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Features
Housing Authority CEO Agrees Process Can Be Simplified
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
The Tampa Housing Authority has been proactive when it comes to public meetings to keep residents of public housing and the com- munity informed on their plans to demolish North Boulevard Homes and build a new housing development.
In meetings held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, residents and business owners have asked questions after lengthy presentations by THA staff members, City of Tampa represen- tatives, and developers.
It was recently brought to the attention of THA Chief Executive Officer, Jerome Ryans, that although the presentations have been in- formation packed, there is concern that resi- dents are being given too much information.
“The presentations are quite detailed, and they do get into aspects of the project people may not understand,” said Ryans.
“I also understand that even though there is a question and answer segment after each meeting, a lot of people may not know what questions to ask.”
Ryans has agreed that the process of pro- viding information to public housing residents and the community could be presented in a better format.
“In our effort to make sure everyone im- pacted by what we’re doing is informed, we do have a tendency to get into aspects of the proj- ect that people don’t understand, or is not di- rectly pertinent. That’s something we will
JEROME RYANS Tampa Housing Authority CEO
address immediately, and I will talk to my staff about being more direct with the presenta- tions.”
A few community leaders who have been at- tending the meetings said residents in the community and public housing often call them to find out what everything meant, because they have a tendency to get lost in all the tech- nical information.
“In our effort to make sure there is trans- parency, like other agencies, a lot of the items covered are not the primary concern of those in attendance.
“People who attend the meetings have spe- cific concerns, and sometimes that gets lost during presentations about the project. We will do whatever we can to make sure the peo- ple are getting the information they need.”
Center For Nonprofit And Community Development To Host West Tampa Community Meeting
The Center for Nonprofit and Community Develop- ment will be hosting “moving from marching to moving to action: Summit and Forum on Race, Crime and Poverty.”
The summit will be held at the West Tampa Library on July 30th and will begin at 1 p. m.
Michael Randolph, Di- rector of The Center for Non- profit and Community Development, said among the topics that will be discussed at the forum will be what are the best practices from around the nation on po- lice/Black encounters?
“We will discuss develop- ing the first community led citizen oversight police com- mittee. We believe the solu- tion to any problem is within the community where the problem resides. So far, change has come through people and not an organiza- tion that claims they repre- sent the people.
“We will talk about taking ownership when it comes to Black-on-Black crime, and find a pathway out of us killing us.”
Randolph said there will also be a discussion on a com- prehensive approach to end- ing poverty, using lessons learned from around the na- tion.
MICHAEL RANDOLPH
“We would like to see a par- ent or family member who has lost a loved one to vio- lence attend this meeting, as well as anyone seeking solu- tions to poverty, community leaders both faith based and other nonprofits or individu- als, youth that want to share their stories of encounters with the police, and people of all racers that believe injus- tice.
“We’d also like to see mem- bers of the criminal justice in attendance, as well as repre- sentatives from social serv- ices, health, and civil rights agencies.”
Seating is limited, and everyone is requested to send an email to cenerfornonprof- itandcommunity@gmail.com to get a seat at the forum.
“Let’s not wait until a death occurs in West Tampa before we act,” said Randolph.
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