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What do skateboarders and jig fishermen have in common?
Both groups have found themselves the victims of outdated thinking in recent weeks.
Let's start with the skateboarders.
Clearwater, being a beach town, has a vibrant and growing surf, skim and skate scene. The city's new BeachWalk promenade, with its joggers, bicyclists, roller bladders and skateboarders, is definitely a hip spot.
City officials deserve a lot of credit. They did a great job designing the promenade. It is perfect for longboarding, the style of skateboarding this 48-year-old father of two enjoys whenever possible.
I doubt friends and relatives would describe me as your typical "skate punk." I prefer khaki shorts, plain gray T-shirts and clean white socks, pulled up a little higher than I care to admit.
The youngsters (what I call everybody under 30) who skate along the beach might see me and think I'm a kook, geek, old-timer, grandpa, etc., but I doubt they would call me a criminal. Yet that is what skateboarders such as I would be labeled had cooler heads not prevailed.
In July, city officials banned beach-side skateboarding after some local merchants complained of rude and nasty behavior by some local skateboarders. The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was when a 14-year-old skater cursed a store owner and blew his nose on a female customer's leg.
The merchants, many of whom have owned their businesses long before that ill-mannered teenager was born, had reason to be angry. But rather than attempt to address the problem by reaching out to the skaters through the local skate shops, the business owners went straight to the city.
The word was issued. The signs were posted. Skate on Clearwater Beach and you will get an $88 fine. The skaters rallied. But rather than behave like punks and trash the "No Skateboarding" signs, they marched on city hall, and somebody listened.
Mayor Frank Hibbard, to his credit, discussed the problem with the skaters and the merchants. Then, without forming any committees to study the issue, he found a solution, and it's called compromise.
BeachWalk would remain open to old guys like me and my gang of grommets, ages 5, 6 and 8, and Mandalay Avenue, with its wonderful array of restaurants and skate shops, would be the realm of pedestrians. Reason prevailed over emotion. Chalk one up for democracy.
Now for Boca Grande …
This town about two hours south of Tampa Bay is known for its tarpon fishing. In fact, from April through June, you won't find a better place to catch them anywhere in the world.
For years, the homegrown guides who fish with live bait like their fathers before them and their fathers before them have been fighting with the out-of-town guides who come in and fish primarily with artificial lures.
The old-timers say the newcomers "snag" the tarpon with jigs and don't catch them fair and square. The newcomers say the old-timers are jealous whiners because they can't win any big-money events.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission attempted to mediate this mess by passing complicated laws that apparently have done nothing to calm the tempers on both sides.
From personal experience, suffice it to say that civility and angling etiquette have been in short supply in recent years. Last month, this dispute reached a new low when the Boca Grande Fishing Guides Association filed suit in Tallahassee in hope of banning the artificial lure commonly called the jig, calling users "… a group of alleged fishermen, identified as 'jiggers' under the pretext of sport fishermen …"
You get the picture. It looks like Boca Grande is in need a peace envoy. Mayor Hibbard, are you up for the job?
Terry Tomalin can be reached at (727) 893-8808.
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