On Friday the City of Tallahassee issued a press release describing a two day workshop designed to help develop a shared vision for the future of South City. The workshop is scheduled for May 19-20 with the majority of the meetings being held at the law firm of Hopping Green and Sams located in downtown Tallahassee.
Tallahassee Reports was made aware of the meeting by sources who were concerned about the way in which the public was notified – on Friday for a Tuesday conference – as well as the make up of the participants.
Sources also highlighted the insensitivity of scheduling a meeting about South City issues at the Governors Club. ( See agenda below)
The City of Tallahassee is partnering with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to assemble a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) under ULI’s Building Healthy Places Initiative to provide recommendations for South City improvements and visioning.
“This City Commission is fortunate to have the assistance of a nationally recognized expert to develop a collective vision for the South City neighborhood and surrounding commercial corridor through a common understanding of issues, opportunities, challenges and steps needed to achieve the vision,” said Commissioner Nancy Miller, who championed the City’s partnership with ULI during her tenure on the Long Range Planning Target Issue committee.
A review of public documents indicates that ULI, a nonprofit organization, is funded by anonymous donors and pays their executives very well. The CEO, Patrick Phillips, was paid approximately $680,000 in 2013.
Thomas Murphy, who is employed by ULI and will be at the meeting next week, was paid approximately $210,000 in 2013.
Tallahassee Reports has been able to obtain a copy of the agenda, which was not included in the press release. It is included below.
Who is paying for the conference? Will local media be able to attend? Why is it necessary to bring in regional experts? And what track record does ULI have in dealing with South City issues?
Next week Tallahassee Reports will seek answers to these questions.
City to Hold Conference on South City Issues, Schedules Meeting at Governor’s Club added by Staff on
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Here’s the hard reality. The southside of town has always been the poor side of a poor town.
The problem today is a slow moral decline in society exacerbated by a prolonged economic recession.
Good luck with that.
Watching the workshop. What an embarrassment! They are saying the same things people have been saying for years!
Our city commission is a laughing stock!
There is no better way for them to conduct closed business than to have the meeting at their attorney’s office, if questioned they will use the excuse of attorney client privilege. Their plans only will force out the poor to make room for the rich in that area of town, thus moving the crime and “problems” into other areas. It has been South City before 1940 I know because I am a product of a south city product re: Campbell Park, Tram Road & Gaile Ave. It would be a compliment to call these people “GOOD ole boys”
You know you’ve screwed up when Ed Holifield blasts you over a workshop that is allegedly there to help the South Side (btw, when it become “South City?!?)
My Lord, this is just ANOTHER example of the backwards, backroom, atrophied nature of Tallahassee politics.
When are we going to toss the entire lot out and start with fresh minds, fresh ideas, and not another group of people raised on the same mindset, and groomed but the Tallahassee political machines?
You reap what you sow, Tallahassee.
Isn’t this an interesting development? History repeats itself– Who knew?
I will not be surprised to see a thousand homes mowed down in five years within a mile radius of FAMU. These things take on a life of their own. City government is no friend of the South Side.
Anyone who says they care deeply about the South city neighborhoods had better get their video cameras or video-capable-phone and be at these privately-held so-called public meetings. Be proactive, before it is too late.
Planning Director Wayne Tedder has a documented history of voting for and acting upon false documentation. It happened to the 600+ home neighborhood of Lafayette Park half a dozen years ago.
Mr. Tedder is also a class A master of speaking reassurance with no substance. You will believe everything he says, unless you stop and ask, “What did he say, really?” He is an acting director’s dream.
The Tallahassee City Commissioners’ own City Attorney staff facilitated and pushed every step of a three-years-long ordeal of “rezoning” Lafayette Park to seize control of every property there, once Mr. Tedder got the “process” started. He just loves his “process.”
Check out a summary of what happened, described in a prior issue of Tallahassee Reports:
https://tallahasseereports.com/2011/07/04/billion-dollar-theft-planned-by-city/
This article has a reference link to HistoricLafayettePark.com, where original documents are provided.
Meanwhile, sharpen your pitchforks and oil your torches. The South Side is gonna have a real fight on their hands to keep in existence. The City has been learning–it may be too late to save your neighborhood, already.
You mean to tell me there is not anyone local who can do this? Why not reach out to Southside leaders and businesses for what is needed?
What is the point of having a city commission if they have to look for outside help on almost every issue?
Is this another Stephanopoulos?
Let me get this right.
A selected panel of some of the richest, overwhelmingly white men on the planet take a poverty tour of black Tallahassee.
This is followed by an evening dinner in the “Plantation Room” at the Governor’s Club, one of the most exclusive eating places in Tallahassee.
Really?
Is this proof of Einstein’s theory that time, at least in Tallahassee, can go backwards?
The selected “stakeholders” as noted in the agenda should be embarrassed. They should have taken these people to a restaurant on the South Side.
Did they think that would be too far beneath them?
And why is the overwhelming majority of this event being held at a private law firm rather than at city hall?
Does this mean that the public can be turned away by the private law firm?
Is this the epitome of Gillum’s “invitation only” philosophy whereby some people are apparently more equal than others?
Is the public invited? How about reporters? Unbelievable!