As fire wanes, chief pauses for new tattoo

By KATHRYN WEXLER and SUE CARLTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 17, 2000

It was about 5:30 p.m. Friday, and the flames were taking their last licks at the historic, crumbling Blue Ribbon Supermarket in Ybor City. Seventh Avenue near 15th Street was in a shambles. Firefighters were hot, strung out. Hundreds of onlookers behind police tape craned their necks to glimpse the fallen 80-year-old landmark.

But other things were weighing on the mind of Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Pete Botto.

Tattoos.

He didn't have to look far. Separated from the burnt building by a parking lot was a store with "Freak Inc." painted on its window.

Botto, wearing a TFR polo shirt, rushed out of the excitement and into the quiet, darkened room where several tattooed customers were waiting out the final throes of the fire, by then under control by Botto's troops.

"I need five letters," Botto began. "Can you do it in red?"

Owner Mike Cooper stepped forward, a man with a shaved head covered in sinuous tattooed lines and his grandmother's young face etched on his right breast.

"As soon as the power comes back on," said Cooper, noting the power was out because of the blaze next door.

Botto was not to be thwarted. How about hooking up a generator, he suggested.

Within 15 minutes or so, the lights flickered back on. Botto, who had stepped outside, returned. Cooper got to work.

Fifty bucks later, Botto was the proud bearer of some new, permanent art. On his left hip, in red, Old English script: "DAVID."

"My grandson," Botto explained, as jokes about the married chief's sexual orientation went around the room.

Botto said his desire was threefold: First, he wanted to support the Ybor business. Second, he'd been planning to get the tattoo for a while. And third, the fire appeared to be well under control.

He is a man who likes to decorate his body, fires be damned. Also on his left hip are the names of his two other grandchildren. On his right hip are tattoos of two Tampa Bay Bucs insignias, the old one and the new one.

"I don't plan on doing a whole lot more," Botto said. "I'm running out of spaces."

BY THE NUMBERS: When it comes to race and gender, there are plenty of good questions to be asked about the face of Florida's appointed judiciary.

Are men applying more often than women?

Do black candidates get a fair shake?

How often are Hispanic names making the short list to the governor?

But in recent years, those who filled out applications for judgeships were not asked about their race or gender, presumably so they would not feel they were being denied a chance based on those factors.

That made it hard to track who's applying, getting interviewed and getting nominated, and maybe more importantly, who's not. (The St. Petersburg Times reported earlier this year that while women comprise 27 percent of Florida's lawyers, they are only 18 percent of Hillsborough judicial applicants. For that report, the Times called applicants and added the numbers itself -- a painstaking process even for one county.)

The Florida Bar may have come up with a solution for gathering the numbers. Application packets will now include a form asking for race and gender. It's voluntary, but it could help to track the trends.

That's not the only change facing those who hope to one day wear the black robes. The Hillsborough nominating commission, now headed by attorney Anthony T. Martino, has added two new questions.

First, is the lawyer rated in Martindale-Hubbell? (That's a national directory considered the unofficial who's who of lawyers.)

Second, is the lawyer board-certified by the Florida Bar in a specific area of law? (That distinction is considered a prestigious benchmark in a legal career.)

Each hopeful is also invited to submit a passport-style photo with an application, so committee members can better identify them.

- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at (813) 226-3383 or wexler@sptimes.com. Sue Carlton can be reached at (813) 226-3346 or carlton@sptimes.com.

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