SAY NO THANKS TO THE FREE BENCHES AND MINI-BILLBOARDS
Did you know there is a need for more benches in Gulfport?? I am sure there are areas in Gulfport that may need a bench but I wasn’t aware that the need was so very great. In fact, the City staff and Council must feel there is such an extraordinary need for benches, they are willing to allow our public right of ways to be commercialized in order to resolve this problem. In return for doing this, a “service company” will give the City of Gulfport ALL the benches it may ever need. Now how sweet of a deal is that?!? Who knew the Bench Santa was coming to Gulfport? All together now……fa la la la la la la la la la!! Please, let’s put out some extra goodies for the reindeers this year to show our thanks for having to lug those big loads! I’m sure by now you are thinking that one of the Cherry Crusted Nut Bars is at it again!! Yep, I sure am—read on please!
One thing in Gulfport is certain…if you don’t pay attention to the goings on at city hall, laws get passed with relative little review and / or scrutiny—kind of like the budget. That is what is going on right now with Ordinance 2009-16. The first reading of this proposed ordinance took place at the Nov. 17th Council meeting. The purpose of the ordinance is to amend Gulfport’s current sign laws to enable advertising on benches and in bus shelters, oh and the ads in the shelters may be illuminated. According to Interim City Manager Jim O’Reilly, the ordinance was created in response to a request by a “service organization”. Now that sounds a little mysterious doesn’t it?? So the City is writing the ordinance just for this ‘service organization’?? Why would an ordinance be written just for this one mysterious entity? Didn’t we just go through a bunch of brouhaha about changing another ordinance just for one person??
Admittedly, I hadn’t given much thought to this ordinance until I heard that the P&Z Board (Planning & Zoning) had denied the request by a vote of 3-2. Of course, P&Z is only an advisory board and it has no power per se’. That became apparent when the council approved the 1st reading of this ordinance 5-0. Actually, P&Z got dissed twice that night as Council also voted opposite to them on another zoning matter. Oh well, that’s another story.
Let’s go back to the Council meeting and the benches from the North Pole. During the public session portion of the discussion for this proposed ordinance, long – time resident and P&Z, member Rudy Leopold spoke adamantly that the ordinance should not be approved. Mr. Leopold caught my attention. Another thing that caught my attention was the appearance of Rick Kriseman (yes, the State Rep) who said he was there as a representative for the “service company” – whatever that may mean. Not sure how that ties to the “service organization”. In his presentation, Kriseman mentioned something about helping non – profits by placing benches in Gulfport. Also speaking were Andrew Moos of the Florida Lions club and Art Padula of our well respected local Lions Club. Art and the head Lion, Mr. Moos, made the offer to give the City free benches—as many as the City needs! Wow, in these economic times, that is quite an offer! Gulfport resident Dr. Jennifer Salmon commented that this sounded like a great opportunity for some of Gulfport’s non – profit organizations to make some money. The last thing that caught my attention was a comment by Councilmember Henderson saying he thought it was a good idea and something to the effect that he had received sufficient info in the private meeting. The point here is not the private meeting but the info. Why weren’t the residents being given the info?
With my attention now redirected to this issue, I decided to watch the video of the P&Z meeting during which this ordinance proposal was reviewed. Rudy Leopold and co-member Dave Hastings made common sense arguments against the proposal and I totally agree them. Do we need benches? Has someone complained? Lights in bus shelters cost money. Where will the signs be put? Who is in charge? How will advertising conflicts between competitors be avoided? For instance, would Back Fin Blue be allowed to put a sign in front of Habana Café? All good questions. Some got answers and some didn’t as an answer wasn’t available. Who will pay for the benches? Well, apparently somebody sells advertising to put on the benches and that pays the product bill. Good news, some will only have non – profit info. When asked the identity of who was involved, the answer was declined. Note to self—check it out and I did. More on that later. Anyway, Rudy, Dave and alternate member Carol D’Alessandro voted no to the advertising ordinance.
At the P&Z meeting, Director of Community Development, Fred Metcalf mentioned that the ordinance was based on a similar one in Pinellas Park. I went to Pinellas Park and looked at their bench signs and one four letter word describes what I saw–UGLY!! (See attached pics) Let’s see, there’s “Amazing Andrea” (radio personality) in front of the pawn shop. Then there’s the State Farm lady in front of the Race Track gas station. Two of my favorites…..”Put Your Ad Here” and the one for Webb’s Bail Bonds next to a dilapidated car with a for sale sign, in a gravel covered parking lot. NOT a pretty sight…any of them …and this is what we can expect in Gulfport?!? They are nothing more than miniature billboards. I turned my car around and headed over to CVS to buy a camera and capture this ugliness on film. In fairness, there were a few benches that merely said “A Project of Boys and Girls Clubs” or some other non- profit organization. They needed painting, but they certainly didn’t fall into the UGLY category.
I couldn’t find any bus shelter advertising in Pinellas Park so I headed over to Tampa to see if there was any to be found there. Oh my goodness, I hit the jackpot!! UGLY benches abound!!! Business areas, residential areas, just about anywhere a bench would fit. In the middle of a sidewalk, on the grass in front of a huge beautiful church, on the right of ways, six inches from the curb AND even in the middle of a large ficus hedge in front of an all glass office building. The hedge was even shaped to fit the bench!! Surely this is not what we will see in Gulfport?!? As for bus shelters, most were of a more modern design with smoked plexi glass. In and of themselves they actually looked nice. Oh but wait a minute, the plexiglass is covered with a lovely ad over the entire length and width of the panel!! A vertical mini-billboard!! If that were not enough there is a bonus—an UGLY bench right next to the shelter, for overflow seating I guess!! What more could you want, two mini – billboards within two feet of one another. It can’t get any better than this, can it?
I had to see if any other city near Gulfport has these UGLY “amenities”. Big sister to the east –St. Pete? NOT! First cousin, to the west– Pasadena? NOT!! How about those distant cousins—St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island and Madeira Beach? Nope! To be fair, some of them did have the “project’” benches and they looked fine. I guess Gulfport will have the distinction of being the first.
So why do we need these UGLY mini-billboards? Who is benefitting? Where will they go? Who is the bench company? I sent an email and pictures of the UGLY mini – billboards to Art Padula. Art advised that there would be no commercial ads in residential areas. Further, only local businesses could advertise and we would never see anything like what I photographed. Well, other than maybe something like the sign for Seeing Eye dogs. Oh great, it did have a sweet dog and a cute kid on it, but it still looked obnoxious. Art was very patient with all my questions and eventually referred me to the Lions’ King –Mr. Moos to answer several other questions. I sent Mr.Moos an email (actually three) with fairly specific questions. Four days later I received a response: “Please give me your phone # and address and tell me exactly what your concern is with the benches and maybe we can talk.” Well duh, I gave him the questions and I don’t mind giving him my phone #, but my address—what for? I gave him the phone number—no call and no answer to the three questions nor why he wanted my address!! I am one that is not amused by the art of evading questions nor vague answers. So, I spent a little time on the internet, my curiosity had just gotten the best of me.
OK let’s see—1st inquiry—“bus stop benches”. Lots of articles about a program started by the Jaycees in the 50’s to provide benches to communities at bus stops as there were none. Actually a very touching story. Scroll down and there’s a 2005 story by Doug Smith of local TV Channel 13. Seems the local Jaycees partner with a company to provide the benches to communities. The bench company sells advertising and that pays for the free benches. The story goes on to say that the Jaycees make just pennies on the dollar. The Jaycees partner with Metropolitan Advertising of Tampa—ok so maybe this is “the service company” idea. Then there’s something about New Port Richey looking to discontinue the program as “It’s not a good deal for any municipality where we take our citizens property rights and sell them out this way.” Then there’s Fort Pierce. Their city tore them out and all of St. Lucie County has now also removed the benches. The manager said “The idea had more to do with advertising, than having places to sit.” The Fort Pierce City Manager said it’s clear to him that the non-profit is being used as a front for a for-profit company. Scroll down a little further and there is the name Andrew Moos stating he is the State Chair for the Jaycees bench program. There is also a picture. Yes, it does appear to be the same Andrew Moos that appeared in Gulfport. Smith goes on to explain that a check of state records shows that Andrew Moos and the founder of Metropolitan Advertising run a separate billboard company together. That company and Metropolitan Advertising operate out of the same building in Tampa. Surely everyone is entitled to be in business or work in a business. However, if you are pushing benches onto a city under the guise of being The Lions’ King shouldn’t you also at least disclose the name of the bench company and the fact that you have an indirect affiliation with that company? Call me silly, but I think that’s the right thing to do. Here’s the link to the story—draw your own conclusions. http://media.myfoxtampabay.com/investigates/bus-benches.html
In fairness, Metropolitan Advertising issued a response to the Smith story.
As I said, draw your own conclusions, but mine is that Rudolph just dropped one huge pile of reindeer pies on Gulfport!!
So here’s the gift with a nice big bow on it as best as I can unpack it: The Gulfport Lions Club partners with Metropolitan Advertising and they become “The Service Company” which apparently is represented by private citizen Rick Kriseman. The “Service Company” installs a bunch of benches in Gulfport. A bunch of the bunch of benches will have advertising on them. That helps pay for the benches. The Lions Club and other non-profits in Gulfport get a cut of the profits to help their organizations!! Oh and the non-profits get to put their name on some of the benches for free!! What a deal!! And that’s exactly what all of our Council members said!! Well, it appears like Santa’s elves up there on the dais may have missed a detail or two. In one of my last email exchanges with Art Padula he stated that The Gulfport Lions will receive NO money!! Well holy scrooge, why are they and the City doing this then??
Here’s the bottom line…we don’t need bench nor bus shelter advertising in quaint little Gulfport!! Having the benches on a six lane road in industrial Pinellas Park is one thing…that’s not what Gulfport is about. If Gulfport’s big sister to the east and the cousins to the west don’t need them, why does Gulfport??
I can perhaps be more open to the idea of bench ads if they are for our true local businesses, no chains or non-profits as Art Padula advised and if done tastefully. More along the lines of the ads on the Trolley benches, though even they are borderline ugly. In any case, I’m not sure that any of those limitations can be written into an enforceable ordinance. And if they could, would the City preclude “Gulfport Furniture” from advertising? They are not technically in the city limits. Also, Gulfport is trying to build a partnership with businesses on the east side of 49th Street. How is that helped if you refuse to allow them to advertise? And by the way can any of our “local” business really afford to spend $200 – 300 per month for this kind of advertising? And when you preclude chains, does that include the State Farm agency or Advanced Auto Parts or McDonalds or the Bank of America that houses the Chamber of Commerce? They may be the only ones that can afford the cost.
At the 11/17 Council meeting, Sam Henderson asked if one restaurant could advertise in front of another. Rick Kriseman yelled from the audience “that will never happen!” How does he know? Is he or the bench company or The Lions Club controlling this or is the City in charge of the public’s right of ways? Speaking of our public right of ways/ public property….will the city then also think about advertising on our police cars and fire trucks? Maybe initiate a program for rotating banners for this business or that on the wall behind the Mayor at Council meetings? I know you’re saying the City doesn’t put ads on the Trolley so that will never happen. Yeah right, have another egg nog!!
I am also concerned with another aspect of the ordinance that indicates that the property owner agreeing to have a bench placed on their property may ultimately have some responsibility for the bench, if the bench owner were to fail to follow through to a demand for removal. That seems a little odd to me. Somebody does the city a favor and they then are responsible if the bench owner fails to follow through? By the way, the proposed contract from the “Service Company” says Gulfport can bill them for this!?!
As to bus shelters…. In my mind a 4X6ft sign will cover up a large portion of the bus shelter, creating a potential danger for riders..i.e. robberies, attacks, etc. not easily then seen. Never mind, that you will have to be in front of the shelter in order to see who is in it as the sides and back will be covered. Additionally, I drove thru the beaches at night and NOT ONE bus shelter had lights on it!! We need signs and lights on the bus shelters, in Gulfport, for what reason?? Our Lions Club rep, Mr. Padula has advised that they are not looking to advertise on bus shelters. Maybe not, but that’s NOT what the ordinance says.
Another bit of info…the PSTA installs a bench at any stop that has 10boards/ riders per day and a shelter where there are 25 boards/riders per day. Seems like they are using some logic for their installs. The proposed Gulfport ordinance offers none of that. I presume the benches will be scattered helter / skelter. As well, the Lions Florida rep said the benches could also be put in parks. Do you want to see this ugly stuff in a tranquil park? Again, that also appears to conflict with the ordinance…who really is in charge?
Last, as mentioned above, the Andrew Moos in the Smith article is the same Andrew Moos that appeared at the Gulfport Council meeting on 11/17. He represented himself to be with The Florida Lions Club. He even had on a Lions shirt. I find it interesting that Mr. Moos didn’t disclose his involvement with Metropolitan Advertising to the City of Gulfport. Of course, Rick Kriseman didn’t disclose his full role in all of this either at that Council meeting. Purportedly he is the person that brings the bench company and non-profit together with the selected municipality. Something tells me he doesn’t do that for free. The man has a right to earn a living but doesn’t it seem like he is always peddling something here? He may be doing this as private citizen Kriseman but do you really believe he would have gotten in the door if he weren’t Rep. Kriseman for district 53—our district? Let’s be real–who in City Hall is going to tell him no? I know I wouldn’t if I were there. Maybe private citizen Kriseman should limit his peddling to entities other than the municipalities he represents. Surely there is business to be had in the private sector?
Being completely obsessed (that is a requirement to be a cherry crusted nut bar) now with this issue, I asked to see what documents are on file at City Hall related to all of this. Lesley DeMuth graciously provided me what she had. There was a brochure from Metropolitan Advertising, a sample contract, an email from a resident and an email from Rick Kriseman to Tom Minkoff. That email is dated 9/24 and offers language for the amendment for the ordinance and asks for the 1st reading on Oct. 6th. My first reaction to this is: weren’t we paying Minkoff $9,000 a month and wasn’t part of his job to write ordinances? Then why is Kriseman doing it? Second—Kriseman apparently is not familiar with the municipal zoning process. Well at least not in Gulfport!! Twelve days to get to a first reading? Mazletof, Rick!
So let me ask again…why does Gulfport need to amend the sign ordinance? Wasn’t there a huge effort a few years ago to reduce the size of signs and advertising? We don’t need a bunch of benches and bus shelters with mini- billboards!! I thought we had a City Council that was concerned about the environment. If that is the case, then why do they want to litter our landscape environment with mini- billboards polluted with obnoxious advertisement? Is that what you want to see? I don’t either!! Let’s continue to beautify Gulfport, not “uglify” it!!
This ordinance proposal needs to melt like Frosty would on a tropical afternoon in our cozy, quaint little Gulfport!!
The 2nd reading of this ordinance will be on Dec.15th at 7:00 p.m. PLEASE say NO to the mini-billboards!
KEEP GULFPORT FUNKY, NOT JUNKY!!
Good points. If I may add, regular style benches attract those who wish to sleep on them. Usually, when someone from law enforcement or anyone else with crime prevention in mind is asked about benches, they will tell you to get the type that are impossible to sleep on. Many of the non-sleeper benches are circular in shape.
Another problem with benches is that it may give someone a reason to loiter for no particular reason. I know I am sounding like a cop (sorry, but I am) but when thinking about a project such as this, you would need to consider the potential for non-legitimate users to sit on these benches. A legitimate user would sit on the bench, enjoy the view at the beach, wait for a bus, ect. A non-legitimate user will sit on the bench at 3am and drink a beer, use an illegal drug or just sleep on it. Now, certainly your local law enforcmement will handle this appropriately (Keep in mind, I am not a spokesperson for GPD). But, the only way to prevent these types of problems from happening is to not have the benches to begin with. If a police officer has to respond to these types of activities then it takes away from other activities that they could be doing, hence, utilizing resources that could be used for problem solving or apprehending bad guys. And with resources being cut over a period of years, we don’t have resources to waste JMO. If this could cause a forseeable problem, then it should be scrapped.
If I read the article right, the money spent advertising on the benches will only pay for the benches. If there is no other benefit, why get them. If no one has asked for more benches, then why is this idea even being entertained?
I think that a city like our’s could use other things besides benches. For instance,…some of our streets need curbs, better and more efficient street lighting, retrofiting city buildings with photovolic solar panels to generate it’s own power, and, MORE COPS. (I may be a bit biased though LOL).
mtoberNoUlteriorMotives, I want to personally thank you for your work on this issue and would hope the City reimburses you for your expenses. This sort of work is what should be done by Fred Metcalf and our Community Development Department, you know the one we pay in salary and benefits in excess of $500,000.00 dollars for? The department that the council relies upon to do the work so they can sit on their derrière’s and pretend to be informed.
This Department, under the management of Fred Metcalf, continues to display indifference to this community to satisfy special interests like Rick Kriseman and Larry Cooper. What does he care what the citizens want or how the reckless products of his department impact the quality of life of Gulfport, he’s gets paid either way.
The P&Z members come and go as do the Councilmen but the Staff is a permanent Infection.
This bench issue, as I understand it was born in the need for extending the trolley service north of Gulfport Boulevard. The idea was to bring transportation to Senior Citizens primarily, who reside in the City of Gulfport, beyond the City of Gulfport Beach. I suspect that if you dig a little further that you will find the inception of the bench inquiry in the Senior Advisory Board. Now which should come first the chimney or Santa?
Extending the trolley would include providing benches for Senior Citizens to use as they waited for transportation. A Good Intension on the part of the Senior Advisory Board at the time, and members who have long left its service. I suspect without those individuals to do the real work for the Senior Citizens in the City of Gulfport that the services available to the City of Gulfport Beach will remain south of the DMZ.
2iview….Please understand that I have absolutely nothing against adding benches if they are needed / justified. In a nutshell, my issues are twofold: that the ordinance was written in resposne to one entity, components of which are very mysterious. As important, if not more so, I loathe the thought of a bunch of mini-billboards littering our landscape environment in cozy, quaint Gulfport. There are other ways to procure benches and I am more than happy to assist in that project. Why is it we never heard about this project or the years’ old study until now?Has anyone approached the PSTA, the City, etc. about these benches? Seems to me this didn’t come to the forefront until “the service company” approached our Council people at the League of Cities meeting. Moos says the Lions’ approached them?? That seems odd since Art Padula knows so little about what is going on with this. That by the way is not a criticism of Art. I think he is being a good foot soldier and perhaps hasn’t been privvy to the details.
So again, please let those involved with the seniors know that I would be honored to help find another way to fulfill this need.
@Watchman—Not to worry, “The Service Company” is proposing that the ugly mini- billboards be affixed to benches that have a divided seat. Remember, for me the issue is the ugly mini-billboards on the benches and potentially the bus shelters. If the city needs benches I am happy to work to find a way to get them without commercializing our public right of ways.
Mtober,
I understand your position; my point was to address the first question of need and how the idea developed. We can have benches to service the northern community’s transportation needs, but a comprehensive plan can hardly be expected to come from Community Development unless they outsource it to a private or a county planning agency.
Observing the way the Council spends money for others to do the thinking for them I wouldn’t be surprised if they hired an outside planning agency to determine which way is up. They are inviting Advertisers to come to our City and smoother it with Low-Flying Billboards and justifying them as nothing unusual because they can be found in Pinellas Park. Now there’s place we can emulate.
They paid thousands for an analytical study of Nitrogen in the water because they are supposedly concerned about it’s impact on the environment, at the same time they pass a Site Plan to burn unregulated biomass that dumps tons of Nitrogen into the atmosphere that eventually ends up in the water. Well Duh?
We need to create a reasonable plan for benches that satisfies yours and citizen Watchman’s concerns while adding to the beautification of Gulfport rather than detract from it. We don’t need more committees assigned by the Council to only be ignored, what we need to do as citizen is establish adversarial boards to challenge the reckless work being produced by this over compensated planning department.
Then we can examine other departments for inefficiencies, not as appointed boards but by a well rounded highly motivated group of individuals that will demonstrated to the Citizens that thinking is not an option.
All knowledge is the hypothesis for what is examined next.
“”Now, go spread some peace, love and understanding. Use force if necessary.”"
- Phil N DeBlanc
mtober…I agree with your views on the “mini billboards”. Unsightly indeed.
As the past president of the Gulfport Lions I would just like to make a few comments. I have only been in Gulfport a few years, but have been a member of the Lions, for 25 years, in Colorado, Western NY, and now in Gulfport, volunteering in each community I have lived in. The reason I have continued as a member is that I have had the privlege to work side by side with a lot of fine people in each city, who give of themselves to help give back to their local community, state, and our entire world, helping those in need. The Lions are the largest service organization in the world with 1.3 million members. In Gulfport, the Lions Club has been giving to our community for 61 years, every penny we bring in is given back to those in need. In Gulfport, across the state, and nation, the Lions have a critical problem. Our membership is half of what it was in years past, and to continue to help our communities we need to attract new members. So back to the benches. Does Gulfport need benches, perhaps, if so is this the best way to bring benches to Gulfport, maybe if done correctly, maybe not. What Gulfport desperately needs is new members for our Lions Club so we can continue to support the many needs both locally and around the world. For the Gulfport Lions, the benches are a way to create awarness and help us rebuild our membership. We have a critical need. I could go on detailing all we do, but better yet take a look at our website to learn more about us http://lionwap.org/eclub/sites/GulfportFL or come as our guest to a dinner meeting, and learn how you can help us continue our service to citizens of the City of Gulfport.
Rob Chase Thank You for the explanation.
While I do see the need for a bench here and there along the New Trolley Route, if it ever comes to be, we haven’t seen the need defined elsewhere or presently.
We went through a long arduous Sign resolution a few years back that required 10 years for business signs to come into compliance, and still there were some who wanted Grandfather Rights on their long standing, but ugly signs. Visions of these low-flying billboards bring back memories of controversy and seem to contradict what the new Sign ordinance was all about. There was a good plan and an attractive theme that didn’t include low-flying Billboard Signs at every high traffic area.
Of course it could be argued that the Billboards locations will be closely scrutinized but let’s face it, the object of the Lion’s Club is to get the most exposure it can. More Billboards are better, larger Billboards are better, and they will strive to get what they can, where they can to achieve that end.
The citizens will be depending on our Community Development Department to determine what is appropriate and from my observation, and I’m not alone, the Department is ill equipped to make such judgment calls. I see benches where there are no derrières to warm them and tired derrières looking for a place to rest.
To satisfy everyone the Department will please the Lions by placing Billboards where they want them and pleasing tired derrières by placing them where they are needed and the next thing you know is that Citizens of Gulfport will be able to walk from 8th ave. to the water without ever touching the ground.
There will be photos of Real-Estate brokers lOOking at tired backsides, photos of starving children begging for sustenance. Used Car-lot ads reaching for your wallets, and Drug Store ads showing you the way to a more productive sex life, and who stands between us and this Aurora Colorado style circus event, a Department who would just as soon turn the town into a smoked filled room with mirror balls and glitter. We don’t have the infrastructure in place to manage these benches. Or do we have a cognizant City Council to know what would be the ramifications of their actions.
@Rob Case–please be assured that I nor I’m sure any other citizen of Gulfport questions the good works of the Lions Club. I have called Gulfport “home” for some 50 yrs. Even though I may have lived elsewhere in the area periodically, my parents and my heart were always here. My brother and I attended Gulfport Elem. Disston Jr Hi and Boca Ciega H.S. My brother participated in the Gulfport Lions Little League and my parents and I supported that activity through volunteer efforts. It is because of my affinity for Gulfport that I am so adamantly against littering our quaint little city with min-billboards. The fact that the Lions are involved has nothing to do with my disapproval. To be fair though , I do not believe it correct to write an ordinance in defference to a specific person or organization. That is just simply not the way the city should do business.
Until I read your post, I had know idea your organizatin was desperate for members. I would be pleased to help / work with your organization. Please let me know how to proceed.
“What Gulfport desperately needs is new members for our Lions Club so we can continue to support the many needs both locally and around the world.”
Hi Rob!
please write a paragraph or two about your needs and I’ll put it on the Home Page of GulfportFlorida.us with a link to your site.
Soooo very annoyed with the Mayor and City Council of Gulfport. Why must the city suffer for their obvious backroom high jinx nonsense? Do they think we citizens are stupid? The citizenry was prepared for tonight’s meeting, but the Mayor and Council now need a workshop to learn what they voted on when they approved it on 1st reading? Also, can’t help wonder why the Mayor and Councilwoman that have a conflict in the bench advertising matter won’t reveal the conflict of interest? They shouldn’t be ashamed to announce that they are members of the Lions’ Club. If this issue is not all about profit for the bench company then why were Rep. Kriseman oops private citizen Kriseman, consultant for the “service company” and Andrew Moos, purported business partner of the owner of the advertising /service company at the Council meeting tonight? It is hard to believe that the local, heretofore well respected Lions organization would involve itself in these shenanigans!
Not one citizen at Tuesdays meeting said anything in support of this ordinance. I wonder how many positive/negative emails were received at city hall. My guess is they were all against the ordinance. Why then didn’t they just drop the whole idea. If they are truly working for the citizens then listen to the citizens. They must think that we are really dumb. Any fool can see through their smokescreen. Thanks mtoiber for adding the line “before the next election” when you spoke Tuesday
Truth Seeker…we need you and others to please come to the meetings and speak out against this ordinance. Council can’t hear you when you are at home talking back to the TV.
The workshop is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 12 @ 7 p.m.
THE WORKSHOP / SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING IS TOMORROW JAN 12 AT 7:00 P.M.
PLEASE ATTEND AND SAY NO!! BRING A FRIEND ALONG TO SAY NO TOO!!
Ordinance 2009-16 tabled indefinetly.
There will be NO mini-billboards in Gulfport in the near future.
Excellent job. Many thanks to you mtober.
@Truth Seeker…..It is my affinity for Gulfport that drove my efforts in this initiative. I couldn’t imagine littering our quaint little city with mini-billboards. All of the peripherial issues fell in my lap as the result of “googling” for info on “bus stop benches”. I never went searching for negative info. I just wanted answers to the questions created by what came to me. Unfortunately, the lack of answers, created greater curiousity and then suspicion.
I believe one thing learned is that, while it may be a tiring, arduous task, a grass roots effort can work to get the word out.
What I took away from watching the online Special City Council meeting in Gulfport Florida on January 12th 2010.
Mayor Yakes said something about three issues. For translation use Yahoo’s Babbelfish http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
#1 Dissention- “”Elected officials appoint board members and go in different directions there’s something wrong and we need to find out how to do it better.”"
#2 “”maybe it is me, maybe I’m the one that confuses easily but in hearing of the public hearing of the board members, hearing from people that I have talken to on the street, business owners and residential it is confusing. Passing the first reading would have been advertised before passing the second reading financial cost of amendment as it was posted I feel that’s unnecessary. I don’t know what direction it’s going to go in but I know it has needless confusion”"
____and he goes on to talk about___ “”if this is the biggest issue in 2010 we’ll have a good year because we can work with this and make things happen in the best interest for our citizens and not the interest of any particular individual person”"”….
__It’s impossible to follow these lectures there is no fluidity in his delivery.___
“”#3 answers itself of having this workshop to give it consideration IF the desire is amend this.. Only the sign ordinance is what we’re talking about incidentally and that was part of it. We’re not looking at authorization that would be a separate issue, whether or not there would be advertisement or who would be allowed to do the advertisement and is the sign ordinance going to be amended, I will turn this over to the city manager and attorney for…ladies and gentlemen we have changed this from a workshop to a special council meeting to allow your input.”"
___And he goes on…
.
.
Sam Henderson was disappointed that he didn’t have the workshop but is happy they had a special council meeting to have the dialog.
Sam really appreciates the work that staff did, trying to bring something back.
“”It’s been really disappointing to see how many folks are willing to turn a Personal Vendetta and make that the city’s problem and do it under the guise of city business, that’s been really disappointing. The very person who objected to the tacky stuff was willing to place a half naked lady on public TV in prime time. Some of the ways we’ve approached this stuff has been very disappointing. I’d like to see us handle ourselves in a friendlier way. I don’t know why there has to be so much ugliness when were addressing these issues.”"__ (He said we when he meant you.)_
After Bob Worthington and Judy Ryerson took the time to think about the issue, they changed their minds. THINKING IS NOT AN OPTION!! This should have been put to bed in the first reading, if you read it.
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__observation__
From what I’ve heard in the Clowncil Chamber it appears to me that they just don’t get it. THE STAFF DID NOT DO THE WORK. THE COUNCIL DID NOT DO THE WORK. The citizens did the work, the citizens expressed the concern, the citizens pay the bills and on top of it all the citizens are doing the work that they pay this government to do.
Putting aside the undue influence that Rick Kriseman brought to the issue, the instruction he gave another crony attorney who’s moved up the ladder of favoritism, the presentation by Fred Metcalf instead of Jim O’Reilly and the unanswered questions. The vote to deny the plan by the P&Z, and the Clowncil ignoring the outcome of that meeting. ___We the Citizens could see that this issue was going down the same road as the Smokehouse, this Government passing plans with blinders on when friends are sponsoring them.___
This may be the biggest issue of 2009 to the Mayor but the Smoker was still the biggest issue to our neighborhood and it still goes unaddressed. After the last regular Clowncil meeting Mayor Yakes spoke to me outside, and he said I did a good job. He tried to put the blame for the smokehouse on Smokin Joe, but it wasn’t Smoking Joe or the property owner that created our nightmare, it was the Government that failed to do their job. It was the Clowncil that did not act when they heard us screaming for relief from the smoke. It was the Clowncil members that made excuse after excuse to justify their vote, and it was the Clowncil who refused to take any action to stop any future abuse. It is the reckless mayor who is congratulating me for doing the work that his staff and our Ward 4 councilmen Henderson should be doing. Why did we have to represent ourselves for a year and a half? Why do we have to do their work when they pay a staff hundreds of thousands of dollars. What on earth are these people doing when these ridicules plans are brought foreword.
DON’T BLAME THE CITIZENS FOR CAUSING DESSENTION OR BEING UGLY, WHAT YOU’RE SEEING IS A REACTION TO THE ABUSE AND INDIFFERNCE THAT HAS BEEN SHOWN US BY THIS GOVERNMENT.
This City is drowning in incompetence, recklessness and a lazy staff leadership that absolutely refuses to take any responsibility for their mistakes. The Billboard Benches is just another example of the broken process, and the citizen’s reaction was to stop the government before they plowed us under the billboards like they plowed us under the smokehouse, into a mooring field, under the muck of clam bayou, into a battle with Pasadena Yacht Club and over the hot coals of annexation.
This dissention from both P&Z board members and the public at large is an expression of mistrust. We do not trust this Community Development Department, we do not trust the Chairman in the P&Z Board and we do not trust the City Council Of Gulfport Florida to not serve their friends to the detriment of the citizens. We cannot depend on the Council to be consistent; on the Bench issue they followed Rick Kriseman’s advise and sought to change the Sign Ordinance. On the Smokehouse issue they just broke the ordinances and flipped us the bird.
WHO”S THE NEXT CONTESTANT ON THE CHOICE IS WRONG?
I absolutely say no to the advertising! This would change the small town look and feel of Gulfport. I can read the Gabber or the local news to see all the advertising I want. I will NOT sit on a bench that advertises Michele King’s Real Estate for boat haters or on anything promoting cheap beer and cigarettes! People go to quaint places because they are excatcly that. Then somebody messes it up, it begins to look generic, and people who really care move on. Why would anyboby (money???)want to change Gulfport? Please do not make Gulfport look like any other place, because the people who care know that it’s not.
Thank You
@Linda Ray – thanks for your comments and your desire to keep Gulfport the quaint and cozy community it is today.
The good news is that Ordinance 2009-16 which would have permitted bench advertising has been tabled indefinitely. That means that there will be no mini-billboards appearing in the near future.
Let’s hope that Council and/or staff do not try to ressurect it down the road.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/gulfport-rejects-plan-for-benches-bearing-ads/1065768?postCode=201
Link to St.Pete Times article and reader comments.
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