Cleaning Up St. Pete

Here is  St. Petersburg Mayor elect Kriseman's vision for Neighborhoods

St. Petersburg is home to many unique, culturally rich, and historically significant neighborhoods. These neighborhoods deserve the full support of city hall.

As mayor, I will encourage effective and influential neighborhood associations by funding the Neighborhood Partnership Grants program and support staff and treating our Codes Compliance Assistance Department as a budget priority.  As we continue to emerge from the economic downturn and related budget cuts, we must look to restore funding to the areas that were hit the hardest, and that includes Codes.

Further, we must expedite the demolition of condemned homes in order to reduce blight and make our neighborhoods safer.

Just as important as a safe, clean neighborhood is the neighborhood's identity, because a sense of belonging fosters pride. My goal is for each neighborhood or area to have its own vibe, to be its own
destination. Visually appealing signage at neighborhood entrances and wayfaring signage in populated areas is an easy first step and a resource for both residents and visitors.  But to truly strengthen the identity of a neighborhood we must better promote its distinct flavor and help tell its story.

All of this just got a bit more pressing with the retirement of Gary Bush as Codes Director, if what Mayor elect Kriseman is looking for is truly in the Vision statement.

Do and don'ts for filling this position

Do:
1. Redo the job description and reinstate the educational requirements that apply to all other department directors.

2. Look outside the Codes department, there is no one in the current Codes organization that is capable of stepping into this role and executing the job like it should be done.

3. Consider rolling Codes into the Police department, paying little attention to all of the complaining from PD management.

4. Check with some neighborhood leaders

Don'ts:

1. Don't take any candidate suggestions from Goliath Davis, Cedrick Gordon or Al White.

2. Don't fill this position with an acting person from Codes for very long or you will have a complete mess.

3. Don't delegate this one. Get someone you are comfortable with and you trust.

Codes is one of the three keys to the south side. Let Codes languish and the other two, Police and  Redevelopment won't make much difference.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webbsmail@gmail.com, or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend
request.