Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Tampa Bay area political community is mourning the pending departure of one of its few remaining old-school, ace reporters.
News broke yesterday that Mark Puente, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is leaving the Tampa market and heading to sunny California to work for the L.A. Times.
Puente will be covering the Los Angeles Police Department.
Social media was ablaze with sentiments.
“Mark is an old-school, brass-knuckles reporter who knocks on doors and wears out shoe leather in pursuit of stories that protect citizens from predators in government and business,” wrote former Tampa Bay Times columnist and author Jeff Klinkenberg.
Puente worked for the Times 2010-2014 and then left to work at the Baltimore Sun before returning again to the Times in 2016.
He’s focused most of his work on investigative stories and most recently included uncovering corruption within CareerSource Tampa Bay that involved artificially inflating job placement numbers. Just this week FBI agents began interviewing staff there as a result of Puente’s work.
Feds descend upon CareerSource Pinellas after investigation by @MarkPuente and @ZackSampson https://t.co/6dALmnlJg0
— Kathleen McGrory (@kmcgrory) February 7, 2019
“While I don’t know too many people who were excited about seeing Mark’s name come up on their caller ID, he exemplifies old school investigative journalism that is largely absent in today’s world. His moving on will be a loss to our community,” said Pinellas County Commissioner Pat Gerard who Puente frequently questioned over the CareerSource scandal.
Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters also said Puente’s new gig is a loss for the Tampa Bay area. Puente covered Peters’ campaign against Amy Kedron. Kedron infamously called the police on Puente when she found him waiting on public property to ask her questions.
“His work is a direct result of government agencies changing their policies to be more transparent and accountable,” Peters said.
Puente was a frequent face at St. Pete City Hall whether it was while he was helping with St. Pete City Council coverage or elections.
“Mark is an old school reporter who isn’t afraid to run down any lead to a story. Our community is better because of wrongdoings he helped shine a light on and he will be missed,” said St. Pete City Councilwoman Amy Foster.
Times veteran reporter Howard Altman commented on Facebook that Puente’s exodus is another reason to hate L.A.
Forward Pinellas Executive Director Whit Blanton also wrote that Puente’s decision is a loss for the community.
“His tenacity is well noted and reminds those in government to be honest and transparent,” Blanton said.
Several commenters speculated that Puente’s decision to leave the Times, paired with Political Editor Adam Smith’s decision to leave the paper, was evidence of the paper being a “sinking ship.” Puente personally commented on all of those rumors ensuring readers that he was leaving because the L.A. Times beat was a dream gig and that the Times leadership fought hard to keep him.
Of course, good journalism isn’t the only thing the community will be missing. Puente was known among friends and colleagues, and across social media, for his ability to man a grill and smoke some serious meat. Puente’s weekend Twitter posts often featured perfectly cooked meats smoked on his Big Green Egg he calls “Precious.”
Forget the dips. Went for the gold: Wagyu tritip from @ButcherBlockLV. Melt in your mouth. #BigGreenEgg #bge #BEEF #grillinfools #mediumrare pic.twitter.com/x1IM5KKWMm
— Mark Puente (@MarkPuente) February 3, 2019
“The Florida meat packers also are grieving,” wrote Kevin McGeever, a former Times reporter.
Puente’s last day with the Times is February 15.
