Can Jamie Bennett make a comeback?

There are two interpretations of this photo of Jamie Bennett posted on his revamped, albeit underwhelming Facebook profile (please Jamie, update your Twitter account — it’s been 44 days.) On one hand, the picture shows the Jamie we all know and love; BBQ Jamie, happily grilling sausages at a too low-key event for his remaining volunteers. On the other hand, there is a man with more gray hair than he had six months ago, a loss of hair color for which I am mostly responsible. But this grayer, more sober Jamie Bennett has shed a few pounds and just wowed the crowd, or at least Howard Troxler, at the Tiger Bay mayoral forum. Troxler wrote: “Bennett, a sitting City Council member, is rehabilitating himself from his scandal involving the use of city-controlled baseball tickets as a campaign goodie. He came across Wednesday as equally or more knowledgeable on specific issues than other council veterans. More compassionate and nuanced, too; a guy who knows how to work the process. So my debate winner, graded on a curve, is…Bennett.”

So, the question is, can Jamie Bennett make a comeback? The answer, unfortunately, is no. And not because of the failed campaign he has ran. I won’t be critical of his campaign anymore. Why kick a dead horse? The problem with Jamie Bennett’s renewed candidacy is his position on the major issue facing St. Petersburg: crime. Bennett is too much of an apologist for the city’s failings on crime, specifically, its inability to effectively combat homelessness, panhandling, etc.

If you read the letters-to-the-editor or the comments on blog posts, or if you listen to the small business owners on 4th, MLK or 34th Streets, you can begin to get a feeling for the sheer unrest there is with City Hall over its inability to address, much less solve, these issues.

Don’t get me wrong. The reason I wanted to originally work for Bennett was his courageous stand against the tent slashing.

But I am a liberal Democrat. And with Deveron paid in full on the black vote, and Wagman positioned to the left of Nancy Pelosi, Bennett has no room to run.

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Bennett will be holding a Brown Bag lunch and informal discussion on the environment at Studio@620 on Tuesday at noon.