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Sometimes, when elected officials don't have enough courage to protect the public interest, the people have to do it themselves. That's what is happening in St. Petersburg, where a group called Citizens for a New Waterfront Park is working to give city residents a voice and a choice.
The group is apparently close to collecting enough signatures to place a question on the Nov. 4 ballot. It would let voters choose to turn the concrete expanse of Albert Whitted Airport into a park. Rules for citizen initiatives are arduous, requiring petitions signed by 15,000 city voters. Yet the group has reached that mark, said Peter Belmont, its chair, and to be safe it plans to collect 3,000 more signatures.
If the group succeeds, it will give residents something the City Council has so far denied them: a chance to be heard on this important public issue.
The City Council has only pretended to include residents in decisions about the airport and the 110 acres of public land it occupies. In fact, some council members, bowing to airport advocates, have manipulated the process to get the outcome they want. Those council members have even suggested that residents be asked to give away their right to approve long-term leases on the land, so that the city can turn over control of the property to the Federal Aviation Administration in exchange for federal grants.
The group advocating for a park, whether you agree with its position or not, at least is trying to offer voters an honest choice. It has presented a detailed plan to remove concrete runways and metal hangars from the waterfront portion of the property and to replace them with public amenities. It would allow for expansion of the city's seaport and reserve inland portions of the land for other use, to be determined through an open process. It would not permit condos or other commercial construction in the park contrary to misleading claims by some airport supporters. More detail on the park plan is available at www.waterfrontpark.org the group's Web site.
If given the chance to decide, city residents may embrace the park proposal or reject it. Either way, they will have been given a chance to participate.
For several months, members of Citizens for a New Waterfront Park have volunteered their weekends and vacations to get their question on the ballot. It hasn't been easy. And whether residents agree with the group or not, they should thank its members for getting involved.
Finally, St. Petersburg residents could get a chance to exert their ownership rights on an important piece of public land.