extensively (video). Preston Trigg intervened and had to pull Belden away.

From comments Trigg made in earlier reports, (“You watch him to make sure nothing happens.”) it is clear he felt he had to be Belden’s handler, and keep him out of trouble. Perhaps if his group members had stopped giving drinks to a man who now says he has an alcohol problem, some of this might not happened. I wonder if any of his peeps ever told him they thought he had a alcohol problem. Those peeps share some of the blame for what occurred that night.

Cross posted on Seminole Heights Blog

travelers motel to leave tampa

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

In Thursday’s Trib, there is a story about the Travelers Motel being torn down and replaced by a 34 home subdivision.

I have bizarrely fond memories of this place. This 1932 motor court is located on Nebraska Avenue, north of Fowler. Writer Connie May Fowler lived in that motel as a child and it was featured in her book “Before Women Had Wings.”  In the early 1990’s we lived a few blocks away from the motel on the other side of the Interstate when Susan read that book. What a surprise for us to then find the motel in the book was just around the corner from us.

From Kirkus Reviews:(On Amazon)

“Gritty detail aside, this lyrical tale of an abused child’s survival and empowerment is more fable than yet another story of a dysfunctional family facing down its demons. Set in her native Florida, a place of sandy scrub and rundown motor-courts, Fowler’s tale (River of Hidden Dreams, 1994, etc.) offers a child, Avocet Abigail Jackson (Bird for short), as the chronicler of one redneck family’s misery and mayhem. Glory Marie, the mother, gave Bird and her older sister, Phoebe, birds’ names because birds could “fly above” the debris in their lives. And the girls will need to do a lot of metaphorical flying if they are to survive their increasingly violent childhood.

Bird and her dirt-poor family live in an orange grove near the small store her parents run. Billy, the father, is suicidal and prone to drunken rages in which he beats his children and fights with his wife. But the family’s troubles multiply when Glory Marie buys a car of her own and spends time away from home. Mad with jealousy, Billy pays someone to beat up Glory Marie, and then–horrified by what he’s done–he disappears, only to be found a few days’ later, a suicide.

Mother and daughters head for Tampa, where Glory Marie finds work and a home for the family at the Travelers Motel. Phoebe does well at school, but Bird doesn’t–she takes to staying home instead, befriending Miss Zora, a mysterious black woman who lives in one of the motel cabins. It’s Miss Zora, a healer and a wise woman, who saves them all when the grieving Glory Marie starts drinking heavily and badly beats Bird. Under Miss Zora’s wing (as it were), the two girls can fly away to safety while their mother heals. A vividly modern if schematic fairy tale with the usual goodies and baddies appropriately updated.”

As I mentioned in a prior Seminole Heights Blog post, we have a piece of the motel in our yard.

“One day after we moved to Seminole Heights, we were driving down Nebraska headed home when spotted the table top at the motel laying broken on the ground. She asked me to see if I could get it. Maybe to break up and use for a walkway. So I did. I told them my wife was an artist and wanted to use the pieces for an art project. So they gave it to me. Heavy, heavy thing. Took it home. Since it was rebared together, we decided to keep all the pieces together and use it as a base. Moving it once I dropped it on Susan’s fingers. Fortunately nothing was broken”

Sad to see another piece of Florida destroyed.

Crossposted on Seminole Heights Blog.

looking out for your boss

Saturday, October 28th, 2006

Tommy previously wrote about the developing story with Doug Belden and his making unwanted adavances upon on a woman at a bar. 

On Thursday Mr. Belden admitted the incident did occur and apologized.  He blamed a drinking problem.

What I found interesting in this incident was the following comment, made when the story initially broke, by one of his employees, a supervisor named Preston Trigg. 

“I got a call Friday from the boyfriend who said Doug was hitting on his friend,” Trigg said. “I said, ‘That’s kind of funny, because I was there, I was watching Doug the whole time and didn’t see anything.”

Going out with Doug is like going out with a professional athlete,” said Trigg. “You watch him to make sure nothing happens.”"

1. In light of the admission by Mr. Belden, was Preston Trigg mistaken or lying? If he was lying could he face charges of lying to investigators?

2. The tax collector compared to a professional athlete? Excuse me? How many of you have to watch your boss to make sure nothing happens?  Did Trigg know Belden had an alcohol problem and was trying to keep him out of trouble?

too good to resist

Monday, October 23rd, 2006

According to the Trib:

“Transit officials in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are considering a merger of their bus systems, a move that could boost travel between the two counties and attract more federal funding.”

I wonder if it will be called Pinellas-Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit System? P.H.A.R.T.S?

cross posted at Seminole Heights Blog

fun with google transit

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

Here is something to do after you complete Tommy’s request to plan your trip to work on Google Transit. Let’s have some fun. What is the longest trip you can plan using Google Transit? Include walking time.

I have come up with a trip from Pony Express Way & Race Track Rd, Odessa, FL 33556 to: chert rock trail, wimauma, fl.  It takes 6 hours and 2 minutes in transit and 1 hour 50 minutes walking. After walking for 53 minutes you pick up the first bus at 7:01 AM and get dropped off by the last bus at 1:03 P.m. with only 56 minutes left to walk to your destination.  Part of the reason for such a long ride is there is a 1 hour 33 minutes transfer wait.

According to Google driving the 49 miles would take 1 hour 14 minutes.

After playing with it for a while, I suspect that if you have to walk for more than an hour to catch a bus, maybe HARTline isn’t the way to go.

superficial politics

Monday, September 4th, 2006

On the Seminole Heights Blog, we discussed political yards signs.

“Who has the best campaign signs and who has the worst? This has nothing to do with whether you support them or not. Lets just look at their signs. Which one is most eye catching, or has best colors, or gets the candidates name out there clearly? Extra points for avoiding the tired red white and blue color scheme.”

Best:
Rose Ferlita. Good strong colors and name stands out.
Chloe Coney. The hat is a good device to make it stand out. Names stands out.
Kevin White. Good colors. Name stands out well.
Betsy Hapner. Nice colors and name stands out well. The symbol is good.
April Griffin. Name stands out well.”

Worst:
Les Miller. Dull. Does not stand out well enough. If I remember right, May be a retread color and design from Gwen Miller’s campaign.
The “I have a dream guy”. Too much clutter. Simplify.”

So for those outside of Central Tampa area, what can you contribute to the list?

Then, issues aside and other real reasons you should vote for someone, what superficial reasons (including yard signs)could cause you to vote for a particular candidate (whether or not you would actually vote for that person?) Tell us who and why.

restaurant inspections

Saturday, June 10th, 2006

On the Seminole Heights Blog, I looked up a couple neighborhood restaurants to see how they have done on their restaurant inspection reports with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Restaurants are inspected for both Critical and Noncritical Violations:

Critical Violations.
Critical violations are those which, if left uncorrected, are more likely to directly contribute to food contamination, illness, or environmental degradation. Examples of critical violations include poor temperature control of food, improper cooking, cooling, refrigeration or re-heating temperatures.

Noncritical Violations.
Noncritical violations are not directly related to food borne illness risk, but if uncorrected, could impede the operation of the restaurant. The likelihood of food borne illness in these cases is very low. Non-critical violations, if left uncorrected, could lead to critical violations. Examples of non-critical violations may include dumpster violations, such as: failure to keep lid closed or failure to keep drain plug in place.

It was interesting to see which places had many violations and which did not.  For comparison I also looked at two random non Seminole Heights Restaurants.

The Village Inn (215 S. Dale Mabry) was last inspected on 01/31/2006 and had 8 critical violations and a bunch of non-critical. (32 total)

The eight critical violations:

  • 12a - -Critical. Hands washed and clean, good hygienic practices (observed), alternative operation plan
  • 12b - -Critical. Proper hygienic practices, eating/drinking/smoking (evidence)
  • 41a - -Critical. Toxic items properly stored
  • 41b - -Critical. Toxic items labeled and used properly
  • 45 - -Critical. Fire extinguishers - proper and sufficient
  • 46 - -Critical. Exiting system - adequate, good repair
  • 47 - -Critical. Electrical wiring - adequate, good repair
  • 48 - -Critical. Gas appliances - properly installed, maintained

Mise En Place was just inspected on 05/30/2006 and had 5 critical violations. (11 total)

  • 03 - -Critical. Food maintained at proper temperatures
  • 08 - -Critical. Food protection
  • 12 - -Critical. Employee hygiene
  • 20 - -Critical. Sanitization-concentration and/or temperature
  • 45 - -Critical. Fire extinguishers - proper and sufficient

Look up your favorite restaurant and let us know how many violations (critical and non-critical) they had. Let’s see if we can find the worst restaurant in Tampa.