Bob Manning (1940-2011): An Irreplaceable Voice in St. Pete Beach's Development Debate

Bob Manning - THE St. Pete Beach Insider

Of the many voices raised on both sides of St. Pete Beach's ongoing debate on development, few (if any) were as determined, ubiquitous and influential as that of Bob Manning. 

Bob manifested his deep love of the City of St. Pete Beach and his fervent hope for its revitalization by crafting and tirelessly exercising his own distinctive style of grassroots activism...most notably, as a keen observer of our city's political events, as Editor and Pundit in Chief of the St. Pete Beach Insider, and as an ardent supporter of Save Our Little Village (the pro-development PAC). 

There was no mistaking Bob's views regarding the numerous lawsuits by residents Bill Pyle and Bruce Kadoura challenging the city's efforts to redevelop, and the impact of the City's self-imposed, Hometown Democracy-style requirement that all changes to the city's comprehensive plan be approved by a vote of the people.  As Bob often said to me during our many conversations about the St. Pete Beach litigation:  "My City is now broken because of our experiment with Hometown Democracy.  We need to fix it."


I honestly can't decide which is a stronger tribute to the power of Bob's advocacy:  1) the numerous residents who found in Bob's commentary a clear expression of the frustration they themselves felt with the costs and delays caused by the litigation against the City, or 2) the fact that Bob's work on the St. Pete  Beach Insider inspired the recent formation of a new "limited growth-oriented" PAC (the St. Pete Beach Chronicle) which will strive to present a response to the views and perspectives expressed in Bob's newsletter.

For my part, I have always regarded Bob with a deep sense of respect; not because we shared the same views (we disagreed as often as we agreed in matters of city politics), but because of his dedication to researching the many arcane details of the city's development plan, the meticulous care he devoted to insuring that his commentary was always solidly grounded in fact, and his willingness to devote so much of his time to sharing his views with his community.

It is true that Bob was often sharply critical of those whose words or deeds did not satisfy his personal measure of that which is in the best interests of the City, but in my eyes he was by no means a negative person.  In a village that has long suffered from unrestrained discord and vitriol, Bob was one of the few whose uniquely wry wit and mischievous humor often tempered his harshest criticisms. 

Most important, Bob Manning deeply loved St. Pete Beach, and he was a man who spared no expense of time or effort to do what he felt was needed to help his city attain its full potential as the most beautiful place on earth.    And for that, in my eyes, he was and will always be a true friend of St. Pete Beach.