Downtown Clearwater is still working on their effort to find an identity. Their five step process?
Some of the plans in the five step process could be used in other areas seeking to find themselves.
Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties to Close Elevated Portion of Friendship TrailBridge
Structural problems are forcing the closure of nearly all of the Friendship TrailBridge, a popular recreational link between Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
On Tuesday, an inspection found the elevated portion of the TrailBridge has significant structural deficiencies. As a result, officials from both counties decided to immediately close much of the bridge.
Less than half a mile on each end of the bridge will remain open. The rest of the TrailBridge, including all of the humpback center span, will be closed off.
This is the old span of Gandy bridge, which was saved from demolition in 1999, and has since been used as a recreational park / hiking trail. they have always had to deal with a shoestring budget. I don’t think it was ever used as a viewing area for boat races, which could have raised some funds to save this thing (as would a running race, etc.).
I’m sure you have heard about the crazy Jim Smith land deal over in Pinellas County. (If not, check that link, or scroll on down past the jump for a truncated blow-by-blow).
Anyway, the latest is that a state commission on ethics determined that neither he nor former County Attorney Susan Churuti did anything illegal. Which is not the same as saying all is well. Among the complaints:
Allright… So, we have at least four culprits. Let’s see how they have paid the price for not acting in the best interest of taxpayers.
Jim Smith
In addition to the $140,000ish overpaid to Jim Smith for the land deal, he continues to take a salary of $148,335. He’s a participant in the DROP program, which gives him another $80,000 in pension annually, which he will collect for who knows how long. He took home $423,157 in deferred compensation in 2006. He also earns tens of thousands of dollars as a sculptor and a landlord that he allegedly fails to claim on some disclosure forms.
The St. Pete Times urged Jim Smith to resign, but he did not feel the urge to quit. He later chose not to run for re-election. I suppose it will give him more time for his artistry.
Susan Churuti
Susan Churuti was suspended for a month, during which she was paid her normal salary of $193,015 a year. Then Pinellas canned her.
Steve Spratt
Assistant county attorney admin Steve Spratt first apologized, and eventually decided to move along. He got about $223,000 in severance pay.
Ronnie Duncan and the rest of the Pinellas BOCC.
Ronnie Duncan decided not to run for re-election, because he wants to “spend more time with his family.” In fact, only one of the four Pinellas County Commissioners seats up for election have decided to run.
Seriously? ONE person was fired? (And my guess is that she won’t have trouble finding a job - even in this down economy.)
So when there is hanky-panky (but nothing illegal!) in government, we get promises to clean it up, but none of those involved are really punished too much.
Except the taxpayer, of course.
Click below to read see a quick & dirty synopsis of the Jim Smith Land Deal, or read the St. Pete Times Special Report for the in-depth version.
An open letter to Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark:
Dear Ms. Clark,
OPEN MORE EARLY VOTING SITES, you knucklehead.
Sincerely,
Tommy
There are 13 places to vote in Hillsborough County, with long lines at many of them tallying record numbers of votes. Pinellas only has three sites for early voting.
Update 29 Oct 5pm: Deborah Clark’s track record since 2000 has not very good at all, yet the St. Pete Times endorses Clark. So far, the Tampa Tribune has kept its nose out of Pinellas.
Which is worse, driving drunk or letting a cop get away with driving drunk?
The St. Pete Times article asks: Did deputy show favoritism to fellow lawmen? I say yes.
As Sgt. John Daniels pulled up, the passenger stood outside the Dodge’s door, urinating. The driver admitted he had been drinking and declined a breath test.
The two men were Pasco sheriff’s deputies. Daniels let them go without so much as a ticket.
LEO allowing other LEO to get away with possibly impaired driving is nothing new. Hell they don’t even give each other traffic tickets (explain that to your insurance company). It’s called “professional courtesy.”
And it’s a load of crap.
With apologies to the greatest novels of all time for the liberties I’ve taken below.
Treasure Island city commissioners have decided that they will no longer be funding the Treasure Island library:
Cutting the Treasure Island library funding means residents of that city no longer will have free access to the Gulf Beaches system, which is located in nearby Madeira Beach and also serves Redington Beach, North Redington Beach and Redington Shores.
However, Treasure Island residents would be allowed to spend $100 per household to get a library card that is good in all the libraries that are members of the Pinellas Public Library cooperative, which includes the Gulf Beaches library.
Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret.
The great Gatsby, in his infinite jest, has decided to do some housekeeping.
The blind assassin, the watchmen and all the king’s men have decided to play it as it lays while things fall apart. They will claim their eyes were watching God, but they should know better. To kill a mockingbird in the prime of Miss Jean Brodie is akin to playing Ragtime while struggling under the net.
It seems the power and the glory got to city commissioners, and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest in determining that library funding should be sent to slaughterhouse-five for the big sleep.
Go tell it on the mountain: Libraries will soon be gone with the wind, books will turn into a handful of dust, and you will be reduced to a lord of the flies, right here along the Tropic of Cancer.
Portnoy’s complaint includes the recognitions that it is all about money. The man who loved children will no longer be able to check out the golden notebook without deliverance of a $100 check.
You may as well go to the lighthouse, become the moviegoer, visit an animal farm or head out on the road along a passage to India.
Oh, and city commissioners will attempt to avoid atonement by taking a trip down Revolutionary Road under the sheltering sky to avoid the sound and the fury of the white noise generated by the crying of lot 49.
It’s really an American tragedy.
On the afternoon of Aug. 18, Pinellas officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the county’s most flood-prone areas for 6am the next day. Tropical Storm Fay was heading our way.
Over at the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, visitors checked out and took off. They say they missed out on over $150,000 in canceled rooms and missed food and beverage sales.
The storm shifted and ended up making landfall south of Naples. Pinellas canceled the evacuation order at around 5:30am.
So now, hotel managers are saying that Pinellas “overreacted.”
“It was outrageous for the authorities to make the call prior to even being put on hurricane watch,” wrote Philippe Eversdijk, general manger of the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach. “The decision … shows lack of respect for our area’s bread & butter: tourism.”
It sure is easy to whine about everything a month later. Pinellas County Commission Chairman Robert Stewart wants the hotels to man up and deal with it:
“This was an unavoidable development,” Stewart said. “We’re always going to err on the side of caution.”
Pinellas is Florida’s most dense county - they have more people per square mile than anywhere else in the state. The land is surrounded by water on three sides. Any storm is going to cause trouble, and a big storm will nearly flood the entire county. With that big of a responsibility, officials must act early.
If your business loses a couple of bucks to ensure that nobody gets hurt, then you gotta tough it out. You have another 330 days of the year to be profitable. Or, you can move your multi-million dollar resorts somewhere else, perhaps New Orleans.
I bet these guys piss & moan about the insurance bill, too.
The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative serves Pinellas County residents in member cities and the unincorporated county. The Cooperative office provides coordination of activities and funding as well as marketing services for the following 15 member libraries.
They are getting ready to kick off the “Read Around Pinellas” promotion, where each person in the community is supposed to read the same book. This year’s book is Jack London’s “Call of the Wild.”
Which is appropriate, since Pinellas has all sorts of coyote troubles.
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