Sirens went off for many who read Megan Voeller's report on the West Tampa Center for the Arts' run-in with a fire inspection that nearly got artists evicted on the day of an opening. The troubles were smoothed out, but the story still drew some angry comments — some criticizing the city for cracking down, some supporting the fire officials — and a note from owner Bubba Ellis. We excerpt a few of the comments here; read them in their entirety at tampa.creativeloafing.com. Franklin Schneider's manifesto for the unemployed found some kindred spirits, but there were dissenting voices in response to Wayne Garcia's interview with Democratic Congressional candidate John Dicks and Brian Ries' review of Casa Tina in Dunedin.
Re "False alarm at West Tampa Center for the Arts," by Megan Voeller, June 4, posted by 813designer, June 4: I am a huge supporter of the arts in Tampa, and WTCA specifically. I attended this event (which was terrific) as I usually do. But I don't see anything here that relates to censorship, or even persecution of the arts in Tampa. … This matter could have been handled with much more finesse and diplomacy, but that doesn't negate the fact that the Marshall was probably justified in his initial rulings.
Posted by bubba1, June 5: I wanted to respond to two items in the False Alarm article. Our fire alarm and sprinkler systems had not been inspected in this calendar year (now they have). It is incorrect that they had not been inspected in years. Also, we were never ever told the second and third floors could not be occupied and I'll put my hand on the biggest bible you can find and say that.
Posted by andy, June 5: Enough of the useless red tape! why does the city make life so difficult for citizens who actually try to make a difference?
Posted by velo1812, June 6: Please do not misconstrue this. It is not about censorship. The codes are here to protect us in case of emergency. … This is not about easy targets, rather this is about highly populated areas in high risk buildings. With the number of shows and the attendance of those shows getting greater, the intention is to protect this large audience not dissuade; to preserve not encumber.
Posted by FloridaMom, June 6: The clear message here from the City is that "we like to go to extremes." It would seem as though there was no prior warning and suddenly eviction notices on doors. Where was due process? And yes, it is a form of censorship. When you try to shut something down or shut someone up that is censorship. In this case it was couched behind false concerns about fire safety.
Re "Can a Blue Dog Democrat beat Bilirakis?" by Wayne Garcia, June 4: The country may want change but that doesn't mean the country has become liberal. The reason the Republicans may lose this November isn't because they were too conservative — it's because they weren't conservative enough and looked, sounded and voted just like Democrats… But before you liberals start drinking the kool-aid and think that the country is ready to become some Obamian/socialist utopia, just look at the congressional approval ratings. Bush looks strong in comparison! Oh, and by the way, by November the Iraq war will be basically over and guess what — THE UNITED STATES WINS!!!!! That's just got to kill the liberal pukes who were rooting for us to lose.
Re "Casa Tina doubles up," by Brian Ries, June 4, posted by Big Marty, June 4: You're a jackass! I have been to Casa Tina on several occasions and have been thoroughly pleased each time. Your elitist ramblings never seem to capture what a restaurant is about. Even your compliments are marred by sarcasm and reluctance. … Come down off your high-horse Brian, because I don't think you're capable of waving a turgid stick at anything.
Re "Doing more with less," by Franklin Schneider, June 4, posted by snapper77, June 9: Although I don't agree with mooching off the government, I do see how shitty life is when you spend 8 hours of the day staring at an LCD screen. I live a square life and it sucks. Leaving a shitty job takes more balls than staying in one. And he makes a good point. Hmmm, travel to Costa Rica and go hiking in a rain forest now or wait till I'm a pebble away from breaking my hip? Live now and fuck the system. Wake up you god damn zombies!
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2008.
