U.S. Representative Kathy Castor announced on Thursday that she supports the Greenlight Pinellas initiative. She announced her endorsement at the St. Petersburg College Midtown campus in St. Pete.
“This is an active community; this is a community on the go, but we need better transportation options," she said. The supervisor of elections has sent out a quarter of a million vote by mail ballots,in Pinellas County she says. Castor encourages voters to vote for Greenlight, “When you do that, you will be making an investment in yourself.”
According to Kyle Parks, the communications principal for B2 Communications, the agency leading public relations for Greenlight, 14 of the 28 urban light rail systems in the country had ridership increases last year, and 27 of the 28 of those urban areas have already voted to expand. He says Greenlight will also provide a 65 percent increase in bus service with more frequency of stops, which will result in less bus stop wait time.
Supporters of the initiative described several attempts made by the opposing campaign ,No Tax for Tracks, to discredit and refute Greenlight Pinellas. Parks says that No Tax for Tracks believes the initiative will hurt low income households. “It’s the latest example of them throwing out misinformation, hoping it sticks.Every time they do so, we find out the truth, prove our facts, and move on to disprove their next mistruth.” Most recently, he says, “They are saying that the initiative would be a 300 percent tax increase, but “PolitiFact called them out on that."
According to Greenlight, the “Suncoast Transit” property tax will be eliminated with the plan. Transit revenue will instead be generated from a 1-cent sale tax. Greenlight Pinellas will be funded by a tax swap. PSTA will eliminate its transit property tax and instead receive revenues from a 1 cent sales tax increase that will allow them to expand the responsibility of public transportation funding to all county residents. “More than half of the annual income of lower-income families is spent on food, medicine and housing costs, which are NOT taxable with the proposed 1-cent sales tax, says Parks.”
If the bill passes, the 24 miles of rail from downtown St. Petersburg through the Gateway/Carillon area to downtown Clearwater will have sixteen stations and a 57 minute travel time between the two. There will be more buses to the airport as well, and a trolley service to the beach. “Those three locations combined have one-hundred and ten thousand workers; national studies have been done, and even those in opposition have admitted that is a good minimum threshold to justify the transit system, says Parks.”
Timora Works, Vice President of the Student Government Association at St Petersburg College Midtown campus thanked PSTA for its Universal Pass, (UPass). The program was launched in June; it’s providing thousands of workers and college students free access to buses.
Works say that before UPASS, “We were buying thirty-one day bus passes so our students were able to make it to class on time and home safely.” Now, with UPASS, students can ride just by flashing their ID. She says it’s a wonderful opportunity for students at SPC; especially students that have to take night classes, because they have to take care of their families or work during the day.
Tony Macon, owner or the Esquire Barber Shop and President of the Deuces Live community organization says the community needs to bus employees, residents, shoppers, and tourists in; not bus them out. As a small business owner, he believes in treating his customers with courtesy and respect. He says a lot of his customers are seniors, who would really benefit from the safety and efficiency of a direct bus route to his shop. “We are looking to come together as a community so that we can start growing. We have to help each other," he says.
No Tax for Tracks has said that rail is a disaster in other cities. Parks says they are currently in the middle of refuting that with actual ridership numbers. According to their research; In Charlotte, property values have increased by nearly 90% along the first two miles of the light rail line, along with more than $600 million in development.
And from January through March of this year, on the average work day, the ridership in Denver was 81,800 people, according to B2 Communication’s Account Coordinator, Paige Skinner. More than $800 million went into development before their rail line even officially opened. In Phoenix, more than $1 billion in private investment has taken place along the city’s light rail line.
Ken Welch, Pinellas County Commissioner and PSTA chair, believes that with a rail system and better transportation connections between St. Pete and Tampa, the community would have more access to jobs, education, healthcare, and other services. “It will drive our economy into the future. It’s not just about building things; it’s about empowering our communities. In our society, transportation is the gateway to access,” he says.
Parks says, “Our purpose is to continue to get the word out to the County about how Greenlight is going to help them. We would be remiss if we let this misinformation stand; it’s really simple- If you want to make a decision, it has to be based on facts, not scare tactics, like the Hitler Video," referring to the incident that sparked controversy two weeks ago.
On Thursday Dr. David McKalip called on Yes on Greenlight to return $50,000 in campaign contributions received from Duke Energy. Duke has been getting battered by local politicians in recent weeks, and on Thursday the Public Service Commission called on Duke to return $54 million in nuclear parts back to the taxpayers.
But Kyle Parks said his organization was grateful for all the contributions they've received and "basically there’s nothing illegal or unethical about the donation provided by Duke Energy." He said this is "just more ridiculous mudslinging by David McKalip and his cohorts. The same people who thought that fluoride and recycling were bad ideas."
(With additional reporting from Mitch Perry).
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2014.