City staff: Don't make Al Lang a park

If you're following the proposed baseball stadium saga in St. Petersburg, here is a most interesting memo that came out yesterday from Rick Mussett, the city's economic development director, addressed to the City Council. [Click the images to enlarge]

The gist of the memo is to tell the City Council NOT to designate the Al Lang waterfront site -- the site of the new proposed stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays -- as a park under the city's new land-use plan.

Now, designating Al Lang as a park would not block baseball from the site -- the voters could still approve the stadium in November 2008 -- but it WOULD make it impossible for the city to do anything else with Al Lang if baseball fell through.

First in the memo, in the time-honored fashion of bureaucrats everywhere, Mussett says there have been plenty of times over the years that the citizens COULD have asked to make Al Lang a park, such as in past "visioning" sessions. He lists several examples. The implication is that the more recent input is Johnny-come-lately stuff that somehow counts less.

Mussett goes on to say the City Council should not "arbitrarily" designate Al Lang as a park, just because citizens ask for it. Even if it turns out not to be suitable for baseball, Mussett said there still should be a "broad based public consensus-building process" before deciding the ultimate use of the site.

(Hmm, I wonder if this means city has signed ANOTHER secret deal as a backup plan? After all, when the stadium deal was still secret and the citizens were asking to make Al Lang a park, it was Mussett who kept calling for "keeping our options open"...)

When the City Council passsed the new land-use map in August, it said would come back and make Al Lang a park site as part of a follow-up amendment, just as the public had requested. The City Council repeated this intention as recently as its Dec. 6 meeting. And just the other day, when I mocked the city for keeping the stadium proposal secret during these important decisions, outgoing council member Bill Foster called me to chide me for not giving the council credit for its promise. If the council doesn't do what he said, he told me, he will shave his head.

Well, now the City Council has its new marching orders from the city staff. Can anyone convince me that the City Council will not do whatever the mayor's staff orders it to do?

I have just the barber for Mr. Foster....

Comments

[Bland]

Howard,

You better get out of the way before that giant locomotive runs over you......

Government in the Sunshine my butt....

This whole deal gets more tainted as time runs along. At this rate, the City Council is going to stink up the place worse than the Jim Smith mess at the County Commission.....

I am convinced we are getting all the government we are paying for...

Now if the Al Lang Site should not be used for a park, what other tax revenue based uses are there for the property other than a stadium? Would it require less fiscal commitment than the new Stadium proposal?

Somebody has a lot of explaining to do.

Baker is running out of time to make the St Pete waterfront one giant condo. We all know his crowning glory would be to break ground on a new condo tower at the Al Lang site before being forced out of office.

We citizens of St. Pete must keep vigilant--these people have never met a condo proposal they didn't like.

It's time for the FDLE to get involved. It's obvious what's going on. Check out offshbore accounts of brureaucrats, officeholders, contributors, then make Al Lang into a penitentary to hold them all.

[Truth]

Better than turning it into a penitentiary for Baker and his crowd of crooks, just pitch 'em in the Bay and let the citizens make regular trips out with chum buckets to spread around the b@$^@*!$. The contempt that Baker is generating in people is growing by the minute. We knew for years that he was a no-good SOB and are relieved to know others eyes are opening. Howard, thank God the Times has one person questioning these issues. We'll take your "acid" approach anyday over all the pack of lies City Hall feeds us.

[Kathleen Ford]

Unlike everyone of the elected officials, I do not have lots of questions, I have lots of comments like:

NO MORE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE TO TAMPA BAY WATERWAYS, NO MORE ENCROACHMENT ON ALBERT WHITTED AIRPORT, PAY OFF ALL STADIUM DEBT, ALL PROCEEDS FROM ANY SALES OF TROPICANA FIELD LAND AREA BELONG TO THE TAXPAYERS, NOT TO THE BASEBALL OWNERSHIP GROUP FOR ITS USE IN IDENTIFYING REVENUE STREAM TO BUILD ANY MORE NEW STADIUMS ANYWHERE. MAKE BASEBALL PAY THE CURRENT CITY ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS RESULTING FROM BASEBALL'S PROPOSAL. YOUR AVERAGE CITIZEN CERTAINLY DOES NOT GET THIS ATTENTION. THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF POTHOLES THAT NEED FILLING, LIGHTS THAT NEED LIGHTING AND DID I MENTION CRIME TO BE SOLVED? KATHLEEN FORD

[jes]

It's our land. It should be a park. Enough theivery and backroom deals from the City. RECALL ELECTION!

[Kathleen Ford]

Message to St. Petersburg City Council: Designate Al Lang Field as a waterfront park now. Do not rely on the City attorneys to draft the language if they are busy following adminstration's directives to review the latest baseball proposal. Hire your own attorneys to draft the ordinance designating AL Lang Field as a waterfront park and amend the Waterfront Map that is referenced in the Charter to protect our beautiful waterfront from further encroachment. City Council just needs the legal description for the entire area, including all parking lots to draft an ordinance amending the Waterfront Map. Any and all proposed referendum language should include the designation of Al Lang Field (and parking lots) as waterfront park, in my opinion, to protect our waterfront. The City Council has not moved quickly enough to protect this valuable asset. There is still time and, in light of the demands made, this should be done immediately.

[Don Mott]

This entire ordeal stinks like a dead rat and is a joke, albeit not a funny one. I would assume that city leaders and governors for the public of St. Pete did not want to be out done by the riculous events that happened to Pinellas County officials involved in the Jim Smith deal. When all is said and done, (after elections) maybe they can meet with the ousted members of St. Pete Beachs'city council and try to figure out where they went wrong. But chances are they will be too busy as paid consultants and lobbyists for the Rays.

[Kim]

Why doesn't some smart person out there write up a city amenment and get enough signatures and put it on the ballot in November '08 to protect the area from builders and Rays. Just do not talk about it. Become active. That is the problem with St. Pete. You all talk but you do nothing but talk.

[Paul]

Why is it that the citizens of St Pete want to keep our waterfront beautiful and also make Al Lang a park forever, yet, our city council, who is supposed to work for OUR interests and desires is NOT LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE! Please someone, tell us how to initiate a recall on our council. Unreal, worse than a bad movie.

[Kim]

Business people have power in this city but they do nothing. There are several things they could do to lower their taxes. Form a commity. Discuss ways in which you can get the city to lower your taxes. Then act on it. The Mayor and city council, like Pesident Bush feel as if they are in power because God wanted it that way. Like Louis XVI found out the hard way, he was not put on this earth as King by God. It is the people who make him god. I wish you luck, if you try. If not then pay up. I guess your not really hurting enough and it is all talk from your part.

So, Kim.... are you leading the charge, or you just doing most of the talking about talking?

[Dan]

Kathleen's warnings are right on target. City legal has proven their ineptitude in prior dealings (Remember Bay Plaza?) As for Mr Mussett, read up on open government, the rights of citizens, and ponder your hubris. If you need further history lessons, read the vote totals from Albert Whitted a few years ago. Get the message, Rick?

[Rick]

Kathleen, stop YELLING. You're not on council anymore.

[Dave]

Quoted from Mr. Mussett's memo:

---
The Administration was aware that the Rays were considering proposing the redevelopment of the Trop site and constructing a new stadium on the Al Lang site at the time the City's new LDRs were adopted on August 9, 2007; however, a final decision had not ben made by the Rays to pursue the proposed project at that time and City staff was required to keep the matter confidential pursuant to State Law.
---

So what is this State Law that requires our city to keep deals (or proposed deals) secret? Don't we have an Open Government Law that requires just the opposite?

[Howard Troxler]

Dave, Howard here. State law did not "require" the city to keep the stadium a secret. State law simply provides for an exemption to the public-records law for certain matters related to "economic development."

The city of St. Petersburg entered into a secrecy agreement with the Rays in March 2007, using this loophole in the public records law.

The city certainly did not have to do this and was not "required" to do it by state law. Neither did state law require the secrecy to last for any certain period, etc. -- indeed, the city at times seemed more eager to maintain the secrecy than the Rays themselves.

[guy]

I think that inviting hundreds of steroid users to use our waterfront facilities will make the fish in the bay too strong for my fishing gear.

[Mike]

The plans for the new stadium are all wrong. The home run balls should go into the water in left. Augusta block should be used and a 40 ft. wall called the "Red Monster" should be in right along with the only marker in the majors in the 290's. The fans directly in back of home plate would be looking directly at the Tampa skyline. There should be a retractable roof and games should be be played at 8:00 to avoid rain and heat.

[Glenn Reihing]

I find it interesting that there seems a lot of consensus that this deal should NOT go through but no one is taking the lead in attempting to get the opposition organized to force City Council and the Mayor to designate Al Lang as a park.

Do we just sit around our computers and write "This bites!" or do we go down to City Hall and tell them in person? It seem to me that a Council Hall packed full of angry (but non-violent) residents would make a bigger impact on their decision making.

Also a lawyer who knows the ropes and is willing to do pro bono work would help.

If you don't want it, then stop wringing the hands and do something about it.

[paul]

The rays should start looking for another site since it won't pass the vote. Then the epa will not let them fill in the bay and let's use all that money to buy better players to help the team. Maybe we can get to the playoffs this century ! You must be kidding yourself to think that stadium design will work down here in the summer.