Lyft, Uber – St. Pete has it right; Tampa not so

A tale of two cities: the city of St. Petersburg recently held a workshop on how it can deal with the new transportation systems that are Lyft and Uber. They are taking the same measured approach as Orlando and other rational governmental bodies across the country. Across the bay, Tampa and Hillsborough County are going to court rather than try to reach a “good for all” agreement with the two new transportation modes. A lot of the difference has to do with the history of cabs and politicians in Hillsborough. To say that palms have been greased down through the years would be an understatement. Tammany Hall went away as should the way too cozy relationship between politicians and the transportation industry in Hillsborough County. It’s time to join the 21^st century folks.

Around the bay:

1. Now that Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s “election campaign” is over, expect him to start positioning himself for a run for governor in 2018. Fine, but mayor, please remember what we are paying you to do in the interim. We will deal more with this “next seat” phenomena in next week’s Rants.

2. Quote of the week: Marco Rubio when asked if he had a comment on Rudy Giuliani’s inflammatory remarks. “Democrats aren’t asked to answer every time Joe Biden says something embarrassing, so I don’t know why I should answer every time a Republican does”.

3. There is a Dallas-based company named Service Insurance that provides a lot of flood insurance to bay area residents. Recently they decided to slap a $250 surcharge on your premium unless you sent them proof that you live where they send the bill and from where you pay the bill. Guess they’re just hoping you won’t notice about a 50-75% increase in your premium. See our rant from last year about insurance companies, a blindfold and a cigarette.

4. In the debate over the possible relocation of the Rays, we keep hearing about the re-development potential at the current Trop site. Really – have you taken a good look at that area?

5. You’ve really lived in Clearwater a long time if you enjoyed one of the incomparable Philly Hoagies at the Philly Hoagie shop across from what was then Cleveland Plaza. And if you know prominent Clearwater attorney Charlie Robinson, ask him about his favorite Philly Hoagie story.

The diamond, the media & other stuff

6. Item: Last year the Atlanta Braves hit 123 home runs while finishing next to last in the NL in runs scored. In the off season, they traded away half of those 123 homers. Hurry in and get those season tickets Braves fans!

7. You are really a hardcore (and old) baseball fan, if you remember who Frank Leja was – or Lou Limmer. For the uninitiated, Leja and Limmer were supposed first base phenoms of the Yankees and Athletics respectively back in the 50s. Together, they got into about 200 major league baseball games and hit right at the Mendoza line for their combined careers. More importantly to children of the 50s, they showed up in every darned pack of baseball cards instead of that hoped for Mickey Mantle card.

8. So Boston’s Big Popi is going to whine and pout about the MLB edict that you stay in the batter’s box between pitches. Deal with it, Mr. Ortiz! And memo to American League pitchers: work him up and in. He has a hole in his swing the size of Arizona up there.

9. Our Rants and Raves focus group (comprised of three old, cranky people) reminds us that too often the inventions we take for granted are the most important. Case in point: It’s five o’clock, pouring rain and you are about to leave the office for your car located two football fields away. Which would you rather have –an Apple 18.5 smart phone or an umbrella? (Margin of error – 50 per cent or so).

10. He’s too plain-spoken and probably not far enough to the right to get himself even nominated, but Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio would make an excellent presidential candidate. It’s refreshing to hear a politician like him simply deal in plain, cold facts without all the political correctness and waffling you hear only too often from most politicians.

Channel 10 – grasping at straws

It’s an old, tired practice in the broadcasting industry that when you are getting your head handed to you by the competition – in this case Channels 8, 13 and Bay News 9, you need a gimmick. One of Channel 10’s is to show up on a restaurant’s doorstep, camera and microphone in hand. They then proceed to tell the dining public how they are protecting us from restaurants that store the bacon on the wrong shelf of the cooler and other unforgivable sins. It makes us want to call one of their crusading restaurant reporters and tell them we will be at their home in five minutes to inspect their kitchen.