Opinion Piece: I will not be voting for Rick Baker, and neither should you

The face of a candidate unhinged. Rick Baker speaks after he lost to incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman in the St. Petersburg primary on August 28. (Photo Credit: Kimberly DeFalco)

If you haven’t noticed, X-Rays Spex tends to eschew political discourse for the most part — after all, this is a baseball blog first and foremost. And while there have been glaring examples to the contrary since 2010, those of us who write for X-Rays Spex tend to put our political leanings on the back burner when we log into this WordPress powered blog.

There, however, comes a time when our tongues should not be silent, and this happens to be one of them. If you do not care to read about municipal politics, now would be a good time to visit another website.

On Sunday afternoon we — my partner, dog, and I — attended the second annual Open Streets Project event in downtown St. Petersburg. For those of you unfamiliar with the Open Streets Project, the premise is simple: close down a street (this year it was Central Avenue) provide public access to the roadway for active transportation, exploration and fun.

On our walk I saw St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman making his way west with a friend somewhere around Ferg’s. There were no cameramen or women, no bodyguards, nor an entourage … just the Mayor and a friend. We exchanged pleasantries in passing. This wasn’t the first time he and I have rubbed shoulders in public.

It is not uncommon to see Mayor Kriseman at “Everyday Joe” kinds of places, like a dog park or at a restaurant, away from the fanfare and stress of the job; places where he can let his hair down and just be a normal human being. Sure, his phone is always at the ready, although to be fair he is on call morning, noon and night. That comes with the job. I also have worked with Mr. Kriseman in a semi-official capacity, as I was personally asked to join the Baseball Forever campaign, the city’s initiative to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg. I am proud of the work that we did over the span of our campaign.

After Mr. Kriseman and I passed one another, something dawned on me: this wasn’t a normal situation, at least not normal as I perceive having grown up in St. Petersburg.

Until 2013 I never had the opportunity to share any space whatsoever with someone sitting in power. The were all distant apparitions that you read about in the newspaper or saw on TV, but never spoke to in an informal setting. No, Mayor Kriseman is different especially in comparison to his millionaire opponent, Rick Baker. I cannot remember a time when I’ve seen Mr. Baker under similar circumstances. And while that does not mean that Mr. Baker is out of touch with his former constituency, that he now feels the need for an image makeover to make him appealing to a younger set of voters is telling.

Let it be said and known, while I do not fall in lockstep on every issue with Mayor Kriseman — and in all honesty, everybody should be critical of any politician — there is no conceivable way that I will cast my vote for Mr. Baker.

To put it bluntly, Mr. Baker is a wolf in sheets clothing … a charlatan … a snake oil salesman.

Baker routinely panders to the African American community in St. Petersburg for votes. I cannot claim to be an expert on the African American community, however, I certainly can say that a millionaire, who doesn’t venture far beyond his own community, hasn’t a place to speak to the experience of living in a marginalized community, regardless of what that community might be. Mr. Baker lacks the frame of reference and doesn’t have the best interests of anyone who is middle class or poor in mind.

Thankfully an opinion writer for The Burg Votes, a local blog, eloquently listed Mr. Baker’s negative impacts on the African American community:

He’s has taken credit for public school successes in the past, but cannot point to instances during the past eight years that demonstrate that he remained committed to our students, parents, staff, or schools.

He expressed dismay regarding the closing of grocery stores, when in fact most of his commercial projects in Midtown either shutdown or struggle to this day because he failed to focus on increasing employment and income in the area.

When the going got financially tough toward the end of his term, Baker slashed Summer Youth Employment funding to $30,000 (2007-08), a far cry from the vibrant levels advocated by myself and peers on city council, and the lowest level ever in two decades tracking of the program.

Yes, the Manhattan Casino was renovated with federal funds under his watch, but Rick Baker left the facility vacant as he and his Deputy Mayor of Midtown refused to negotiate an agreement with anyone. The building remained empty until his successor, Mayor Bill Foster, opened the venue for community use.

The Grogan property across the street, EMPTY under his watch; the building where McCall’s had a restaurant next to the Royal Theater, EMPTY and then condemned; the Old Hardens Grocery store now Chief Creole Café, EMPTY until after Baker left office; the building that now occupies Gallery 909 and a former Barbecue Restaurant, also EMPTY during his terms.

The operative word here is EMPTY, all as the 22nd Street Main Street initiative was left by Baker to fend for itself, while the red carpet was rolled out for businesses and development Downtown.

Further, notice that Baker did not mention during his last debate his prior claim that he opened a Post Office in Midtown. This may be because well respected members of the Felton family (owners of the property that is leased by the U.S. Postal Service) were incensed by his claim, which is yet another negation of African American history, as a post office facility existed prior to Baker’s intervention.

And even Downtown, Baker’s record is less than stellar when it comes to African Americans

Witness his abrogation of the rights of citizens when closing off the public right of way to protesters of the former Baywalk plaza.

Witness the number of businesses that vacated Bay Walk on his watch, with barely a mention of the plaza’s failure in current media coverage.

Witness that the unacceptable practice of targeting persons of color and asking them to leave Sundial (specifically the theater) has continued at what is now Sundial. Why is that Rick Baker?

Also witness, Baker’s mention of City subsidies during the televised debate and take note that the City has consistently provided a subsidy to the Mahaffey Theater, a venue managed by the Edwards Group with Baker at the helm.

Notice too, Baker’s claims of diversity aren’t all that he would have you think

What was also absent from Baker’s dialogue during the televised BayNews9 debate were the accolades he heaps upon Goliath Davis when speaking in the African American community. Did he forget to tell the greater audience how wonderful Davis was to his administration or are those glowing compliments of his efforts reserved for the African American community ONLY?

While Baker and his black backers tout his promotion of African Americans into management positions, kudos to him, but Kriseman has actually done more in that regard.

And when it comes to the future….

Be mindful that the practice of lowering the Black History flag is the ONLY thing Baker has intimated that he would reverse. What about all the issues he has yet to address about the future of our city, of our community, such as climate change, healthcare for all, the assault and underfunding of public education, automatic restoration of rights, the Fight for $15.00……and why he supported Rick Scott, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and (he won’t say) Donald Trump.

On Friday Mr. Baker thoughtlessly re-appropriated African American culture in an incredibly tone-deaf — and dare I say blatantly racist — advertisement on his Facebook campaign page which he later deleted.

This advertisement appeared on Rick Baker’s campaign Facebook page Friday morning, but was quickly removed.

I’m still awaiting the Tampa Bay Times’ story on this, his (as of now) second altered, redacted, or deleted advertisement. The Times endorsed Mr. Baker’s campaign, and the silence on their part should come as tacit complicity.

 

Thankfully one publication, Creative Loafing, has tried to hold Mr. Baker accountable for his actions. As of Friday they reached out to Mr. Baker’s campaign to make sure it wasn’t hacked by a jokester or if the screenshot is the work of some expert photoshop troll, but they’ve yet to hear back.

For his part, Mr. Baker has yet to publish a statement on the matter, nor has he apologized to the African-American community … hell, to anyone with half a brain or even the slightest moral compass.

The former mayor’s negative campaign tactics have grown tiresome, as has his political grandstanding (heck, the Florida GOP’s for that matter) in the ongoing “sewer crisis,” which was partially the former Mayor’s fault in the first place.

Or as council member Charlie Gerdes put it via his Facebook page:

If you read the FWC Final Report on the sewer discharges you will find it states the following:

1. “By the end of Hurricane Hermine the City of St. Petersburg was responsible for 51% of the SSO’s (illegal discharges) in the State of Florida for 2016. These should be considered willful and negligent acts that could have been avoided or at least significantly mitigated, had the City taken action 20 years ago.” TAKEN ACTION 20 YEARS AGO!

2. “Proactive actions that could have prevented the current problems include, but are not limited to, the following: construction of a replacement plant for Albert Whitted outside the flood zone; increasing the processing capacity of all their plants (this is already being done at SW and NW); Begin aggressive collection system replacement; Seek clean water act state revolving funds for theses projects.” REPLACE ALBERT WHITTED PLANT ON SITE OUT OF THE FLOOD ZONE.

3. “The in house capacity analysis of the NW plant was incomplete. The report omitted the fact that the #2 clarifier was nonfunctional from 2007 -March 2017 and 2 Aerators nonfunctional from December 2008 through May 2017.” NONFUNCTIONAL EQUIPMENT SINCE 2007-2008

4. In 2005, “FDEP also required that every wastewater plant that used injection wells, also have storage capacity that shall be the volume equal to one day flow at the average daily design flow of the treatment plant as defined in 62-610.464(3), Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) . . . The Albert Whitted plant never came into compliance with subsection 62-610.464(3) F.A.C., even until its closing in April 2015. . . . [Regulatory Inspector Jeff] Greenwall advised in his interview that Albert Whitted was unable to come into compliance. There was no physical space for a storage tank to meet the requirement.” THE ALBERT WHITTED PLANT SITE CANNOT COMPLY WITH STATE LAW.

5. “The option was available after the discharges of 2015 to quickly restart the Albert Whitted plant. The choice was made not to restart it. There are many conflicting opinions about the exact timetable and cost of restarting the [Albert Whitted] plant. But what is not contestable, is the fact that an operational Albert Whitted would have significantly mitigated the discharges from SW and Albert Whitted.” TIMETABLE AND COST? HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE PLANT WAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH STATE LAW AND COULD NEVER BE IN COMPLIANCE BECAUSE THERE IS NO ROOM TO BUILD A 12 MILLION GALLON TANK AND YOU STATE A REPLACEMENT PLANT SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED OUT OF THE FLOOD ZONE. GOOD IDEA!

6. “Influx and Infiltration (I &I) of stormwater into the sanitary sewer system is a major problem in the City. The City has a system that is old and in disrepair. Based on investigative research this problem was identified 20 years ago by FDEP and the City references the I & I as a main reason for the high water flows into the wastewater plants during rain events and subsequently blamed for the discharges. . . . In an interview with the manager of the collection system, Lane Longley, he stated that very little work was actually performed to fix the I & I violations. Most work was done to repair the structure of the main lines and man holes.” OUR SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM LEAKS LIKE A SIEVE. THAT PROBLEM BEGAN LONG BEFORE 2014 AND IT WILL TAKE SEVERAL YEARS TO GET IT UNDER CONTROL. THAT WORK WAS BEGUN LAST YEAR.

7. “In 2000, FDEP executed Consent Order 97-0134. The Consent Order was in response to multiple illegal discharges in the 1990″s. I & I was identified as the culprit. The Consent Order had an effective time of 10 years to allow the City time to fix the I & I violations. The Consent Order was closed in 2010 because the City convinced FDEP that the I & I system had been repaired. Soon after, City management realized that the system had not been fixed. . . . I & I is a known and documented problem from the 1990’s. The exact amount of money spent in repairs to the I &I system since the 1990’s is known and documented. The manager over the repairs to this system and engineering companies commissioned by the City advised what would be required to fix the system. Few of the recommendations were done and the required amount of money was not invested.” THIS IS THE PART OF THE REPORT THAT SHOULD BE MOST IMPORTANT. ALBERT WHITTED IS NOT THE ANSWER TO OUR SEWER SYSTEM PROBLEMS. A COMPLIANT PLANT CANNOT BE OPERATED ON THAT PROPERTY. EFFECTIVELY REDUCING I & I IS THE SOLUTION. THAT IS WHAT IS OCCURRING NOW.

Let’s move forward.

According to Peter Schorsch (Saintpetersblog), Baker has reloaded for the general election with contributions from Rick Scott and Adam Putnam, among other.

Scott wrote Baker’s PAC a $25,000 check, while other Tallahassee Republicans have contributed more than $300,000 to his PAC. That is on top of Steve Wynn’s (Las Vegas casino magnate) $25,000 campaign contribution.

The Seamless Florida PAC, which has been widely reported as aligned with Baker, raised $214,750 in August, the finance report shows, writes Schorsch. Of that total, $25,000 came from the Let’s Get to Work political committee, which is linked to Scott, and $25,000 came from the Florida Grown political committee, which is linked to Putnam.

Also, $50,000 came from the Conservative Principles for Florida political committee, which is led by Oliva, who will become House speaker in November 2018.

Another $45,000 came from the Liberty Florida political committee, which is linked to Sen. Jeff Brandes the report shows.

Personally, I find it reprehensible that Baker, in any capacity, would accept donations from someone like Wynn, who has no identifiable connection to St. Petersburg. What motive would Wynn have to contribute money to a mayoral candidate in a small city some 2,346 miles away? Does he expect something in return … a quid pro quo as it were?

But wait, there’s more! Mr. Baker’s family defrauded the US military in the 1990s, which was written about by John F. Sugg in Creative Loafing in 2001:

A decade ago, Rick Baker’s father and two brothers were convicted in a federal case of defrauding the U.S. military in the sale of aircraft turbine blades and other sensitive parts. Instead of using “virgin” alloy, the Baker family-controlled company, Aerodyne Investment Castings Inc., substituted scrap metal.

Baker’s father, Russell K. Baker of Odessa, confessed to a minor offense, served a brief period of house arrest and paid a $75,000 fine. The brothers, Russell Jr. and Roger, were convicted of multiple counts, including mail fraud and money laundering, and each was jailed for more than a year. The scandal was widely reported in the media, including numerous stories in the Times.

On April 11, two days after the Planet‘s letter inquiring about Aerodyne was faxed to Tash, the Times for the first time reported Rick Baker’s family had been involved in the scandal.

Rick Baker’s name never came up during the Aerodyne trial, to be sure, but when the Times wants to find out about someone, the degree of effort seems to depend on whether the newspaper likes the person. For example, in the pre-election candidate profiles, the Times dug back in Ford’s past to her high school days, looking for critics. Baker’s history in the Times, by comparison, is little more than a recounting of his own resume; no deep probing is evident.

In the April 11 article, the Times stated that it didn’t mention Aerodyne in Baker stories because it had learned of the issue only via e-mail the night before the March 27 election. That was “too late to verify and publish before the election,” the article stated and then added a quote by Tash: “We don’t want the newspaper to be used.”

The Planet obtained a copy of the e-mail sent to the Times. It was dispatched to the newspaper’s city desk at 9:29:07 a.m. on Saturday, March 24 — three days before the election. The Times refers to the author of the e-mail as “anonymous,” but the Planet was able to identify and locate him. He confirmed the e-mail was sent Saturday morning.

That would have given the Times more than sufficient time to, as the e-mail suggested with great specificity: “Check your archives: Business Section, July 9, 1989. A story written by Marlene Sokol. Aerodyne Castings, a Tampa defense contractor, was accused and later found guilty of fraud against the government. Running that company was Russell K. Baker, Russell K Baker Jr. and Roger Baker — father and two brothers of Rick Baker.”

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In the April 11 Times article, Rick Baker denied any involvement with Aerodyne, other than working as a sandblaster for the company one summer, and later as a lawyer handling some minor real estate transactions.

The Times apparently did not investigate further or chose not to report what is easily found in the Florida Secretary of State’s online database.

The Planet‘s search revealed that Baker did have an involvement with an apparently related company, North American Castparts Inc. Rick Baker and his law firm, Fisher & Sauls, are listed as the registered agent of North American. “Registered agent” is a post that may or may not signify substantial involvement with a company.

North American’s president was Rick Baker’s father, Russell. Listed among directors are Medard Cronin and David Janney — both are also listed on Aerodyne’s corporate records. Cronin and Janney were not indicted with the members of the Baker family.

North American was an active company during the mid-1980s, when the illegal activities at Aerodyne occurred. Rick Baker resigned as registered agent in November 1986, before the indictments.

Tash did not respond to numerous follow-up inquiries, including an April 17 letter, as to what the Times knew about Baker and Aerodyne and when the newspaper knew it. After the Planet initially asked about Baker, the Times dispatched a reporter to Georgia to search through the federal government’s records on Aerodyne.

The Times reporter who covered Baker and wrote the April 11 article, Bryan Gilmer, maintained that he first heard of the e-mail the evening before the election. Staffers inside the Times told the Planet that they believe Tash was truthful in the April 11 article, but that he had not been correctly informed by subeditors as to when the e-mail arrived.

It’s common for politicians and their supporters to launch 11th-hour sneak attacks against opponents. Newspapers often are cautious in handling such matters unless there is a chance for the target of an attack to respond. However, the Planet has spoken with the originator of the e-mail regarding Baker, and he was not a Ford supporter or even a Pinellas resident. In any event, the history of Baker’s family is not disputed — only unreported by the Times.

Times insiders also said that columnist Mary Jo Melone, who on April 12 wrote an article reflecting on the previous day’s story, wanted to comment earlier and more harshly, but had been deterred by the newspaper’s managers. Melone’s column put all of the blame for Baker’s mendacity by omission on the mayor. She leveled no rebuke at her newspaper for not digging into Baker’s history. Melone did not respond to several detailed phone calls.

None of the Baker family could be contacted. Rick Baker responded to a request for an interview by having GOP political operative Goodman return a phone call. Goodman said he knew no details of the Aerodyne affair, nor did he know about Fisher & Sauls’ work for the Times and Poynter.

Now the big questions are these: What’s Rick Baker’s administration going to do to spruce up the neighborhoods, including Bartlett Park, that surround the Poynter Institute? Or how many taxpayer dollars will Baker be willing to spend on a new stadium in order to keep the up-for-sale Devil Rays, which are marketing partners with the Times, from moving?

These are but a few reasons that I will not be casting a ballot for Mr. Baker, who already represented the city for eight years. There certainly are many, many other reasons to steer clear of Mr. Baker. He never should have been Mayor in the early aughts, nor should he win the position again next Tuesday.

Ybor Rays site announcement awash with questions; potential impact on St. Pete mayoral race

I was in Ybor City last night for Pre-Fest. It ain’t all that. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times)

Two days after the surprise announcement that Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan has secured land for a proposed stadium site for the Tampa Bay Rays, rumors and speculation continue to circulate, with many opining that maybe this isn’t the luscious panacea it has been made out to be. While there is a lot of excitement because we are that much closer to resolution, it still bears mentioning that this is merely Hillsborough County — by way of Hagan — saying what it thinks is its best for the Rays.

Certainly, the proposed site doesn’t guarantee that the Rays will break ground on a new Ybor City facility just yet. To the contrary, as Auld indicated in his comment, the Rays are only just scratching the surface of evaluating the newly proposed construction site, and they’ll likely do the same with 10 other potential locations before ultimately determining a course of action.

There also is the matter of the Rays’ current lease at Tropicana Field, which reportedly runs through the 2027 season. Terminating that lease early will come with its own set of financial repercussions, including millions of dollars that will need to be paid out to the city of St. Petersburg, as well as the forfeiture of a 50 percent share of development rights at the Tropicana Field site, Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) writes.

Richard Danielson and Christopher O’Donnell, staff writers for the Tampa Bay Times — one of the biggest proponents of a move across the bay — sought to orient readers to the place where the Rays may one day play ball by answering five critical questions.

1. SO WHAT’S THERE NOW?

The short answer is a whole lot of ugly.

Most of the land around Adamo Drive is zoned industrial or commercial for businesses connected to the nearby Port of Tampa. And an elevated section of the Selmon Expressway doesn’t exactly make for great sight-lines, either. If the nosebleed seats are high enough, fans might get views of the ship repair businesses in the Port of Tampa along with the Ybor Channel.

The actual ballpark site includes S & S Craftsman, a woodworking and mill business, and a moving and storage business. Just two blocks east is Skin Tampa, one of about a half-dozen strip clubs on Adamo Drive. Further east are a bunch of warehouses, including one owned by Fabricated Products of Tampa, whose south-facing wall is the canvas for “American Journey,” which at 12,600-square-feet is one of the largest murals in Florida.

2. WHO OWNS THE LAND AND HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH?

The potential ballpark site consists of 11 parcels owned by five different companies, including Tampa Electric, a roofing supplies distributor based in New York City and several limited liability companies formed by Darryl Shaw, the CEO of the BluePearl veterinary clinics, as well as Joe Capitano Sr., Jacob “Booky” Buchman, Salvatore Guagliardo and Andy Scaglione.

The parcels have a combined estimated market value of more than $7.9 million, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s Office. In addition to the parcels’ acreage, the ballpark footprint includes parts of E Second Avenue, E Third Avenue and N Avenue Republica de Cuba. Mayor Bob Buckhorn previously has said the city would be open to vacating streets to help create a ballpark site.

3. WHAT DOES THIS LOCATION OFFER IN TERMS OF FINANCING?

The proposed stadium site is partly inside one of two community redevelopment areas for Ybor City. And of the two, it is the Ybor CRA that generates the least amount of property taxes that can go toward public improvements: just $164,000 in 2016.

Some property tax revenue generated inside CRAs can be used to pay for public infrastructure or improvements intended to foster further growth. (Downtown CRA funds, for example, will reimburse developers for building new roads and putting in larger utility lines at the $3 billion Water Street Tampa redevelopment nearby.)

If built where proposed, the ballpark would be directly across Channelside Drive from a piece of property known as the Gas Worx. Owned by Shaw, the Gas Worx is inside the downtown CRA, which in 2016 generated more than $9 million for such projects. So the ballpark property wouldn’t necessarily benefit from the downtown CRA, but the Gas Worx might, especially if developed with restaurants, bars and retail to serve baseball fans.

4. HOW WOULD THE LAND BE ACQUIRED?

Hagan says Shaw, who has emerged as a major player in Ybor City’s real estate market, is playing a key role in helping to assemble the parcels for the ballpark. There’s a Tampa precedent for having a private investor help secure land for a major sports facility. In the 1990s, when Tampa and Hillsborough officials were working to build a hockey arena for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Harbour Island developer Finn Caspersen — in some ways, the Jeff Vinik of his day — agreed to put up nearly $9 million to acquire the rights to a key piece of property for the arena on the understanding he would get the money back when officials closed the deal.

It worked.

5. AND EVERYBODY IS ON BOARD RIGHT?

Umm …. not exactly. Hagan’s impromptu announcement wasn’t just news to Rays fans. It came as a surprise to other local leaders and seemed to catch the team off guard, too.

Hagan’s commission colleague Victor Crist was livid Wednesday that he learned about the plan through the media. Crist said it was a violation of protocol for Hagan to unveil a location and present it to the Rays without first getting the approval of the entire commission.

Crist’s fear is that this has been branded publicly as Hillsborough County’s plan, when the county commission hasn’t even seen it, let alone vote on it.

“This has had no vetting by the county commission. This has had no vetting of public input,” Crist said. “This whole thing has been done in a vacuum behind the scenes, out of the sunshine and that is not how the Board of County Commissioners operates.”

Hagan’s other colleagues were less bothered. Commissioners Al Higginbotham, Les Miller and Sandy Murman said they weren’t expecting an announcement Tuesday but nevertheless had no problem with Hagan making public the preferred site.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told reporters that he, too, was caught off guard although he approves the location.

And the Rays themselves responded a few hours later with a lukewarm noncommittal statement that they will evaluate the site along with other options on both sides of Tampa Bay. Major League Baseball teams are reticent to make news during the World Series and the Rays may not have wanted their potential move to be a factor in the hotly contested St. Petersburg mayoral race.

Regardless of what Hagan says publicly, it’s clear that a new stadium in Hillsborough County will cost taxpayers a pretty penny.

The team once was willing to commit about $150-Million toward a waterfront stadium in downtown St. Petersburg — a sum that’s about $200-Million in 2017 thanks to inflation. That means Hillsborough County would have to come up with at least $500-Million more in public funds.

That ain’t going to come from property taxes, and it ain’t going to come from an increased sales tax. The type of referendum that built Raymond James Stadium in the 1990s is not viable today, writes John Romano (Tampa Bay Times)

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn seems to mirror that idea:

In this political climate, there is no way you can go to voters and ask them to pay for a baseball stadium. I’ve got a fiduciary responsibility to our taxpayers, and I’m not going to burden them with a deal that doesn’t make sense.

I’m hoping (Hagan) has a secret financing plan to go along with his secret land assemblage plan. Because the Rays deserve our very best effort — and I’m willing to do my part — but it’s going to be a tough slog.

I’d hate to break it to any of you that are ready to spend Opening Day 2022 in brand Ybor City new digs, but nothing will happen if Stuart Sternberg doesn’t financially contribute to the cause. None locally are turned on by an owner that won’t pony up any funds toward our community or the cause … especially when Sternberg doesn’t even call our community his own.

And while franchise proxies like Melanie Lenz, Brian Auld, and Matt Silverman — all of whom are tasked with closing the deal for a new stadium, not Sternberg — contribute to this community, there has been (and continues to be) a great amount of animosity toward the principal owner of the Rays, which appears to be growing, not vanishing.

Another great question has been posed: Why leak the news now, especially when the entire proposal hasn’t been completed?

In less than two-weeks, on November 7, voters will take the polls and choose the next mayor of St. Petersburg, be that current Mayor Rick Kriseman or former Mayor Rick Baker

Buckhorn, a Kriseman supporter and fellow Democrat, told reporters that the news came at a bad time for Kriseman; that it puts the issue of the Rays possibly leaving St. Petersburg back on voters’ radar.

I think this could have been thought out more carefully — it would have been nice to see the Rays involved in this announcement. I don’t think the timing is helpful in the St. Pete election.

Brian Auld’s less-than-glowing reaction to Hagan’s announcement pointedly mentioned that Tropicana Field, along with nine other sites in Pinellas, are still in play for a new ballpark. The ball-club also has donated at least $81,500 to Kriseman’s reelection campaign.

Hagan, like Baker, is a Republican and it could be inferred that the timing of the announcement was politically motivated and intended to help a fellow party member, a claim which he denied when asked by the Tampa Bay Times. Neither Baker nor Hagen have financially contributed to each other’s campaigns.

While the Rays’ exit from Tropicana Field is spelled out in its contract with the city, the next mayor could make that process easier or harder — especially Baker, who is currently on the Rowdies’ payroll and in a position that he has no intention of leaving should he be voted back into office.

When asked by WTSP Channel 10, Kriseman acknowledged that the timing of Hagan’s announcement is a little interesting:

I think the timing is a little interesting, especially since (Ken Hagan) seems to be the only one that knew about it, he said. (Tampa) Mayor Buckhorn was taken by surprise, apparently some of (Hagan’s) colleagues on the commission were taken by surprise, and the Rays were taken by surprise.

Perhaps when Buckhorn called the allotment of funding toward a new stadium a slog, he also meant the slog of dirty political tricks.

Noteworthiness

— Further complicating things for Tampa/Hillsborough County, the state of Florida is suing Tampa over tourist fees which it called an ‘illegal tax.’

Following a 10 Investigates story exposing how the City of Tampa was allowing downtown and Ybor City hotels to get around the state’s cap on how much tourists can be taxed when checking out of a hotel room, Speaker of the House, Richard Corcoran, is suing the city of Tampa, calling the city’s new marketing fee an “illegal tax,” writes Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium blog, WTSP Channel 10). The lawsuit was filed on Thursday.

According to Pransky, a dozen hotels in Downtown Tampa and Ybor City began charging the $1.50 per night fee this summer to boost marketing efforts. The fees were approved unanimously by city council, and were expected to give local hotels more than $1.5-Million per year for a fund, controlled by the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association (HCHMA).

However, Corcoran’s lawsuit claims Visit Tampa Bay already has received $55-Million from Hillsborough County for marketing over the last six years, and spent $140,000 of it to fund the HCHMA’s efforts to convince Tampa City Council to approve the new fee.

Approximately $30-Million total per year could be allocated, by Hillsborough County, toward marketing, although a large part of it is already committed to Raymond James Stadium, George M. Steinbrenner Field, and Amalie Arena, while it’s believed future revenue growth could be earmarked for a new stadium for the Rays in Hillsborough.

Tampa Bay Rays announce new third-base coach, Matt Quatraro

(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays continued to revamp their coaching staff, announcing Tuesday that former farmhand and Minor League hitting coordinator, Matt Quatraro, has been named as the new third-base coach. Quatraro had been Cleveland’s assistant hitting coach the past four seasons.

Quatraro will also work with the catchers, and assist Kyle Snyder in game-planning with the battery.

A part of the first ever draft class by the Devil Rays, Quatraro climbed his way through the Rays system, ultimately reaching Triple-A following the 2003 season. He, however, was never promoted to the big leagues.

He spent the next four seasons as a minor league manager with the Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (2009), Class-A Columbus Catfish (2008) and the Short-A Hudson Valley Renegades (2006-07). Quatraro’s coaching career began halfway through the 2004 season, as a catching instructor and coach with Hudson Valley. Prior to joining Cleveland’s coaching staff in 2014, he became a minor league hitting coordinator for Tampa Bay from 2010-13.

Quatraro served as Cleveland’s assistant hitting coach, where he reconnected with Kevin Cash on Terry Francona’s coaching staff. Cash was complementary of Quatraro in a morning presser:

Q brings tremendous knowledge in many areas and has been a big part of some very good teams, Cash said of the Rays new Third Base coach. He’s creative, a good communicator, and earns the respect and trust of his players. We’re excited to bring him back to the Rays.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

The team also announced that Rocco Baldelli will be reassigned from his position as the first base coach, though he will continue as an on-field coach working with the outfielders on defensive positioning, as well as other unspecified additional roles.

The final hire to the staff, the first base coach, will be announced after the World Series — the team is currently interviewing for that position. Whomever that may be, he will also be the assistant hitting coach to Chad Mottola, and will work with players on base running.

Previous changes to the coaching staff include the mutual departure of longtime pitching coach Jim Hickey — with Kyle Snyder taking over the reigns — and Tom Foley choosing not to return as the Rays bench coach. Former Triple-A Durham manager, and Tampa Bay third-base coach, Charlie Montoya took over that role.

Hillsborough County pitches Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium site proposal

Proposed stadium site in Tampa where Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan says he has acquired land to move the Tampa Bay Rays. (Awful Photoshop job and photo credit: WFLA TV)

Hillsborough County leaders announced their proposed site for a stadium, officially entering them in the sweepstakes to build the next home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa formally joins St. Petersburg, which made its official stadium proposal back in April.

WFLA Channel 8 broke the news, leaking a proposed site that has not yet been finalized. However, the team’s response to the news (seen below) indicates this location — on the edge of Ybor City, bordered by 15th Street and Channelside Drive to the east and west and Fourth Avenue and Adamo Drive to the north and south — is all but final.

Brian Auld, President of Baseball Operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, also tempered the announcement in the team’s official statement, suggesting that while progress has been made, we are still a long way out from a tenable resolution.

Point man on the project Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan said the community has reached an agreement with land owners to gain site control of about 14 acres, although he wasn’t nearly as forthcoming with the cost of the land acquisition.

Per Janelle Irwin (Tampa Bay Business Journal) the option agreements with landowners, including Hillsborough County developer and BluePearl Veterinary Partners CEO and founder Darryl Shaw, are good for nine months with a six-month extension option. While that land has been secured, other sites could still be considered but Hagan said that’s not likely.

The Rays have been in lock step every step of the way in our search, Hagan said of his work with Rays leadership. We initially presented 15 sites to (the Rays) and after thorough discussions it became clear that the Ybor site was both the team’s and our preferred site.

As Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium Blog, WTSP TV) noted, Hagan helped form a nonprofit to assist Hillsborough County in avoiding Florida’s public records law on the proposed stadium site — a questionable move by a public official who promised transparency on a stadium deal. Hagan previously vowed that there wouldn’t be any other “sweetheart” deals like the $168-Million allocated by Hillsborough county and given to the Buccaneers.

To put it another way, this is merely Hillsborough County — by way of Hagan — saying what it thinks is its best for the Rays. Nevertheless, what still isn’t clear is how all the parties involved intend to fund the project, which could cost upwards of $600-Million.

For his part Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn sarcastically reminded everyone that funding for a new stadium presents the biggest hurdle for Hagan and company.

The Rays must now weigh all the proposed stadium entries against one another, setting the table for a tug-of-war between Pinellas — St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman wants to build a new ballpark on a redeveloped Tropicana Field site, although other options are said to be in play — and Hillsborough counties.

Noteworthiness

— On the subject of yesterday’s breaking news, fellow Baseball Forever campaign member, Brooks Wallington, articulated a few points that otherwise got lost in the shuffle:

— …Deep thoughts from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who didn’t seem too enthused by the announcement, via the Tampa Bay Times:

Mayor Buckhorn didn’t know the proposal would be announced Tuesday, but he told 970 WFLA radio Wednesday morning that didn’t bother him. “Let me say for the record, the county does not speak for the city in any way, shape or form: never has never will,” Buckhorn said. “But I’m excited about the potential. I think the location makes a lot of sense. … It gives the Rays what they are looking for in terms of an urban location. It allows for additional development around the stadium.” Buckhorn also said, “I’m not sure the Rays were neck-deep in that announcement either, and I’m not sure the timing of it (on the afternoon before the first game of the World Series) inured to their benefit, but it is what it is.” Buckhorn, who just finished a tough battle with the City Council to raise Tampa’s property tax rate for the first time in 29 years, said there would be little city money for a new ballpark. “There’s not going to be a direct contribution from the city to this stadium as long as I’m the mayor, because we just don’t have it,” he said.

Trouble obtaining land in downtown Tampa for a Rays stadium

It’s looking more than ever that neither Ybor City, nor downtown Tampa, will be the forever home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

News broke late last week that acquiring the land needed for a Tampa Bay Rays stadium near downtown Tampa is proving harder than expected. According to an article writing by Steve Contorno (Tampa Bay Times) local officials in Tampa are now exploring another option in the West Shore area.

Be not deceived, Tampa never had the funding, nor the “pitch perfect site” (but mainly the funding) for a new stadium, regardless how hard the Tampa Bay Times or 620 WDAE tried to convince you otherwise — something Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan acknowledged in the article.

Even if the pitch perfect site on the other side near downtown Tampa became apparent, Hagan is reportedly less confident than ever that the county and Rays ownership can come to an agreement on how to pay for a ballpark that would lure the team from Pinellas County.

There’s no question this has been an extremely challenging and frustrating process that in my opinion shouldn’t be this difficult of a task, Hagan said.

Some landowners in the Channel District/Ybor City region are, as of now, unimpressed by Hillsborough County’s offers to procure their property, putting into peril two sought after locations in the area. Hagan — who has a penchant for backroom deals when it comes to publicly funded stadiums — wouldn’t identify the exact location of those sites.

One of the abovementioned landowners is Darryl Shaw, chief executive officer of BluePearl Veterinary Services. He, along with other area investors, has spent millions of dollars in recent years buying property throughout Ybor City.

Shaw coincidentally (or not) has contributed an unspecified sum to Hagan for his pending reelection bid in 2018. It should be noted, Hagan once advocated “no public dollars” be spent on a Rays stadium, although his tune has changed of late.

Because the difficulty with trying to secure downtown land, the search for a new site has expanded to another undisclosed location in Tampa’s West Shore area, which does have some advantages over the Channel District/Ybor City. Pinellas County fans wouldn’t have as tedious of a drive, and it is closer to the type of corporate clients and support the Rays are seeking.

Yet while the West Shore area has some positives, broadening the hunt at this point — 22 months after St. Petersburg allowed the Rays to search for a new home away from Tropicana Field — can only be seen as a step backward for an effort many hoped would have been wrapped up by now, Contorto writes.

The window for the Rays search closes in January 2019. The Baseball Forever campaign, which is helmed by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, made its pitch on a redeveloped Tropicana Field to the Rays in April. You can read the proposal below.

[embeddoc url=”http://www.baseballforever.com/assets/TheProposal.pdf”]

Other Pinellas County locations are thought to be in play as well.

Noteworthiness

— Deep thoughts… In the ongoing discussion of “where” a new stadium should be located, I’d argue the topic of developing land in flood prone regions should be on the docket.

All of the potential stadium sites in Hillsborough County are in the lowest laying areas on the map (those in red)

Dare I say a waterfront stadium, on what amounts to be a flood plane, probably isn’t the greatest idea?

Sea level rise — and the imminent threat of sunny day flooding because of it — should be of concern to any of the parties involved. For example, two potential sites — the Channel District in Tampa and Snug Harbor in St. Pete —  were/are deemed as potentially viable locations, yet both are in flood prone and/or environmentally sensitive areas. In the case of Snug Harbor, five of its 30 acres are under water.

FEMA disaster studies, as well as environmental impact studies, may spell doom for any proponents of a waterfront facility.

As desirable as a waterfront stadium might be, in this day and age of heightened awareness of climate change and sea-level rise, the views related to something like McCovey Cove are tantamount to poor city planning.

A quick internet search would find countless examples of altered public works’ plans due to a project’s proximity to the water:

Everton new Bramley Moore stadium could be destroyed by rising Mersey warns academic.

Concerns about rising seas reshaping major SF waterfront projects.

FEMA halts work on new Kokomo ballpark.

Auckland, how about an underwater waterfront stadium?

In the end, perhaps the Orioles got it right some 25 years ago; Oriole Park at Camden Yards was built 6/10 of a mile from Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore — an equivalent distance to that of the 85-acres associated with the Tropicana Field site and St. Petersburg’s waterfront.

A landlocked stadium in close proximity to the shoreline might not sound as sexy as one built directly on the waterfront, but it may be the best hope for a team like the Rays, who are desperately seeking new digs.