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Embracing cooperation

Pinellas County seems ready to help St. Petersburg improve the Mahaffey Theater and the Pier. Details need to be worked out, but the need is clear.

It was good to see Pinellas County commissioners and St. Petersburg city officials burying the hatchet - and not in each other's back. Mayor Rick Baker politely asked the county to share the cost of modernizing Mahaffey Theater and shoring up the Pier. With one exception, commissioners agreed that the county has an interest in those landmark facilities, which contribute to Pinellas' overall economy and quality of life.

The exception was county Commissioner Susan Latvala, who appears to want to keep the old feud going. Although she supported a similar request from Clearwater, Latvala apparently draws the line at the St. Petersburg city limits. "I'm having a hard time getting my arms around how this benefits the whole county," she said.

So no hugs for St. Petersburg, which Latvala accused of having "champagne taste with a beer budget." Six commissioners, on the other hand, seemed ready to embrace the partnership. In what sounded like a mild rebuke of Latvala, commission Chairman John Morroni said: "When someone suggests it affects only St. Petersburg, I have to disagree."

Specifically, the city is asking to extend the life of its downtown tax-increment financing district, now due to expire in 2012. The designation allows St. Petersburg to spend city and county property tax dollars collected in the district (and that exceed 1982 base-year revenues) for redevelopment. The total cost of the Mahaffey, Pier and other proposed projects is $95-million, with the county contributing 46 percent of that amount. Included are city plans to build a transportation facility and make other public improvements.

The need is clear. Mahaffey is a mess, leaking from all six sides and sporting a gaping hole where it was once attached to the now-demolished Bayfront Arena. The Pier is slowly crumbling, and fixing it will be especially expensive because the structure is built over water. Both are important to the wider community, which is why the mayors of 16 Pinellas cities signed a letter of support.

There are still crucial details to work out before the County Commission votes the proposal up or down on April 5. County officials don't want to pay for more than the listed projects. It is a reasonable request that the city says it will accept. But the county is also talking about putting restrictions on the city's ability to borrow against future tax revenues. If they are unreasonable, that could be a deal-killer.

This is no time for either side to play games. If county commissioners say they will pay their share of fixing the theater and Pier, they should do so without making unrealistic demands.

It is time to get this issue resolved and to end the unseemly squabbling of the past. Then everyone can toast a new era of cooperation - with either beer or cheap champagne.

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 01:01:17]