|
Sept. 14, 2009
St. Petersburg City Council and MayorPO Box 2842 St. Petersburg, FL 33731 Dear St. Petersburg Council Members and Mayor Rick Baker, Several members of St. Pete for Peace and Veterans for Peace gave PowerPoint presentations at the September 2, 2009 Development Review Commission that focused on the issues surrounding the proposed vacation of the sidewalk in front of Baywalk (videos can be seen here). Enclosed are hard copies of those presentations for your review. Topics of the presentations included:
We the citizens of St Petersburg take our civil rights quite seriously. We are also very aware of the true economic and societal reasons behind the financial collapse of Baywalk: an 11.3% unemployment rate in Tampa Bay, the first population decline in Florida in more than 60 years, and turbulent ownership and on-site management of the property, just to name a few. When you look at the facts logically (again, please refer to our presentations), it is quite obvious that protesters are not responsible for Baywalk’s downfall. The city officials of St. Petersburg cannot accept the truth that bad management, unstable ownership, high-end products, and the worst recession since the 1930s caused Baywalk’s collapse. Instead, they blame their fellow residents who are exercising their First Amendment rights. It’s easy to blame protesters, but it’s more difficult and politically incorrect to blame young black people, which, along with the possible infusion of $6 million, are the unspoken reasons for the proposed vacation. Unfortunately many people in our wonderful city of St. Petersburg still have racist tendencies (including a city official who said he doesn’t go to Baywalk because he doesn’t like to be “hangin’ with the bros”). Some want to keep Baywalk white and sterile, presumably so people are not afraid to come and spend their money in St. Petersburg. The time of forced segregation (e.g., no black people living north of Central Ave) in St. Petersburg has ended. Cities all around the world achieve greatness by welcoming diversity and vibrancy. We want to live in a city that is welcoming, not one that promotes social divisions. The slashing of homeless people’s tents was a devastating image that will take years for the city of St. Petersburg to overcome. Taking away the Constitutional rights of its citizens will add to the stigma that St. Petersburg is an unkind place to live and visit. Enclosed is an article published in Creative Loafing entitled Friday night gunshots at BayWalk: Happy to be alive, sad at the reality of the situation (read). The incident, which occurred last month (without the presence of protesters) is detailed in St. Petersburg police report # 2009-62859. It is quite interesting that a shooting at Baywalk, which occurred in the midst of the sidewalk vacation proposal, is barely being discussed. This is just one more case in point showing that Baywalk’s problems have nothing to do with protesters. George Washington said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” Don’t take away our freedom of speech. Preventing protesters and young, black people from being in front of Baywalk will not solve the economic or mismanagement issues facing the shopping complex. We the citizens of St. Petersburg, those by which you are mandated to answer to by the city’s organizational chart, say that YES the U.S. Constitution is relevant, and NO, moving protesters across the street is not a sufficient alternative. Our First Amendment rights are not negotiable. Sincerely, St. Pete for Peace info@stpeteforpeace.org cc: Glenn Katon, ACLU Florida John Wolfe, St. Petersburg City Attorney Mark Winn, St. Petersburg Chief Assistant Attorney Thomas McGeachy, Ciminelli Real Estate Services Mike McGregor, Vice President, CW Capital Cristina Silva, St. Petersburg Times Tim Nickens, Editor of Editorials, St. Petersburg Times |