I live in a city that was once known as a beautiful small town on the Gulf of Mexico. Lately, it shows evidence of being governed by imbeciles. But first, take a look at the following and tell me what you think:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/01/Northpinellas/Deal_for_beach_parkin.shtml
I think this is lunacy. The city is removing, within the next few weeks, more than 500 of the 755 public parking spaces on Clearwater Beach to make way for a "revitalization" project. If we wait two years (perhaps riding bicycles to the beach in the meantime), we might be allowed to park in some of the spaces to be built for a Hyatt hotel.
Now the city is ready to spend $9 million for 300 spaces in a garage to be built more than a block from the beach for a condominium project. That garage might be available in two years, if all goes well. We are asked to be grateful because the City has set aside more than $12 million from a local tax called "Penny for Pinellas" for a parking garage, and the leftover cash can be spent on other "big-ticket city projects."
The City has a plan for the beach they call "Beach by Design." It is supposed to mean revitalization. I call it slow death. Hundreds of hotel rooms have already disappeared. The parking will all but disappear just in time for spring break and the summer tourist season.
A vast horde of winter (and summer) visitors no longer patronize shops and restaurants on the beach because they cannot stay there. I fear that their absence will be construed as meaning the beach needs less parking - a vicious cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I hope the City does not begin removing parking spaces from the beach until the voters have had their say on renewing "Penny for Pinellas," which comes up for a vote next month. I predict the tax will be trashed by voters who are tired of seeing vast sums of money spent on big-ticket city projects. Removing the spaces now runs the risk that the beach will be left in the lurch with totally inadequate parking, no money in the slush fund, and no relief in sight.
Why should I care, you might ask? I have lived in this town, off and on, since 1955. Every other town in this county looks better than it did ten years ago. My hometown is slowly going down the sewer pipe.
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2 comments:
I wish your prediction for a no vote had come true, but the penny for pinellas propaganda and one sided newspaper coverage was too much for a few bloggers.
I think that the last minute opposition was turning the public around but just came a few weeks too late.
Do you see any possibility for a petition to get it back on the ballot?
A petition? No. I mean, people can circulate a petition but the effect will be zilch.
Conventional wisdom is that "no" voters have a greater chance of success when the voter turn-out is low because people who oppose a ballot measure have a greater incentive to go vote. We had a relatively low turn-out but the "no" voters lost.
But - the candidate for the Clearwater City Commission who is likely to ask questions about budget items got elected. He defeated an "everything's just fine" opponent. So, there's some faint hope that the slush fund won't be misused.
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