Candidates Explain Gulfport Issues as They See Them Part One of Three

The Gabber Newspaper Staff

The Gabber asked the five candidates for Gulfport City Council to answer five questions. Over the next three weeks, we’ll print their answers. Candidates had 24 hours to answer, as successful candidates will make decisions in real time during meetings. We also gave candidates a word count; when the candidate ran over, we cut the word count at the specified length and indicated as much. We have edited only for syntax and spelling. Elections take place Mar. 14.

What are the key issues facing Gulfport, and how – specifically –will you tackle them? (200 words) on many issues. What we can and I have always done is to continue working on our streets, sewers and sidewalks, etc.

Ian O’Hara, challenger: The key issues facing Gulfport are lack of clarity, lack of communication, lack of accessibility, and lack of lobbying In Tallahassee for things we need to fight for.

Ward II

Christine Brown, incumbent: Gulfport is a full-service city. Police, Fire, Public Works, Library, Recreation Center, Senior Center, Marina, Playgrounds, Beach, Theater, Casino, Community Development. 12,000 residents, 68 miles of roads, 32 miles of unpaved alleyways, recreational fields and more than a dozen buildings to maintain. I believe that a full-service city supports our sense of community, our lifestyle, and our high level of personal service. I want to continue working to preserve Gulfport’s unique identity, build our legacy as a full-service city, and maintain our low millage rate which has remained the same 4.039 mils for 11 years. For the benefit of our residents, businesses, and community organizations it is important for our city to continue to maintain our high quality of life by investing in the priorities that are important to residents.

I am dedicated to working closely with the city manager to ensure our financial sustainability by continuously monitoring the fiscal environment and financial forecasts to approve a conservative budget that balances the public service needs with the available resources of the city. The City of Gulfport makes every effort to provide a full range of valuable essential services, so each resident can lead a positive, healthy, active, and rewarding life.

Christopher Butler-Jones, challenger: Gulfport needs to improve in the way it communicates with the community. City Hall needs to be clear and transparent with citizens and to keep people up-to-date with what’s going on, whether it’s good, bad, or anywhere in between. Voices need to be heard; phone calls and e-mails need to be answered in a timely manner. I’d like to have regular town hall meetings for the whole city (and not just for my ward). Anything that would allow City Hall to better know what the people want and need would be amazing improvement –especially if it would also bring the community and give neighbors an opportunity to know each other.

Greg Simek, challenger: The number one issue facing Gulfport is af- fordability. Rents are increasing two times or more on units that haven’t been updated since the landlords bought them in the 1980s. For all the rhetoric about “keeping Gulfport Gulfport” it is important to acknowledge that the folks who can currently afford the steep $500/ square foot price tag do not define the city’s historical identity. Rather it’s the artists, musicians, and dedicated workforce who have largely sculpted Gulfport’s eclecticism and charm. They are all getting priced out and moving away, which in turn jeopardizes our city’s character. The affordability issues have been going on for three years and the current Council’s piece-de-resistance has been to reactively sign the county’s laughable “Tenant Bill of Rights” which is significant only in that it now requires landlords to provide a 60-day instead of a 30-day notice window for rent increases. Yep, that’ll really solve the crisis (j/k)! com I itemize multiple solutions including strategic density increases to create missing middle housing, disincentivizing derelict properties from remaining nonproductive, and allowing accessory dwelling units on a broader spectrum of permissible lots.

On my website gulfportforward.

Next week: Diversity and parking downtown.

• Ten of the last 11 recessions started during Republican administrations

• Six of the seven administrations with the highest job growth since WWII were Democratic

• The first two presidents who doubled the national debt were Republican www.ifpeopleactuallyvotedintheirownbestinterest.org cords of recycled oyster shell can be installed under docks and piers, where they gradually expand into a suspended reef, providing not just cleaner water, but also habitat for other marine species.

If you know where to look, you can find other traces of Tampa Bay Watch’s work all around the bay, from salt-marsh plantings in Clam Bayou and Osgood Point to a huge installation of 9,700 oyster reef balls and 450 tons of oyster-shell reef at MacDill Air Force Base protecting the shoreline against huge vessel wakes from the transport ships entering and leaving Port Tampa. These projects reflect the organization’s focus on community-based habitat restoration, engaging 10,000 volunteers each year in the work of rebuilding the habitat that keeps the bay healthy.

Founded in 1993, Tampa Bay Watch turned 30 this month. Over the last three decades the organization has enjoyed what Clark describes as “solid, slow, steady growth” – not unlike the many oyster reefs TBW has fostered. What began as a small group of environmental scientists and educators 30 years ago is now an organization of 52 full- and parttime staff, spanning two facilities: the Tierra Verde Marine Science Center, perched along the road to Fort De Soto, and a new Discovery Center at the St. Pete Pier.

Both locations have allowed TBW to expand into the other side of its mission – education. The Tierra Verde and St. Pete Pier sites currently serve 3,500 students and 2,500 students respectively each year through field trips and camps. Clark envisions more to come: The organization would like to establish a mobile education component that could bring programming to schools

(Title I schools in particular) and create a presence at local events.

“And we need to keep moving the needle in terms of improvements in water quality,” adds Clark. Tampa Bay’s overall health has improved a lot in the last 30 years. Clark cites, for instance, the 10,000-acre increase in sea grass beds, which provide critical habitat for marine species, since 1993. But rising sea levels and the continued threat of harmful algal blooms call for more work ahead – larger oyster reef installations and a move toward living shorelines that provide additional habitat and water filtration while helping protect terrestrial creatures like ourselves from the impact of storms.

Whatever new projects the future may bring, Clark says, the organization’s mission will remain focused on community-oriented stewardship. Readers can join in upcoming TBW restoration projects or encourage their companies, churches, schools, and other community groups to get involved.

Because after all, our home isn’t just the houses, streets, and beaches we’ve come to love – it’s the habitat that keeps it all afloat.