I said last week to not get used to an early post, but with five Thursday in May this year, council is off this week. Normally this is where I would criticize them for not taking advantage of the extra week to get caught up, and god forbid, get ahead. But with the events the past month, it is probably for the best they don’t meet together and hopefully take advantage of the time to do so individually. I shared some personal thoughts on those events and what I think the citizens of Tampa need to do to strengthen our legislative body. I also think we should expand the size of Council while we are discussing population growth. The City of Tampa will be nearing half a million residents in the next 25 years. We’re over 400,000 now. A seven member council with one legislative aide each, a lawyer and a recently added budget analyst isn’t going to cut it. The city is nearing a $2 billion budget.
Speaking of population growth, Thursday evening, council heard from the planning commission regarding the future land use plan update. The issue is being framed that we need to accommodate 74,000 new people. I ran the numbers and what’s left out is the current plan already does that, give or take 5,000 people. Tweak all the language necessary to clear ambiguities; add targeted density to encourage growth in under developed parts of the city. But we do not need to add 74,000 more people above the current future land use map. The comp plan doesn’t need significant density added to meet the requirements of the state.
Thursday morning council held a workshop with the majority of their time focused on the 3 items related to stormwater. The key takeaways:
- “We cannot solve flooding problems from hurricanes.”
- Stormwater = freshwater = rain. This work is not related to saltwater storm surge.
- The stormwater master plan was in the works before the hurricanes. Council approved the contract last summer. Which is to say this isn’t a reaction to the storms, just work that should have started in 2006, not 2016.
- We need to find more money.
Looking ahead, Council will have 2 regular meetings and sit as the CRA Board in June, with no workshop as the city and council recognize Juneteenth. Council then has a two week summer vacation to start July, returning on the 17th for the mayor’s annual budget presentation.
Finally, I want to again thank everyone who has donated to the site, I was able to meet my goal for annual hosting costs. I’ve set another goal to help with some technology upgrades for the office. If you’d like to donate, I am sticking with Buy Me a Coffee for now, but I am still exploring options for integration directly into the site. It comes down to either a time or financial commitment to add the functionality. I also want to sincerely thank those that have written me to share encouragement and those that have helped spread the word about the site. There is a lot more I would like to do, and with your help I’m working towards that goal—to have more people engaged with what is happening with their city government.
One last item, speaking of stormwater, the much anticipated route study and streetscape presentation for the South Howard Flood Relief Project will be held on June 5 at the Tampa Garden Club from 6pm to 8pm.
