Sea el ingrediente que nos hace falta." The advertisement ran without fanfare in the March 13th edition of the Tampa Tribune, and its headline – next to a colorful picture of a hot habañero pepper – translates as "Be the ingredient that we lack."

Although the quarter-page ad didn't disclose the company looking for a Director of Hispanic Initiatives, the notice revealed a major push into Tampa Bay's Latin markets by the Tampa Tribune.

Gil Thelen, president and publisher of the Tribune, confirmed that the paper had placed the ad. He said that whoever is hired in the new position will be a point person for developing relationships in the various Latin communities in Tampa Bay and for creating new ways to communicate with them.

"Obviously, we realized that we've got a long distance to come" to get up to speed in covering and serving the disparate Latin communities of Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Columbians and others, Thelen said, "and we're looking at a lot of ways to get us there."

Those new communications products will cut across all three platforms that Media General owns in Tampa – the Trib, WFLA-Ch. 8 and Tampa Bay Online. The new Hispanic business manager will report directly to Media General's top Florida executive, Ron Redfern.

Thelen confirmed that the media company has discussed a Spanish-language version of the Tribune of some kind.

"It is one of the options here, but for us, because we're a multimedia company, we think print plus," Thelen said. "For us the online opportunities are just as exciting as the print possibilities."

If "el Tribune" (my name; not Media General's) comes to pass, it would make the Trib the third Florida newspaper to launch a Spanish-language edition, behind the Miami Herald's daily El Nuevo Herald and the Orlando Sentinel's weekly El Sentinel.

The new Hispanic position is part of a continuing effort by Tampa Bay's second-largest daily to court and cover the Hispanic market. Last year, it signed a pact with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists to help it recruit Latin reporters and editors.

The newspaper is also creating a new position for a high-profile Hispanic affairs columnist.

On February 15, the newspaper gathered 80 or 90 Hispanic community leaders for a forum that was moderated by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The newspaper's most prominent Hispanic writer, Cloe Cabrera, was praised, but Trib editors got an earful about the newspaper's need to expand its coverage of the community in a more substantive way.

Almost immediately after that meeting, some Hispanic leaders say they saw results.

"Since that meeting, there has been a noticeable change in the Tampa Tribune," said Patrick Manteiga, publisher of La Gaceta, a trilingual weekly newspaper that is the leading voice in the Hispanic community. "Almost every day, there has been some kind of story about the Hispanic community. Some have been fluff and some have been serious."

Even more gratifying for Manteiga was his perception that the Trib was willing to take unpopular stands on behalf of Hispanics.

"What I wasn't sure was, would the Tampa Tribune stick its neck out for us?" Manteiga said. "They recently did a story about the Plant City Strawberry Festival not having any Hispanic entertainment despite the fact that all those strawberries are picked almost entirely by Hispanics. Those are the kinds of stories that get you a few enemies. Those are the kinds of stories that we had hoped they would do."

Earlier this year, the Tribune began distributing the Spanish-language weekly Siete Dias ("Seven Days"). Thelen said the Tribune has a business relationship with the independently owned Siete Dias that includes printing the weekly, distributing it and selling advertisements in it. Its role in the Trib's future mix of Latin products "is anybody's guess," Thelen said.

(NOTE: The number of high-profile Hispanic initiatives at the St. Petersburg Times: 0. The number of Spanish-speaking journalists I encountered in an informal survey at a recent Weekly Planet editorial meeting: 0.)

Florida Hometown Democracy in trouble: The idea hatched by a West Palm Beach environmental attorney was simple: Let voters directly make decisions about growth in Florida. After all, it is abundantly clear that the state's landmark 1985 Growth Management Act ain't working.

Just the idea of development by referendum was enough to pucker the collective butts of Florida's developers, office park owners, real estate agents, local government officials and anyone else whose livelihood depends on buying cheap land and building the crap out of it or "regulating" those who do.

I remember distinctly when I was a political consultant meeting with folks involved in those industries. They broke down neatly into (a) those who realized how much trouble they were in and wanted to begin fighting against the amendment two years ago, and (b) those who were oblivious to the obvious lure of such a proposition.

Even those who thought the idea was bad government (and I was among them) realized the power of such a promise to voters. No land-use change or zoning alteration would be allowed without a referendum first, instead of allowing city leaders or county commissioners to make those decisions. It literally would let fed-up Floridians shut the door on growth and say no to unpopular projects (read: Wal-Mart). Florida voters would overwhelmingly approve such an option so fast it would make our heads swivel.

But now the Hometown Democracy effort, which has gathered 60,000 signatures toward getting the plan on the ballot, has hit a major bump. This month, with little fanfare and almost no coverage in Tampa Bay, the Florida Supreme Court disallowed the group's ballot wording, making it impossible for organizers to get it in front of voters in 2006.

A split court ruled that the first sentence of the proposed ballot language was "emotional rhetoric" and not appropriate for a summary for voters to read when making their decision on the amendment.

The offending sentence in the proposed ballot summary read:

"Public participation in local government comprehensive land use planning benefits Florida's natural resources, scenic beauty and citizens."

Yes, you can certainly see where such a wacky idea as benefiting "Florida's natural resources, scenic beauty and citizens" is indeed "emotional rhetoric" and "fatally flawed." Especially when you compare it with language already in Florida's Constitution:

"Section 7. Natural resources and scenic beauty. – (a) It shall be the policy of the state to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty."

Three justices disagreed with the majority and would have put the matter to the voters.

"Unfortunately, the catch-phrase label of 'emotional rhetoric' has become an unpredictable 'eye-of-the-beholder' missile to undermine this entire process," Justice Lewis wrote in dissent from the prevailing opinion.

Florida Hometown Democracy's attorney, Ross Burnham, has filed for a rehearing in front of the Florida Supreme Court and organizers have vowed to rewrite the ballot language and keep working. They have a long way to go: 600,000 signatures are needed to get an amendment on the ballot.

Former Tribune editor falls short in North Carolina: If you blinked, you probably missed the undistinguished and short tenure of Frank Denton as editor of the Tampa Tribune. Denton stepped down after less than a year on the job in December, after his bosses learned he was job hunting and a candidate for dean of the University of North Carolina's journalism school. According to the March 31 edition of the student newspaper there, Denton was a finalist but didn't get the gig. The school is negotiating with a Washington state educator instead.

La Puta Politica no hablo español, lo siento de decir. You can reach Political Whore by e-mail at wayne.garcia@weeklyplanet.com.

This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2005.