CLEARWATER - Clearwater's Penny for Pinellas Town Hall Meeting on June 28th was billed as the City Council's opportunity to hear from citizens about the list of projects proposed for funding by the extension to Pinellas County's optional 1-percent sales tax.
The meeting had been well-publicized by the City, including a direct mailing to volunteer members of city boards and graduates of Clearwater's Citizens Academy. About 50 citizens attended the meeting; 22 of them took the opportunity to address the council during the 1 ½-hour session.
But Clearwater's Council members were largely unswayed by citizen comments. Polled this week, they seemed generally satisfied with the projects they and City staff had included on the list.
Council member John Doran said, "There were a lot of good comments, but I don't recall anything that would make me want to add to or delete from the list." He mentioned the Senior Center as a tough issue, with citizens expressing both support and opposition during the meeting; "It might be we build it and they will come," he said.
Mayor Frank Hibbard was touched by the level of support for additional beach parking. He said, "I think the investment in the beach garage continues to be a priority," and suggested that it should be "up front" in the 10-year plan. Hibbard also heard the support for traffic calming, saying that the $5-million allocation "resonated with the citizens."
Council member Bill Jonson felt that citizens were largely supportive of Penny 3 and the City's project list. Like Hibbard, he heard strong support for traffic calming and beach parking. But Jonson took the parking issue a step further, saying that he would consider putting even more Penny 3 revenue into it. Jonson wishes that participants had been asked to prioritize the projects on the list.
Council member Hoyt Hamilton said, "I didn't hear anything that would compel me to make changes. The list as of right now is very accurate and the priorities are well documented."
Council member Carlen Petersen failed to return telephone calls seeking her comments.
The Council will discuss the City's Penny 3 list during their work session on Tuesday July 18th, and hold a last public hearing on Thursday July 20th before forwarding the project list to Pinellas County. The voters will be asked to approve the 10-year extension of Penny for Pinellas in a referendum during the March 2007 election.
You can view Clearwater's current list of projects proposed for funding by Penny 3 on the City's web site at www.myclearwater.com/gov/depts/omb/docs_pub/penny2_book.pdf.