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Residents voice their anger, but get little reaction from county commissioners.
By DEBORAH O'NEIL
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 21, 2001
CLEARWATER -- A pack of frustrated and angry Largo homeowners descended on Tuesday night's Pinellas County Commission meeting demanding that commissioners hear their objections to the expansion of the Omni Center and the extension of 119th Street N.
The residents were loud and disruptive at the start of the meeting, speaking over Commission Chairman Calvin Harris as he told them they would have to wait until the end of the meeting.
"We would like to be heard!" came a cry.
"You will," Harris said.
"Now, now!" someone shouted.
Eventually, they did speak. But nothing was resolved, and many left as frustrated as they were when they arrived hours earlier.
Although the item was not on the commission agenda, residents were drawn there by bright-orange fliers that recently circulated in the Taylor Lake neighborhood.
"Last chance to stop the 119th St. extension to 16 Ave. SW," the flier reads. "We want to pack the commission chamber, and have 500 to 1,000 people around the courthouse to demonstrate to the Commissioners that we will not be ignored."
About 150 residents attended, and some had to be directed to a separate room where they could watch the meeting on television because all 125 seats in the commission chamber were filled. As a sign of solidarity, many wore red and orange and carried red light sticks that were purchased by the Taylor Lake Homeowners Association.
Hours would pass before the commission's regular agenda came to a close and residents had a chance to speak out about the $3.8-million worth of work that is slated to begin later this year.
The road extension would link the Taylor Lake neighborhood, a predominantly white neighborhood, with Ridgecrest, most of whose residents are black. Taylor Lake residents say the issue is not about race, but about the traffic and noise the road will introduce to their neighborhood.
And they have concerns about the noise and lights that the Omni Center improvements will create.
But the biggest source of their frustration is that the county did not involve them in planning either project.
"You really need to communicate and represent us too," resident Angela Hitch said. "We see you are not doing that. You need to serve everybody, not just the select few."
Resident Ruth Dowling seemed to take over the room after she approached the podium.
"I'd like to see a show of hands of people who feel disenfranchised," she announced to the audience. "Stand, my friends, stand."
Almost everyone stood.
"I am astonished by what has happened," Dowling said. "These people have been given no notice. The first time we hard about the Omni Center it was a done deal."
When she finished, there was a burst of applause and a woman shouted, "So there!"
Commissioners barely addressed the residents. Harris said they have been fed misinformation about the project. He pledged to do what he could to make the projects palatable.
"I'm convinced we have a difference of purposes," Harris said. "I do thank you all for coming. I can see at this point there is nothing I can say. You have already made up your mind."
Harris adjourned the meeting to an echo of "Boo!"