On Monday morning in Tampa, a consultant's study of a possible merger between the transit agencies of Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties presented three different options to members of both boards.
The options are: 1) To remain as they currently are, retaining their independent legal status and manage their respective services. 2) To agree to a "Formal Partnering" or "Joint Powers" agreement, in which they collaborate much more extensively through a formal agreement to act in unison. 3) To proceed with a full-on merger, where both HART and PSTA dissolve and are reformed as one new organization representing transit on both sides of the Howard Frankland Bridge.
Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala doesn't like any of those options.
"It's frustrating to have a conversation like this when we have work on our board that needs to take us in a certain direction. This might be the greatest thing … in a few years, but today my voters are not going to approve additional funding unless I can can show them how it's a system that is going to benefit them."
Latvala added that she thought the whole idea of a merger seemed like a futile effort, and "we'll all end up being more frustrated than we are today."
The idea of a merger was first floated more than a year ago by Clearwater state Sen. Jack Latvala, who said it was worth studying to see if the two agencies might be able to save duplication and money by forming a board along the likes of Tampa Bay Water.
But while many members of HART's board have expressed unease about that possibility, Pinellas transit agency board members have been more reserved in their criticisms.
This article appears in Nov 8-14, 2012.