Tampa City Council, Tampa Tribune and South Tampa

Finally the City Council meeting Transscipts were put up fo the 1/19/06 meeting

My name is Randy Baron.
. . . . , president of the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association which according to the Tampa Tribune now resides in South Tampa.

You heard earlier details about the heights project, in Tampa Heights. That according to the Tampa Tribune is in South Tampa.

You are going to hear later about a project that's going on in CRA district in New Tampa. That resides in South Tampa.

And you are going to hear about our Seminole Heights strategic business plan which also, according to Tampa Tribune, is in South Tampa.

Now, I know that the Tampa Tribune is a private entity. However, it creates a public perception. And when the Tampa Tribune discontinues the central Tampa section and moves into a South Tampa section, it creates the perception that central Tampa, Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights, East Tampa, West Tampa, all those neighborhoods are not important.

>>MARY ALVAREZ
>>> And Wellswood.

And I just want you to know that as neighborhood association president, I received numerous complaints that we no longer have our own section. And I just want to pass that along to council. Councilman Alvarez, you represent Wellswood and West Tampa. Councilman white, you represent Seminole Heights and East Tampa. The other council people represent all of that section. And I'm just wondering whether or not council can take recognition of the fact that this will have an impact on the ability of these areas to attract businesses, to have redevelopment projects, and I just wonder if anything can be done about that. If it can be said, let the Tampa Tribune know of the impact of this decision.

>>MARY ALVAREZ
We will certainly do our best to get to the Tribune editors or whoever the powers may be there to make this correction. They've done this once before. So they just need to be educated. But thank you.

A further note: According to the Tribune, Tampa City Council and Downtown Tampa is in South Tampa.