20 months.
That's how long it will be before Pinellas County voters get the chance to approve or reject a one-cent sales tax that would help fund construction of a light-rail system linking St. Petersburg and Clearwater. But the campaign begins immediately, now that the Pinellas County Commission approved by a 5-1 vote on Tuesday a measure that puts the proposed tax on the November 2014 ballot.
Those who spoke in support for the measure took up approximately an hour before the board, while those against it (including the critic who called the light rail plan "Obamacare on steroids") spoke for just half an hour.
One supporter was Lois Fry, a native New Yorker who emphasized that it wasn't just the "disadvantaged" who take the subway in her old hometown.
"If we want services we have to pay taxes for them," she told the board. "I’m happy to pay taxes for my fellow citizens can ride a bus, light rail or whatever they need to get around."
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2013.