County pitches inclusion in high-speed rail

Pinellas joins Hillsborough in asking the rail authority to extend the proposed Orlando-Tampa line across the bay.

By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 22, 2003

Florida's high-speed rail needs to run from Orlando to Pinellas County, not end in Tampa, to be a success, Pinellas County commissioners said Tuesday.

Commissioners adopted a resolution asking the state's High Speed Rail Authority to bring the rail line to Pinellas. Hillsborough County commissioners passed the same resolution earlier this month and are expected to give final approval today. Commissioners also will tell the state that not only should the high-speed line stop in Pinellas near the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, but that a slower light rail line should extend north and south from the airport, through St. Petersburg and Clearwater to county beaches.

"High-speed rail only works . . . if it comes to Pinellas County," Commissioner Bob Stewart said.

Stewart went to Hillsborough's meeting and brought the resolution to Pinellas, asking fellow commissioners to adopt it "feeling that in numbers there may be strength."

The state's preliminary studies for the train, which was mandated by voters in 2000, looked separately at Orlando to Tampa, then Tampa to St. Petersburg, and said the Tampa-St. Pete route wouldn't have enough riders to cover operating costs. Local officials say the study is flawed.

The two-county resolution says the entire route should be treated as one piece. It also says that since plans call for Orlando to get local stops, Tampa Bay should too. That would include a light rail connector from Tampa International Airport to a high-speed station in the Westshore area and the extension in Pinellas.

Although she voted for the resolution, Commissioner Susan Latvala said she was concerned that including Pinellas light rail in the mix could backfire.

"We're throwing a monkey wrench in here," she said. "They're looking for reasons to kill it."

But other commissioners said that if they don't try to extend the line, the effort won't have countywide support, especially in St. Petersburg.

Also Tuesday, commissioners agreed to award $220,000 to a program sponsored by a St. Petersburg church, Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church. The program, Mount Zion Human Services, will take over the administration of a WorkNet Pinellas grant to help churches mentor welfare clients.

Mount Zion will run the program for five months, and then WorkNet will ask for competitive bids if the program is extended.

But commissioners agreed to sign off only after lengthy discussion of the grant. The grant became controversial after it became public that the church that was first awarded the funds benefited from connections with a former county official.

Although the conduct of government officials, not church leaders, was questioned, the church decided to bow out of the program. Commissioner Ken Welch told colleagues that WorkNet had no choice: either let Mount Zion run the program for five months or end it. Mount Zion was the runnerup when the first choice was made.

"It's been a painful journey going through this," Welch said. "If we delay this, folks in the community will not be served."

Commissioners agreed after asking WorkNet staff for more information about the program's budget and the number of people being mentored.

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