St. Pete sewage scandal – mayor takes cue from Duke Energy, seeks state bailout

At a meeting of the Pinellas County Legislative Delegation on Tuesday, St. Pete mayor Rick Kriseman claimed that he and “his top aides” didn’t know about a crucial 2014 sewage consultant’s report until last week. Yet somehow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) knew about the report, and disclosed at the delegation meeting that they had received…

Elected official supports whistleblower – says St. Pete sewer dept. told him same story a year ago

Gulfport city council member Dan Liedtke today posted a one minute video online about the St. Pete sewage debacle. Liedtke also offered some damning comments to the Guardian that are sure to further damage the credibility of beleaugered St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman. The video was recorded at a forum on February 12, 2016, long before the latest…

PSTA will spend 28% more next year, sales tax hike for transit may also return

On September 15th, the PSTA board voted 10-3 (video of the vote) to ask the Pinellas County commission to hike the millage rate from 0.7305 to 0.7500, a 2.7% increase. PSTA’s spending will increase by an eye-popping 28.3% next year (see page 9). Also, PSTA staff actions indicate that they may be preparing for another run at a sales…

Political pageantry at a Dunedin candidate forum

The Downtown Dunedin Merchants Association (DDMA) hosted a city commission candidate forum at the Bon Appétit restaurant on Wednesday evening. All six candidates attended. The candidates present were: mayor Julie Bujalski and her opponent commissioner Bruce Livingston vying for mayor, also Moe Freaney and Mike Jones vying for seat 1, and Heather Gracy  (incumbent) and Reuben Hepburn vying for seat…

Local Sierra Club gets city grant money, is strangely silent on sewage spills

On their website, the Suncoast Sierra Club (SSC) say they “participate in local environmental activities.” Yet the SSC, which is a local chapter of the national Sierra Club, has had nothing to say about the recent and multiple sewage spills in the Tampa Bay area. There have been no posts on the SSC’s website or their Facebook page about the sewage spills, nor…

Clearwater releases 4-5 million gallons of raw sewage, 65% of it at homeless center

The City of Clearwater announced Friday that it released an estimated 4-5 million gallons of raw sewage into the impoverished North Greenwood section of the city during Hurricane Hermine. The hurricane did not hit Clearwater, but caused heavy rains.  The data is for the first three days of September and reflects what was reported to the Florida Department…

Dunedin mayor received interest-free loan from city, clams up when questioned

As first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Dunedin mayor Julie Bujalski and her husband Tom were chronically delinquent in paying for their boat slip at the Dunedin city marina. They received lenient treatment by the City of Dunedin, treatment which no other boat slip renter received. Turns out that there’s more to the story. Through…

St. Pete loses $2.5 million per year on recycling – residents pick up the tab

In its own “scorecard”, the City of St. Petersburg claims its residential recycling program generated “savings” of $518,921 during the last year (August through July). However, the program actually costs residents $2.5 million dollars per year. The Guardian made a public records request to the city and asked, among other things, for records showing “the cost…