Is the Community Maritime Park Plan Too Ambitious?

To show how slowly Pensacola has been moving on our own multi-use stadium, Rick Outzen has been blogging about the completion of the new baseball stadium in Springdale, AR. The city approved their stadium six weeks before we approved ours; last month, their baseball team moved into it.

Meanwhile, ground hasn’t even been broken on the CMP property. Heck – the city hasn’t even cleaned-up the property in preparation for the ground-breaking. The development of the Community Maritime Park – where the multi-use stadium will be located – is moving at a snail’s pace. Is this because the CMP plan is too ambitious?

Today, Rick Outzen writes in Rick’s Blog about his radio interview yesterday with Springdale Mayor Jerre Van Hoose. The mayor told IN Your Head Radio that the town planned to develop around the ballpark after its opening. Outzen writes, “Springdale didn’t wait for the perfect master plan for the area around the ballpark. Only now have they started working developing the acreage around the park.”

Pensacola is going to construct several facilities on the CMP property at the same time. Along with the multi-use stadium, the CMP plans to build a museum, conference center and mixed-use development. Is this too much to build at one time?

Due to the ambitious nature of the plan, maybe the city should focus on building one piece of the CMP, and not the whole thing. The multi-use stadium wouldn’t even need to be the first thing built.

It’s worth considering.

Pensacola Pastor/Radio Host Wins Third Party’s Presidential Nomination

Chuck Baldwin, the pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church is now the Constitution Party’s nominee for President of the United States. The party’s website says Baldwin beat out, “eight prospective nominees, including former U.N. Ambassador and Asst. Secretary of State in the Reagan administration, Dr. Alan Keyes”.

Baldwin was the Constitution Party’s vice-presidential nominee in 2004.

His views could be compared to Ron Paul’s libertarian-leaning brand of conservatism. The pastor is against abortion and the war in Iraq. He’d also like to abolish the IRS and Federal Reserve. Like Paul, Baldwin believes the Constitution should guide government when they make policy decisions.

If he wins the presidency, Baldwin pledges to “cultivate a climate in D.C. which reins in government and reminds those in power they are bound by limits set in place by our Constitution”.

Baldwin’s rhetoric sounds just like Paul’s. When he accepted his nomination, Baldwin said, “Dissatisfied Americans have come to view political insiders as carriers of big government disease”.

Maybe Baldwin will be able to get his message out there by catching fire on the Internet like Paul has done during his run for the White House.

Tour of IP Plant Would Be Interesting

I wish I could attend to the tour of Cantonment’s International Paper Plant that the company will be conducting on May 8th at 5 p.m.

I love learning about how things are made. Have you ever watched the television show How It’s Made on The Discovery Channel? I love that program.

On the tour, the PNJ says you'll be able to find out how the plant makes materials for "baby diapers, feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products". Come on - don't tell me that wouldn't be interesting.

I recently toured the Bureau of Engraving and Printing facility in Washington, D.C. and it was a fascinating experience. It was really neat to see how America's paper money is made.

Is there anyone out there who shares my fondness for the manufacturing process? Does anyone plan on attending the tour?

Is it Time to Consider Natural Gas Drilling in Area Waters?

Klaus Gorbandt of Gulf Breeze recently wrote a viewpoint in the PNJ that advocates for natural gas drilling in the waters off our coastline. The geologist thinks there’s an impending energy crisis in America and we need to consider drilling in areas that have been deemed untouchable by our area’s environmental community.

Gorbandt writes, “Considering that natural gas prices, and consequentially home utility costs, are going through the roof, it seems the time has come to immediately and selectively lift the restrictions in the national interest.”

What do you think; should we start drilling for natural gas in the waters off the northwest Florida coastline?

I’m still ambivalent, but I know one thing; Americans won’t let environmental concerns trump economic concerns forever. If our energy situation gets too bad, we will allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Recommended Reading for the City and CMPA

In light of the news that Pelican's Park at the CMP will be delayed even longer because the master developer candidates need more time to prepare their requests for proposals.

I'm beginning to think the city and CMPA need some help with constructing Pelican's Park. I'm not an expert in stadium construction so I got them some help from academia. Enjoy!

The Economics and Politics of Sports Facilities

Why Do Some of Us Bad Talk America's Power and Wealth?

I don’t get it.

As an American, I can really appreciate the power we hold. There hasn’t been another society in history that has allowed more people to reach the heights of power. It is my belief that: Power is being distributed throughout our country. In our society, power is no longer centralized in one place like it has been in the past; Power has been spread throughout by the leveling power of capitalism.

Power equals wealth and no other nation in the history of the world have enjoyed the opulence and privilege that we all have. We can get anything at our beckon call; at the click of a button, every consumer good imaginable can be at our door. Everything from: Pizza, televisions, sex toys and Viagra can be delivered to your door in one day.

We have created a society in which some Americans could actually never leave their house for the rest of their lives, and survive. It could happen.

Some shy away from taking pleasure in this, but I don’t. I think overall, our way of life is improving the lot of the world. Yes - some are at a disadvantage, but on a whole, more people are doing better than they’ve ever done throughout history.

I don’t have a quote to back that up; challenge it if you’d like.

We should all take pleasure and pride in our way of life. Embrace it; you’ve earned those privileges. We work hard; we play hard. Like Shuck and Wilson say in Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation: We “may be self-absorbed, but who isn’t?”

We are the envy of the world; we shouldn’t feel bad about it. Americans shouldn’t feel bad about our power and wealth because I don’t think we use it in a way that puts people at a disadvantage. Because our country doesn’t put people at a disadvantage, we don’t have to feel bad about our way of life.

Do you think our power and wealth puts people at a disadvantage?

Did Party-Throwers Have Permit to be in Parking Lot?

In today's story, the PNJ doesn't go into much detail when they talk about why "a crowd of up to a thousand young people" showed up in the parking lot near the gate to Fort Pickens Park.

It seems as though there was going to be a hip-hop concert/party in the parking lot. The PNJ said: "Marquel Kelson, 31, a rap artist with the local group The Tanyards, said he and several other performers went to the beach about 9 a.m. Saturday to set up for a party that was to start at 2 p.m. and end at 7 p.m. But he said deputies arrived at 5 p.m. and told them to leave."

The PNJ doesn't confirm if The Tanyards had a permit to have a concert/party in the parking lot. If they didn't, defending the actions of the ESCO is going to get a whole lot easier.

All of the available evidence seems to put them in the clear.

Counties Address Property Rights on Santa Rosa Island

The Pensacola Beach Blog has great coverage of the Santa Rosa Island property rights issue that will be addressed today during a special joint meeting between Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.

Let's hope some progress is made at the meeting; it's simply unfair to double-tax the residents of Santa Rosa Island.

Slowly Sifting Through Beach Brawl Information

I'm slowly getting caught up on the incident that took place on Saturday at Pensacola Beach; there's coverage all over the place.

The PNJ, Rick's Blog and the Pensacola Beach Blog all have coverage of the arrests that followed the near-riot on Pensacola Beach. There's even Youtube videos of the event.

After reviewing the videos, it looks like the ECSO was justified in their actions. The crowd was getting out-of-control and deputies arrested the troublemakers.

I'm going to review more of this information and later today, I hope to have some in-depth analysis of the incident.

Chris' Corner 04 28 08

Getting back into groove at work after a much needed vacation in Pensacola.

I'll be living the bachelor life for the next three days; my girlfriend is going on a business trip to Philadelphia tomorrow and she'll be back on Thursday.

In the morning, I have to drop her off at the train station in DC.

What shall I do with the time?

Don’t We Kind of Need Earmarks?

Saturday, The Washington Post published a piece by three mayors that defends the use of Congress’s spending on earmarks. They argue that earmarks buy important things that communities need in order to thrive and stay safe.

They do have a point; in order to stay prosperous, communities need Congress to spend money on things like roads, social services and police. Whether we like it or not, we must spend money on these things. Some government at the local, state or federal level would have to spend money on these needs.

But, do we need to take care of this spending at the federal level?

Couldn’t this spending take place at the local level? We could, but don’t you think there would be a disparity between municipalities all across America. Cities with high property values would flourish and cities in urban areas would flounder.

If earmark spending was transferred to the local level, there’d be an even bigger inequality between the rich and poor in America. We pretty much need earmark spending to take place the federal level.

Won’t don’t need to kill earmark spending; we just need to re-think the way in which we spend this money.

Chris' Corner: 04 26 08

I took care of some major spring cleaning today. It was about time; the cleaning was really needed.

If only I could just get the yard in order.