212,249 Voted No on GreenLight but We Can't Just Say NO to Public Transportation

Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

There were few more strongly opposed to the GreenLight sales tax referendum than me. There is no reason to rehash my opposition in this Post because you can read all that on my Blog Bay Post Internet.

What is important is what happens next.

Those who voted no cannot simply take their ball and go home.

And those who were in support of the GreenLight effort cannot ignore the results of the election.

There are certainly lessons to be learned from this election. There are some hurt feelings and wounded pride in the losing camp, but there should also be some new found wisdom when it comes to selling public transportation funding to the public that will pay for it.

Stubborn positioning on either side of the issue is just not productive.

For any Pinellas County public transportation initiative rail is out. Any component for rail is out. Any funding for rail is out.

Light rail needs to be totally separate initiative, regionally based with its own unique funding mechanism.

There are some glimmers of hope as Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman are already sending signals they are willing to talk about a regional plan for rail. Let's bring in the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority and the Pinellas County Aviation Authority and create a powerhouse regional transit consortium.

Pinellas County needs a, grid based bus system that serves the entire County.

Funding it with a sales tax is not a bad idea. PSTA already has a plan. We don't need to spend millions on consultants, bring in TBARTA and start the whole hijacking the process all over again.

Update the PSTA plan, put together a five or seven year budget, involve some citizens along with the politicians, develop a sales tax proposal that is incremental and tied to the projected PSTA budget.

No train, no transit oriented redevelopment, no grand scheme, right sized buses, honest and trustworthy leadership and solid public transportation.

All points of view need to be at the table.

PSTA can be the Pinellas County gateway to regional light rail. A healthy, well funded and efficient PSTA in Pinellas County and HART in Hillsborough County could become the inter-modal feeder system that would make regional light rail succeed.

We have been here before. Disagreeing on direction and resolving our differences at the Ballot Box and moving forward.

We're doing that right now in St. Pete with the Pier and there is no reason we cannot take the same approach County wide with public transportation.

Almost everyone involved on both sides of this issue knows what needs to be done. The only thing left is have the courage to put pride, stubbornness and self interest aside and get to work.

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Follow me on Twitter@DOCONTHEBAY. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter. See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos

The Enemy is Reality: Voters and Taxpayers Fed Up

On Tuesday, five Florida counties soundly rejected sales tax referendums, including the Greenlight Pinellas rail boondoggle and transit related referendums in Polk County and Alachua County. Citrus County and Hernando County had infrastructure related sales tax referendums that were also defeated.

How badly were all these initiatives defeated? They ALL went down in flames.
Greenlight Pinellas - Defeated 62-38%
Polk County - Defeated 72-28%
Alachua County - Defeated 60-40%
Hernando County - Defeated 56-44%
Citrus County - Defeated 75-25%

In addition, a sales tax referendum in Martin County (just north of Palm Beach County) was narrowly defeated by 83 votes and is going to a recount on Saturday, that many expect the defeat to hold.

Here's a picture of how bad Greenlight Pinellas was defeated - 248 of 299 precincts voted NO. Even downtown Clearwater, one of the end points of the light rail, voted No.

Pinellas County votes a whopping NO
to Greenlight Pinellas 62-38%

What do all the overwhelming defeats mean?

Is it a strong indicator of distrust and skepticism voters and taxpayers have today?

Is it a strong indicator that our current elected officials are not spending what they already have wisely, effectively and on our highest priorities? Do voters and taxpayers think government at every level is overreaching and spending our tax dollars on things they shouldn't be?

Most of the referendums were comprehensive, attempting to raise additional revenues for multiple issues. Have voters and taxpayers simply seen too many failed "comprehensive" referendums, where elected officials push the "something for everyone" carrot to get the costly referendums passed, and then they end up over promising and under delivering? Do voters and taxpayers lack the confidence there will be appropriate oversight, discipline and accountability with spending these additional tax revenues, especially when spent on numerous issues rolled into a single tax?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up watching taxpayer funded entities like PSTA spend almost a million dollars of taxpayer monies advocating for a sales tax few will benefit from?  Are voters and taxpayers fed up watching PSTA spend years of their time and resources pushing for Greenlight and higher taxes instead of focusing on their bus service? Are voters and taxpayers simply fed up with taxpayer funded entities using their bully pulpit and our tax dollars with a one-way message advocating against the taxpayer?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up watching the collusion of taxpayer funded entities and special interests groups push higher taxes for projects that benefit the few - them?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with cronyism and what appears to be a circle of money between elected officials and special interests?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with being told we must hand over more of our tax dollars in the name of "economic development" that in reality feeds our tax dollars to special interests?  Are voters and taxpayers fed up with being told we have to continually subsidize development?

We already hand lots of our tax dollars every year to entities pushing "economic development".  What success have we gotten in return? What is the actual return on investment as far as economic prosperity and growth from using all these tax dollars? Can anyone measure?

Some of those entities turn around and use the monies they receive to advocate for higher taxes. Is something wrong with this picture?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up watching elected officials and taxpayer funded entities like PSTA ignore and mock those oppose them?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with lies and deception used to push for higher taxes?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with those continuing to push referendums requiring federal debt dollars for costly solutions we do not need nor can afford?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with the continued emphasis on taxpayer funded solutions to all our problems?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with the lack of common sense, fiscally responsible solutions because someone's beholden to deep-pocketed special interests?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with the too much one-sided, biased reporting and editorializing by local media favoring these costly referendums?

Are voters and taxpayers fed up with the "powers to be" ignoring "We the People"?

It's somewhat amusing to hear Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who also chairs the PSTA board, state that he was surprised by the outcome of Greenlight Pinellas.

The $1.2 Million pro rail Greenlight PAC was doing polling because they were paying a polling company according to their campaign finance reporting.  If things were going "their" way, we would have heard about it. They knew Greenlight was going down, they just didn't know how bad.

The opposition to all these referendums was obviously broad and deep.

The enemy is NOT No Tax For Tracks, the Tea Party or anyone else who voted against all these referendums.

The enemy is reality.

The defeats were NO surprise. Just think about the questions above.

GreenLight Defeated

Over the next few days I am sure there will be a lot of whining from PSTA, the politicos and special interests that public transportation in Pinellas County was the victim of the Tea Party extremists.

The facts are the Tea Party had little to do with the GreenLight election results and there just aren’t that many extremists in Pinellas County.

The public did not vote against public transportation they voted against special interests and being taken advantage of.

The Headline says it all: GreenLight defeated.  Not public transportation...   GreenLight was defeated.

GreenLight was a badly flawed plan, a poorly constructed Ordinance that really had very little to do with real public transportation.

Add to that the nefarious actions of the PSTA CEO including misusing Federal Homeland Security funds and the total inaction of the PSTA Board and there was no way Pinellas County residents had the confidence to tax themselves for ever for few buses and a 24 mile train to benefit the power players and not the public transit users.

GreenLight was a victim of same approach that lead to the defeat of the LENS in St. Petersburg.

What started out as serious effort to meet a public need was hijacked by special interests and over a number of years turned into a self-serving effort.

No Tax for Tracks, by simply pointing out the obvious: that GreenLight was more about money, redevelopment and special interests than public transportation and sticking to that message, doomed GreenLight to defeat.

The level to which GreenLight was poorly developed, planned and executed is most simply told in the fund raising numbers.  Out funded 10 to 1 No Tax for Tracks brought GreenLight to its knees by simply getting the facts out.

It is unlikely that any amount of money could have gotten GreenLight past the voters.

There are a lot of lessons to be taken from GreenLight and I will explore a few over the next few weeks. 

For now there needs to be some serious soul searching at the Pinellas County Commission and some serious reorganization at PSTA. Pinellas County needs properly implemented public transportation and the only way to get it is by reorganization at the PSTA.

At least now the politicians should know how NOT to go about it.

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter

Your Vote Really Matters

Pinellas County November 4, 2014
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD

Almost 207,000 votes have already been cast in Pinellas County early voting. You can see the unofficial vote count at Supervisor of elections Voter Turn Out.

Please vote today. Don't pass on voting because you think your vote will not matter. On the sales tax referendum, GreenLight, the total vote count will be very important.

It is critical that Pinellas County voters send a clear message to the Pinellas County Commission and the PSTA Board of Directors about how they feel about the GreenLight effort.

We need good public transportation in Pinellas County that will actually serve those who need it.

What we don't need is a redevelopment plan disguised as a transportation sales tax that benefits the 30 or so donors who have dumped $1 million dollars into a campaign designed to convince you a train that runs from downtown St. Pete to downtown Clearwater will work in a densely populated, commercially dispersed , three story tall County. It will not.

Don't let all of those claims about reduced bus service and shutting down bus routes scare you.

If GreenLight, fails to pass as it should, all that needs to done is let the politicians know that if they cut bus service, they will experience the same fate as those who voted to remove fluoride from the water.  Problem solved.

Remember that today, election day, you can only vote in your precinct. Not sure where it is? Go to the Supervisor of elections Find Your Precinct.

 Haven't mailed in your mail in ballot? TAKE IT WITH YOU. 

Your vote is your opinion, make it count. 

Watch My Video Green Light - It's a Bad Law Read Green Light Sales Tax Ordinance and The PSTA/ Pinellas County Inter Local Agreement .

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks.

GreenLight - Yes Their Latest TV Ad

Check out the GreenLight campaign's latest TV commercial featuring former Pinellas County Commissioner Sallie Parks.

One has to wonder if Ms. Parks has actually read the Greenlight Pinellas Tax Ordinance  or realizes these kids she loves so much will still be paying this tax for a train they will likely never use when they are her age.

Why would you mortgage your County's future so 30 or so big donor power players can live off your kids, your grand kids and your great grand kids for the next half century?

GreenLight is not a good idea for these kids, you or anybody else.

Watch My Video Green Light - It's a Bad Law before you vote.

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks.

Sunday November 2, 2014 PSTA Abuse Of Federal Funds - A more Somber View

Recent revelations regarding the misuse of Federal Homeland Security Funds could be passed off as an overzealous effort by PSTA CEO Brad Miller to get his sales tax initiative passed.

You could pass it off as bad judgment or poor decision making or just more campaign and political high jinks.

You could do all of that - unless you have been reading the headlines and watching the news in the last week or so.

Just watch your local newscast on TV, follow the news on social media or read a news paper.

"Self radicalized" jihadists, school shootings, people jumping the fence at the White House, attacking police officers with an ax, young people being recruited to terrorist acts on social media, the list goes on.

Terrorist transportation attacks are all too common around the world; fortunately we have been spared so far in this Country.

When the federal government through the Department of Homeland Security makes resources available to local public officials to use to warn us and help us protect ourselves that is the purpose for which they should be used.

The PSTA Chair Ken Welch and the PSTA Board of Directors apparently do not see it that way.

I was at the meetings and the smiles and smirks from the Board Members as Brad Miller's actions were revealed were disgusting. It was like they were proud of their boy's efforts to hoodwink the Feds. 

They said so with a vote of confidence.

The snarky comments from the Chairman Ken Welch, which later came back to bite him, showed a total disconnect from the reality of the rapidly changing world around us.

Overwhelmed by the million dollars given by powerful interests to support a self-serving plan, and blinded by the desire to redevelop South Pinellas County for the gains of GreenLight supporters, PSTA could not even bring themselves to legitimately warn their customers and educate them on how to protect themselves.

Instead they illegally diverted the federal funds to their own interests and took no other action than a "conversation with the CEO" and then a vote of confidence when they were caught.

Do you feel any safer?

I cannot even imagine what these people will do if we vote to give them an additional $100 million in uncontrolled cash each year. That kind of money in PSTA, an organization as poorly managed and controlled as recent events reveal, will breed a level of misconduct and corruption never before seen in this County.

See who will really be driving the bus and the train; read the Jamal Thalji Article in the Tampa Bay Times: Greenlight Pinellas has big backers in big business.

Know before you vote. Read the documents you put in force if you vote YES on Green Light Sales Tax Ordinance and The PSTA/ Pinellas County Inter Local Agreement

Watch My Video Green Light - It's a Bad Law before you vote.

E-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net. Or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks.