For Immediate Release: Chapter Twenty-Five, Part 1

Essays and Lessons From 30 Years in Politics and Government

Hi, and welcome to the Sun Shine Republic. I’m really glad you’re here.

This is “For Immediate Release,” my essays and stories of politics, government, and a little bit of life in between. They span 30 years, from Little Rock, Arkansas to Washington, D.C. to St. Petersburg, Florida. I’ll be sending it out to paid subscribers here on Substack over the coming days and weeks. I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription and check it out. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you very much. I couldn’t do this without you.

As always, thanks for reading.

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2019-2021
St. Petersburg, Florida

“Conventional wisdom holds that cities are powerless, mere creatures of the state, subordinate political units of nations. In this view, cities have no natural powers, only governmental powers devolved by higher levels of government.

“But conventional wisdom is wrong. It mistakenly treats cities as just another layer of government rather than as what they truly are: powerful networks of institutions and ecosystems of actors that coproduce the economy and cosolve problems.”¹

COVID-19

It isn’t a press conference I want to have, but it is one we need. And though I am not a public health professional, something tells me it is one of many we will have over the coming days, weeks, and months. I’m not wrong. 

The previous December, a handful of people in Wuhan, China began to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19, shortness of breath and fever. By mid-January the Centers for Disease Control were publishing information on COVID-19 on their website, just as the first cases in America were popping up. 

Usually taking place in late March, we were days away from the wildly popular Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, easily one of the largest events in the city. The Grand Prix is shown to a world-wide audience, and features three days of racing and events. It is a wonderful advertisement for the Sunshine City, as well as a favorite of the racers and their teams. Some, like two-time winner Sebastien Bourdais, have even made their home in St. Pete.