Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Next week is National Signing Day for college football. It’s the day when high school seniors sign official “Letters of Intent” to enroll a specific universities. In the past, it hasn’t been a big deal… however as college football continues to grow in popularity, Signing Day is getting more and more attention.

At USF, the USF Alumni Association and Bulls Club have worked together over the past few years to have a social event where fans can talk to the coaches about the players who are going to be Bulls each fall. This year, the event will be bigger than ever!!

Here are the details:

The USF Alumni Association Tampa Chapter

and

USF Bulls Club

Present

The 2008 National Signing Day Mixer

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
5:00pm to 7:00pm

at

Splitsville
615 Channelside Drive
Downtown Tampa

The 2007 Football season was incredible:
* USF’s first ever sell-out,
* Exciting wins over Auburn and West Virginia, and
* Being ranked as high as the # 2 team in the nation!

2008 holds fantastic promise, with great returning players and outstanding recruits. USF Football Coach Jim Leavitt and his staff will be on hand to update fans on the successful recruiting season and to answer questions about their upcoming season in the Big East. Come out and talk with fellow USF Alumni, students, and other Bulls Fans!

* For this event, Splitsville will be offering $1 Miller Bottles and $5 cheese pizza. Splitsville, the host of the 2007 Jim Leavitt Radio Show, is located at the Channelside Entertainment Complex.

* WQYK 1010 AM will broadcast live from Splitsville from 2:00pm to 6:00pm, including appearances by Josh Newburg and USF’s own Jim Lighthall.

For more information about the event, please contact Jim Johnson, Tampa Chapter Chair, at JimUSFSig @ Yahoo.com or (813) 361-6249. For more information about the Tampa Chapter, visit our chapter website at www.USFAlumni.net/Tampa.

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Directions: Take I-275 South to the Downtown-West exit; Travel down Tampa Street to Jackson Street & Turn Left; Take Jackson Street to Morgan Street & Turn Right; Take Morgan Street to Channelside Drive (at the St Pete Times Forum) & Turn Left; Continue on Channelside Drive to the Channelside Complex. [Click here for a link to Google Maps]

Parking: Channelside has valet parking and a parking garage across the screet from the Complex. (Remember to bring your parking ticket or valet ticket for validation to get the discounted rates!)

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Okay, so it won’t be THAT bad, will it?

The Florida Department of Transportation announced that the first phase of widening I-275 through West Tampa officially started yesterday:

TAMPA — A project to reconstruct two miles of northbound I-275 from Himes Avenue to the Hillsborough River is now underway (as of Monday, August 13). The $106 million project is expected to be completed by early 2010. When finished, this stretch of I-275 will feature four through-lanes, wider shoulders, and improved lighting and drainage. The majority of the new interstate will be built to the south of the existing northbound lanes and tie into the existing roadway at Himes Avenue and the Hillsborough River.

Interstate lane closures will be limited to night hours between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m.; side street closures will be allowed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Project and closure information can be found on the www.myTBI.com site, where users can also sign up for free e-mail updates.

They also have a good RSS Feed at that site.

According to the DOT website, the remaining section from Himes Avenue to Tampa Bay won’t start construction until 2011. Not to mention the Veteran’s/Memorial/Airport construction that will also take until 2010.

We all better be ready to live with Bob’s Barricades for a long time.

Back in April, I served on the panel here in Tampa Bay for an FCC public hearing. They were taking testimony on proposed changes to the ownership of television stations, radio stations, and newspapers. A lot of the comments, especially from the public, oppose changes arguing it would reduce competition and therefore reduce our choices for news.

Well, last week the FCC released TEN studies on media ownership. These studies included:

1. How People Get News and Information
2. Ownership Structure and Robustness of Media
3. Television Station Ownership Structure and the Quantity and Quality of TV Programming
4. News Operations
5. Station Ownership and Programming in Radio
6. The Effects of Cross-Ownership on the Local Content and Political Slant of Local Television News
7. Minority and Female Ownership in Media Enterprises
8. The Impact of the FCC’s TV Duopoly Rule Relaxation on Minority and Women Owned Broadcast Stations 1999-2006
9. Vertical Integration and the Market for Broadcast and Cable Television Programming
10. Review of the Radio Industry, 2007

Well, since the FCC released the studies, a cynical reviewer would say: “all of these studies are going to show how making the proposed rule changes won’t really hurt news choices.” Now, I haven’t read the studies - they are all available on the FCC website - but I can say there is something being left out of this discussion.

The Associated Press.

It started in 1846 by the New York Sun to bring news of the Mexcian War to New York City, by pony express to Montgomery, Alabama; then by mail coach to Richmond, Virginia; finally by telegraph to New York. He offered to share his stories with other local newspapers, to help cover the cost of the service. The network expanded that year to Albany, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and more — allowing newspaper editors to get “breaking news” into their papers.

Consider this description from The Future of News (emphasis added):

Today’s papers are collaborators, not competitors. Through their membership in the AP, they share news with each other, and use precious column inches to reprint the same, single set of national stories — space that could be used to provide more choices of information. In fact, the reporting costs are so low when papers work through the not-for-profit AP that no one can make a profit by launching a paper with alternative information. Now you know why not a single, financially self-sustaining metropolitan daily newspaper has been founded in more than 60 years.

So if 10 news stations or 1000 news stations all get their news from the Associated Press, how will any act by the FCC have any real effect on our news “choices” anyway?

Cross posted on State of Sunshine

Josh Hallet, social media consultant extraordinare of Hyku and Empircal Polk, has asked me to be a session leader for the 2007 BlogOrlando.

Now, unlike conferences you may have attended, BlogOrlando is specifically an un-conference. The concept grew out of the realization that most people at trade shows, academic conferences, and industry gatherings learned a heck of a lot more from the Q&A sessions or just talking amongst themselves during the social time. So why not take those good parts and make the entire conference like that??

So, what is BlogOrlando, you ask? Well…

Hyku, in partnership with Rollins College will host the second edition of this FREE event that is open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike from Florida and anywhere else. We hope to bring together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics. In addition to the Friday event we planned some outings at the local theme parks over the weekend. The event was as much a social/family gathering as it is a ‘work’ gathering.

I attended the first BlogOrlando last fall, and learned a great deal. In fact, it helped spur me to move from Blogger to my own domain and use WordPress.

If you have even the smallest interest in social media - especially blogging - then you should make the trek to Olrando for the day. There are some great people leading various sessions, including bloggers who I read every day. From politics to media to blogging for business to second life, BlogOrlando has something for just about everyone.

I’ll be there. Will you?

Take a few minutes (8:16) and watch this video, and understand just how fast things are changing in our world today. Did you know 2.0

(Per the YouTube description…An official update to the original “Shift Happens” video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com — Content by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, design and development by XPLANE.)

hat tip to Todd And

In 2004, Creative Tampa Bay commissioned a study “to determine how the Tampa Bay region ranked in attracting the young, well-educated workforce that will be the economic driver of the future.” Three years later, two major national financial publications have come out with their studies. The result is not good if you’re under 35 here in the Bay area.

Local Effort

First, let’s look back at the report from Creative Tampa Bay (pdf).

INSIGHTS:
• Tampa Bay’s share of the important 25 to 34 year-old population is relatively much smaller than most large metropolitan areas, ranking 47th out of the top 50 areas.
• Educational attainment for 25 to 34 year-olds in Tampa Bay lags far behind its counterparts in the U.S.’s top 50 largest metropolitan areas. The educational level has improved in the last decade, but just managed to keep pace with the national trend.
• Tampa Bay’s benchmark regions, particularly Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville, have more young adults and have gained more 25 to 34 year-olds (while Tampa Bay lost them).
• Tampa Bay attracts more young adults from 35 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas than it loses. The largest share comes from New York, but generally, Tampa Bay loses population to larger metro areas in the South, particularly its benchmark regions.

Ouch. The study didn’t paint a rosy picture of the young professional climate here.

National Image

The “Best Cities” reports from Kiplinger’s is not kind. Tampa Bay is not on it’s list top 50 Smart Cities to Live from 2006. It’s also not on the top 5 Best Cities for Young Singles. Cost of living, salary levels, and other quality of life measurements went into these lists - so it’s not really a surprise that Tampa Bay didn’t make the cut. However, if you are over 65, then Tampa Bay is the place to be:

Florida has many fine places to spend a restful retirement. But if you don’t define retirement as golf, white belts and canasta, then Tampa Bay is the place to go to kick-start a second (or third) act. Says Katee Tully, a recent transplant to the area: “This is a rich, fertile place for people who are reinventing themselves.”

Sigh. Yes, we still live in God’s waiting room.

Okay, so what about the venerable Forbes magazine? It’s list should be better right?

Nope. Dead last.

In their survey of Best Cities for Young Professionals, Tampa came in at #40 out of 40. With that placement, Forbes provided an in-depth review of just why Tampa is so far down the list. I normally don’t like to quote so much material from a source, but they did a great job with the bad news:

Sunshine most of the year and beaches nearby make Tampa a good place to live or have a second home, but neither counts for much in the eyes of those looking to climb the corporate ladder.

Tampa came in last on our list of cities best for young professionals. Behind Detroit. Behind Indianapolis.

The main reason? It’s just a slightly older person’s town. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Tampa sits second-to-last among cities ranked for the number of those aged 20 to 35 and last for how many people in that demographic have never been married.

Digging a bit deeper, just over a quarter of Tampa’s housing stock is comprised of investment and second home buyers, according to Moody’s Economy.com. Snowbirds and out-of-towners don’t do much for young professionals looking to let loose. On the business side, Tampa tied Detroit and Indianapolis for third-to-last in the number of 400 best big businesses and 200 best small businesses that call the city home. This significantly hampers Tampa’s ability to attract top-flight grads and young professionals, as our graduate tracking metric indicates.

“Behind Detroit.” The truth hurts, eh?

Now to be fair, the methodology could be a bit biased:

Our list was compiled by tracking where the graduates of top universities across the country ended up 10 years after commencement; where the best business opportunities exist; which cities had the most young and unmarried people; and which cities paid young professionals the best. … The goal: to determine which cities offer such strong opportunities for young professionals that they’re willing to pick up and move across the country for them.

We’re Working on It

It’s not for lack of trying.

Eric Sturm’s TampaOptions.com has been compiling a list of local events for the young professional community — if you’re not on his mailing list, sign up today. Eric even wrote a book entitled Access Tampa Bay, with information on more than 700 organizations - volume two will have 2,500.

To be sure, the people behind Creative Tampa Bay started the right push - they prompted the Tampa Chamber of Commerce to create Emerge Tampa, they helped form Verve, their energy caused more people to act through groups like the Tampa Jaycees, Avante Garde, and other groups.

Additionally, the Creative Tampa Bay study identified things our community leaders could do to rectify the problems.

OPPORTUNITIES:
• Work to improve the region’s central city – downtown Tampa.
• Build vibrant, connected places so that street life is palpable.
• Capitalize on the variety of Tampa Bay’s regional assets. Connect the dots.
• Increase educational attainment.
• Improve marketing materials and websites to showcase active lifestyles, diversity, and the young adult culture.

Now, we’ve started down the list. Well, some of them. Although, in truth, not much has really happened on the list.

Membership in both Emerge and the Jaycees has declined significantly and Verve no longer exists. Young professional groups have simply not gained strength.

So, if you’re a young professional how does this make you feel? Are you ready to pack your bags for Austin or Atlanta? Boston or Minneapolis?

There has been a lot of debate about property tax cuts, and the special session starts next week.

Tommy took issue with a recent Qunippiac University poll - mostly because they did not provide enough realistic choices to the voters — so I am asking you, Sticks of Fire readers, what would YOU cut?

First, you should realize exactly what we’re talking about. Here are the departments for Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa — and the organizational charts for Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. Note the County Departments page does not include the Constitutional Officers, nor a few other state-mandated or state created programs the county has to fund.

With that, here are my recommendations:

• 1) Bring all external relations offices under one area, and combine several of the positions, and eliminate the rest. The County has five liaison offices for things such as Asian-Americans and ADA. All of these positions should be eliminated, along with the Neighborhood relations office which is in place to help civic and homeowner associations deal with the County. The City has two areas - Neighborhood and Community Relations and Community Affairs - combine them and reduce staff. Both the City and County have television stations, primarily to cover meetings. They should combine these two services into a non-profit, outsourced - like public access or the education channel.
• 2) Review City and County governments and combine as many areas as possible where both overlap. Solid waste. Road building and maintenance. Water and stormwater resources. Building and fleet maintenance. Planning and growth management. Most of the lower level employees in these departments would keep their jobs, but the upper management staff - the expensive directors - would be out on the street. What about fire and police services? Code enforcement? What about the “back of the house” areas like Information Technology and Purchasing.
• 3) Outsource human resources. The HR departments in both City and County governments are bloated. There are a number of staffing companies in town that could do the job far better. Some components could be transferred to the Civil Service Board (created by the state, funded by the county).
• 4) Where services can be combined, explore outsourcing options. Looking at the above recommendations, why not combine two and three - to say that some services should be outsourced. Facilities management, for example. There are dozens of companies who manage facilities all over the Bay area — surely they could provide services at lower cost than doing it in house.

Still, my ideas may not be the best. Take a look at the links above and review the departments and agencies at the local level — then tell us, which of them deserve to be cut and which deserve protection?

At the end of a recent Tampa Tribune article on the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority there was an interesting comment.

First, some background.

The Authority was the product of the Tampa Bay Partnership working with former State Senator Jim Sebesta and State Representative Bill Galvano. It brings a number of counties and cities together to work toward a more unified vision of transit and transportation in the Bay Area.

I love the idea.

This year, the Legislature passed the bill to create the Authority and included a measly $1 million - that’s less than 1/7000th of the state’s budget - for the initial startup costs (staffing, office space, furniture and equipment, etc).

Governor Crist vetoed the funding because it came from the wrong pool of money.

So what are they to do?

Beg for help from the DOT and community — sure sure. The DOT can help provide some minimal staff support, arranging meetings and doing some preliminary planning. And perhaps local companies could provide some pro-bono legal advice and free office space. Not bad things considering the overall goal.

Still, they are going to need more help than donations can provide, if they are to do their jobs right. They can ask Governor Crist for some funding, to be approved by the Legislative Budget Commission, from another pool of money. But that may not be enough or even successful.

So, where do they turn? Where did other local authorities get their start up costs?

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

If Galvano doesn’t succeed, he said, he will turn to local governments in areas covered by the authority - Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties - and ask them to pitch in.

So, the same local governments that, because of property tax cuts, are laying off staff, reducing funding to community groups, putting off plans to build new rec centers or parks, stretching their pothole and code enforcement budgets are then going to find a little cash for a project that isn’t even theirs?

The real question will be how fast can they tell him where to stick TBARTA?

[Cross posted from State of Sunshine]