A round-up of Sunday editorials from Florida’s leading newspapers:
Tampa Bay Times — Foster striking out in Rays negotiations
St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster wants to blame baseball commissioner Bud Selig for his own failures. Selig is hardly a sympathetic character, but he’s not the reason stadium negotiations between the city and the Tampa Bay Rays are stalled. The reason is Foster’s lack of leadership and poor negotiating skills, and the stalemate is more evidence that St. Petersburg needs a new mayor.
For three years, Foster refused to acknowledge the obvious. The Rays’ attendance ranks near the bottom of Major League Baseball despite fielding competitive teams, and Tropicana Field ranks among the worst stadiums. Yet Foster refused to consider letting the Rays look at potential stadium sites in Tampa and pretended the team will keep playing at the Trop until its lease expires in 2027. Never mind that every year that ticks off the lease means less negotiating leverage for St. Petersburg. Never mind that St. Petersburg City Council members, Hillsborough and Pinellas county commissioners and area business leaders all recognized the smarter approach is to negotiate with the Rays and ensure that Major League Baseball remains in Tampa Bay for the long term.
Then Foster just happened to have an epiphany in an election year. He began privately negotiating with the Rays on a deal that would let the team look at stadium sites in Tampa and protect St. Petersburg’s financial interests. He told the Times editorial board just last month that the Rays have to be allowed to look in Tampa if they are going to stay in the area, and he even wondered whether Tampa Bay is a major league market. Both Foster and Rays owner Stuart Sternberg sounded optimistic they could reach an agreement.
The Bradenton Herald — Anna Maria Island earns big Forbes kudos
We have a major bias here but, well, it’s very much earned. Anna Maria deserves to be named one of the “America’s Prettiest Towns” — by none other than Forbes, the business publication known for spotlighting billionairies and corporations that rake in the wealth.
The Forbes website features Anna Maria City Pier, an iconic Old Florida fishing spot with a charming restaurant and wonderous views of Tampa Bay, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and wildlife — dolphins, pelicans and other seabirds.
This is the beginning of the Forbes citation of Anna Maria: “Just south of Tampa, Anna Maria is a Gulf Coast beach town that has managed to avoid the sort of overdevelopment that plagues similar areas nearby — so it retains a certain small-town coastal Florida charm. With a high proportion of residences being second homes or vacation homes, Anna Maria tends to be much quieter as well.”
Well, we beg to differ. Quiet?
Not according to some year-round residents up in arms about vacationers and — uh-hem — day-trippers who want to enjoy paradise, too.
But that’s another story, one we’ll let readers address on Sunday on the Opinion page.
We will say this: Anna Maria is a wonderous place – to visit a day, a week, a month or a lifetime. Pine Avenue, the Anna Maria City Pier, the Rod and Reel Pier, Bean Point, Bayfront Park, what’s not to enjoy?
Yes, crowds come. To paradise, for a very good reason. We should all be so lucky as to live there.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal — Stetson, B-CU take football to new level in Volusia
College football in Volusia County rose to a new level last week, with Stetson University winning in its long-awaited return to the gridiron and Bethune-Cookman University claiming a dramatic win on the road against a powerful opponent.
Fans of both schools are getting ready today for the season’s second contests: Stetson is on the road, playing at Florida Tech at 7 p.m., while B-CU will take on Virginia Union at 4 p.m. at Daytona Beach’s Municipal Stadium.
The excitement at the two universities is contagious. Americans love football — the sport brings people together and creates a sense of community within the larger community. The Stetson and B-CU football teams are revving up the alumni and sparking new interest the schools in Volusia County and across the country.
Football is a college amenity — students go to college to learn and improve their life prospects, not watch football. But football can raise a university’s profile and energize its graduates, thereby aiding the primary academic mission. Football also can enhance the college experience for students by stoking what used to be called school spirit.
Thanks to the decisions of President Wendy Libby and athletic director Jeff Altier at Stetson, and the coaching of Brian Jenkins at Bethune-Cookman, the two universities are reaping the benefits of the passion people bring to college football.
The Florida Times-Union — City Council is saving the city from the mayor’s budget
Mayor Alvin Brown boasts repeatedly that he is taking Jacksonville to the next level.
Thankfully, the City Council Finance Committee has stopped him from doing that.
One could reasonably assume that Brown’s next-level campaign pledge meant moving the city forward.
One would be wrong. The budget he presented to the City Council this summer would have plunged Jacksonville backward.
Sheriff John Rutherford would have had to lay off 300 police officers.
The Lakeland Ledger — Lakeland Police Scandals: Police Advisory Cocoon
Between June 25 and July 16, State Attorney Jerry Hill sent four “dear chief” letters to Lakeland Police Chief Lisa Womack. The letters documented wrongdoing in the Lakeland Police Department.
Yet the Lakeland Police Advisory Commission decided Friday that it has no interest in inviting Hill to one of its meetings. No questions to ask. No blanks to fill in. No curiosity about the reasoning behind his criticisms and conclusions:
June 17, 2013; Re: Lakeland Police Department Traffic Stops; “Dear Chief Womack: Attached is a report detailing an investigation which was initiated by our office in response to a citizen’s letter to The Ledger. The conclusions of this report should be alarming to you as chief and to Lakeland citizens. Clearly, there is a serious lack of training and supervision in the area of traffic stops. This report details mistakes made by your department during the traffic stop, which, according to your officers, violated Lakeland Police Department policy.”
June 25, 2013; Re: Lakeland Police Department Investigation; “Dear Chief Womack: … Let me note the obvious. The Lakeland Police Department has many fine, dedicated officers. However, this report details activities involving officers that would sully the name and reputation of the entire department. … As many as 10 sworn LPD officers have engaged in sex acts and sexually suggestive behavior while on duty over the past seven years with an LPD civilian employee.”
The Miami Herald — Florida’s universities under pressure
Getting a higher education in Florida remains a good deal. The state’s public universities have become more efficient in an era of scarce resources, and some — like the University of Florida and Florida State — consistently manage to rank among the best in the country and the most affordable.
Despite that, state universities are in a bind. They can’t continue to deliver the quality education that Florida’s parents and students rightly demand without getting more help. They’re hobbled by a chronic lack of public investment, pressure to limit tuition, and competition from other states. All of this represents a challenge to the state’s leaders and the Board of Governors as they initiate a nationwide search to replace departing Chancellor Frank Brogan.
The state has to step up or face an erosion in educational quality.
This year, the boards of all 12 state universities agreed to Gov. Rick Scott’s request not to seek a tuition increase if the state restored $300 million in spending cuts and came up with millions more in additional funding. That’s an improvement, but it hardly makes up for as much as $900 million in cutbacks since 2007.
Tuition increases during that period took up some of the slack, but it’s not realistic to expect students and their families to continue to make up for underinvestment by the state.
University tuition remains a bargain in Florida, but the financial burden on students is nearing a ceiling. Less than a decade ago, tuition made up about 20 to 25 percent of the cost of a student’s education. Now, it’s closer to 50 percent, and more on some campuses.
Meanwhile, university students face daunting challenges as a result of changes in financing rules that could put a college degree out of reach for many. They are being squeezed especially hard.
First, Florida’s Bright Futures scholarships have become tougher to get because the state increased the minimum ACT test score required to qualify — from 21 to 22. Next year, the cutoff score becomes 26.
This would strike Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University particularly hard. Their percentage of eligible freshmen would drop from 80 to 20 percent, according to a report prepared by the University of South Florida. At the same time, lifetime eligibility for federal Pell Grants is being reduced from 18 semesters to 12 and student loan interest rates are going up.
In sum: Not a pretty picture. The limitations on access to a university education, the pressure to keep tuition low, and the funding shortfalls represent a triple whammy for the universities.
The Orlando Sentinel — Don’t let Syria’s gas attack stand
After a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s hard to muster the resolve for another military intervention — this time against Syria, whose dictator used chemical weapons against his own people.
Yet allowing the Syrian government to flout international law by using chemical weapons without any retaliation would embolden Syrian President Bashar Assad to use them again. It might lead other rogues to follow suit.
It would take a military response to truly punish Assad and his regime for having gassed to death, by U.S. count, 1,429 people, including hundreds of children. And by bombing his military infrastructure, we might deter or even prevent him from doing it again.
If Congress fails to give President Obama authorization to retaliate against Syria, lawmakers will undercut our nation’s strength and credibility on the world stage. The president drew a red line that he said could not be crossed, based on the decades-old international ban on chemical weapons. Now he’s got to back it up.
Otherwise, America will be seen as weak and indecisive. Other red lines drawn by the president, including the one against Iran developing nuclear weapons, won’t be taken seriously. Other hostile nations and terrorist groups will be more likely to challenge the United States.
Together, these reasons make a compelling case for Congress to authorize a limited retaliatory strike against Syria.
We realize Americans are weary of war. Nearly six in 10 oppose military action in Syria, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. A Pew Research Center poll says only 29 percent favor it.
And we’re frustrated that other nations are choosing to look the other way when a brutal dictator gases his people. If ever there were a time for the United Nations to prove its relevance, it’s now.
Obama was right to involve Congress in this debate, to better engage the nation through its representatives in Washington. And while lawmakers are rightfully wary of risking another long and costly war, they should be willing to commit their support to a precision military mission meant to send a strong message, not change the course of a violent civil war that’s left more than 100,000 people dead and two million displaced.
We’ve got to believe our military — and intelligence community — can execute a punishing blow without the need for boots on the ground. We did it in Libya two years ago in giving cover to the rebels who overthrew Moammar Gadhafi. We can do it again.
The Palm Beach Post — Florida’s interim child welfare chief is making the right changes
The Florida Department of Children and Families can’t protect every child known to the agency from abusive or neglectful caretakers, but it failed too many of the 20 children since mid-April that have died when social workers could have kept them from harm.
DCF Interim Secretary Esther Jacobo, correctly, has ordered an outside review of all 2013 child deaths and a wholesale review of the agency and how it operates. Ms. Jacobo’s initial assessment, however, is that child protective investigators missed “red flags” and the cause is not systemic. That’s unacceptable. Trained social workers should not be missing or ignoring “red flags.”
The Tampa Tribune — Red-light cameras proving their worth
The evidence in Tampa is pretty persuasive. The number of accidents at intersections with red light cameras is down nearly 30 percent, the number of citations for running red lights at those intersections is decreasing, and police say motorists are changing their driving habits for the better.
The city has every reason to continue, or perhaps even expand, its use of the technology.
Yet, once again lawmakers in Tallahassee are taking aim at the cameras.
Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg, has filed a bill that calls for a total repeal of red light cameras across the entire state.
He calls them intrusive, and says local governments are using them as “backdoor tax increases.”
We think his bill is misguided for a couple of reasons. First, as the results in Tampa show, the red light cameras make the roads safer. Secondly, the decision about whether to use cameras should rest with local governments, not with busybody lawmakers in Tallahassee.
The Legislature acted wisely in 2010 when it passed a law granting the authority over red-light cameras to local governments. More than 100 local jurisdictions have installed the cameras, but controversy has followed every step of the way.
Civil libertarians raise concerns about the government monitoring our behavior. Critics such as Brandes say local governments that collect a portion of the fines levied against violators are motivated by greed more than safety. And conflicting safety studies leave their effectiveness open to question.
But the experience in Tampa, and the results of a statewide survey, should put those arguments to rest.
A Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles survey of 73 local jurisdictions found that the red-light cameras were making the intersections safer.
“With regard to crash data, the most common outcome was a decrease in rear-end and side-impact crashes,” a report on the survey said. “In fact, a majority of agencies reported decreases in the total number of crashes at red-light intersections. Lastly, agencies reported that in addition to the decrease in total crashes, traffic safety improved throughout the jurisdiction as drivers were more cautious when approaching all intersections.”
