Gulfport Council Takes a Look at 2020.

By Ryan McGahan

Tuesday, February 17, Gulfport Council met the new Gulfport police K-9 unit, spoke with the local Habitat for Humanities branch, and approved a permit for Get Rescued, before hearing what each branch of the city accomplished in the last fiscal year.

The meeting – held in-person at the Catherine Hickman Theater and via Zoom – began with a series of presentations, including the introduction of the Gulfport Police Department’s new K-9 unit, featuring Cezar and Ghost. Cheryl Hannafin, the city’s finance director, then accepted the Financial Reporting Achievement Award, marking Gulfport’s 37th year as a recipient of the national award.

Council in the Mood to Approve

Council approved Caroline Woodruff’s appointment to the Gulfport Board of Adjustment, which has the final say on zoning requirements. Woodruff replaces longtime board member William Seawall, who recently stepped down as chairman.

“Caroline has been in Gulfport a few years now; she’s a really good friend of mine too. She’s a very detail-orientated person who’s done a lot of work with other types of environments. Her previous experience will really come in handy,” Councilmember Paul Ray said. “We do appreciate all the work that Mr. Seawall has done for us over the years and regret watching him resign, but we really do thank him for everything that he’s done.”

Council also approved the Gulfport Merchants Chamber of Commerce’s application for the annual “Get Rescued” fundraiser on Beach Boulevard, February 27. The event will have 102 booths of pet-themed vendors and rescue organizations to raise money and awareness for different animal causes. The booths will be spaced 6 to 10 feet apart, there will be hand-washing stations at each block, and visitors will have to pass a quick temperature scan and wear a mask to enter the event. Volunteers will distribute masks to those who need one.

Habitat for Humanity Seeks Residents

Mike Sutton, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties, spoke on his organization’s goal of building 70 new affordable homes in Pinellas County this year.

Habitat for Humanity has not built a home in Gulfport since 2018, and so far has no plans to do so this year, but Sutton wants to reach out to families or individuals in the city looking to own a home, and ask them to apply through the group’s website. Once they receive and approve an application, HFH can buy land in the applicant’s home community, and build a home to fit their needs, transferring ownership to them with a 0% interest loan.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about Habitat, besides the fact that everyone thinks Jimmy Carter is our CEO, is that we build homes and give them away for free; that’s not the case. Our homeowners are folks that fall in an income range where they are not able to qualify for a traditional loan, but they make too much to receive any government assistance,” Sutton said.

The Year in Gulfport

Council concluded with an overview of the fiscal year, October 2019 to September 2020, as leaders from each municipal department presented the data on what they’d accomplished.

Gulfport Police Chief Robert Vincent reported a slight increase in crimes on persons – including murder, robbery and assault – over the last few years, and an ongoing decrease in property crimes, like burglary, over the same period. The overall number of calls made

Between in-person and virtual elements, the Gulfport Public Library actually served over 16,000 people in 2020, compared to 12,000 in 2019.

June Johns

to the police department, 7295, was slightly higher than the previous past years’ totals.

“I felt that was a little surprising, given the nature of the pandemic... a lot of them were not your typical calls… in this case we had a lot of calls about people experiencing depression and needing help, that sort of thing,” Vincent said.

Despite the pandemic, the department still carried out several special events and programs, like the Citizens’ Police Academy, and Operation Santa, which collected and gave out toys to 250 kids in 90 families last year.

City Manager Jim O’Reilly spoke for the Gulfport Fire Rescue, briefly highlighting the department’s 2876 emergency responses and 40 extinguished fires.

Fred Metcalf, Director of the Community Development Department, spoke on the valuation of permits, which had been steadily increasing for the last few years, but stagnated last year largely due to COVID-19.

Gulfport Public Library Director David Mather showed that between in-person and virtual events, the library served over 16,000 people last year, compared to 12,000 in 2019. He also advertised the variety of online partnerships the library has made with sites like Kanopy, RBDigital and Hoopla, which provide audiobooks,

movies, documentaries and ebooks for free to those with a library card. Jim O’Reilly followed up with a reminder that people who need assistance applying for a COVID vaccine online can get help from library staff.

The City of Gulfport Recreation Center received a new school bus for after school and summer programs, while the Gulfport Multipurpose Senior Center’s Mini-Bus Service made 4,683 trips last year.

“This is such an important part of our community that gets people out and about. Now, a lot of seniors have chosen not to go out as often, but they still have medical appointments and such, so we are extremely cognizant of masks, social distancing, and cleaning the vehicles after each use,” said City Manager Jim O’Reilly. The Senior Center also hosted 161 virtual events between August and September of last year, compared to the 2,374 in-person events between October 2019 and March of 2020.

Justin Shea, Gulfport’s Cultural Facilities Events Supervisor, shared that between the two mask distribution sites at the Public Works Office and Gulfport Casino, the city gave out over 55,000 face coverings between June 9 and October 15. The Casino generated $203,000 in revenue for the city, less than half the total for each of the previous four years, but also completed a number of renovations, including the flooring and a new bar.

New in tech, the city launched a webpage for the latest on COVID-19 updates, including vaccine availability, which has been viewed nearly 13,000 times.

“We also send our communications through the city’s network on Constant Contact, and we were able to build a feature where if a resident would like to be included on that email list, you have the ability to text ‘MYGULFPORT’ to 22828 and then follow those prompts to register,” Shea said.

Harbormaster Denis Frain spoke about the Gulfport Marina.

“If there was any silver lining to the pandemic, it was a big shot in the arm to the Marina industry and the RV industry,” Frain said, adding that the Marina had earned the “Elite Fleet” Boaters’ Choice Award from Marinas.com, one of only 90 Marinas in the nation, and 3 in Florida to do so.

Gulfport’s Public Works Department paved just over four miles of road, replaced 3,664 square feet of sidewalk, regraded over two miles of alleyways, and finished its restorations on Williams Pier.

According to Finance Director Hannafin, since 2014, the city earned close to $5 million in grants, with $860,000 more pending, largely due to COVID-related delays.

Overheard at the February 16 Gulfport City Council Meeting

“I just want to let everyone know that the Pink Flamingo Garden Tour is Saturday, March 6. It’s an all-outdoor event; we’ll be viewing all kinds of backyards from edible landscapes to meditation spots, lots of chickens…” – Caron Schwartz, who added that tickets for the tour are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

“In the last 24 to 48 hours, we’ve had an extreme number of negative posts on social media. The city has been called racist, anti-semetic, gay-bashers, uncaring to the homeless and mentally ill, and full of dirty politicians … We must all stop with all this name calling. I believe that the city council and the city manager must address some of these issues from the dais .… The city council must clearly and precisely respond to some of these accusations until the majority of folks know the facts. Silence and pretending that this isn’t a problem doesn’t work.” – Karen Love

“In comparing my two [water] bills... it’s about two cents a gallon for Gulfport compared to half a cent a gallon in St. Pete… I think it’s kind of onerous for a business to bear that kind of cost… I would like the council to consider commercial water rates for folks such as myself. I am getting it from other municipalities and would appreciate the consideration.” – Clay Ham, owner of Soapy’s Laundromat chain, on the difference between his utility bills in and outside Gulfport