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Has county heard from you about De Soto?

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published February 19, 2006

Pinellas County is digging in to defend its plan for a 225-seat restaurant at Fort De Soto Park, that jewel of a barrier island off the county's southern tip.

The county says the public wants it.

Jake Stowers, an assistant county manager, wrote a column for our editorial page the other day. He wrote that the county is pursuing "enhanced services" at Fort De Soto by popular request.

Stowers wrote:

"People are telling us they would enjoy a cold beer or a glass of wine with a meal, a place to rent a beach chair so they don't have to haul half the house with them in the minivan or even an ice cream while they're hanging out by the beach."

People.

Now, this is an odd thing, because I have heard from at least a couple of hundred people about Fort De Soto over these past few days, and not a single one of them said any of that.

I went back and double-checked the e-mails, letters and phone calls so far. Nope. Not one.

But I want to be fair. I am begging you. If you are in favor of a 225-seat restaurant at Fort De Soto, and Sunday brunch, and more shops and vendors and rentals, and mobile ice cream sales around the park (and, no offense, if you're not on the country payroll) then I want to hear it.

My phone number is 727 893-8505. My e-mail address is htroxler@ sptimes.com. Give me a real name and phone number so that I know nobody is stuffing the ballot box, so to speak.

The county staff argues that 30 years ago, there was a sit-down restaurant at the park. All they're talking about now is remodeling the old place. The old restaurant had only 100 seats, but it could have had more, so this isn't even really an "expansion." Right.

The government never admits surrender, yet if you read Jake Stowers' column closely, you will see that the county already has backed off a couple of ideas.

There won't be any packaged beer sales, after all. I am hardly antibeer, but that was a weird idea. Why would the government sell packaged beer to folks operating motorcraft in an alcohol-free park? Also, the idea of a trolley running around the park now looks unlikely.

The county seems to be saying this is not a done deal, and it's still under negotiation. But what does that mean - that no one should object until the negotiation is finished, and it is a done deal?

Many readers have asked: What can I do about this? Who do I call?

Officially, there is no public hearing. (Heaven forbid.) That doesn't mean you can't call or e-mail the County Commission. But please do me a favor. If you call, please BE REALLY NICE to the people answering the phones. They work hard to serve the public, and they didn't do anything to warrant getting yelled at.

Here are the office telephone numbers of the commissioners: Chairman Kenneth T. Welch, (727) 464-3614; Vice Chairman Ronnie E. Duncan, (727) 464-3365; Calvin D. Harris, (727) 464-3360; Susan Latvala, (727) 464-3276; John Morroni, (727) 464-3568; Karen Williams Seel, (727) 464-3278; Robert B. Stewart, (727) 464-3363.

You also can find their e-mail addresses on the county's Web site, www.pinellascounty.org by clicking on "Commission." Feel free to copy me on your message. Again, that's htroxler@sptimes.com

Jake Stowers is a veteran and knowledgeable public servant. He and his boss, County Administrator Steve Spratt, work extremely hard at jobs that are often thankless. They are not dummies.

Neither are the members of the County Commission. Most of the county's folks are either natives or longtime residents of Pinellas County, too. They love and care about the county as much as anybody else.

I just think that the county staff under Spratt has gotten the itch to "improve" things too much. Being questioned only makes them more determined to do it.

Fort De Soto, ranked as one of America's best beaches if not the best, is above all a beautiful, natural environment. The existing shelters, restrooms, concessions and rentals are about right.

There are plenty of other places to get a beer and a grouper sandwich.

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:07:06]