Charter Review Commission Elects Chair/Vice ChairIn its Jan. 5 meeting, the Pinellas County Charter Review Commission elected former Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan as chairman and former St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Ricardo Davis as vice chair. The group also chose Kurt Spitzer & Associates as commission consultant, along with Bryant Miller Olive P.A. as legal counsel. The 13-member Charter Review Commission is appointed by the Board of County Commissioners every six years to look at the Pinellas County Charter, and discuss areas in need of improvement. The commission comprises four elected officials and nine members of the community. The commission functions as an independent authority, with the ability to put charter amendments and referendum questions directly on the November 2010 general election ballot. Any such proposed amendments would be outlined in a report to the citizens issued by July 31, 2010. Elected officials appointed to this session's Charter Review Commission include: Pinellas County Commissioner Kenneth T. Welch, Pinellas County Tax Collector Diane Nelson, state Rep. Ed Hooper, and Safety Harbor Mayor Andy Steingold. Citizens at large include: Ronnie Duncan, Ricardo Davis, Palm Harbor Fire Chief James Angle, former Pinellas County GOP chair Paul Bedinghaus, Clearwater Bar Association past President Gerald A. Figurski, St. Petersburg architect William B. Harvard, Jr., St. Petersburg attorney Melissa Jagger, former Dunedin commissioner Deborah Kynes, and Lealman Community Association President Ray Neri. ? The next meeting of the Charter Review Commission is scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, at Pinellas County's Mid County Tax Collector's Office at 13025 Starkey Road in the Starkey Lakes Corporate Center, Largo. Meetings are open to the public and provide an opportunity for citizens to speak. Complete information is available at www.pinellascounty.org/charter. Residents may contact the CRC via e-mail through that website to share suggestions and ideas concerning the current charter review process, as well as issues that would be appropriate for review by the current Charter Review Commission.
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