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Steinle: Local races, Greenlight fill North Pinellas ballot

 
Published Sept. 25, 2014

Voters who have requested mail ballots for the Nov. 4 election will start receiving them in their mail boxes next week. If they've prepared to vote by watching political commercials on TV, they might think this election is only about the races for governor, attorney general, a legislator or two and the medical marijuana amendment to the state constitution.

But those who live in North Pinellas have some important local decisions to make, too.

In the District 2 Pinellas County Commission race, which is voted countywide, Republican state Rep. Ed Hooper is opposed by Largo Mayor Pat Gerard, a Democrat, for the seat currently held by Norm Roche.

In County Commission District 4, which covers most of Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Safety Harbor and Oldsmar, voters will choose one of four candidates: Dunedin Mayor Dave Eggers, a Republican; East Lake Fire Commissioner Mark Weinkrantz, a Democrat; and no-party candidates Carl Folkman or Marcus Harrison. The winner replaces retiring Commissioner Susan Latvala.

Residents of Pinellas County School Board District 4, which is most of the area north of Clearwater, will choose Beverley Billiris, a retired teacher and former mayor of Tarpon Springs, or Ken Peluso, a retired chiropractor and former chairman of the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas, to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of Robin Wikle.

Dunedin residents will choose between two Julies for mayor. City Commissioners Julie Ward Bujalski and Julie Scales are both running.

Residents of the East Lake and Palm Harbor fire districts will choose a new fire commissioner.

But arguably the most important ballot issue for North Pinellas residents, and certainly the most far reaching in impact, is the referendum on a one-penny increase in the county sales tax for the Greenlight Pinellas mass transit plan. If voters agree to raise the sales tax to eight cents, the bus system will be expanded and a 24-mile light rail line will be built from downtown St. Petersburg to the Gateway/Carillon area at the east end of Ulmerton Road and then on to downtown Clearwater, where riders will be able to catch a trolley to Clearwater Beach. If the sales tax increase passes, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority will repeal its property tax assessment.

Government, business and civic leaders support Greenlight, but I've heard some North Pinellas residents say they will vote "no" because "there is nothing in the Greenlight plan for North Pinellas."

That's just wrong. The Greenlight plan promises to double bus service in North Pinellas, with more stops, faster pickups and more evening/weekend service, and a bus to Tampa International Airport. North Pinellas residents who live close to a bus route, but too far to walk, could get van pickup at their door.

If you live in North Pinellas and want to go to downtown St. Petersburg for dinner and drinks but don't want to drink and drive, you may take a bus to a light rail station and make the trip by mass transit. If you live in North Pinellas but work in South Pinellas, more convenient buses and/or the rail line will be an option if you don't want to drive or your car is in the shop.

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When the day comes that you have to give up your car keys, better mass transit will help you get to the grocery store or the doctor's office and let you go to a baseball game or art museum in St. Petersburg or a concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

Good mass transit is a high priority for corporations considering moving here, but there is no way Pinellas' system could be described as "good." Greenlight would bring economic opportunities that don't exist now.

Let's say you plan to vote "no" because you never expect to need mass transit. Would you approve Greenlight for your neighbors who might need it now or later? For the service workers, many of whom live in North Pinellas, who help support the tourism industry here but can't afford to own cars on meager salaries? For teens and college students who find it increasingly dangerous to walk or bike on Pinellas' congested roads? For the handicapped who can't drive?

I was told a story recently about a wheelchair-bound woman waiting at a bus stop for a ride. When the bus arrived, the spaces on the bus for a wheelchair rider were already taken, so she couldn't get on. She had to wait an hour for the next bus.

North Pinellas, there are a lot of good reasons to vote for Greenlight and pay a little more in taxes for the convenience, comfort, safety and economic opportunity Greenlight will bring to us and our neighbors.