- When the city of Tampa decided to build a streetcar line between downtown and the historic Ybor City area to the east, it chose to offer the names of each of the 11 station stops to the highest bidders in order to help finance the project.rnrn
But since one of the stops is at North Dale Mabry Highway, it was only natural that erstwhile city council candidate Joe Redner, who happens to own the Mons Venus cabaret on that same road, would put in a bid to have that station named after his club.rnrn
And that's when the excreta hit the fan.rnrn
"The fact that the term 'mons venus' is an anatomical reference that some people find offensive just to say would be essentially the equivalent of naming one of the stations the 'Turgid Erect Member Station,'" said Ed Crawford, a spokesman for HARTline, the historic area rapid transit system charged with building the streetcar project.rnrn
So Redner appeared before the Tampa City Council last Sept. 26 to plead his case, and though at least one council member, Rose Ferlita, agreed that Redner should be given an opportunity to buy one of the station names, in the end, on Jan. 6, Redner received a letter from the council rejecting (they were careful to note) the name, though not the individual.rnrn
"Since the term 'Mons Venus' can be construed as the name of a female body part, in accordance with the guidelines, it was found to be both controversial, and could be construed as derogatory towards women," the letter, signed by Tampa Historical Streetcar president Michael English, stated.rnrn
"Totally expected," Redner sighed. "Very subjective, nothing objective."rnrn
Redner said it was unfair to reject the name simply because it included the name of a body part.rnrn
"I don't know how they distinguish that from 'eye,' 'foot,' 'nose' or 'ear,'" he said.rnrn
Both English and Crawford said that even if Redner had tripled his initial offer of $150,000, the streetcar system wouldn't have gone for it.rnrn
"But we'd feel much worse about saying no," Crawford joked.rnrn
Sadly, the rejection comes at a time when only five of the stations are sponsored, and at least one of those - the Tampa Tribune stop, near the St. Pete Times Forum - is being paid for in trade: $125,000 worth of advertising for the streetcar line in the newspaper.rnrn
The letter did say that Redner could sponsor a station if he were willing to give it the name of, say, one of his other companies - Joe Redner Enterprises or Xtreme Total Health & Fitness - but Redner wouldn't go for it.rnrn
"I have no other intention of using any other name," he said.rnrn
Redner had supporters among the city's press, however. rnrn
"Just imagine it: Tampa could have a trolley stop named Desire," noted St. Petersburg Times columnist Mary Jo Melone.rnrn
As for Redner, he plans to run for the city council in District 6, which includes West Tampa; a seat currently held by Mary Alvarez. The seat is up for election in March.rnrn
Redner garnered 25 percent of the vote in an unsuccessful bid for Bob Buckhorn's District 3 city council seat in 1999.
