Northpinellas: Jeb Bush plays down brother's Yale days

Gov. Jeb Bush visited Dunedin's Pioneer Park on Tuesday to announce an elder care initiative before an audience of 300. Among them was Dunedin City Manager and Yale University alumnus John Lawrence, who waited after the governor's speech to shake his hand.

Lawrence said Bush immediately noticed the blue tie with the Yale seal he was wearing and commented about how his brother George W. Bush attended the school.

"As a matter of fact, I was in your brother's class," Lawrence told Bush. "I met him when he was 18, if you can believe that."

According to Lawrence, Bush responded by saying, "Ah, yes. But the statute of limitations has run out on that."

"Apparently, he is somewhat aware of his brother's reputation then," Lawrence said later.

LEAVE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL: The group in charge of the governor's Front Porch Florida inner-city revitalization program in St. Petersburg, the Community Revitalization Council, has had its share of struggles.

Its recent meeting was one of the first since the governor's point woman for Front Porch statewide, Alison Hewitt, dissolved the original, conflict-ridden council and let the community choose a new one.

Task one for the new council is to finish spending about $22,000 left over from last year's budget. When the money is spent, the council can apply for a share of this year's $1.2-million for Front Porch cities.

Many Revitalization Council members are new to the board (and to government work), so the board's discussion about whether and how to appoint a finance committee stretched on for nearly an hour.

That was anathema to one political veteran on the board. David Welch, a former City Council member and a professional accountant, who finally muttered (in an exasperated stage whisper), "Twenty-two thousand dollars? I could spend it in 10 minutes!"

JAY-LIGHT SAVING TIME:St. Petersburg City Council member Bill Foster sauntered into the Policy and Planning Subcommittee meeting at 10:40 a.m. Thursday and made a perfunctory apology to his colleagues for being late.

"I was on Jay Time today," Foster then cracked in the general direction of colleague Jay Lasita.

Ten minutes later, the subcommittee wrapped up its agenda. Foster, incredulous, began asking what happened to the other items on the agenda.

"We started at 10 o'clock, Bill," subcommittee Chair Rene Flowers scolded.

"Ten o'clock!" Foster exclaimed. "I had 10:30!"

Lasita immediately avenged his name.

"So we have Jay Time, which is 10 minutes late, and we have Bill Time, which is 40 minutes late," Lasita said.

TYING THE KNOT: Tarpon Springs City Commissioner Cindy Domino recently made a surprise announcement about her wedding plans:

"Beverley is going to marry me," she said during a commission meeting.

Actually, Domino will marry Bruce Sanner on May 26. But Beverley Billiris, Domino's colleague on the City Commission, will perform the ceremony.

Billiris, whose wedding anniversary is May 25, became a notary public just for this occasion.

MAYOR IN THE MIDDLE: Largo Mayor Bob Jackson found himself surrounded Thursday night.

Although the meeting was supposed to be the county's opportunity to explain controversial plans for Ridgecrest, about a dozen Largo residents stood around the mayor, wondering how he could support a project they think will bring more traffic and crime into their neighborhood.

One carried a sign that read "Call Mayor Jackson. Ask why he is siding against Largo city residents." Others held small "Stop" signs in their hands.

Quickly, a few county officials and some Ridgecrest residents joined the crowd to listen to the conversation.

Meanwhile, the mayor's wife, Lucille, sat patiently behind her husband.

After about a half-hour of debate, many of the concerned residents trickled away.

The mayor considered the impromptu debate a draw.

"I think it's like what they've said about me over the years," Jackson said Friday. "They respect me, but they don't agree with me. I probably didn't make any converts."

RACE OF THE POET STATESMEN: St. Petersburg mayoral candidates Patrick Bailey and Louis Miceli have not raised a single dollar in campaign contributions, but each hopes his message and appeal will win him the race.

Last week, a poem Bailey wrote to inspire supporters appeared verbatim in this space. This week, Miceli submitted his own composition to the St. Petersburg Times. In the interest of equal time, here is Miceli's work, exactly as he submitted it:

"It not how munch Donation the Candidate get. / It not how many sign the Candidate put out. / It not how many flyer They pass out. / That will the race. It what the Candidate stand for. / The People need to know that the donation that are not use go to the city after the Election. (Editor's note: State law actually gives candidates two other choices: Return pro-rated amounts to contributors or donate the surplus to charity.) The Corporation and People who give the maximum donation use it as a Tax write off for Their Income Tax. Don't look at how munch money the Candidate get. / Don't look at the sign and flyer. Look at the Candidate and see what They stand for. Open your eye and look."

- Times staff writers Leon Tucker, Bryan Gilmer, Katherine Gazella and Eric Stirgus contributed to this report.

Back to North Pinellas news

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

Special Links

Mary Jo Melone

Howard Troxler

From the Times
North Pinellas desks