Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the City's first-ever "Neighborhood Leadership Retreat."
This was a great opportunity to hear from City Leadership in a small-group setting. We heard from Mayor Jane Castor and Chief of Police O’Connor, including representatives from Neighborhood and Community Affairs, Culture and Arts, City Planning, Parks and Rec, the City Clerk, Emergency Services, New Community Programs, and more!
All of my notes are below, but overall one request is that everyone take this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LiveGrowThrive2045
Jane Castor, Mayor:
Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow (T3) is name of primary pillars
1. Permitting / Development
2. Transportation Solutions
Potholes are her #1 complaint every day
3. Workforce Development
4. Housing Crisis
5. Sustainability and Resiliency: New position that has been created
Tampa Hope: Good local organization focused on social issues, incl. Homelessness
PIPES Program: Part of $3 Billion infrastructure bill
You can view the map of projects here (we don’t have anything listed yet)
Water Treatment and Wastewater Facilities are fascinating tours
New City Center: Will be the new offices of City Staff, one-stop shop for City Services, to be located in Seminole Heights East
Water Goats: Located to clean up the trash in the river
Homeowners Insurance Increases and Policy Cancellations: Needs to be addressed at a state level
Ray’s Stadium: Doing everything in her power to put the Rays in Ybor
Purple / Blue Streetlights: Are defective, need to report them in to get them fixed
Code Enforcement: Many complaints about vacant houses, houses being used by many families, houses being used for sex work, etc. It is a problem across the city.
Ocea Wynn, Admin of Neighborhood and Community Affairs / Chief Diversity Officer:
New Customer Experience is coming with greater response times and transparency
Working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Call her anytime: 813-274-8181
Robin Nye, Culture and Arts:
Neighborhood Postcard Exchange starts in April, go to community center to participate
Requests to start a Citizen’s Group to weigh in on artistic decisions
HARP: Hillsborough Avenue Renovation Project, See all FDOT projects here
Call her anytime: 813-274-8531
Stephen Benson, City Planning Director:
Live, Grow, Thrive 2045 is the name of new Plan:
Land use, mobility, infrastructure, housing
Strongly request everyone take this survey:
Working on a Coastal Area Action Plan to combat rising sea levels
Working with neighborhoods to adapt their specific neighborhood plans
Some input from neighbors about a “lack of teeth” in plans as they are not policy or law
Lisa Bryant, Parks and Rec Dept:
Spoke largely about the programming available at the park centers, including senior activities and youth camps
$15/year to join
Shirley Fox, City Clerk’s Office:
Overview of how to have a proper meeting, including Robert’s Rules of Order
Navigating the city org chart; see the Mayor as CEO and the Council Members as the legislative branch
Recommends that people volunteer for city boards if they want to make a difference
Call her anytime: 813-274-8397
Emergency Services:
City COVID testing centers are now closed
Continuity plans for emergencies
Follow @alerttampa for updates
Rose Angelapapolous, Tampa PD - New Community Programs:
Works to coordinate different neighborhood events
Huge uptick in auto burglaries, people stealing from cars
Tierra Thompson, our District One rep, was there as well
Coffee with a Cop events are on the calendar (Filtered to District 1)
Call her anytime: 813-951-8040
Mary O’Connor, Chief of Police:
Freshly elected, willing to attend any meetings she’s invited to
Very passionate about violent crime prevention
Mentoring and mental health programs are a priority, partnering with social services
Reminder about Project REC (sign up if you have cameras)
Call or text her anytime: 813-520-9084
I learned quite a bit, and I hope that you all did too! Thanks for reading.
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