Happy New Year!

A golden opportunity for Clearwater economic development

About twenty years ago, the Clearwater City Commission made a bold stroke and did a nationwide search for an executive to kick start the city’s moribund economic development efforts. The successful candidate, Bob Keller, did just that - turning an abandoned department store site into downtown’s most vibrant business campus, forming strong government-private sector alliances and spearheading recruitment and retention efforts that turned Clearwater around. Now with the departure of a mediocre bureaucrat who headed what passed for economic development for the past many years, the city has an opportunity to bring in another major player to do the same. The economic climate is right; will the city council have the initiative to get Clearwater on the economic development fast track?

Around Tampa Bay:

1. Given St. Pete’s left leaning administration, we shouldn’t be surprised that penalties for possession of pot in the city will now rank right up there with running a stop sign.

2. No one should be surprised by the city of Clearwater reducing reserve requirements for the maintenance of the Capitol Theater by Ruth Eckerd Hall. Nonprofits always make promises to the city that are never fulfilled. The building of the downtown library was another example when Friends of the Library wanted loans for embellishments not called for in the original plans. Council members then, as with the theater, reluctantly agreed knowing they’d never see the money.

3. Later this year dirt will start flying in the Morningside neighborhood for a new recreation center that was promised to residents well over a decade ago. It’s about time.

4. Some time back (RANTS – May 4, 2014), we mentioned how fortunate Pinellas County was to have a hospital at the level of Morton Plant. What we should have added is there are also some other local medical facilities that make you wonder how they keep their doors open.

5. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long time, if you remember chowing down at the King Pig on Gulf to Bay Blvd. Thanks to our sports prognosticator Achmed Walled (pronounced wall-ED) for reminding us of this Clearwater landmark.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Donald, Donald, if you’re going to run an efficient campaign, concentrate on your message and not on what that pimple on the butt of American opinion, Politifact, has to say.

7. Chip Kelly, let go by the Philadelphia Eagles last week, will be on the unemployment line for a month or less. But hopefully whoever hires him (probably an NFL team) will not give him personnel authority – a mistake made by the Eagles.

8. Neat feature by Channel 13 during the holidays on the 25 years plus of the heart warming Publix Christmas commercials including the classic that started it all – their train to houseboat commercial to the tune of Pat Matheny’s Last Train Home which played for several years and is still their best.

9. Factoid: 1 in 12 American men are color blind (only 1 in 200 women). With that in mind, why would the NFL permit or encourage ridiculous uniforms like the Bucs and Rams wore a few weeks back? It is virtually impossible for someone color blind to differentiate between the two teams.

10. Quote of the week from Willie Geist, co-anchor on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on the mean-spirited political cartoon featuring Ted Cruz’ children – “People look for moments of bias in the media. Here’s one right here. You can’t be selectively offended by cartoons. If that had been a Democrat, or God forbid the President of the United States, they would have lit the house on fire. There would have been wall-to-wall coverage on it.”

$100 million ain’t what it used to be

The Bucs (and we taxpayers) will be spending $100 million dollars to upgrade Raymond James Stadium and presumably put us in line for another Super Bowl. The price of poker has gone up. Here’s what $100 million used to buy you – all of pre-developed Island Estates, 10 times over; Dodger stadium – four of them; 15 Fenway Parks, 100 of the Packer’s Lambeau Field and, in the spirit of the holidays, this year’s price for the items in the 12 Days of Christmas nearly 3000 times over including the partridge in a pear tree.