There may be more options for City Council on Pier decision

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Coauthor of: So You Want Blog .

Steve Nichols Channel 13 has raised an interesting question in his Fox News 13 piece: What Happens if council can’t agree on a Pier design?

Steve explores the issues raised by William Ballard in his letter to City Council which can be seen at There may be more options for City Council on Pier decision where the letter is reproduced in its entirety.

MEMORANDUM

To: The Honorable Charlie Gerdes, Chair, and Members of City Council of

St. Petersburg, Florida

From: William C. Ballard, a resident and registered voter of the City

Date: April 9, 2015

Subject: Options for City Council in the event the pier design selection committee report to Council accords the number one ranking to a design concept which was not favored by the City’s voters (as determined by the City’s own non-scientific survey and confirmed by St. Pete Polls scientific survey)

Click here to see full text of Mr. Ballard’s letter: There may be more options for City Council on Pier decision

Comment:

Janelle Irwin has an interesting analysis in her saintpetersblog Post: Latest development in Pier saga may give City Council more power .

The real news here is the shift of City Attorney John Wolf from what had been a fairly staunch support of the up or down vote. When questioned by the Mayor regarding the Ballard letter, according to the Nichol’s report, Wolf replied, “Yes, Mayor they could do that, adding there are other options for the city council.

The other thing worthy of note is the declining level professionalism coming from the mayor’s office.

Kriseman: “Build the damn Pier”

Kevin King in a tweet to Steve Nichols: @SteveNicholsFOX @DeniseWhitetv Whole RFQ process; presentations, public outreach, feedback, rankings, etc. Au Reviour, my friend.

I think we should expect a little more from the million dollar Kriseman Mayor’s office.

With Charlie Gerdes as Chairman and a lot of public scrutiny, City Council is not going to roll over and create a public fiasco on the Pier. Kriseman needs to gather it all up, put a lid on his band of lackeys and come to grips with the fact he is about to go 0 and 2 on the Rays and the Pier.

E-mail Doc at mail to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook. See Doc’s Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos