Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 8-13-19

Feature
Newly Elected Councilmen Initiate Discussion About Use Of CRA Dollars In East Tampa And Other Blighted Areas
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
There are 222 active community redevelop- ment areas (CRAs) in Florida. They were estab- lished to encourage new investment and job cre- ation in URBAN areas that were blighted, as a result of substantial growth moving away from the urban core.
Faced with these chal- lenges, municipalities, working with their respec- tive counties, have exer- cised their discretion to establish a CRA as a means for economic re- covery in these areas.
Under Florida law (Chapter 163, Part III), local governments are able to designate areas as CRAs when certain condi- tions exist.
These conditions in- clude: the presence of substandard or inade- quate structures, a short-
age of affordable housing, inadequate infrastructure and insufficient road- ways.
The City of Tampa has multiple CRA districts.
Downtown Tampa lives and breathes with new vitality and vibrancy due in part to the well- funded and well-sup- ported Community Redevelopment Area (CRA).
In major contrast to the downtown area, the East Tampa CRA contin- ues to fight urban blight due to aging, neglect, and lack of financial support for maintenance.
Newly elected City Councilman, Orlando Gudes, who represents East Tampa, along with Councilman John Dingfelder initiated a workshop to discuss the CRAs at City Council meeting on Thursday, Au- gust 8th.
Natasha Goodley,
Esq., of the East Tampa CRA board spoke on the
COUNCILMAN ORLANDO GUDES
history of East Tampa be- fore delving into the is- sues of fighting blight within the community.
“The area (East Tampa) has been plagued in the past by businesses pulling out and vital exits from the highway being closed. Now, city mainte- nance items go unfixed and code enforcement is- sues linger.
“The micro focus tar- geting downtown needs to be shifted to East Tampa and other CRAs in Tampa. This includes cleaning up parks and
streets, small business workshops, financial as- sistance workshops, and rehab assistance.”
Ms. Goodley states that a major roadblock to moving forward has been the legal process of ap- proval. Some programs are not being approved at all, while others languish in legal limbo and become untenable if they are fi- nally approved.
City Councilman Or- lando Gudes, of District 5, passionately spoke about the need to stop ac- cepting “NO” as an an- swer and knock down any roadblocks.
Councilman Gudes
has most of the Tampa CRAs in his district. Dur- ing the Thursday work- shop he asked for a more aggressive plan of action.
The CRAs currently have $3.8 million in their budget plus the annual rollover of funds, the budget will be $5.6 mil- lion dollars.
Councilman Gudes
vows to continue his work and collaboration with the CRAs to build a better Tampa for all the citizens.
Ed Johnson has been employed as the City of Tampa, Manager for East Tampa Development, hired by former Mayor Pam Iorio over 12 years ago, and manages the CRA dollars in East Tampa.
During Mayor Iorio’s tenure, East Tampa’s CRA funds were used to build District 3’s police sub-station. The East Tampa CRA funds are also used to pay the salaries of 3 to 4 city em- ployee cleanup crew member.
And while, the East Tampa Community Revi- talization Partnership (ETCRP) and the East Tampa CRA board have been diligently fighting roadblocks and delays in recent years, the funds spent in past years were voted on and approved by them.
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