Last month, when Creative Loafing Tampa Bay closed down polls in the 2022 Best of the Bay awards, I noticed a big number: More than 500,000 votes cast. That’s a lot of people. Almost as many as the populations of Tampa and St. Petersburg combined—and certainly a much better turnout than the races for mayor in those cities.

All told, CL readers selected about 350 different winners across 10 categories: arts, entertainment, music, food, drink, beauty, wellness, goods, services, people and places. CL contributors added more than 150 Critic’s Picks of their own. All selections are collected neatly in this issue—into five sections below—but I was taken aback by the sheer humanity of it.

It takes so many people to get from the category suggestion process, to the compilation of votes, printing of the paper, launch of the winner URLs, and eventual distribution of the awards at our big party. This year’s getdown at the Hard Rock Event Center is rescheduled for Thursday, Oct. 6—and we're donating a percentage of proceeds to a mutual aid nonprofit. That’s also because of humanity.

When Best of the Bay 2022 went to print, Tampa Bay was preparing for a more-or-less worst case scenario: our first direct hit from a catastrophic hurricane in more than a century. While the presses in Lakeland ran, everyone from Polk County to Pinellas was probably glued to whatever BOTB-winning meteorologist Denis Phillips was saying. Some were probably preparing for the unknown; others, totally immobilized by fear or the poverty they live with day-to-day.

By the time this paper hits the streets, we’ll have a clearer picture of how bad the damage is (some started to notice a more southern path for the storm, I hope that panned out). What I do already know, however, is that in the days between the production of this paper and Ian’s arrival, so many of you will have already shown everyone watching Tampa Bay exactly why we call this place home. You will have shown your own humanity by helping neighbors get back up on their feet. So many community members (in spite of their imperfections, laid out in some of the snarky picks in this issue) will have done their best to help each other get on.

So I’m happy and relieved to welcome you to Best of the Bay 2022. I’m glad you’re here, and I’m proud to call you my neighbor.—Ray Roa

As Governor DeSantis cracked down on the ever-elusive CRT boogeyman in public schools, James Michael Shaw Jr. had a different idea: educate the public. But the local lawyer had to do it in a creative way. He made a promo video for a “forbidden” Critical Race Theory event, which would let people know what the words actually meant, rather than just stoking fear in the public, as DeSantis is known to do. @jamesshawjr on Twitter

Tampa Police headquarters is chock full of controversy. Last year, the department was caught in close to two scandals a month. This year, the controversies are adding up. Through a public records request, CL caught the department using geofencing, a spying tactic that has caused uproar around the country, because average citizens can often get caught in an unconstitutional digital dragnet. TPD didn’t offer comment for the story.

Winner: Gabby Bakes
2. Booze & Bubbles
3. Pop Goes the Waffle

The Times editorial board knew that Judge Jared Smith had denied a 17-year-old abortion and that he was found to have abused his judicial discretion in making that decision. But the board still endorsed—or “recommended” in the paper’s eyes—the right-wing evangelist judge. As CL uncovered more disturbing behavior from Smith, the Times continued to stand by its man. But the endorsement didn’t work, and in a rare upset, Smith, an incumbent judge, lost to Nancy Jacobs. You gotta give it to the Times for sticking it out until the end. @tbtimes_opinion on Twitter