A Times Editorial

Commissioner ignores truth to stir up storm about library

Largo City Commissioner Marty Shelby seemed to have a great time Tuesday playing the role of the noble, high-minded representative of "the people."

But what can you say about a guy who uses innuendo, misleading information and offensive comments to try to rouse a rabble?

Nothing good.

No wonder some residents who came to the lectern at Tuesday's Largo City Commission meeting were misinformed and felt free to threaten and ridicule their elected officials. They were taking their cues from Shelby.

On the other hand, the remaining six Largo commissioners showed admirable reserve with both the public and Shelby, when surely they must have wanted to defend themselves and condemn Shelby's inexcusable showboating.

The issue that brought so much anger and angst to City Hall Tuesday night was the city's planned 93,000-square-foot library in Largo Central Park. The City Commission unanimously approved the plan in April after years of debate, study and consultants' recommendations. And, it should be said, after many requests for library improvements from the public.

Yet Shelby, in what was his most offensive tactic on Tuesday, went on a local television news station and said the library plan was "a Stealth bomber. This has happened entirely under the radar."

There is not an iota of truth in that remark.

In 1999 an expert hired by the city to do a library space study said the current building was overcrowded and inefficient and that the city needed 93,000 square feet of library space to serve its projected 2010 population. For more than three years the City Commission has discussed library construction proposals in dozens of public meetings attended by hundreds of residents.

Speakers Tuesday night said the commissioners should have studied the idea of expanding the current library. They did. They found that the building could not be expanded and there was no space for more parking.

Commissioners studied five possible locations to build a new library, eventually choosing Largo Central Park.

Commissioners interviewed architects, picked their favorite and then had to abandon that choice when the architect made some publicized remarks that offended commissioners.

Commissioners talked about how to pay for the new library, finally settling a few weeks ago on a plan to borrow most of the money against expected collections of the Penny for Pinellas sales tax, while also seeking public donations and state grants.

Shelby was there for all of that. He participated in the debate and voted to move forward. He voted for the 93,000-square-foot library in April. But he chose in the past two weeks to spread a falsehood: that the library plan was a "Stealth bomber" developed "under the radar," and he made those remarks to any media outlet that would listen. He accused his fellow commissioners -- a conscientious and hard-working group -- of "arrogant" spending and of refusing to listen to the public. He called for a referendum and took out newspaper ads urging people to join him in the call at Tuesday's meeting.

Tuesday night the City Commission chamber was packed, and an overflow crowd filled another room. Some were library supporters. But most were opponents of the announced plan, and they were unhappy. They believed -- because Shelby had told them -- that their elected officials were trying to sneak a nefarious scheme past them.

The words that some used to describe the planned library were stunning: "this monster," "grandiose," "a knee-jerk decision," "a Taj Mahal," "an oversized, overpriced monument." They accused the commissioners of not communicating their plans. They demanded a referendum.

When Mayor Bob Jackson tried to keep the meeting under control by enforcing the commission's rules on time limits for speakers, Shelby accused him of "playing games" and grandly called for him to let the public speak.

To their credit, the six commissioners refused to reverse themselves Tuesday night. There will be no referendum. The library will be built, just as many public projects in Largo have in the past quarter-century, all without referendums. Six of the commissioners understand that they were elected to make these decisions.

Commissioner Pat Burke noted that she had previously been the only commissioner opposed to construction of a big library in the park, but had to change her position because "all the people I talked to wanted this library. I finally decided I was in the wrong." Other commissioners pointed out that the 40 or so people who spoke against the library Tuesday were a far cry from a majority of the city's more than 70,000 residents.

Shelby had many opportunities to vote against a new library. He chose not to. Now, for reasons that only he knows, he has decided to stir up a storm by misleading the public and smearing other commissioners. That is shameful behavior for an elected official, especially when the issue is something as positive as a library.

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