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Letter to the editor

Rouson speech takes turn as old foe shows up

By MARCUS FRANKLIN
Published June 10, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Darryl Rouson was anxious. He was minutes from delivering a speech Thursday proposing the secession of Midtown from the city.

"It's a tough, tough issue," said Rouson, who spoke at the Renaissance Vinoy Golf Club.

But the local NAACP president's anxiety gave way to anger when he spotted a man who reminded him of another of his recent tough issues: Leo Calzadilla, who owns Purple Haze Tobacco & Accessories.

In April, a Pinellas County jury convicted Rouson of misdemeanor trespassing at the store. Rouson said his visit was an act of protest against the store's legal tobacco smoking pipes he says customers also use for illegal drugs.

"The chump that's in this crowd today ... who has profited off the illnesses and addictions of white kids coming into Midtown buying these tools of death of destruction had the nerve to walk in here today," a visibly upset Rouson said minutes into his speech.

Calzadilla said he attended the luncheon, sponsored by the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club, out of concern for Rouson's proposal for Midtown to secede. Calzadilla owns two businesses on 34th Street S, Midtown's western border.

After being thrown "a little off kilter," Rouson talked about Midtown possibly seceding.

"In many respects, the masses of black people feel like we're languishing in the corners of St. Petersburg's society and are like exiles in our own community," said Rouson, a 49-year-old lawyer who said he met with Mayor Rick Baker and Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis Thursday morning. "If Midtown is such a barren wasteland of crime and drugs and inappropriate neighborhoods for development, then give it back to us."

Rouson offered few specifics about the proposal or how basic city services would be provided.

St. Petersburg council member Earnest Williams, whose district includes part of Midtown, described Rouson's proposal as "ludicrous."

"When did the people of Midtown ask him to represent them in the first place?" said Williams, who didn't hear the speech. "What is his expertise in running government? How would we pay for any services? In other words I see it as a publicity stunt for his own personal gratification.

[Last modified June 10, 2005, 01:10:11]