Mayor Kriseman, it appears, has fallen into the
same trap as his predecessor. The Mayor seems so determined to pull down the
inverted pyramid, that he will say and do almost anything to accomplish his
goal.
The most recent debacle, Kriseman's supposed
"personal" Facebook page supporting Pier Park censored critical
comments according to a saintpetersblog Post
by Janelle Irwin: Rick Kriseman is censoring
Pier comments on his official Facebook page.
Kind of makes one wonder who is really writing and editing the
Mayor's Facebook page.
Why is the Mayor resorting to his personal Facebook page to push
a political agenda?
Neither former Mayor Bill Foster nor current Mayor Rick Kriseman
can seem to provide the type of mature leadership a project of this magnitude
needs.
It is now up to Council Chair Charlie Gerdes and the
rest of the City Council to put some sanity into this process.
City council members need to carefully observe the
actions of the Mayor and his staff. If they vote to move Pier Park forward to
the negotiation phase, there is little doubt there will be a deal. The question
will be what is really in the deal?
Given the passion of Kriseman, Connors and
Ballestra, to name a few, to tear down the inverted pyramid, the possibility of
getting a clean deal on Pier Park negotiated behind closed doors seems highly
unlikely.
The
contract and the detailed plans will be lengthy and complex. The opportunities
to show one thing and say another are almost endless.
Council should force the contract negotiations
into the Sunshine and allow the public to review the terms, conditions and
loopholes the administration builds in.
Connors likes to throw Skanska round as the cop on
the beat watching everything, but the fact is Skanska knows where their bread
is buttered and the possibility of them crossing Connors on any decision is
highly unlikely. Every report they give will be filtered through the
administration and Council will hear only what they are supposed to hear and
see what the administration wants them to see.
Council needs its own owner's rep that they hire
and reports directly and only to them. Even that may not be enough to keep up
with the closed door deals, nods and winks that will be necessary to get this
project completed.
Given the near panic level of the Mayor to get
Pier Park done, he and his staff will agree to almost anything to get the deal.
That leaves the taxpayer on the hook for the Mayor's "damn Pier" that
a seeming majority of them don't want.
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