Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Calm down, SaintPetersBlog still has at least one native blogger — me

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

It’s OK that the father of SaintPetersblog has moved away from his beloved “Winterrock.” Obviously, SemiPetersblog doesn’t have as nice a ring to it, so the SaintPeter part will live on.

In case you haven’t heard, Peter Schorsch and his family have moved out of their lovely, almost-waterfront home in Historic Old Northeast and into a gated community in Seminole called the Bayou Club.

He left not because his love for the ‘burg had waned, but rather his faith in residing in an upscale, safe neighborhood had faded after a series of auto burglaries, broad daylight bike thefts and even an altercation that began in his neighborhood and ended with a dead teen and a shot cop.

Sure, his telling of the scenario sounds a bit pretentious. For the lowly average Joe, picking up and moving because a panhandler scared your wife isn’t so much an option. For some of us even some simple home security options like security services, motion lighting or privacy fences are simply out of reach.

My home actually got broken into. I lost my laptop in the deal and still haven’t been able to scrape together enough extra cash to replace it. I desperately need a fence to ward off would-be thieves looking for an easy opportunity. A security system would be phenomenal, but it’s just not in the budget.

So, when someone commented on Peter’s announcement, “what a bunch of pretentious bullsh*t this entire article is” and “you should have titled this ‘I’m rich, damnit, I don’t deserve poor people problems,” I kind of nodded in agreement. I’d love to have a gated community on my list of options, but I don’t.

But here’s the thing – first, Peter worked hard to be able to provide that kind of security for his family. Not that people like me have worked any less hard, but our positions shouldn’t take away from his.

And that doesn’t really even matter because, guess what? I spend all day every day writing about St. Petersburg. A good 90 percent of my content is St. Pete-centric.

And I still live here.

So the king of the ‘burg blog isn’t a burger anymore (I usually hate that term, but it works here.) There’s still a St. Pete native – born and raised in the Sunshine City – pumping out loads of news, views and all things St. Pete day in and day out.

So Peter and his family are now outside the city limits. Who cares? You’re still going to get plenty of daily doses of St. Pete blogging.

Congrats on your move, Peter … even though your motives may have been “pretentious.”

Janelle Irwin has been a professional journalist covering local news and politics in the Tampa Bay area since 2003. She also hosts a weekly political talk show on WMNF Community radio. Janelle formerly served as the sole staff reporter for WMNF News and previously covered news for Patch.com and various local neighborhood newsletters. Her work has been featured in the New York Daily News, Free Speech Radio News and Florida Public Radio and she's been interviewed by radio stations across the nation for her coverage of the 2012 Republican National Convention. Janelle is a diehard news junkie who isn't afraid to take on big names in local politics including Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, the dirty business of trash and recycling in St. Pete and the ongoing Pier debacle. Her work as a reporter and radio host has earned her two WMNF awards including News Volunteer of the Year and Public Affairs Volunteer of the Year. Janelle is also the devoted mother to three brilliant and beautiful daughters who are a constant source of inspiration and occasional blogging fodder. To contact, email [email protected]

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