Ed Montanari Considering A Run For City Council

With the announcement that the City of St. Petersburg is sponsoring an international design competition for the redesign and replacement of the landmark Pier, any claim Mayor Bill Foster or the City Council had on the mantle of leadership has now been fully relinquished.

The leaders in City Hall have spent two years (and Lord knows how many tax dollars) trying to fashion a vision for the antiquated Pier.  But one person’s idea only seemed to be as good as the next.

Put a roller coaster at the end of the Pier.  Or a casino.  Or an amphitheater.  Revert the building back to its Mediterranean origins.  Or revert the space back to its true origins and knock the whole damn thing down.

The future of the downtown landmark has been debated for years. Many believe it’s time to abandon the inverted pyramid design that was created in the 1970s and come up with something new to draw both tourists and residents.

Others are fighting to save the Pier, like the group VoteOnThePier.com, which is collecting signatures to put the Pier’s fate before voters.  But I doubt that group will get anywhere.  After all, their design for a political yard sign is so ugly, why would anyone put faith in them to design a new Pier?

The situation with what to do with the Pier is almost as contentious as the debate over what to do with Albert Whitted Airport was a decade ago.  The future of a historic city landmark hung in the balance with dozens of ideas and plans being floated before confused residents.  The difference between then and now is that at least then, Rick Baker and Jamie Bennett took a stand on what to do with the Airport.

Today, the city has resorted to a design contest.  I’m starting to think the only way to get Mayor Bill Foster to care about this issue is to tell him there are homeless people sleeping there.  Then, and only then, will you get Hizzoner’s attention.

What happens when residents and officials like some of each of the plans, but not all of one of the plans?

If we had genuine, decisive leaders on City Council I wouldn’t be worried.

And therein lies the dilemma of Ed Montanari.

If you are involved at any level in the affairs of St. Petersburg, you know Ed Montanari, the plain-spoken, razor-sharp airline pilot who sits on damn near every board or committee created to explore or improve (fill in the blank).  Often regarded as a shadow mayor or Councilman #9, Ed is friends with both Rick Baker and Bill Foster, with those in Old Northeast and Midtown, with both Goliath Davis and SaintPetersblog.com.

Ed should be on the City Council already.  Unfortunately, four years ago, in an election marked by abysmal turnout, Montanari was defeated by a former wrestling coach named Bill Dudley. 

The highlight of Dudley’s time on City Council, besides a complete lack of new business items being brought before that body, is Dudley’s brother, Fred, being arrested for starting a fistfight in City Hall, after Bill voted to vacate the sidewalk in front of BayWalk to private developers.

But because Bill Dudley taught drivers’ education and wrestling to generations of high school students and because, being retired, Dudley is able to show up at any and every ribbon-cutting or awards ceremony, Bill Dudley is said to be doing a good job on City Council and mostly deserving of a second term.

What to do with 1) BayWalk 2) the Pier 3) the Port 4) a new police station and 5) the Rays’ stadium are all issues hanging over the future of the City of St. Petersburg, which seems only to succeed in spite of its elected leadership.  And these issues are not being solved because we have leaders so lacking in imagination and vision on City Council.

Ed Montanari’s friends and advisers would love to see Ed on City Council, but they don’t want to see him run against Bill Dudley and lose.  This time around, it won’t be any easier for Ed.  He’ll have less money and less support running against an incumbent.  An incumbent who has made sure to attend as many Republican meetings as possible, so as to cut into Montanari’s base of support.  An incumbent who is being advised by County Commissioner Neil Brickfield.

Nothing could be worse for Ed Montanari than losing for a second time to Bill Dudley.  His political career, for all intents and purposes, would be over.

But in a City which has lost three of its sworn officers to gunfire, which faces the challenges described above, which, despite it all, continues to serve as a beacon within a state all but falling off into the Gulf, there is more to be concerned about than one’s own political future.

Sometimes, a leader simply has to dare greatly.

And therein lies Ed Montanari’s true dilemma.