Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Verizon is making a killing on this FiOS gimmick. The demand for FiOs is so overwhelming, that at the beginning of this year, the company moved a bunch of repair technicians away from fixing landline telephone service in order to install service for those new hungry FiOS customers. 

Because of that, some landline customers have had to wait up to a week for phone repair.  But that’s a problem. The State of Florida wants to make sure that your phone works if you have to call 911, so they require phone companies to repair service within 24 hours at least 95 percent of the time in any given area. 

Verizon knew they were not quite meeting that goal, so they went to the Public Service Commission in March to ask for an exemption.  Thankfully, the PSC said no, and in fact began a probe to see just how bad Verizon was performing.

Turns out that over the past 6 years, Verizon’s record declined steadily, and failed to meet the standards 262 times in 2007, compared with five times in 2001.  What was their excuse?

Verizon officials traveled to Tallahassee in April to tell regulators that the company was simply overwhelmed with demand for the FiOS service…

Attorney General Bill McCollum is not impressed, and asked the PSC to open a formal case, and begin piling on the fines.  At $25,000 per violation in 2007, the petition calls for over $6.5 million in fines.

Go Florida!

The Rays want St. Petersburg to build a $450 million ballfield on the waterfront in downtown St. Pete.  They have come up with a financing plan for Waterfront Stadium that they say doesn’t include any new taxes.  Here’s where the money comes from:

• $150-million up front from the team.
• $100-million from extending a 1 percent tax on Pinellas County hotel stays for an additional 25 to 30 years. That tax is now paying for Tropicana Field.
• $75-million from extending the city’s contribution to Tropicana Field for another 25 to 30 years.
• $70-million from the developer buying Tropicana Field.
• And $55-million in guaranteed parking revenue associated with the 34,000-seat ballpark.

There are supporters.  Fans for a Waterfront Stadium is a “citizen’s coalition made up of lifelong St Petersburg residents, downtown visionaries, teachers, baseball fans, business owners, parents and neighbors” who are pushing for Major League Downtown.  But St. Petersblog says the list of business supporters is suspect.

Meanwhile, Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfront (POWW) is a “group of concerned St Petersburg residents from all walks of life (and from all parts of town) who have decided to work together to provide the community with information regarding the proposed development of the Tropicana site and new baseball stadium at the current Al Lang Field.”  They want to “preserve our world-famous downtown waterfront for generations to come…”

POWW says sports stadiums don’t help local merchants, and instead those stores would see a “sharp decline in business.”

Meanwhile, Rays Managing General Partner Stuart Sternberg made it clear that the stadium would either be open by 2012 or it will not happen. If the referendum does not pass this fall, there will not be another attempt to get it passed.

Perhaps St. Pete doesn’t even need a baseball team.  The team is winning, and they couldn’t get 21,000 to show up for the Yankees.  Times Sports Columnist John Romano says that maybe “St. Petersburg has neither the wealth nor the civic roots to support major-league baseball.”

This Thursday, commissioners will consider several changes to our Land Development Code including two proposals affecting traffic: one good change, proposed by our county transportation planners, and one bad change, proposed by developers (well, by their lawyers). Developers are loudly opposing the planners’ proposal, while the planners oppose the developers’ proposal. Who will our commissioners listen to: the developers or the planners? Citizens need to weigh in or our commissioners may change the rules to suit developers, making traffic around here even worse.

“Transportation concurrency” requirements are supposed to ensure that new development does not overwhelm our roads with too much traffic. Ideally, ‘concurrency’ requires a developer to either prove the additional traffic from his project won’t overwhelm the roads, or improve the roads so that they can handle the additional traffic. The planners’ proposal would add a few teeth to concurrency, while the developers’ proposal would knock a few teeth out.

The developers’ proposal (08-0364) would allow a developer to get “vested” against concurrency, by making some road improvements several years before he builds anything, and without completely specifying what he will build later. Once a developer got vested, he could change his plans to increase the intensity of his land use, and increase his project’s traffic demands on the local roads, without having to improve the roads to handle the increased traffic. If, in the years between his vesting and his building, traffic increased on the roads so that his project would no longer meet concurrency, he would get to build anyway, even though his project’s traffic would overwhelm the roads.

This is, after all, the point of getting vested against traffic concurrency: so that at a later date, when it turns out that what you want to build would doom the community to nightmarish traffic jams, you can just go ahead and build anyway with your “get out of concurrency free” card. Vested rights means we taxpayers must pay to improve the roads — either that or we pay with our time and gas money wasted in gridlock.

Citizens opposing Little Harbor’s attempts to further degrade Ruskin’s quality of life should oppose the developer’s proposal (it’s the same applicant: Bricklemyer, Smolker & Bolves), because this firm has amply demonstrated the evils of allowing developers to enjoy vested rights. Little Harbor was approved for way too many condos back in the ’80s, and now that they are finally getting around to building them, they don’t have to trouble themselves with the fact that lots of other development has been built since the ’80s, so that their development will now overwhelm the local roads. They just wave their vested rights in our faces and proceed to ruin the neighborhood.

We need less of this vested rights nonsense, not more.

The planners’ proposal (08-0396) is a sensible change that would require developers to provide adequate entrances/exits for new developments, and limit development wherever the developer could not provide enough access points to handle his project’s traffic. When a large subdivision has only one or two access points, they often have to use a traffic light to control the traffic at that point, but this slows down the traffic on the local roads and negatively impacts the surrounding community. In addition to the quality of life issue, there is a safety issue: without enough access points large subdivisions cannot safely evacuate in case of fire, hurricane or other emergency, and one big subdivision pouring out of one little gate can clog up the surrounding road system in a large evacuation.

If you can’t provide enough roads and driveways to handle your project, then you should scale down the project. Period.

Citizens opposing the new subdivision (The Reserve at Westlake) that would add 2 new roads in rural East Hillsborough — one through the Balm Scrub (ELAPP) Preserve and the other over Bullfrog Creek and its wetlands — should support the planners’ proposal, because if it is approved it should limit the housing that could be built in this sensitive area, which is the “hole in the donut” surrounded by environmentally sensitive land. The developer is proposing 1089 homes — way too much housing for the two roads. The reasonable thresholds proposed by our transportation planners would not allow this many houses on just these two access roads, so if this rule is adopted the developer would have to build less housing (or find other access routes which isn’t likely here) and in this rural, ecologically sensitive area, less housing and less traffic would be a very good thing. (See my update & sample opposition letter on that.)

Here’s my letter to our commissioners asking them to approve the planners’ proposal (08-0396) and deny the developers’ proposal (08-0364). (There are other proposals besides these two [all in this big pdf], so if you provide input, you should note those numbers.) Here are some comments from U-CAN. As our commissioners consider these measures that can help or harm our community as we grow, they should do so with plenty of input from all of us.

The first public hearing is Thursday, May 15, and the final hearing is June 12. Both are at 6:00 p.m. at County Center. You can speak to your commissioners about these Land Development Code changes at either hearing, or write to them. They may have their minds made up before the final hearing (yes, really!) so I encourage you to speak up as soon as possible.

One of your most basic needs is transportation. In order to get those wonderful things you want, see all there is to see, and get to work to afford all of that, you gotta find your way around town.

Unfortunately, the price of gas in Tampa Bay is as high as it has ever been, and in Forbes’ recent report of the Best And Worst Cities For Commuters, the Tampa area ranks #6 in worst commutes:

No. 6: Tampa, Fla.: Tampa commuters are victims of urban sprawl. As late as 2005, 25% of area properties were classified as investment properties; this rate was almost double the national average. What does this have to do with commuting? It’s a good sign that the city is spread out. While Tampa exhibits a very low population density, commuters are stuck in traffic delays 45 hours a year, and 7% take more than an hour to get to work.

There are alternatives to driving, but they are not as easy to find as you might think. Here is an quick list of local transportation websites that may help you in your search for a better or at least cheaper way to get around.

Bay Area Commuter Services, Inc. (BACS) is one of the Florida Department of Transportation’s nine commuter assistance programs within the state. It is a private, non-profit organization founded and funded by the State of Florida Department of Transportation to promote transportation alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties. The agency operates in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Their stated mission is to enhance the region’s economic prosperity by actively influencing the reduction of traffic growth and air pollution by promoting commute options and developing new programs to help reduce peak hour traffic congestion for businesses and the community.

BACS helps publish the Tampa Bay Commuter. The TBC is a publication that encourages alternative transportation for commuting to work, such as mass transit, carpooling, and riding your bike. The Tampa Bay Commuter is independently published by 2Plus, Inc., a private non-profit corporation, in cooperation with Bay Area Commuter Services, and is supported by funds from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), grants, and through the Hillsborough and Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organizations. It does not reflect the official views or policies of FDOT or BACS.

Use the Tampa Bay Commuter to find ways to share rides (carpool) around the Tampa Bay area.

And then there is mass transit.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is in charge of busing you through Pinellas county, which includes the tourist-friendly beach trolley. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) runs mass transit for Hillsborough County. Three weekday buses travel between the two counties - PSTA’s 100X and 300X, and HART’s 200X.

You can also use the TECO Line Streetcar to get from south downtown Tampa to Ybor City. The USF Bull Runner runs five routes within the University of South Florida and over to the University Square Mall. All USF students, faculty, staff and visitors can ride the Bull Runner for free.

HART’s schedule is featured on Google Transit, but PSTA’s is not.

Finally, there is the promise of a regional transportation plan coming in the future.

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) - was created as an agency of the state on July 1, 2007 to plan, develop, finance, construct, own, purchase, operate, maintain, relocate, equip, repair, and manage multimodal systems in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota Counties. The authority’s purpose is to improve mobility and expand multimodal transportation options for passengers and freight throughout the seven-county region.

But we’ll see about that.

We told you about the south Florida governments clamoring to cut the state in two to form a 51st state, but we did not realize that this happens all the time, all over the country.

Oh, we know that in talks of adding states, Puerto Rico sometimes is mentioned, as is the District of Columbia.  But the talk of states splitting is apparently all the rage.

We were surprised to hear that just this year, an Athens columnist suggested splitting Georgia in two in order to solve the Atlanta-Alabama-Georgia-Florida water wars, which was seconded by a Valdosta newspaper.

We also hadn’t heard about an effort for northern California and southern Oregon to quit their respective states, creating the new State of Jefferson.  That effort has been going on since 1941.

Over the years, U.S. state secession proposals have come from more than 30 of the 50 states, including parts of tiny, tiny Rhode Island.

The only people who succeeded in seceding from a state to become their own state was Maine - they used be part of Massachusetts.

So I guess if you South Floridians wanna leave the rest of your state, you better get in line.

I actually really love Tampa and Florida; I just abhor some of the things people do here to destroy what’s left of our natural resources and make us all look like a bunch of carpetbaggers (Jeb! Bush), swampwater yahoos (Rhonda Storms and Brian Blair), and bilious scalawags (Buddy Johnson).

But there are plenty of political opinions out there far more informed than mine, and I do want to start out on a positive note if it’s not too late. So I’ll tell you about a faboo new restaurant that has been open only eight weeks and is already on my list of favorite places to hang out, especially in North Tampa. The Toasted Pheasant dwells in a nondescript strip mall at 14445 North Dale Mabry, but what’s going on inside is truly special. The freshly prepared food is exceptional, the wine list interesting and affordable, and the service is friendly and unpretentious. You’re going to be hearing a lot more about this place soon. The Weekly Planet has already reviewed it and the owner told me the SP Times reviewer has also called a few times to ask questions, so get in there and enjoy before it’s mobbed by bored South Tampa yuppies slumming north of Kennedy. (Damn, I am acerbic, even when I’m being positive.)

Okay, now for my cranky side. Have you been to Apollo Beach lately? Developers have been busily building new ghettos down there. It looks like one big public housing project down there with miles and miles of cookie-cutter, cheesy faux Seaside-style buildings and ugly, sterile, bauhaus-looking condos, at least half of which are unfinished and even more of which sport for sale signs. And best of all, that glorious view of the pollution-spewing smokestacks of Big Bend power plant. Who would want to live there?

No, really, I’m asking. Do you live there? If so, why?

The traditional "Alien Visits Earth" story often has the intergalactic tourist inquiring about our Big Man On Campus:  "Take me to your leader!" the alien demands. 

Where would you start if that guy showed up here today?

When looking for leadership, it makes sense to look to elected officials - we literally chose these people to represent us.  And the biggest figurehead stateside is the President of the United States.  Unfortunately, George Bush has a job approval rating of about 22%, and hasn’t seen 50% for three years.  I’d say that’s a real lack of confidence in his leadership skills.  Good thing he is leaving soon.  As for his eventual replacement, it may only be slightly better. With the blessing from party "leaders," Presidential wannabees seem to be more concerned about making each other look bad, rather than offering solid ideas to lead the country forward.

Because it seems they are constantly campaigning, US Legislators, Governors, and State Legislators are focused on keeping the status quo, rather than taking any chances on pissing off the electorate.  In addition, back room deals are a-plenty, and many of these folks are simply making connections, and granting favors on your dime, in the hopes of parlaying it all into a great paying job in the private sector.

In Hillsborough County, to whom would you take the alien?  Jim Norman?  Brian Blair?  Pat Bean?  With exception of maybe Mark and Rose, your county commission would first want to know what the alien would be able to do for them personally.

You may have better luck with Tampa’s City Council, but you are just as likely to show up in the middle of some pissy foot-stomping.

Given the mixed results in politics, perhaps we should look for leaders in other areas.

What about the business world?  Well, corporate leaders make more headlines for outrageous salaries or getting caught in scandals rather than for any real leadership efforts.  I have to agree with Bill Lane when he says there are no Jack Welchs or Lee Iacoccas anymore.

Media?  They can’t even keep their own house straight.

Sports?  Bill Belichick is the latest star, and he is a cheater and a classless sore loser.

Embarrassing, isn’t it?

Perhaps I’m too cynical.  I’m sure there are several great examples of leadership right here in the bay area.  Who do you admire for putting community ahead of self?

In the meantime, should the curious alien land in my back yard, I’ll offer him an iced tea and a sandwich, make sure to keep the television off, and tell him my wife will be home shortly.

Opinion piece from Lakeland Local. Note that USF Lakeland has since been renamed USF Polytechnic. Chuck Welch takes issue with a recent Tampa Tribune editorial about USF Lakeland Polytechnic:

It seems the last couple of years have proved one fact to this new resident of Lakeland.

Tampa and Orlando media are afraid of Polk County.

To the Orlando Sentinel we’re often “rural Polk County” or “Orlando-area.”

To the Tampa Tribune we’re evidently a drain on their campus.

In [Sunday]’s Tribune is an unsigned editorial, USF Lakeland Campus Driven By Political, Development Ambitions

I’ll sum up the editorial for you, “Dear Lakeland, We got ours. Stay small. Wait for us to annex you.” It’s the same thing we hear from Orlando. Both cities look to Polk County as land for their growth.

The editorial starts with the statement: “One of the smartest things Gov. Charlie Crist did last year was veto funding for a regional campus of the University of South Florida in Lakeland.”

Now we well know that Crist was new to the job, and pulling the funding was a matter of misinformation. The campus money…unlike the commuter rail funds…was a matter of long public debate.

The Money:

As you read the editorial, notice how the writer wants you to believe USF Lakeland is taking money out of the hands of USF Tampa.

“and weighed against the cost to USF’s aging campus in Tampa” “A new university in Lakeland shouldn’t be built at USF’s expense.”

The fact of the matter is that Polk County and Lakeland officials have pledged much of the money to the campus. Money matched by other funds. And none of the funds would or could go to USF Tampa. The Tribune’s lone reporter based in Polk County, Billy Townsend, recently wrote:

Only $15 million in state money is currently budgeted to begin construction of a single building at the proposed I-4 site. Polk County and the city of Lakeland have both pledged $5 million, which makes the campus eligible for an additional $10 million in state economic development funds.

The Land:

The Tribune editorial writer can’t determine if holding the campus off a year would keep or lose the donated land. That’s an important point to remember. The campus would be built on donated land.

“As much as anything, this campus is about helping a large landholder build a new community.” The implication is that the company thinks having a university close by would be a good thing. Guess what? It is. I am sure if I went to the Tribunes archives I could find all kinds of editorials arguing against USF Tampa getting donated land and grants.

What’s worse is the writer is confused about the land grant. On one hand they warn if the university doesn’t attract a certain number of students the land grant is revoked. The Tribune claims “USF Lakeland says it expects just 1,522 students by 2014-15,” but the USF
Lakeland Educational Plant Survey states: “Projected student headcount enrollment for the 2009-10 academic year will be 3,472 with 1,736 FTE and in 2014-15 headcount is projected to be 8,688 with 4,344 FTE.” (FTE = the number of Full Time students plus a percentage
of the part-time students)

Then the editorial writer counters with “However, it’s hard to believe the company will walk away if the deadline is not met, given the money it stands to make on the development.”

The corner of I-4 and the Polk Parkway is a perfect central for an university in as growth blooms along the freeway in Polk County. A company wants to give USF Lakeland the land. And Tampa thinks USF Lakeland should walk away. The Tribune opines that some other landowner would donate land. Does that make sense to you?

You’d get the impression that the editorial writer has an argument with the Williams Company. The Tribune editorial writer says, “Problem is, USF has said the Lakeland campus will not focus on research, but on extending the university’s reach to people who can’t make the drive to Tampa. So why build a research park?”

First, USF Lakeland faculty do perform research. Second, companies like to have research parks next to campuses.

Isn’t that a novel idea! A place for USF Lakeland students to intern and get good jobs. Right here in Polk County.

Of course, the Tribune has argued against USF Tampa having a research center located near the campus. Wait, no, they haven’t. In a
recent editorial they argued that USF Tampa should run next door neighbor Byrd Alzheimer Center “The Byrd center should become part of USF, where scientists are doing great work on Alzheimer’s research. It’s a natural fit.”

We’ve got ours. You get yours on your own.

The Buildings:

The Tribune editorial writer was also under the belief that money for USF Lakeland could be spent on improving infrastructure at USF Tampa, “money that will not be spent for upgrades at the Tampa campus’ less-than-new facilities.” USF Tampa started in 1956. I went to a university much older than that. They had buildings a lot older than 50 years. I can’t seem to remember that classes held in older buildings were inferior.

The Tribune counters with crowding, again in Tampa, “where professors face overcrowded classes and students sometimes have to sit on the floor.”

We have overcrowded classes because the Florida voter is more concerned with saving pennies in taxes than funding salaries for more teachers.

Admission Standards:

The writer claims that USF Lakeland admissions standards will be lower. The fact is USF Lakeland would be able to set their own standards. But what if they do allow more students to attend?

“Especially since the admissions standard for the campus will be lower than in Tampa, which means a USF Lakeland degree will hold less standing.” the writer claims.

Under that logic an USF Tampa degree holds less standing than those from hundreds of universities in the US. How elitist. When you decide which Media General editorial writers to keep, do you decide based on their alma mater?

Finally:

In true editorial fashion the writer ends with a bevy of unanswered questions. I thought I’d help out with a few answers.

• The manner in which USF Lakeland is being built isn’t good public policy.

– You mean it isn’t good for Tampa Tribune public policy.

• It is, however, good for The Williams Co. and the ambitions of a handful of Polk legislators.

– And quite a few people I call my neighbors.

• When balancing funding choices in this difficult year, Gov. Crist should call a time-out on USF’s ambitions for a campus in Polk. Instead, the governor should ask the state board to come back within a year with a plan that makes sense for the state, including the possibility of a
12th university.

– Why not move all of USF Tampa here to where the population growth is projected. I am sure Tampa could use the land for another freeway.