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Dunedin commissioners raise representation concerns about proposed regional MPO merger
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Summary
Commissioners discussed a proposed merger of Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco MPOs and voiced concern that the proposed seat apportionment could underrepresent Dunedin and other North County communities; Forward Pinellas tabled a related vote for further review.
The Dunedin City Commission spent substantial time on April 16 discussing a proposed merger of the Pinellas County MPO with its Hillsborough and Pasco counterparts into a single regional metropolitan planning organization.
Mayor Frini reviewed the background: the three MPOs had executed a memorandum of understanding to investigate governance and representative structures for a merged MPO, and Forward Pinellas had asked member jurisdictions whether to recommend the merger to the county commission. A proposed 25-member structure under discussion would allocate 11 seats to Hillsborough (including seats for Tampa International Airport and Port Tampa Bay), eight seats to Pinellas and four to Pasco, Mayor Frini said.
Commissioners said the apportionment risked diluting representation for Pinellas cities, particularly North County communities such as Dunedin. Commissioner Jeff Gao said the prospect of losing a local seat was “very, very painful” and urged efforts to protect local representation. Other commissioners urged guardrails and periodic evaluation to ensure the governance structure remains representative.
Forward Pinellas tabled the item at its recent meeting and sought additional feedback about whether airports or ports should be nonvoting members and whether extra seats should be allocated to Pasco or redistributed. Mayor Frini said the issue is “the devil’s in the detail,” and commissioners agreed more study is needed before any final recommendation.
Next steps: the topic will return for further study at Forward Pinellas and related Tampa Bay Transportation Management Area discussions; Pinellas County will be the deciding jurisdiction if Forward Pinellas makes a recommendation.
