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Local
East Tampa Partnership Vice-Chair Resigns
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
On Wednesday, East Tampa Community Revital- ization Partnership Vice- Chair, Richedean Hill-Ackbar, notified ETCRP Chair Essie Sims and East Tampa Develop- ment Manager Ed Johnson she was resigning her posi- tion.
Ms. Ackbar said she told Sims and Johnson face-to-face she was finished.
“I’m very frustrated over the way things have been done by the leadership, and the issue over a bus tour I had planned was the last straw.
“In planning the bus tour, I thought it would be benefi- cial to East Tampa to high- light the diversity we have.”
In an e-mail to the ETCRP and members of the
RICHEDEAN HILL-ACKBAR .....resigned as vice-chair of ETCRP
Citizens Advisory Commit- tee, Ms. Ackbar said: “I can no longer stand by as people like Essie Sims and Ed Johnson, who don’t live in East Tampa, continue to make bad decisions for our community. They do their jobs and leave East Tampa.
“In my opinion, housing and caring for the residents has been pushed by the side of the road and replaced by a personal agenda. I am tired of apologizing for Essie Sims and his actions.”
Ms. Ackbar said it has been an honor to represent the community as Vice-Chair for the past 5 years, and she will continue to serve.
ESSIE SIMS ETCRP CHAIR
In response to Ms. Ack- bar’s resignation, Sims said they all thank Ms. Ackbar for her 5 years of service.
Unfortunately, she de- cided to resign. Our policy is before we roll out any pro- gram, we want to make sure we have a quality product.
“As far as the bus tour she was planning is concerned, we felt not enough planning was put into it and Richedean took offense to that.
“We met with her Wednesday, and she failed to present an action plan we had requested months ago. There was a lot of planning that hadn’t been completed,
ED JOHNSON East Tampa Development Manager
and I felt it was in the best in- terest of the Partnership the proposed bus tour be de- layed. Ms. Ackbar didn’t agree, and a series of e-mails she sent to Ed Johnson weren’t warranted and I con- sider them very unprofes- sional.”
Sims said he just felt he needed to make a decision on behalf of the community, in- stead the desires of an indi- vidual.
“I’m sorry Ms. Ackbar took this position and we tried to calm her down, but weren’t successful. We wish her the best in her future en- deavors.”
Sims said the Citizens Advisory Committee will be meeting on the first Tuesday of May, and a new Vice-Chair will be nominated at that time.
“There was no animosity from our point of view and it will always be that way when we deal with each other. I feel I’ve done the right things, and I’m sorry Ms. Ackbar took this position.”
Ed Johnson said he feels it was all a big misun- derstanding that got exag- gerated.
“I think Ms. Ackbar felt we were shutting her down, but all we were trying to do is make sure the bus tour went off without any problems and all contingencies had been met. I’m sorry it ended this way.”
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