The Baker Campaign takes to TV, Cable and Social Media to get the word out on the Environment

Rick Kriseman’s tact of taking on the Baker campaign over the environment may be about to back fire.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

The St. Petersburg Mayoral election campaign shifted into  high gear over the 4^th of July Weekend with the Baker Campaign and its companion Political Action Committee Seamless Florida releasing three videos for television, cable and social media.

You can view them here:

From the Political Action Committee Seamless Florida

“The Disaster” (60sec) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78L0-GfW3KA

“The Disaster” (30sec ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18BA8nJomMg

From the Rick Baker for Mayor Campaign

Watch “Green City”: https://vimeo.com/222916205/e21f1b92eb

It looks like Rick Kriseman’s tact of taking on the Baker campaign over the environment may be about to back fire.

In reality, Kriseman has done very little other than parrot the Democratic Party line of the Paris climate change deal. Lots of noise to get attention, but no substance to back it up.

Add to that the fact he participated in and over saw the biggest Tampa Bay sewage dump ever by pushing the shutdown of the Albert Whitted Wastewater Treatment Plant and then repeatedly lied about it.

Kriseman repeatedly brags about the $300 plus million he has pledged to repair the City’s sewer system, but there has been no indication of where the money will come from nor any substantive plan as to how the funds will be spent.

Compare all of that to former Mayor Rick Baker’s accomplishments during his two terms.

St. Petersburg was designated Florida’s first “Green City” thanks to Baker’s excellence in programs to conserve water, plant trees (20, 000+), preserve estuaries and sensitive lands, use fuel-efficient technologies, and provide earth-friendly recycling programs;

In 2008, Baker signed an Executive Order (08-01) putting in place new green standards for the city to meet, some of which included:

Creating a carbon scorecard that measures facility energy use and vehicle energy use in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions;

Reducing energy use by transitioning the city’s fleet to ethanol and biodiesel vehicles, replacing incandescent lights with fluorescent lights, and converting street signals and lights to more efficient technologies;

Requiring new city facilities and renovations of major existing city facilities to meet U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED-NC or LEED-EB standards;

Invested tens of millions of dollars in improvements to sewer plants, pipes and lift stations throughout the city to reduce the threat of overflow – resulting in St. Petersburg being named the best maintained large system in Florida; [i]

Lake Maggiore underwent an eight-year multimillion dollar effort to treat storm water going into the lake, dredge the muck out of the lake and return a eutrophicated lake to a healthy state;

Created CityTrails, a pedestrian and bike path system designed to get people out of their cars - building bike trails and sidewalks throughout the city with the goal of completing the largest bike path system in the southeastern United States;

Developed pilot “Solar Park” at Albert Whitted Park, followed by grants to fund additional solar panels throughout the city.

Baker’s accomplishments and dedication to St. Pete’s environment are proven. Kriseman's is all lies, smoke and mirrors.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Be sure to follow me on Pintrest (Doc Webb),  Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures: Contributor to Rick Baker for Mayor Campaign 

Please comment below.