We published Ashton Hayward’s plan in the Buzz last week. Here is Diane Mack’s platform:
Pensacola 2011-2014
Diane Mack for Mayor
Vision Statement & Campaign Platform
A VISION OF PENSACOLA
City of Pensacola
The City of Pensacola is blessed with natural and manmade resources, not the least of which are a great many people who dream of what this city can become. We dream dreams because we want to create a better life for the next generation and the generations to come. What is our dream, our vision?
We see a city so dynamic, economically attractive, and welcoming that thousands of people have swelled the population of the city and continue to do so. We see a city where poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment are the lowest in the Southeast region. We see a city with thriving waterfront, downtown, arts, and historic districts and bayous that you can swim in. We see a city that is acclaimed for its cultural diversity, workforce development, its dedication to the environment, safe neighborhoods, and quality of life.
We see a city that is in the top tier in the nation for business and job growth as well as technology research and innovation. We see a city that is connected locally through public transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and community-wide broadband, and globally through international air service and a uniquely successful port. We see a city that is so efficient in its management and operations that it provides excellent municipal services while keeping taxation reasonable. We see a city where tens of thousands live the way millions wish they could.
To begin bringing this vision to reality, there must be goals and a plan of action to meet those goals. My administration will work to meet the following primary goals:
Grow the population of the city to 60,000
Reduce unemployment to 7%
Increase average per capita income by 5%
To achieve the stated goals, I propose the following four-year action plan.
MAKE CITY OPERATIONS AS EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE
In order to earn the confidence of its citizens, businesses, and taxpayers, the city must operate as efficiently as possible while maintaining core municipal services and should seek non-tax resources to enhance those services and to fund new initiatives. To that end, the Mayor’s office will:
Commission an operational audit of all city departments by an independent, expert firm, to include an assessment of functions that may best lend themselves to outsourcing or consolidation with other governmental units;
-Restructure the organization of the city workforce as may be recommended in the audit study;
– Consolidate functions with Escambia County’s various governmental units as may be prudent and cost effective.
INCREASE THE CITY’S POPULATION
To provide the funds needed for progress, the City of Pensacola must increase its population, thereby increasing the ad valorem tax base and the amount of sales and gasoline tax proceeds apportioned to the city. The present population of the city is approximately 55,000; the goal is to increase that number to 60,000 by the end of 2014. To that end, the Mayor’s office will:
Structure and implement an annexation plan to include–
Cost-benefit analyses, to be conducted in concert with the operational audit;
Cost-recovery fee structure for the use of city services and facilities by county residents;
A public information effort to inform residents living in areas to be annexed of the benefits of living in the city.
Work with national and local interests to bring high quality, mixed-income rental housing developments into the city’s urban core. The availability of affordable rental housing will draw young artisans, service workers, professionals, and other demographic groups into the city, as noted in a housing study performed for the City of Pensacola in 2008 (Zimmerman/Volk Associates);
Facilitate the construction of in-fill housing on vacant residential lots within the city;
Partner with the Pensacola Young Professionals to develop and implement initiatives that will aid in attracting a younger demographic to the city.
AGGRESSIVELY ENGAGE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The present unemployment rate in the City of Pensacola stands at approximately 11% and average per capita income is $21,380. In order to reduce unemployment to 7% and increase per capita income 5% by the end of 2014, the city must become actively involved in economic development.
Beyond tourism and retention of military installations, the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce directs its economic development efforts primarily toward (1) bringing targeted new businesses into the city and the county and (2) aiding the growth of existing businesses that export goods or services. To aid, reinforce, and supplement the Chamber’s efforts, the Mayor’s office will:
Become directly involved in the recruitment of new business and clean industry to the area;
Hire an experienced professional as the city’s director of business development. This director will be responsible for (1) expediting the movement of new and growing businesses through the cit’s permitting and planning processes, and (2) initiating and maintaining relationships with those city located businesses that are not served by the Chamber. Funding for such a position is already available in the city’s proposed Fiscal Year ‘011 budget;
Restructure the city’s EDATE (Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption) incentive program to provide greater incentives for new job creation and higher wage jobs;
Speed up development of the airport commerce park adjacent to Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. According to corporate site selection professionals, high technology companies often choose to locate in close proximity to airports because of the ease of access for business travelers and for shipping of low weight, high-value freight;
Restructure the city’s purchasing policies to provide more opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses located in the city;
Partner with the Small Business Administration to offer entrepreneurship and business management skills training to business owners located in the city;
Submit a proposal to the Escambia County Commission for city management of Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) when the couny’s contract with the current management company expires or comes up for renewal;
Facilitate the growth and expansion of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, particularly the institute’s researches in biologically-inspired robotics;
Work toward the founding of a medical college within the City of Pensacola in partnership with a city hospital that would desire to advance to the status of a teaching and research facility such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The development of such an institution will take a number of years to accomplish and will require the active participation of area citizens who have political influence at state and national levels;
Support and facilitate the following–
successful completion of the Vince Whibbs Sr. Community Maritime Park;
implementation of the Port of Pensacola marketing and mixed-use development plan;
implementation of the downtown retail strategy of the Downtown Improvement Board;
implementation of the public portions of the Community Redevelopment Agency master plan, as resources are secured.
PROTECT AND IMPROVE THE CITY’S NEIGHBORHOODS
The success of a city is determined in great part by what happens in its neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are where we carry on our personal lives, where most of us spend at least fifty percent of our time. When people move, they pick neighborhoods, not just houses. To strengthen our city neighborhoods, the Mayor’s office will:
Work with the city’s neighborhood associations to develop a master plan for neighborhood improvements throughout the city, including but not limited to issues of street infrastructure, code enforcement, and crime;
Establish new associations in neighborhoods lacking them and foster their success through personal attention from the Mayor;
Protect neighborhoods from rezoning attempts that may affect their unique character, integrity, and property values;
Develop a program whereby city police and firefighters who are willing to live in targeted high-crime areas are provided free housing. Funding would come from federal housing grants;
Begin the restoration of the Westside area bounded by A Street, Cervantes Street, Pace Boulevard, and Lakeview Avenue through these projects–
development of a permanent branch library and adjacent park;
development of workforce education and training programs in existing neighborhood facilities in partnership with area business, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions;
tax incentives for the rehabilitation of single-family housing, accompanied by anti-speculation and anti-flipping ordinances;
legal action against business operations that are proven to foster criminal activities.
Secure the balance of funding for and build a Woodlands Community Center to serve the Northeast, Woodland Heights, Springhill, Pine Glades, Hillbrook, and other nearby neighborhoods;
Support and facilitate the following–
continued improvement and development of the Belmont-DeVilliers business district and neighborhood;
development of the Hollice T. Williams Urban Linear Greenway.
PERSONALLY CHAMPION CHILD & ADULT LITERACY & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Skills matter to cities because they support higher productivity and better social outcomes for individuals; a skilled workforce enables businesses to innovate in response to changing market demand.
Strategies to create more jobs in a city must also consider how to link with regeneration initiatives. Growing cities cannot afford to have a large resident population that does not have the skills required to access the available jobs. The City of Pensacola does, unfortunately, have such a population. The first step toward development of skills is acquiring literacy.
To move toward achievement of citywide literacy and workforce skills, the Mayor’s office will:
Partner with the area’s existing childhood literacy organizations, including the Escambia County School District and ECARE (Every Child A Reader in Escambia), and neighborhood churches to conduct – Saturday Reading School- programs in all city community centers;
Create a “Mayor’s Champions” recognition program to honor childhood literacy achievement;
Initiate discussions with local justice system representatives and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on the feasibility of a literacy program for jail inmates who are non-violent offenders, providing a reduction in jail time as an incentive toward attaining proficiency in reading and life skills;
Develop workforce training and education programs within the city in partnership with area businesses, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions (see Westside restoration section under “Neighborhoods” strategy).
IMPROVE PENSACOLA’S ENVIRONMENT
Improving the environment is essential to the promotion of personal and community health, tourism, and quality of place. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the bays and bayous we use are natural resources that must be restored, preserved, and protected. To that end, the Mayor’s office will:
Continue and accelerate cleanups of Bayou Texar and Bayou Chico with state, federal, and private funds;
Insist that Escambia County adopt storm water management programs equal to and consistent with the city’s programs for upstream problems that have created downstream pollution;
Seek funding for LEEDS certifications for new city buildings and promote green construction throughout the city;
Foster initiatives that will bring Pensacola an “All America City†award for beautification;
Work closely with the State of Florida and industries that discharge pollutants into our air to adopt capital programs and deadlines for significant improvements in regional air quality;
Collaborate with ECUA to assure the highest quality drinking water possible within and above current standards for water quality;
Support strong initiatives to raise clean water standards in Pensacola Bay and Escambia Bay.
BRING THE COMMUNITY TO AGREEMENT ON A SHARED PURPOSE
Successful cities rely on strong links between civic leaders, businesses, educational institutions, neighborhood associations, community organizations, and other stakeholders to provide a range of perspectives, expertise, and beneficial leveraging toward common goals. If the City of Pensacola is to grow and prosper, such links must be developed here. To that end, the office of the Mayor will:
Work with stakeholders to develop an agreement of shared purpose toward the common good;
Develop collaborative relationships with City Council members in keeping with the provisions and the spirit of the new city charter.
NOTE
As the election campaign progresses and discussions with members of the community continue, strategies may be added to the plan and others modified.
