The first Pinellas Assembly was held at the Harborview Center in Clearwater on May 16-18, 2002. More than one hundred and thirty people met to discuss, listen, and find consensus for the future of Pinellas County. Participants were selected to reflect the many aspects of the county, including government, business, civic groups, neighborhoods, religion, minorities, retirees, the environment, and education.

Over the two and a half day session, the Assembly addressed opportunities and challenges faced by the County, such as annexation, urban service delivery and financing, economic development, and intergovernmental cooperation. “The overall conclusion of the Assembly is that the roles and responsibilities of the county and cities need to be divided more clearly. The system of local government is sound, but adjustments are necessary to eliminate unproductive conflict, increase efficiency, enhance service quality, and correct inequities in the distribution of costs.”

A series of next steps was proposed by the body, which included the development of task forces to do a more thorough analysis of issues.

On October 21, 2002 the Board of County Commissioners and the Mayors Council met in a joint session at the Harborview Center to follow through on the Assembly’s recommendations. A Coordinating Committee, composed of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and the President and Vice-President of the Mayors Council, was formed to set future joint meetings, agendas and to ensure timetables are met. It was agreed that the composition of the task forces would be citizen members with two non-voting staff members, one from a city and one from the County.

The seven task forces

Policy Statement