The mess in the Clearwater Fire Department – this isn’t new

 When did the Clearwater Fire Department start to go south? Some point to the Dolphin Cove fire in 2002, others to the disgrace Chief Jamie Greer brought to the department but the fact is dysfunction in the department spans more than two decades. It was in the mid-1990s that it was discovered that firemen pensioned on disabilities were, in fact, healthy enough to tote furniture and accept employment with payment under the table. Even before that, there was a constant war between administration and the labor union representing firefighters. The low ebb came when some renegade firefighters hung City Manager Bill Horne in effigy. So where do we go from here? The short term answer is to bring in an outsider who has dealt with similar problems in a like-sized department. The long term answer for the good of the city and the entire county is to establish a countywide firefighting system.

Around Tampa Bay:

1. Marina update: Clearwater’s Marina no longer has parking rates higher than that of Disney World. The short lived increases of over 300 per cent were adjusted to a significant but reasonable hike thanks in large measure to the intervention of City Manager Bill Horne.

2. David Jolly is going to be a pariah in the U.S. House for his bill to reduce campaign contributions. It certainly won’t be the first time in the last 2000 years someone becomes a pariah for doing the right thing.

3. Speaking of Jolly, a couple folks say he should give up his Senate bid, where he leads most polls, and try to retain his seat in a now decidedly Democratic district. We are hoping he listens to other voices rather than a liberal political columnist and the mayor of Clearwater.

4. Pardon us if we’re skeptical about MOSI’s plans to move to downtown Tampa. It seems like we’re trying to pack a whole lot of venues into a very constricted space.

5. You’ve lived in the bay area (or anywhere else) for a long time if you remember these new products from 50 years ago – Apple Jacks cereal, Bounty Paper Towels, Mace, the game Operation and the Shelby Mustang.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. Number of the week – 107. That’s how many years it’s been since the Cubs won the World Series. Their overrated pitching will help make it 108 – unless they pick up a true 1 or 2 rotation guy at the trading deadline.

7. Division leader after 20 or so games most likely not to be there at season’s end. We think we’ll take all three AL division leaders as of 4/26 – Baltimore, Chicago and Seattle.

8. New company – Whoopi & Maya features pot-laced “health” products for women. Why are we not surprised?

9. Idle observation: if you’ve shopped for a new bike recently you, no doubt, have noticed they cost more than your first car. And, of course, if you’ve shopped for a new car lately, you find they cost more than your first house.

10. The creators of the Tampa Bay Rants and Raves wish to announce that at this time, we have not settled on a running mate for November.

Finding a team to root for in 2016 and possibly ‘17

Last year, your HB (Humble Blogger’s) family had T-Shirts made up that read “2015-2016; Taking Two Seasons Off; Atlanta Braves” along with a baseball diamond logo. The phrasing is in response to the Braves admitting they were trying to build a team to be competitive when they open their new stadium in 2017 and punting 2015-16. Even 2017 might be unrealistic for the Braves to be competitive again. It occurred to us if your favorite team can take a couple years off, maybe you can too. Perhaps we can find another team to root for this year and possibly next. The logical choice would be the Rays – except they play in the American League with the designated hitter, plastic turf and slightly less strategy than Chutes and Ladders. Can’t root for an NL East team – hate them all except the Phils, who, currently, are almost as bad as the Braves. Being a native Pittsburgher, we loved the Pirates for many years until they dumped our favorite manager, Chuck Tanner, who came to the Braves who had this superstation and, well, that’s how the infatuation with the Braves began. The Pirates have a scrappy manager in Clint Hurdle and one of the most dynamic players in baseball in Andrew McCutchen and they are perennial underdogs. What’s not to love? Go Buccos! At least this year.

A SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK – A SOMBER ANNIVERSARY