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Pinellas Park council shuns county confab
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer PINELLAS PARK -- City Council members have spurned an offer to take part in a countywide group designed to plot future relations between the cities and the county because the group will contain nonelected officials and representatives from Largo. Pinellas Park council members are sending word of their refusal to participate in the American Assembly to other Pinellas cities in hopes that they also will boycott the process. But council members do plan to get copies of the group's meeting minutes so they can keep track of what's going on. "My personal opinion, I don't want to be involved in anything Largo's involved in. Period. End of discussion," Pinellas Park council member Chuck Williams said before discussion began at the recent workshop. Fellow council member Ed Taylor agreed that the proposed group was too large. "Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the stew. I'm with Chuck. I don't want to play," Taylor said. Pinellas County Administrator Stephen Spratt did not return phone calls asking for comment. The American Assembly process was proposed by county officials this year after discussions with Largo. The idea is to bring together officials from Pinellas cities with representatives from the county's unincorporated areas, such as Lealman, for a year's discussion. The goal is to figure out ways for the cities and county to deal with each other in the future, from issues of annexation to tourism and business development. The county has agreed to pay a consultant $51,000 to oversee the process. Many of the cities involved, Largo, Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Gulfport, Oldsmar and Madeira Beach, would contribute to that cost. Pinellas Park council member Patricia Bailey-Snook criticized spending that much money on the idea. The rest thought the committee would be one more layer of bureaucracy and a pointless one at that because nonelected people would be on it. "It appears to me they have some staff people who are trying to control the policy," City Manager Jerry Mudd said. But he said it appears the county would go ahead with or without Pinellas Park. Mayor Bill Mischler agreed that elected officials should make the decisions through existing groups such as the Pinellas Planning Council and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Ray Neri, head of the Lealman Community Association, who has talked with county officials about serving on the American Assembly, was shocked at Pinellas Park's stance. "If that doesn't sound small," Neri said. "Why wouldn't they want to participate in the health of the county?" The Pinellas Planning Council and Regional Planning Council may work well for cities, said Neri, but those groups have no "real people" on them. That would be one of the strengths of the American Assembly process. "I think the assembly makes some sense because every aspect of the county is voiced," Neri said. "I can't believe they're taking that attitude." Pinellas Park has been known to avoid those county bodies anyway, Neri said. He referred to a recent meeting that Seminole Mayor Dottie Reeder called. Mischler attended the secret meeting. During that meeting, participants talked about the future of Pinellas County in regard to annexations. They suggested bringing a representative from Broward County in to talk about the situation there so they could use it as a possible blueprint for Pinellas County. No county officials and no representatives from the unincorporated areas were invited. The meeting was also not announced publicly, so officials met without any oversight or scrutiny. Neri was outraged by the meeting, saying some of the cities were out of control and flexing their muscles. This latest decision by Pinellas Park, he said, was a "slap in the face" to the seven county commissioners. "I think it's irresponsible," Neri said. "The county is the only control to keep all the kids in the playground from hurting each other. They're the ones that keep the bullies controlled. That could very well be why they (the cities) don't like it."
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
