Town to educate citizens on charter amendment fight

Town to educate citizens on charter amendment fight
Town attorney makes himself available for public speaking engagements to talk about the proposed amendments to the county charter

By BOB MACPHERSON

INDIAN SHORES – The best defense is a good offense. Those words underpinned the battlefield strategy of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Patton and other great military strategists of history.

Indian Shores Mayor Jim Lawrence doesn’t pretend to be in that same illustrious company but he supports the same strategy when it comes to protecting the rights of his community and those of his neighbor cities and towns.

“Our best defense is a good offense,” Lawrence said, referring to the need to vigorously combat Pinellas County’s effort to make changes to the county charter that he and others feel are detrimental to towns and cities.

Such is the concern that 21 of 24 municipalities in Pinellas County jointly filed a lawsuit on Aug. 24 to have the proposed amendments removed from the November election referendum ballot.

Indian Shores’ Town Attorney Jim Yacavone said the community needs to educate its citizens on the issue.

“We need to drag out the voters. Sixty percent of voters in the county live in municipalities,” he said.

Yacavone said he would be happy to brief civic clubs and other organizations pro bono on the issues which he has gone on record as describing as “something municipalities must wake up to and get involved. In my 30 years of legal experience the recommendations of the charter review commission are one of the most blatant grabs for power I have experienced in government.”

Lawrence said the town will use its newsletter, Yacavone’s briefings and other means to educate Indian Shores’ citizens on the issues.

The recommendations of the Charter Review Commission will be placed on the November election referendum ballot.

Sky bridges a no, no

In other action, the council unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance to prohibit the construction of pedestrian and vehicle overpasses over rights of way within the town. The town maintains that such structures would interfere with evacuation efforts and the response of emergency vehicles and personnel in event of hurricanes and other major storms. Moreover, council felt that air bridges would be aesthetically bad and adversely affect nearby property values.

The prohibitive ordinance will go into effect after its second reading which is expected in September. Town council in July turned down an application for a site plan review of an air bridge spanning Gulf Boulevard. The bridge would have connected two condos, one on each side of the boulevard. Council subsequently established a moratorium on such structures until a formal prohibitive ordinance could be developed.