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Fewer contributors aid growth battle

By PAUL SWIDER
Published January 25, 2006

ST. PETE BEACH - As the dispute over redevelopment approaches a year, the group opposing the city's plans seems to be losing financial support, although it is being bolstered by one individual. It is also venturing into electoral politics.

Since its first required filing in July, Citizens for Responsible Growth has reported collecting $36,000, but almost a third of that total, $11,500, has come from one person, Bill Pyle, and most of his contributions have come in the past few months as other contributors have dropped off. Pyle, who describes himself as retired, often speaks to the City Commission in his capacity as a representative of the Silver Sands Condominiums, but he says his donations and comments are personal.

"I have made both a philosophical and financial commitment to the goal of securing the rights of the voters to approve any plan that will change the entire character of the city," Pyle said. "Citizens who believe that the city is wrong in trying to prevent us from voting have an obligation to make financial sacrifices to stop this attempt at thwarting the right to vote."

The city's redevelopment plans aim to encourage tourism through tall hotels and mixed-use development. CRG says those plans will overburden infrastructure and harm the city's character. CRG is seeking a citywide vote on the plans, something courts have denied so far.

Pyle contributed only $500 in CRG's first financial reporting, a July filing that showed collections of $11,100 during the prior three months. During that period there were 150 other contributors, usually giving CRG tens or hundreds of dollars each. During its second quarter, CRG still had 147 contributors that brought in $14,750, but the contributions were smaller. Pyle, however, gave $5,000 in cash and also paid for a newspaper ad that cost $932.

During its final filing of 2005, CRG showed 48 contributors and collected $10,281 in cash. Pyle contributed $6,000 of that total.

Pyle's cash contributions are greater than those of any other individual in St. Pete Beach on either side of the redevelopment dispute, and they are about equal to those the TradeWinds Island Resorts made to Support Your City's Future, the political committee formed to promote the city's plans. TradeWinds has also donated thousands of dollars in services to SYCF.

"He is not doing this out of the goodness of his heart," said Mike Cohen, the head of SYCF, which has collected $78,000, mostly from St. Pete Beach business interests. "There is much more behind this than he is willing to say."

Pyle said he has no political ambitions and merely wants to have residents vote on the city's redevelopment plans. A judge has thrown out three referendums CRG has sponsored. CRG representatives say they will appeal that decision. The court approved another referendum and has yet to rule on two more.

Pyle said CRG still has plenty of support.

"It appears to me," he said, "that the CRG is more viable and active today than it was a year ago. There are more people at the CRG meetings, there are more volunteers, and the original group has become a cohesive organization over the past year.

"The City Commission has blatantly ignored the wishes of over 1,100 voters by attempting to prevent them from voting on a very controversial comprehensive plan," Pyle said.

CRG had gathered about 1,100 signatures backing its first set of referendum questions. In a second set of petitions for two more questions, CRG at first didn't have the minimum 730 signatures but managed to collect enough after the city's initial count.

CRG attorney Ken Weiss said the organization is not suffering any setback of support. He said the group gathered enough signatures for its petitions and didn't bother getting any more. And he said money indicates nothing.

"You can't measure support for an organization in financial terms," he said. "The elections are going to be the measure of support when (Commissioner) Deborah Martohue is defeated. That's the way democracy works."

Martohue, running for re-election in March, has supported the city's redevelopment program and has been a target of CRG criticism, as has Commissioner Deborah Nicklaus, whose seat is not on the ballot. Weiss has suggested these commissioners have violated ethics rules. He also said he believes the commission's redevelopment actions have violated the law, which he said would be grounds to initiate a recall of those officeholders. He has hinted CRG will soon reveal information that will affect the March election.

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 00:55:16]