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Saul-Sena Embarrasses City, Self With Threats Made To Ikea

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

Ikea is an economic powerhouse that creates jobs, stimulates other businesses and attracts out-of-town visitors. Landing one of the chic Scandinavian furniture mega-stores causes most any city official in America to jump up and down with joy.

But Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena is stomping her feet, threatening to embarrass the company that plans to build a store on Adamo Drive near Ybor City.

In doing so she is embarrassing herself, the city and her environmental cause.

Saul-Sena says the proposed building and its site design are not green enough. She wants them to be friendlier to the environment and the site's surroundings.

Late last month, she wrote the company's president and threatened to "take this case to the public via YouTube videos of your site and embarrass you if you are unwilling to come up with a better plan. Please save yourself and the City of Tampa the shame of mediocrity and redesign your Tampa store to be sustainable."

It was a childish outburst, one that even Saul-Sena now concedes was "probably not a positive way to encourage good behavior." She says she was frustrated because the company had not responded to two previous correspondences.

But no amount of frustration justifies brutish treatment of an enterprise that has worked diligently to address city concerns.

The council approved the project 6-1, with only Saul-Sena objecting. Yet she sent her letter on council stationery. As a result, Tampa Economic and Urban Development Administrator Mark Huey was forced to write the company clarifying that the administration and city council still supported Ikea.

What kind of message does Saul-Sena's actions send to other enterprises that might want to locate in Tampa? Do what she says - regardless of cost - or be threatened and embarrassed?

It was lamentable behavior from a council member who sometimes seems indifferent to economic realities. This is the same council member who once spoke against tall buildings in downtown, who showed more concern for a vacant dime-store's "historic" façade than getting the building redeveloped, and whose plans to gussy up Ashley Boulevard would have caused gridlock.

To be sure, Saul-Sena's concern for sustainability - and historic preservation - is justified. There is nothing wrong with raising objections or proposing changes. Her idea for a shady, grassy parking lot that reduces heat has merit. But that doesn't mean Ikea, which is meeting all the city's standards, must adopt it.

The firm, which has only 29 stores in the United States and 237 worldwide, has a model that has proved efficient and effective for its business. It requires most customers to pick up their furniture in their cars after they are through shopping.

Moreover, the company is known for its environmental concern. The building will utilize steel and concrete made from recycled material and include solar panels.

The 350,000-square-foot store is expected to attract people from throughout central Florida (the nearest store is in Orlando). And since shoppers usually spend the day, nearby Ybor City and downtown restaurants and stores should benefit. Don't be surprised if other related outlets locate nearby, helping revive an area dominated by aging warehouses.

All this will create much-needed jobs and strengthen the community's economic base.

Economic benefits shouldn't always trump aesthetic concerns. But the Ikea building is no environmental threat. It just fails to meet the high-handed tastes of a city council member badly in need of a reality gene - and her own stationery.

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