At the very least, Pinellas County has done an incomplete job of even talking to the public about expanding St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
It's one of the most far-reaching policy decisions being made in Pinellas County.
Should Pinellas spend $223-million to expand in the shadow of Tampa International, which has 20 times the passenger traffic?
How much should Pinellas try to increase its tourist business? Is it worth the money and noise to lure more cargo business?
Is this what the people want?
Have we talked enough about this?
Already, Pinellas County has approved lengthening the airport's main runway to 10,000 feet, with the idea of attracting more international flights.
The airport's director appeared in June in front of the County Commission with a $233-million plan for airport expansion. Surprise! Until then, the price tag being kicked around was $37-million.
Now, the county is talking about how to develop and lease the 120-plus acres on the airport's east side previously occupied by a golf course. The supposed plan is office-park or mixed retail, but residents are terrified of hangars or who-knows-what-else.
There's a public meeting between county officials and concerned citizens at 5 p.m. today at the Holiday Inn Select, 3535 Ulmerton Road.
Roz Hicks, a resident of Feather Sound, told me it makes about as much sense for Pinellas County to expand its airport, so close to Tampa's, as it would make for Pinellas to build its own football stadium to try to get an NFL team.
"After all," Hicks told me, mocking what she describes as Pinellas County's attitude, "we just have a mediocre team 15 minutes away in Tampa.
"What, they won the Super Bowl? No matter. People will just come over to this side of the bay because it's cooler over here and we have better parking!"
Folks in Safety Harbor, a charming little city due north of the airport and its main runway, are upset too. So are people in Oldsmar and even the East Lake region.
"Never," Safety Harbor Mayor Pam Corbino complained to me, "has one word been spoken about the quality of life for the current residents of Pinellas County."
Corbino believes that Pinellas is so eager to rush into airport expansion that it is willing to become "the bargain-basement cargo hub of the Tampa Bay region."
So far, the county has not embraced these criticisms. There is some sentiment on the commission that Corbino is furthering her own political career. Others sniff that the public is coming to this a little late.
I asked two county commissioners, Susan Latvala and John Morroni, whether this was a done deal. Both insisted it was not. But Latvala said it was wrong to paint the expansion as some sort of competition with Tampa. Over the next 20 years, studies show that Florida will have a shortage of airport capacity, she said. She believes St. Pete-Clearwater definitely has a niche to fill.
But the commissioner most on the hot seat is Morroni, who lives in Feather Sound.
First of all, Morroni said the residents had missed their chance to complain about the longer runway. There had been a public hearing a while back. "It's not that this has been a surprise," he said.
As for developing the golf course, Morroni insisted that nobody was talking about aircraft hangars. The zoning won't allow it. The proposed uses are consistent with other uses along Ulmerton Road, Morroni said - he said a Publix going in nearby will generate more traffic than anything the county does.
"This is an asset owned by the county that is not taking in the money that it should be," Morroni said. "As an elected official, am I supposed to just let this asset we own go down the tubes, sucking money from our government? It's an asset that needs to be utilized."
That sounded to me like he had pretty much made up his mind. I asked Morroni if it was a done deal.
"No. This is not a done deal," he said. "We would not be going through this exercise if there were a done deal.
