How owning a business in Clearwater is like dining at a bad restaurant you really, really want to like
By Dru Jeanis
© 2009 www.keepthefish.com
Howdy! My name is Dru Jeanis. My wife Irma and I own a company called Pure Postcards. Our business has provided scores of jobs for local residents and channeled millions of dollars per year through Clearwater since we bought our buildings here in 2003. We also own income property in the downtown area.
Thus, I believe I have a vested interest in whether this city is business-friendly or not. Like many business owners, I was reluctant to come forth publicly with my criticisms of our city. It is kind of like when you go to a nice restaurant and you have bad service or food early on in the meal. You know you are going to be staying through dessert and you don’t want anyone spitting in your entrée, because they thought you were rude back when you complained about the appetizer.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to meet many, many other business owners. Most of them are genuinely good people, trying to live part of the American Dream and do the best they can. Since announcing my support of the Quintero’s case against the city of Clearwater I have made many new friends in the business community.
Let me say this about every single business owner I have met, and every single citizen I have met, everyone, that is, who does not work for the city of Clearwater: They all think Herb & Lori Quintero are on the right about both the fish picture controversy and the 1st Amendment banner. Period.
There is a difference though, between the reactions of business owners and that of citizens when they first hear of the case.
Business owners tend to nod and perk up while hearing about it, they start to get excited a bit, and then – as soon as you are finished telling the story – they tell you a story about the run-in(s) they themselves had with the city. Or they tell you a story about a problem their wife or husband had. Or their best friend or neighbor or the guy who owns the restaurant they eat at every Wednesday morning or the locksmith they go to or the pharmacy they shop at or the jeweler who replaces their watch batteries every November.
Citizens react differently. They simply ask, “How could they do that?” or “What is wrong with the fish pictures?” or “Why doesn’t the city want a mural there?” Sometimes it comes out even more simply: “Huh?”
You see, citizens have rarely had any dealing with the parts of a city that tell businesses what they can and cannot do. They tend to trust the government and think that problems about such things as selective enforcement of codes or zoning issues are but technical details or isolated incidents.
Business owners know what dealing with a city government is like. Anyone with a brick and mortar shop or office or studio or warehouse has had to deal with things like permits and inspections and sign codes. In a word, they have experience.
Business owners, especially those who own buildings or invest in signage to promote the products and/or services they offer, plan on being in the same location for a while. They want to be there for the length of their lease or long enough to pay their mortgage down. They do not want to complain and get on the bad side of their city when they first set up shop – the period of time when they need to go through the initial permitting and inspection procedures required.
So business owners generally act quite polite and civil, even when they are mistreated or singled out for different treatment than other businesses within blocks of their own.
Not unlike restaurant patrons receiving bad food or thoughtless service, they hope what they are experiencing will improve and do not want it to get truly nasty.
The difference is that meals end after only minutes or hours, and one can always choose other establishments to patronize from then on. Once one opens a business in a particular building, one must dine on what one’s city dishes out for a very long time.
Dru Jeanis has written articles for national magazines as well as several guest editorials for the St. Petersburg Times. One of which, on the subject of downtown redevelopment in Clearwater, can be viewed here.
His recent letter to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times about the Complete Angler case can be found here.
Dru Jeanis can be reached via email at: editor@keepthefish.com
