Bill Foster is In Denial About the Tampa Bay Rays

Mayor Bill Foster claims that St. Petersburg is a viable market for Major League Baseball. Foster says "Tampa Bay" in the debate but he means St. Petersburg. Foster has not and has no plans to let the Rays ownership talk to the City of Tampa or Hillsborough County government about the Rays moving across the Bay. Foster is not likely to any time soon.

The Rays made the playoffs this year and have been a winning team the past 5 years. The result was the worst attendance in baseball in 2013. I would love to be in the room when Mayor Foster tells MLB owners that St. Petersburg is a fantastic market. I suspect the reaction would be laughter.

Bill Foster Pulls Out His Secret Weapon and It Is Gov. Rick Scott (WTF)

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster and Democratic challenger Rick Kriseman debated. Mark Puente caught this bizarre exchange. Foster bragged about his BFF Gov. Rick Scott.

He then surprised many with his answer on the importance of higher education when he mentioned Gov. Rick Scott. He boasted about spending a long weekend in Tallahassee securing $5 million for a business school at USF St. Petersburg.

"It's something the governor was going to veto," Foster said. "It helps to have a friend in the governor's mansion."

To give you an idea of how unpopular Scott is in Florida; Vern Schillinger on the HBO prison series had a higher approval rating with the other prisoners than Scott has with Floridians. Scott is less popular than Schillinger was in this video below. NSFW.

Benjamin Kirby wondered why Foster would politically link himself to Scott.

This is the same Governor Rick Scott who is one of the least popular — and by a factor of a lot, most vulnerable — governors in the nation. In recent polling, Scott gets trounced by a man who hasn’t even declared his intentions yet.

Right now Bill Foster's campaign team must really be wishing Kathleen Ford finished second in the primary.

Poll on St. Petersburg Mayoral Race

St. Pete Polls shows Bill Foster with a slight lead over Rick Kriseman. Kathleen Ford is a distant third.

Cates: 2.4%

Congemmi: 1.5%

Ford: 20.4%

Foster: 37.9%

Kriseman: 35.9%

Undervote: 1.9%

678 St. Petersburg voters were polled. An interesting tidbit is Kriseman polls at 0 percent with Asians or Pacific Islanders. That is rather odd.

Why the Media Should Not Ask St. Pete Mayoral Candidates About Goliath Davis

Peter Schorsch has taken to his blog, Facebook and Twitter to shout from the rooftops his displeasure at St. Petersburg maoral candidate Kathleen Ford not appearing at the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club debate. The Bay Buzz has picked up on Schorsch's public displeasure. It is always better when candidates appear to debate. However, when they have to field loaded questions like this then there is a good reason for them not to appear.

No, Tiger Bay is where Ford would likely be asked insightful questions, such as whether she agreed with Mayor Foster’s decision to fire her newfound ally, Goliath Davis, for not attending the funerals of murdered St. Petersburg Police officers.

You ask would Ford have to answer that question? Schorsch sits on the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club board and has expressed a strong dislike to Ford on his blog.

All I know at this time is that I am for ABK — Anybody But Kathleen.

Former police chief Goliath Davis made a boneheaded move when he didn't attend the funeral of St. Petersburg Police Sgt. Thomas Batiniger and Officer Jeffrey A. Yaslowitz. Mayor Bill Foster fired Davis. Now Davis has declared he would support Foster's opponent. has made an attempt to connect Davis to Ford. It's a rather big stretch.

If Ford said she would have, then to Davis there should be little difference between her and Foster.

If Ford said she would not have, she risks losing the angry white vote which comprises much of her base.

Damned if she does, damned if she doesn't.

Schorsch is an aggressive political operative. Schorsch is trying to get the media to ask Ford the question because she would lose which ever way she answers the question. If she says that she would have fired Davis then she risks alienating the black community. If Ford answers that she would have kept Davis on then she could lose white voters. The same question could be asked of Rick Kriseman. Schorsch hasn't asked that media to ask Kriseman that question. That might be because Schorsch has a "Rick Kriseman for Mayor of St. Petersburg" sign in his front yard.

Schorsch is free to support the candidate of his choosing. What Schorsch fails to realize is that if Ford is asked about Davis then Kriseman and Foster will be asked the same question. Foster doesn't want to go over the firing of Davis with the media again. Kriseman doesn't want to alienate black voters.

Foster made the right decision to fire Davis. I have other issues with Foster's leadership but I don't think he should have to relive a terrible time in St. Petersburg history. Kriseman and Ford weren't mayor when Davis was fired. What if questions are tedious in politics.

What does concern me his Goliath Davis becoming a racially divisive issue in the election. It does not bring the community together and does a disservice to the candidates. Goliath Davis is not worth a single news cycle. I would much rather hear the candidates debate how they can help the black community.

My advice to the media is keep Goliath Davis out of the mayoral race.

Peter Schorsch Nominated to City Beautiful Commission

Congratulations to Peter Schorsch for being nominated to the St. Petersburg City Beautiful Commission. St. Petersburg City Council chair Karl Nurse recommended Schorsch's appointment. Mayor Bill Foster will ask the City Council to make the appointment official. Since Schorsch has Nurse's backing this should be a formality.

The City Beautiful Commission oversees parks. Schorsch has written about his concerns about Williams Park. Wikipedia has this description of Williams Park.

Williams Park is also known as the city's homeless park. Local residents, college students and shoppers no longer stroll the sidewalks or lounge on the landscaped lawn. Ongoing drug sweeps and police activity are now the features that mar this once prominent gathering place.

As a member of the City Beautiful Commission, Schorsch and other members can recommend ordinances to the City Council. It is already against city law to sleep in the park overnight. There are people that sleep in Williams Park during the day. What is really attracting certain homeless people is the drug traffic in Williams Park. I expect we will see Schorsch get quite vocal about cleaning up the park.

The Wookie Defense

Fark.com made the joke "St Petersburg mayor rolls out the Wookie defense." This was in reference to an absolutely bizarre meeting Mayor Bill Foster had with the City Council. The latter asked for a briefing on what Foster's plans were to keep the Tama Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Foster told the City Council that they already been briefed. Hilarity ensues.

A day after a disjointed meeting on the future of the Tampa Bay Rays, City Council members were still wondering Friday what Mayor Bill Foster is up to and whether he is being candid with them.

At Thursday's council meeting, Foster said he has a detailed plan to break a stalemate with the team over a new stadium, and that he has shared those details with council members.

A majority of council members were so taken aback they scheduled a workshop to learn more.

On Friday, most reiterated that they have no idea what Foster meant when he insisted that he had informed them of his plans. Some wondered whether he even has a plan. Some criticized him for lack of communication.

Peter Schorsch submitted a public information request for any documents in the St. Petersburg Mayor's office pertaining to plans to keep the Rays in St. Petersburg. City Clerk Eva Andujar told Schorsch no such documents exist.

I said before that Foster was doing nothing more than chest thumping about keeping the Rays from moving. It turns out Foster isn't even doing that. I always wondered how the voters of St. Pete could elect Foster over the much more qualified Kathleen Ford. I hope the voters of St Petersburg are happy with this extremely incompetent man.

Update: Mayor Foster refused to talk about his imaginary plan to keep the Ray in town while St. Petersburg Times reporter Danny Valentine was present. Foster talked with constituents at his monthly breakfast meeting.

"Is he your guest?" Foster, referring to a St. Petersburg Times reporter, asked a group of people munching on breakfast. "Because I wouldn't have a candid conversation. So it's up to you. It's not up to me, it's up to these folks. I don't invite — I'm not doing a press conference so I don't invite the newspaper in to speak candidly with people unless the people" want a reporter there.

St. Petersburg resident Cathy Wilson responded: "We would prefer to solve our problems. And if that means, if your presence here means the mayor will not talk candidly, we would ask you to leave."

Judy Ellis, also at the table, chimed in: "We don't want to cramp his style."

Foster did tell Valentine his plan to keep the Rays was not a secret.

"What's funny is that a couple of people have asked me about the secret plan today and I said, 'Sure, here it is. It's not a secret. I told half the people that were in the room today. It's not a secret. It's just not for public consumption,' " he said.

The plan to keep the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg is not a secret. Mayor Foster is not ready to allow the plan to be heard "for public consumption." The Wookie Defense continues.

Bill Foster Say Rays Are Staying

St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster sent out a press release clearing implying he isn't letting the Tampa Bay Rays leave town.

“I do agree that the Rays are a “regional asset”, and will work tirelessly with the political and business leaders of Tampa Bay in support of this club. However, there is no resident of the entire region who has given up more in this quest for baseball than the resident of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. The taxpaying rresidents of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Major League Baseball and the Rays, and above all else, their interests will always come first.

Earlier this week, Mr. Sternberg issues a statement, “the Rays will not be playing in Tropicana Field when our current lease expires in the year 2027″. and in the spirit of full cooperation with one of our most prominent business partners, the City of St. Petersburg is ready, willing and able to explore future facility sites located in St. Peterburg, including sits in the area commonly referred to as The Greater Gateway.” To begin a time line for construction prior to 2027, an amendment to our existing agreement would be required. I intend to convey to Mr. Sternberg aour willingness to engage the Rays in this discussion immediately, in spite of the fact that seventeen years remain on the existing agreement.

Let me be clear – we will consider any potential ballpark site in St. Petersburg and the Gateway, but only as part of a process that recognizes and rewards the previous and ongoing investment and commitment of the St. Petersburg and Pinellas County resident, and thus, no sites outside our geographic boundaries will be considered. This is consistent with every previous statement made by this administration, both publically and behind closed doors with Rays’ management.

Translation: Foster is thumping his chest. The fact is the Rays could pull a Baltimore Colts and move the team in the middle of the night. The Rays would let the city that courts them pay the fines and legal fees to St. Petersburg. That is what St. Petersburg was willing to do when they attempted to steal the White Sox and Giants from their hometowns.

I don't think the Rays can survive in St. Petersburg. South Tampa makes sense for the team economically. What wouldn't make sense is Hillsborough County taxpayers' har earned money being used to build a stadium for a for profit franchise. There was once a time when sports franchises built their own stadiums.

We look forward to ongoing dialogue with the Rays…”

You Say You Don't Want Evolution

Bill Foster is a potential St. Petersburg mayoral candidate. Foster is upset over Governor Charlie Crist and the State Board of Education proposing teaching evolution and biological diversity. Foster wants high school science teachers to teach creatism, as a possible option. Foster fails to explain how this will produce the next generation of scientists to compete with other industrial nations. Instead, Foster blames science for Nazi genocide and the Columbine murders.

One of the Columbine shooters wrote this on his website, "You know what I love? Natural selection! It's the best thing that ever happened to the Earth. Getting rid of the stupid and weak organisms." This sick young man wore a T-shirt with the words "Natural selection" at the times of the murders, and carried out his killing spree on the birth date of Adolf Hitler. All of this took place at the very school where he was taught evolution and Darwin's theory of natural evolution.

The last politician that made a career out of expoloiting the Columbine tragedy is the disgraced Tom Delay. Foster is so insecure in his religious beliefs that he makes the most simplistic of arguments. Members of white supremist groups and Al-Qaeda consider themselves deeply religious. To make the argument that all religious people are violent thugs is utterly dishonest. Foster would be up in arms about such statements. He has no problem accusing biology teachers of producing murderers.

Foster has no understanding how science works evolution is a theory that can be scientificly tested. Intelligent design can not be proven in a laboratory.

To be certain, racism is not a scientific theory, but it is a large part of evolution, and if allowed to go unchecked, we may be damned to repeat history.

Let me get this straight: stronger predators eat weaker animals because of racism. Animals do not even have a concerpt of racism. A dog chases a cat because it sees a fury little chew toy. That is natural selection. Hitler and the Colombine killers used Darwin's theory to justify their racism.

Side note: Darwin was a horrible racist. Darwin's Beagle survey gave the scientific community an understanding of how life evolved. Fundamentalists hate evolution because their literal interpretation of the Bible makes no mention of dinosaurs and primates. They dare not question Christian theory that women was created from Adam's rib.