Tea Party activists in Pinellas County now have an unlikely ally in their effort to thwart commissioners intent on putting a sales tax referendum on next year's ballot for construction of a light-rail system.
That ally would be Ed Turanchik, the longtime Hillsborough County transit advocate who made a spirited run for mayor of Tampa in 2011.
Pinellas commissioners are talking about a proposal to create a 24-mile light-rail system linking the central part of downtown St. Petersburg with Clearwater that could go before the voters in 2013.
The most prominent opposition in public meetings and other gatherings has come from members of the Tea Party, who were also loud critics of the light-rail measure that went down hard in Hillsborough County in 2010.
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2012.