Most Committed Anti-War Protesters: St. Pete for Peace
They've been harassed by police, cursed by passersby and, at times, forgotten by the media. But still they remain. What started out as a one-time protest in 2003 against the build-up to the war in Iraq has turned into a regular weekly campaign in St. Petersburg (mostly at Baywalk) to protest the ongoing war in Iraq (and more recently, Israel’s attacks on Lebanon). The lively crowd of Democrats, Independents and a few socialists can be a little annoying, but at least they are exercising their constitutional rights, which is more than most flag-waving patriots can attest to.
Most Committed Pro-War Protesters: Bayshore Patriots
OK, so maybe they’re not explicitly pro-war. But for the Bayshore Patriots, that might just be semantics. Originally started in remembrance of Sept. 11, the enthusiastic flag wavers grace Bayshore Boulevard every Friday to support our troops overseas and generally spread patriotic fervor. They’ve held larger events, sponsored by Clear Channel, and just last year, the top warmonger himself, George W. Bush, presented Bayshore Patriots co-founder Julie Whitney with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, one of the highest awards for civic participation. Think of them what you will, but they are a dedicated bunch. And as the Iraq War drags on and other wars with Iran and North Korea seem possible, we’re sure to see the Bayshore Patriots for years to come. Every Friday at Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa, www.bayshorepatriots.org.
Best Local (and Laughable) Anti-Immigrant Group: The Tampa Bay Minutemen
Some people call them vigilantes; others call them heroes. We call them confused. The Tampa Bay Minutemen, a local off-shoot of the national organization’s posse of border patrol wannabes, seems a little out of place in sunny Florida. For one, our borders don’t touch a foreign country (unless you count Alabama). And two, we already have our fair share of vigilantes. Perhaps this point is not lost on the group’s members themselves; for the moment, the 45 members of the Tampa Minutemen are content meeting at Tampa’s Durango steakhouse and discussing U.S. immigration policy over lunch. Let’s hope it stays that way. www.minutemenflorida.com.
Best Bad Idea: Tampa's Riverwalk
It’s not that the notion of opening up Tampa’s long-neglected waterfront is a bad thing. It’s just that Mayor Pam Iorio’s pet project — a $40 million Riverwalk that will run from near the Forum to the pending Tampa Heights redevelopment — seems designed to disappoint. The sections of it that are already built are boring as hell. The entire walkway will be underserved by retail and restaurant establishments. And it doesn’t really connect any place where there are lots of people to anywhere they might want to go. Oh, and let’s not forget the wonderfulness of walking along the river in Tampa’s summertime swelter?
Best Boondoggle: The Four-County Sprawlway
In between firing its attorney to cover its members own ethical lapses and opening the Brandon-downtown Tampa Collapseway, the braintrust over at the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority came up with a new scheme: building a four-county toll road from northern Manatee County, through eastern Hillsborough, Pasco and finally northern Pinellas. Environmentalists immediately raised the specter of more sprawl. Media reports pointed out that board members and powerful supporters own land near the proposed route, which would enhance its value. The Hillsborough County Commission’s reaction when asked to fund preliminary studies for the Sprawlway: Bring it on!!
Best Hot Potato: The Tampa Museum of Art
Former Mayor Dick Greco spends millions for the noted architect Rafael Vinoly to design a new Tampa museum on the riverfront. Mayor Pam Iorio then scraps those plans and starts a search for a new site off the riverfront, where the museum is now. First option: the old federal courthouse. Result: scrapped as unworkable. Second option: the “beer can building” and its Cubes. Result: too expensive to retrofit for art. Third option: back on the waterfront in Curtis Hixon Park at a fraction of the cost of the original design. Months of delays for what?
Best Expensive Obsession: Hillsborough County's Anti-Nudity Crusade
Well, if you gotta have an expensive monkey on the your back, it might as well be sex. (Beats drugs and rock ’n’ roll.) For the Hillsborough County Commission, that means spending lots of your tax dollars trying to crack down on the sex trade outside of Tampa’s city limits. They hired a lawyer out of Tennessee who specializes in getting paid by uptight governments, and that lawyer then hired a cadre of private dicks who spent some time hanging out in adult bookstores, peep shows and strip clubs. The price tag for the mouthpiece and the dicks alone: $29,030. So far. Just so one of the brother shamuses could report, “I entered the peep show area and smelled the odor of semen.” It smelled like … victory.
Most Arrests for a Political Operative: Peter Schorsch
First it was 16 counts of writing worthless checks, a bust he blamed on gambling debts and poor business acumen, which was chronicled in an overblown Times account titled “A wilting of great promise.” But former Republican-turned-Democratic political consultant Peter Schorsch had more courthouse time coming: In late June, he was charged with three counts of scheming to defraud and grand theft in connection with campaigns he ran. On his blog, he wrote, “I don’t believe what I did rises to the level of criminal actions. I intend to mount a defense as vigorous as one of my political campaigns.” He did, however, apologize for letting his former clients down.
Worst Idea for Renovating the Armory: Ronda Storms' "Homeless Shelter" option
Highlighting her deep and abiding concern for the City of Tampa, as well as her admiration for its mayor, Commissioner Storms in June unveiled her proposal for the future use of the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in West Tampa. While others were thinking film studios or luxury hotels or European-style markets, Storms said: homeless intake center. Storms’ idea was called “mostly tongue-in-cheek” by another commissioner. But we think it was heartfelt and real; after all, you know what Jesus said about the homeless: “Hey, I’d love to help you out, dude, but I just spent my last two bucks in this Wendy’s.” RUNNER-UP: Two actual redevelopers who wanted to use the Armory (or nearby land) for an ice rink, an homage to the great Latin skating heritage that brought us “Fidel on Ice!”
Best Catfight: Pinellas School Board's Mary Russell vs. Nancy Bostock
A quirk in the system of electing school board members in Pinellas pitted these two incumbents against each other in this month’s primary election. Bostock, who’s supported by the Republican Party’s right wing, is a fan of Pinellas School Superintendent Clayton Wilcox; Russell — a maverick board member who has trouble holding her tongue — thinks he stinks on ice. Bostock won the race easily, but the feline ferocity was fun to watch.
Best Case of Shooting a Fly with a Cannon: Mary Ellen Elia vs. Lee DeCesare Drury
Anyone who ever read Lee DeCesare Drury’s acerbic and convoluted column in the trilingual La Gaceta weekly knows that she had it in for the folks over at the Hillsborough schools. She was a constant critic of doings over the school board central. But when she intimated that some administrators got their jobs through the “casting room couch,” Superintendent Elia had enough. During a meeting withLa Gaceta publisher Patrick Manteiga, Elia complained about the tone and accuracy of Drury’s columns and reminded Manteiga of the school district’s long business relationship (it spends tens of thousands on advertising). Shortly thereafter, Drury tendered her resignation. Fortunately, Manteiga was able to replace her with the equally loopy Andrea Brunais.
Best Political Bumper Sticker: "You may not want me, but you need me!" – Joe Redner
Joe Redner is a lot of things — strip club owner, free speech activist, talk show host, aspiring politician, chair target. As a fly-in-the-ointment politico, Redner embraces his outsider status. That’s why we like his latest line of bumper stickers asking for your vote for Hillsborough County’s District 5 commission seat. Sure, he may not be our ideal pick, but considering the crazed right-wing antics of the past few county commissions, we probably do need someone like Redner to even up the playing field. www.votejoeredner.com.
Most Welcome Departure from the Hillsborough County Commission: Ronda Storms; possible runner-up Thomas Scott
Seriously, what is Dan Ruth at the Tampa Trib going to do with Ronda leaving the commission? Heck, what will we do? Probably one-fourth of Ruth’s columns, and maybe 75 percent of our best jokes, must deal with her outrageous comments and Bible-thumping ways. Whether she was cracking down on public access television, or cracking down on the Hillsborough transit system, or cracking down on gay people, or cracking down on strippers and adult bookstores, by cracky, we’re going to miss Ronda. At least until she is sworn in as a state senator, when we predict she’ll give the whole state something to worry about. Possible runner-up: Scott could join this category if he loses his bid to unseat fellow incumbent Mark Sharpe in November.
Best show of Political Connections: St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker
Ain’t it great to have juice? Mayor Baker has done fundraising and numerous favors for Gov. Jeb Bush (not to mention Bush’s brother Dubya). So when it came time to cash in one of those chits, the winner was the Salvador Dali Museum. A $4 million grant for the relocating museum was dubbed a “turkey” by Florida TaxWatch, as was $5.5 million that Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio wanted for her Riverwalk and for a new parking garage for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But Baker personally lobbied Bush for the Dali dollars, and on veto day Jeb axed Pam (a Democrat) and rewarded Rick (a Republican).
Best Underdog Victory: Jack Day
His legal skills were not underdogs, but Day’s campaign for Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court judge had to be considered a riskier bet than his opponent’s. Robert “Bo” Michael is the son of a well-known former judge. He has run before and had name recognition. He spent three times as much as Day. And twice in the last week of the campaign, Michael mailed voters a brochure that painted Day as a tax cheat. But as it turns out, that name recognition was largely negative, and the tax-cheat attack backfired. Day sued him for libel and then beat Michael by almost 60,000 votes, a landslide. That makes Michael 0-for-4.
Best Media Hog: Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair
Whether it is battling the insidious flag-burning problem (we can hardly turn the corner without seeing someone torch Old Glory, after all) or proselytizing to save Christian holidays, pro wrestler turned right-wing politician Brian Blair loves his face time. The religious holiday wrangle he worked with the Hillsborough School Board landed him two coveted appearances on The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, during which Blair let Bill know he doesn’t have any anger for those who disagree with him: “Well, I don’t hold grudges from day-to-day. You can’t really hold office if you do that. I certainly know who to talk to and who not to talk to.”
Best Vegetative State: Ed Helm's "Unity Campaign"
After being elected chairman of Pinellas Democrats, failed St. Pete mayor candidate Ed Helm said he wanted to bring together a rapidly fracturing party. “If we are to be as strong as possible for the November elections, we must be united as one Democratic Party family in Pinellas County,” he wrote to his fellow party members. How did he achieve this unity? By not-so-secretly taking sides in primary races. His wife Adrien even created a PAC and spent money to support some of the so-called Helmite slate of Liz McCallum, Charlie Gerdes and Norm Roche. All three lost on Election Day. And the “Unity Campaign?” It’s on life support.
Best Local Connection to the Jack Abramoff Scandal: SunCruz Casinos
All of America wants to claim its little piece of the Jack Abramoff affair. Some think that’s because it’s the most egregious example of the cynicism and selling of Capitol Hill ever. We prefer to think it is because of the sinister black Borsalino Jack wore on his head when he pleaded guilty. Lost in the influence shuffle is Tampa Bay’s connection to the Prince of Peddling: the SunCruz Casino boat that has sailed out of Pinellas beach locations for years. Abramoff and a business partner were indicted in Fort Lauderdale on wire fraud and conspiracy charges related to their purchase of the gambling fleet. The guy they bought the business from was later killed execution-style. That sucks. Almost as much as being sentenced to more than five years in prison and fines of $21 million.
Best Local Political TV Show: Flashpoint, ABC Action News Channel 28
If Rob Lorei’s excellent and long-running Florida This Week is The McLaughlin Group of local punditry shows, then the Brendan McLaughlin-hosted Flashpoint is Meet the Press with Tim Russert. Flashpoint is quirky, informative and fast-paced, without a lot of the usual bloviation. McLaughlin often picks off-beat topics that delve into public affairs more than horse-race political coverage, and that’s a good thing. Just the thing to wake up to on a Sunday morning. Making the show even more essential, riveting and profound are the CL Political Whore’s semi-regular appearances. Additionally, ABC Action News gets bonus points here for being the only station that offers candidates free air time each campaign year.
Best New Political Blog: The State of Sunshine by Jim Johnson
This former USF student body president and one-time candidate has an incisive eye for the guts of political campaigning, and he brings it in every post he writes. In one, Johnson broke down the current Florida legislature races. In another, he gave a behind-the-scenes account of how John Carassas won a House seat against a better-financed opponent in 2002. This is serious inside-baseball, political junkie stuff, but even though Johnson is a Republican, he doesn’t let ideology get in the way of ’splaining some politics. Read the Times’ Buzz blog to get the breaking political news; read The State of Sunshine to figure out what it means. stateofsunshine.blogspot.com. Unfortunately, Johnson is on hiatus from the blog while working a new job, but his anonymous replacement has been pretty good, too.
Most Hyped Media Story: Alligators Attack
When the panicked headlines declaring an alligator epidemic hit every Tampa Bay media outlet this spring, you may have gotten déjà vu all over again. The barrage of stories detailing how to avoid attacks, the disturbing photos, the TV stations camped on the banks looking for a glimpse of a sharp-toothed monster — didn’t we see this kind of overblown crisis before? Oh yeah, in summer 2001 when two fatal shark attacks held the state and nation hostage. The truth is alligator attacks, like shark attacks, are extremely rare. Only 20 people have died in alligator attacks since 1948, and most of those could have been avoided by taking a few common-sense precautions: Don’t swim where alligators live (which is any wild body of fresh water); don’t ingest illegal drugs while lying beside said water, and don’t feed or taunt the gators. What will be next year’s craze — rabid manatees?
Runaway Media Trend: The Proliferation of Free Papers
Walk around Chicago for 15 minutes and you can pick up a shopping bag’s worth of free papers, and not just coupon books and shopping guides — actual periodicals. Tampa Bay looks to be heading in a similar direction. TBT is practically the grand dame. Then there’s Reax (a few of us affectionately call it “Reeks”), a credible freebie that concentrates on local music doings. There’s Tampa Bay Scene, which debuted in mid-June with one of the most unsightly, off-putting covers we’ve ever come across (which we proudly reprint for you here). And what about the new/old kid: this thing called Creative Loafing? Wazzup widdat? Oh, and let’s not forget a brand-new arrival Orange. Sheee-it. We heard print was dead.
Best Print Reporter: Lane DeGregory, St. Petersburg Times
There are few writers who hit it out of the park damn near every time, but DeGregory is one of them. While we normally skew toward investigative reporters, she is a feature writer who keeps finding the real humanity of Tampa Bay. In one story, it is a brief encounter with a hearing-impaired guy at Skipper’s. In another it is a sidewalk chalk poet. Or a local teen made good on Broadway. Two hundred readers responded to her account of having to put her family dog down after 14 years of friendship and love. DeGregory seeks out the unusual, the quiet, the emotional. And then she writes the hell out of it.
Best Newspaper for a Nickel: The St. Petersburg Enquirer
The price point is key to this photocopied gem of a local newspaper; the price “$.05” is actually in the masthead. The Enquirer’s highlight is the front-page story written by “Aunt Wilma.” From the June issue, here is her lead: “John F. Kennedy had a dream, and twenty five years later in the village of Cumbijin in the Ecuadorian Andes, that dream made house calls.” I know what you’re thinking; we’re just jealous.
Best Local Cultural Website: SoHo Tampa
SoHo Tampa, the best chronicler of nightlife in the Bay area, focuses on the stretch of bars and restaurants along S. Howard Avenue. The city taking away 100 parking spaces? SoHo Tampa covered it. The latest pub crawl? The new restaurants opening? Ditto. Sure, the site is run by a marketing company and so the message is generally chamber-of-commerce upbeat, but owner Bill Sharpe is all over the SoHo scene, including updates on bartenders’ and restaurant managers’ job moves. Sharpe’s alliance with the Sticks of Fire blog will only make this website even better. www.sohotampa.com.
Best Homage: Miles Doran's "Living Life the Free Way"
We were stunned — in a good way, mostly — by what Miles Doran did earlier this year. In an homage to both former CL Tampa writer (and current Sarasota CL Editor) Max Linksy and cheapness, University of Florida telecom major Doran put up a website (web.mac.com/milesdoran) in which he declared he would duplicate Linsky’s famous “The Free Way” story and live on the mooch for one week. He didn’t do anything as Linsky-venturous as sneaking into the showers at USF; most of his days were spent hanging out poolside with friends. Not exactly roughing it.
Best Bay Area Tech Head: Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
Sure, California has eBay and Apple, and Washington state can lay claim to uber-tech evil empire Microsoft, but the Bay area has its own cyberspace heavyweight. Would you believe that Internet darling Wikipedia was created by a guy living in St. Pete? An online open-source encyclopedia (that means anyone can edit it), Wikipedia was created by ’burg resident Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales in 2001. Since then, Wikipedia has become an Internet phenomenon and Wales has kept it local, setting up the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation (which oversees the operation of Wikipedia and off-shoots like Wikiquote and Wikibooks) in St. Petersburg. Up next for Wales is the for-profit Wikia, Inc., based out of California. Hey, even new-technology brainiacs have got to earn a living somehow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales.
Best Local Author: Raymond Arsenault
It’s one thing to write a book that entertains, but it’s quite another matter to pen one that instantly becomes a vital part of the American historical pantheon. That’s what USF St. Petersburg professor Raymond Arsenault has accomplished with his Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (Oxford University Press). His tome, which has been called “a tour de force of research and writing,” tracks a cadre of activists, African American and white, who defied Jim Crow laws and rode segregated Southern buses in the face of seething bigotry and racial reprisals. Arsenault provides deep historical context, profiles the major players and builds an increasingly harrowing narrative of the struggle. (We should note that until a couple of months ago, Arsenault’s daughter Anne was the Weekly Planet’s copy editor. She left, appropriately enough, to attend law school.)
Best Quick Recovery: The Guzzo Brothers [map]
The fall of Romeo’s Studio 1515 left many local creatives without a venue to showcase their talents, including filmmaking brothers Pete and Paul Guzzo. But rather than sulk about it, the Coffeehouse Film Review duo put their monthly showcase on hiatus for only a few months before re-emerging in January with a new name — Tampa Film Review — and a new site: Ybor City’s recently-opened superstore of worldly goods, International Bazaar. Every second Friday of the month from 8 to 10 p.m., local filmmakers show movies of all genres (save porn) on a screen in the back of the 16,000-square-foot space.
Worst Sports Setback: The Bay Area's Boxing Stars
Not a good ’06 for Tampa Bay’s troika of boxing lights — Jeff Lacy, Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright — who were giving this neck o’ the woods a burgeoning rep as a pugilistic hotbed. The trouble started in March with Lacy, a charismatic super-middleweight who was a solid favorite to beat long-time champ Joe Calzaghe on his home turf in Manchester, England. Lacy got whupped, looking outmatched and confused as he lost every round of the fight. On June 10 came light heavyweight Tarver, fresh from his second straight defeat of Roy Jones Jr. Tarver, 37, squared off with grizzled vet Bernard Hopkins, 41, and looked lethargic in losing a unanimous decision. Finally, there was middleweight Winky Wright, whose performance was a bit different. Fighting in Memphis, his opponent Jermain Taylor’s backyard, Winky turned in his typical solid effort: nothing flashy, great defense, steadily scoring points. It appeared as if he’d won. The judges called it a draw. Wink was pissed. Each loss (or draw) counts as a major setback for a seasoned fighter. The near future for these three is definitely in flux.
Best-Loved Local Athlete: Mike Alstott
The Bucs fullback has not been what you’d call a major force on the field for quite a few years, but that hasn’t dampened the ardor of Tampa Bay sports lovers. This might be — probably should be — Alstott’s last year, and if he retires he’ll have accomplished something truly rare in modern pro sports: playing for one team his whole career. Alstott has taken a number of pay cuts and surely passed up some potentially lucrative feelers from other teams to stay a Buc. His hard-nosed, smash-’em-up running style seduced fans back when the team wore sherbet-colored uniforms, and his complete embrace of the community — including all kinds of charity work — has kept the romance going. No. 40 is one of those guys you’re apt to see around town, and if you stick out a hand, he’ll shake it.
Soon-to-be-Best-Loved Local Athlete: Cadillac Williams
The fact that the Caddy has a chance to be the Bucs’ first true offensive superstar in team history (discuss) makes him a front-runner here. Last year’s offensive Rookie of the Year has the kind of panache and dazzle that spellbinds fans and gets ’em chattering at the water cooler on Mondays. And Tuesdays. It doesn’t hurt that he has a high-watt smile and thus far seems every bit the good guy.
Best Achievement in Another Subpar Devil Rays Season: Scott Kazmir Shuts Out Red Sox
After being named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in early July, the Devil Rays’ ace-in-waiting celebrated by shutting down the Red Sox. The lefty pitched a complete game, allowed just two hits and struck out 10 (and seemed to especially befuddle MVP candidate David Ortiz). Oh, and the Rays won 3-0, back before the team went into the post-All Star Game dumper, when Kaz looked like a Cy Young candidate.
Most Refreshingly Off-the-Cuff Sideline Quote: Cadillac Williams
It was the Bucs’ second preseason game, and as usual, coach Jon Gruden kept his prized Cadillac out of the game. Channel 8 sports reporter J.P. Peterson roamed the sidelines, breaking into the dull contest with quick interviews. Cadillac made himself available. After a few softball questions and cliché responses, Peterson remarked how the running back looked quicker and stronger than he did last year. He asked what steps the reigning Rookie of the Year used to improve his game. Without missing a beat, Cadillac remarked in his Alabama drawl, “I just worked my balls off.” Beautiful. Peterson played it straight-faced, the guys in the booth didn’t bring it up, and Cadillac never showed a twinge of embarrassment. His gaffe probably won’t incur any FCC fines, but it sure was a healthy moment of candid jock-speak — and man, was it hilarious.
Shadiest Real Estate Tycoon: Kenny Rushing
Billing himself as Captain Save-A-House, a home rehabber extraordinaire, Rushing appears to be little more than a master property flipper who preys on the trust of low-income African-Americans. A top-shelf exposé by the St. Petersburg Times in June laid bare myriad inconsistencies in Rushing’s personal mythology: He claimed to be a three-time Gold Glove boxing champion in Iowa. He wasn’t. He claimed to be a reformed low-level drug dealer. He was actually the crack kingpin for the Des Moines Crips gang. Worse than those lies, though, Rushing and his minions — recruited via his real estate seminars — duped little old ladies into selling their houses for peanuts, and then, when possible, flipped them in a few days for huge profits. Let’s hope the Times story put more than a crimp in Captain Save-a-House’s empire.
Best Slumlord: Scott W. Snow
After years of this category being dominated by the legendary Tampa/New York crappy-properties-owner Steven Green, we have a new contender on the scene. Snow was propelled into the public spotlight when the residents of his Chinook Apartments in St. Petersburg were thrown out on the streets after city inspectors found multiple violations of the fire code. Missing fire alarms. Faulty wiring. The city then turned its attention to 39 different allegations of code violations at Snow’s three other St. Pete apartments. All this infamy from a man who was in bankruptcy court just a few years before he (and a fellow Scientologist) came up with the millions of dollars it took to buy the four apartment complexes in Midtown.
Best Up-and-Coming TV News Superstar: Ferdinand Zogbaum, Bay News 9
Murrow, Cronkite, Jennings, Couric … Zogbaum. One of our missions here at CL is star-making. And it’s high time we got the ball rolling on Ferdinand (don’t call him “Ferdie”) Zogbaum. With that winning smile and natural charisma, the camera loves him. He also brings dogged reporting chops to the game. Above all, though, it’s the name. Ferdinand Zogbaum. Say it slowly. Savor it. Oozes gravitas, doesn’t it? So why, Bay News 9, do you have Ferdinand Zogbaum locked away in the Hernando County bureau? So he can cover garbage collection controversies in Bayport? No, it’s all wrong. We deserve to see him as an anchor, to hear that stentorian voice say, “Welcome to Bay News 9; this is Ferdinand Zogbaum.” And then, if our star-making effort goes as planned: “Ferdinand Zogbaum, NBC News.”
Best Bouncer: Derek at the Garden
We’re not big fans of the guy kicking us out of the bar after last call. Sure, Derek means it when he tells you to drink up and get out, plus he’s got the burly, intimidating exterior that any good bouncer should have — but Derek clears the bar with finesse, making it seem like it’s the right thing to do.
217 Central Ave., 727-896-3800
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2006.