2009
WHERE’S MAMA?…A LOOK AT ANOTHER BAR CALLING ITSELF A RESTAURANT
Even a burly, hairy Poppa (mommas can be hairy, too, but let’s not get into that) would satisfy my need to witness homo sapiens with aprons, stirring all manners of pots and pans with big spoons, as I peak through a restaurant’s open kitchen door around dinner time. I want aromas filling my very earthy [...]
MORE TREATS FROM CITY OF IMAGINATION
Once again City of Imagination, one of Gulfport’s most significant assets, is sponsoring a series of events designed to enrich the lives of area residents and, at the same time enhance the careers of budding artists. In a continuation of their Emerging Artist Series the first public exhibition of a series of dynamic paintings by [...]
YOU GOT TO BELIEVE
Part II – Survivability By Dogfish “Future generations will look back and wonder why we refused to act; why we failed to pass on an environment that was worthy of our inheritance.” People ask me why do I care about the future of our planet. I don’t have any kids, no grand kids. Well to [...]
SAVING GULFPORT’S ECONOMY
As told to Dogfish The other day I was sitting in a downtown Gulfport bistro and I overheard two of our citizens talking about how they had a plan that would save Gulfport’s economy from the ravages of the country’s economic decline. Naturally being part of and affected by the local economy I was interested. [...]
TWO BIG COUNCIL VOTES SET CITY’S COURSE
At the City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, September 15, the Council voted on the first reading of an ordinance to change our City Charter to allow the Council to waive the requirement for residency by the City Manager by a super majority vote, (4 votes or more). Upon an affirmative vote on second reading, [...]
GULFPORT CUTS TAX CUT
Prudence prevailed at the Special City Council Meeting on September 3. Rather than trying to hold to the current real estate tax rate in the face of falling property values and mandated increases in the Homestead Deduction, our City Council by a 3-2 vote decided to spread the pain of our revenue losses over the [...]
GULFPORT’S CITY CHARTER LETS US DOWN!
Ever since 1899 when the National Municipal League, now called the National Civic League, (NCL), created and approved the first Model City Charter, cities and their citizens have continuously improved the structures and procedures of local government. In the mid 1800s local government in the U. S. was generally a chaotic mess dominated by semi-criminal [...]
WORKSHOP SCARES ME TO DEATH
On Thursday, August 27, 2009, the City Council of the City of Gulfport held a Workshop at 2:00 PM in the City Council Chambers. What I learned there scared me half to death. Let me count the ways……. That the meeting was held in the middle of the summer in the middle of the afternoon [...]
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP DECIDES TO HIRE MANAGER
City Council workshops are notoriously under attended by the public. The workshop held on Thursday, August 27 was crowded in comparison with about 15 concerned citizens in the audience. The city council had a full and interesting agenda to cover. They started out with a presentation by Pinellas County Mosquito Control, where a representative of [...]
A FUNKY, CHIC BEACH BOUTIQUE!
Everything about Maddy Guenther’s new “Bo-Tiki” Boutique on Beach Boulevard in beautiful downtown Gulfport is pleasing to both the eye and the spirit. If first impressions are the most important then the faux tiki shack makeover with the distinctive south seas signage and huge front deck pulls one in to a shop that cant possibly [...]
FORGET THE POLITICS, FORGET THE BUDGET……THIS IS PRICELESS!!
When I pulled into the City Hall parking lot to attend Tuesday’s Council meeting, there seemed to be more cars than normal. Then as I walked into City Hall, I noticed three police officers. I joked “that there must be extra reinforcements needed tonight”. They smiled and nodded. I entered the Council chambers and yet [...]
SURVIVABILITY – LOOKING FORWARD
I asked the editors to let me do an ongoing column about Survivability. What do I mean by that? For four billion or more years the earth has stayed steady in its course around the sun. The known history of human beings is little more then a flash in our planets longevity. Yet, [...]
LEARN TO SAIL RIGHT HERE IN GULFPORT
This fall and winter you can be sailing around Boca Ciega Bay in a 16.5’ Catalina self righting self baling sailboat or crewing on a 35’ “big boat “ under an experienced captain. It’s easy and surprisingly inexpensive. All you have to do is hurry up and register for the Boca Ciega Yacht Club’s fall [...]
A CHANGE IN TIDES AT CLAM BAYOU?
I first met Al and Cindy Davis at a Gulfport Water Watch meeting in their home on Clam Bayou in the spring of 2006. The tide was out and 20 or so people were looking out at a vast expanse of mud and thousands of white specks over the entire gooey landscape. It turned out [...]
BITE THE BULLETT ON BUDGET BALANCE!
In FY2007 Gulfport’s property tax revenue was $3,416.991. Our proposed budget estimates that property tax revenues will be $2,502,911 in FY2010. Other revenues like state shared revenues, EMS revenues, investment revenues are all down to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars since FY2007. The estimated impact of the virtual doubling of our Homestead [...]