Petition Supporters Near Signature Goal

"I believe in our police department. We need to preserve it," Echo Morris said.

Morris was one of a handful of volunteers who spent Saturday afternoon knocking on doors, answering questions and soliciting signatures to allow Gulfport voters to decide whether the Gulfport Police Department should become a chartered department.

Organizer and Gulfport resident Frank Verdino and his supporters believe that by adding the Gulfport Police Department as a chartered department, any "major changes," such as outsourcing communications, would have to be decided by a public vote, not the passing of an ordinance by the Gulfport City Council.

Verdino says they need a little less than 1,000 verified signatures to get the question on the March 13 ballot. The group is aiming for more than that to ensure they have enough registered voters' signatures.

Morris went out Saturday, because she believes the Gulfport Police Department should be preserved "in spite of cutbacks." Morris doesn't have a problem with current plans to outsource the communications center's duties to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

However, she thinks the department should stay "as is," and that includes the communications center. Morris is a 2008 graduate of the Gulfport Police Department Citizens Academy and plans to move to Gulfport soon.

Morris began her walk near 18th Avenue South and 49th Street South. Of the first three people Morris spoke with, one wanted to sign it but was not a registered voter, and two signed it — one on the spot. Kevin Moore didn't hesitate to include his signature on the petition.

Just across the street, Karean Dorn also asked for signatures. "We need dispatch," she said. "I hope we can pull it off; I really do."

On another side of town, volunteers Patricia Millward and Michael Fridovich spoke with people heading in and out of the Liberty Gas Station/Kwik Stop on Gulfport Boulevard.

Millward wants the voters to decide whether the city should outsource the communications center. "I think that's the only fair way," she said.

Fridovich agreed.

"If it goes on the ballot and is voted down, there's nothing more we can do, but at least the people voted," he said. "At least the citizens got their say."

Frank Verdino says he has personally had two people refuse to sign the petition. Verdino says the citizens were concerned about how much it would cost to maintain the dispatch center. Verdino says people are making "informed decisions before signing it; people are asking questions, and they're getting honest answers."

The group collected more than 100 signatures over the weekend and hopes to have enough to turn in by the end of the week.

For information about volunteering, the petition itself or providing a signature, contact Frank Verdino at 727-324-9517 or verdino.frank@yahoo.com.

Learn about the efforts and the process to get the charter amendment on the March 13 ballot in this story: "Dispatch Center's Fate Could Be Decided By Voters"