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County seeks public's input on budget cuts
By SUZETTE PORTER
| Article published on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 |
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Pinellas County Commissioners are seeking the public's help to cut $60 million from the fiscal year 2011 budget.
Some of the methods county staff proposes to use to allow the public to get involved in the budget process include a series of public meetings plus a first-ever eTownHall meeting.
Tim Closterman, director of Pinellas County Communications, said one of the key things staff is trying this year involves the Internet.
"We'll have the e-town meeting, we'll be on Twitter and You Tube," he said. "A lot of people don't have time to come to a meeting. They are busy with their families, their businesses. We want to reach out to this audience."
Three public meetings are scheduled in different locations during the month of March. All meetings take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The first public meeting is Wednesday, March 3, at Palm Harbor University High School, 1900 Omaha St., Palm Harbor. The second meeting is Thursday, March 11, at Osceola High School, 9751 98th St. N., Seminole. The third meeting is Thursday, March 18, at Gibbs High School, 850 34th St. S., St. Petersburg.
Closterman said the meetings would be structured much the same as last year's with different stations set up manned by assistant county administrators who are in charge of different departments. The meetings will begin with a brief overview of the budget shortfall and other key facts before moving into a more informal style allowing people to talk one-on-one with county staff and the commissioners.
At the end, time will be allocated to people who want to speak publicly. Each person who signs up will be given two minutes, Closterman said. People attending the meetings also will be given an opportunity to fill out a survey and make written comments.
Closterman said usually the people who attend the traditional public meetings are those who are already "in tune or plugged in to their county government. They already have an understanding of the programs and the facilities. Our question was how to reach the next group."
Closterman said the e-town hall meeting, scheduled on Monday, March 15, was the idea of County Administrator Bob LaSala. He said the action starts the Sunday before when a blog opens at 9 a.m.
To participate, people will need to visit to www.pinellascounty.org/etownhall where they will find two different ways to participate.
The first method is an online poll of questions yet to be determined. He said the questions would include some of the items the commissioners had been discussing during recent budget work sessions.
The second method is a blog where people can submit questions and comments. Citizens can then go online on Monday and watch as the commissioners and staff answer the questions during the eTownHall meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. People also can use the blog to ask questions during the live event, Closterman said.
"The commissioners really want citizens to get engaged," Closterman said. "We're trying to make that as easy as possible."
He said three public libraries were partnering with the county to make computers available to residents during the e-town hall meeting: Palm Harbor, Largo and James Weldon Johnson Branch library in St. Petersburg. County staff is scheduled to go to the libraries on Monday afternoon to help citizens with the process, he said.
Other methods available for citizen's to share their comments, questions and ideas about the county budget can be found on the front page of the county's Web site, www.pinellascounty.org, as well as on the online budget pages.
"People who can't participate in a public meeting or the e-town hall meeting can send e-mails to the county commissioners and staff," Closterman said.
People who prefer to mail comments, questions or ideas can send them to Pinellas County Communications, ATTN: Budget, 333 Chestnut St., Clearwater, FL 33756.
Closterman said the communications department was committed to doing what it could to encourage people to get involved with the budget process now when the different departments were working on their budgets.
"If the public gets involved now, the departments will have better knowledge about what is important to them: parks and preserves, certain services, public safety. Everyone has something different they think is most important."
Pinellas County Commission Chair Karen Seel agreed.
"We're talking about our citizen's government," Seel said. "That's what it is all about. With these bigger budget cuts, it is important that the public be aware. We want to hear from the public. What are their needs and what are their wants and how will those fit with the county's diminishing resources."
County government provides many of what Seel describes as essential services.
"We have to give priority to the basics," she said. "Those things that touch our lives in an every day manner."
Basics include being able to drive down the street safely, turning on the taps and getting safe drinking water, the ability to flush the toilet, she said.
"But, qualify of life for our citizens is so important. I don't want that jeopardized by budget cuts," she said.
The county also has the responsibility to care for the most vulnerable, Seel said.
She said taking care of the needy is not as charitable as it is practical.
"Someone without food and shelter will end up in the county jail, a mental health facility or emergency room and that will cost more dollars than trying to take care of those basic needs upfront," Seel said.
What the public tells the commissioners and staff during the March budget meetings carries a lot of weight, Seel said.
"This year (after the past years of budget cuts) there are fewer places left to cut," Seel said. "We really need the citizens' opinions on what is important. We also need their ideas on ways to increase revenues. Then we have to balance the priorities."
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Article published on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010
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