PSTA's Legislative Committee Chair Democrat Commissioner Janet Long Publicly Disparages President Trump at PSTA Meeting

Long has been wrong for too long and should be gone.

Tampa, Fl
From: Eye On Tampa Bay

Posted by: Sharon Calvert

Is there a trend in Tampa Bay with county commissioners disparaging people and alienating their own constituents and voters?

We posted here and here where Democrat Hillsborough County commissioner Kimberly Overman called her constituents "super stupid", is derogatory towards others and instigated others to go after those who disagree with her.

Now Democrat Pinellas County commissioner Janet Long decided to go partisan at a Pinellas transit agency PSTA Legislative Committee meeting held May 6th. Long publicly denigrated President Trump at this meeting. [Can go directly to video clip below to watch]

The Trump Administration should take note.

Commissioner Long, chairs the PSTA (Pinellas transit agency) Legislative Committee. At the May 6

Janet Long

meeting, PSTA discussed their pursuit for more taxpayer dollars with their state and federal lobbyists. The entire meeting video can be found here.

The issue of PSTA's request for tens of millions of federal dollars for their proposed Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (CA BRT) project came up because PSTA did not make the Federal Transit Administration grant funding recommendations announced in February this year for FY2021.

Commissioner Long has doggedly pursued the unnecessary $45 million Central Avenue BRT (CA BRT) boondoggle that 2 of the 3 municipalities (St. Pete Beach and S Pasadena) along its route oppose and unanimously voted to reject the project. The CA BRT project is scandal ridden and the cost has escalated from $16.5 million in 2015 to $45 million in 2019 - a whopping 273% increase.

Committee Chairwoman Janet Long chimed in at the meeting she could personally reach out to Jane Williams, the acting FTA Administrator, to ask her to carve out the FTA grant funding for the CA BRT — "before things get all messed up".

We assume Long's "before things get all messed up" refers to a reasonable assumption that the pandemic could impact some decision making. 

PSTA's federal lobbyist responded that the transit funding already appropriated is at the DOT Secretary Elaine Chou level not at the FTA Admin level.

US DOT Secretary Elaine Chou is an appointee of President Trump and works directly for Trump.

While the FTA Capital Investment Grant program PSTA is seeking funding for the CA BRT from is discretionary and competitive, it is also political.

PSTA should not be partisan or seen as partisan. But Commissioner Long decided to go partisan at the May 6 Legislative Committee meeting.

Read the entire post  and view the video at: PSTA's Legislative Committee Chair Democrat Commissioner Janet Long Publicly Disparages President Trump at PSTA Meeting

This post is contributed by EYE ON TAMPA BAY. The views expressed in this post are the blog publisher's and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher of Bay Post Internet.

Cross Posted with permission from: Eye On Tampa Bay