Traffic Calming in a Clearwater Neighborhood

About 11 years ago, a group of neighbors in the Brookhill subdivision that had small children wanted to do something about vehicles speeding through the neighborhood.  The Clearwater Police Department can’t be everywhere and stopping speeding cars and preventing cars from cutting through a neighborhood are traffic engineering and design issues.  These neighbors met with city representatives and asked about possible solutions.

The neighbors were told to get a petition drive started.  If more than 60% of the neighbors agreed to traffic calming then the City of Clearwater would help.  The residents obtained the required number of signatures and the initiative progressed.

The neighbors met with traffic engineers and designers and discussed possible solutions.  The city had limited funds to make these changes but it knew funds were coming in the future through the “Penny for Pinellas” sales tax.  The revenue from this tax can only be used for infra-structure projects that enhance or improve the lives of residents in the county.  Slowly over time funds accumulated and the project got closer to completion.

Residents would see flags and stakes in yards and know something was happening.  Other neighborhoods like Skycrest, and Morningside got finished first.  There are several traffic calming projects included in Clearwater’s 2012 Fiscal Year End Budget.  The Brookhill Neighborhood is one of the projects scheduled for 2012.  It is technically listed as Hillcrest but it’s really Brookhill.  It is a medium priority project and could change in priority.  The next time this project will be discussed is on September 29th at the city council meeting.

Here is a link to the plans and design for the neighborhood.

Clearwater Neighborhood Block Party and Picnic Day

A few months ago the Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) of the City of Clearwater asked all of the known neighborhoods associations to have a neighborhood block party or neighborhood picnic on Saturday, April 30th.  The reason the NSD asked the neighborhoods to participate was because the city leaders and city management wanted to come and see the residents of Clearwater.  The City of Clearwater has been successfully doing city-wide neighborhood picnic / block parties for over 12 years.  This year is lucky number 13 and Clearwater will celebrate ‘Clearwater Neighborhoods Day‘ once again.

This is a great way for neighbors to meet one another as well as getting city leaders, management, and staff to come see and meet your neighborhood and neighbors.  During this day city personnel go from neighborhood to neighborhood and engage in informal discussions about issues and events that impact your neighborhood and other parts of the city.  Some neighborhood organizations are very strong and have a track record of consistently participating in this event.  A few of these neighborhood groups have also achieved fame and notoriety with the city personnel.

If you ask a veteran from one of these events you might find out which neighborhood has the: “best burger,” “best hot dog,” “best condiment,” “best side dish.” or “best drink.”  Veterans of these events usually won’t divulge or say they judge, but if you are persistent and patient, you’ll get your answers.  Being a public servant is a tough job but sometimes and some days it’s not so bad.

So on Saturday, April 30th, look for cars and vans driving around Clearwater as neighbors get to know neighbors and city personnel.  If your neighborhood is not participating in this event look for one that is.  While you are there ask someone how their neighborhood did this and bring those ideas and suggestions to your neighbors.  When neighbors get to know neighbors it makes a neighborhood a much better place to live and work.

Brookhill Neighborhood Association

Candidates for Mayor of the City of Clearwater

Last week two city council members, George Cretekos and John Doran, let it be known that they intend to run for mayor of the City of Clearwater.  Our current mayor, Frank Hibbard, cannot seek re-election because of term limits.  George Cretekos, and John Doran have been floating trial balloons for sometime about their intentions to run for mayor.  Finally, all the whispers and secret signals ended with e-mails and an article in the St Petersburg Times confirming the intentions of the two candidates.

George Cretekos  got involved in politics by serving as an assistant to Pinellas County’s U.S. House of Representative, C. W. “Bill” Young.  Cretekos’ position allowed him to gain exposure and insight into the intricacies and nuances of local and national politics.  His last position with Young’s office was as a district assistant in Pinellas County.  After his retirement, Cretekos served as a missionary in Indonesia.  In addition to being the seat 3 councilmember, he serves as the vice-president of the Barrier Islands Government Council, Clearwater’s representative for the Suncoast League of Cities, along with serving other community groups.  He can be seen frequently around town meeting people and serving as an ambassador for the City of Clearwater.

John Doran gained his political experience on the local level and continued to pursue positions with greater responsibility within the City of Clearwater.  He is an attorney, a certified public accountant, and real estate broker.  Doran has served on just about every advisory board or committee in Clearwater.  He has a long list of accomplishments of service to our community and he has met and made many contacts along the way.  In addition to being the seat 2 councilmember, he serves with the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless.  the Pinellas Planning Council, and with other community groups and organizatiuons.  He too can be seen frequently around town meeting people and serving as an ambassador for the City of Clearwater.

Clearwater does not have a strong mayor form of government.  Our mayor serves as a member of the city council.  The city council discusses and votes on issues that come before it.  The council, by way of votes and maybe a modicum of influence, directs the activities of the city manager.  Bill Horne is the City Manager for the City of Clearwater.  It is his responsibility to carry out the decisions of the city council, while serving the citizens of Clearwater.

The election for mayor of Clearwater takes place during Florida’s Presidential Primary election.  That date is currently in dispute as our state legislators decide if they want to make good national headlines or bad national headlines.  Check out SaintPetersBlog as it has some good insight on what is happening with this “situation.”  In the mean time stay tuned for more updates.

Brookhill Neighborhood Association

City of Clearwater Greenprint Open House

The City of Clearwater Greenprint Team is hosting an open house at the Ross Norton Recreation Center at 1426 South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Clearwater on March 01, 2011 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.  The event is free and visitors will get an opportunity to see ways to become more energy-efficient while saving money at the same time.

Exhibitors for this open house event include:  Clearwater Gas System, Green My Parents, Pinellas County Extension, Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization, Progress Energy, City of Clearwater Solid Waste Recycling, St. Petersburg College, Suncoast Electric Vehicles, Tampa BayCycle, and  WalkWise Tampa Bay.

There will be door prizes and you will get a chance to see alternative energy modes of transportation.  The Greenprint team has worked very hard to coordinate and host this open house.  Please make a point of stopping by.  You might learn a thing or two.  You can follow the Greenprint team on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/MyGreenPrint.

Brookhill Neighborhood Association

High Speed Rail

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s office sent out an e-mail and video on the merits of saving High Speed Rail in Florida.  Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected a 2.4 billion dollar federal funding package authorized by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to create the proposed HSR line from Tampa to Orlando.

Here is Senator Nelson’s video –

What do you think?

Is high speed rail a doomed venture or is it a part of solving our transportation problems?

Brookhill Neighborhood Association

Countdown to Florida’s Legislative Session

Our Florida senators and representatives are getting busy for the 2011 legislative session.  The session officially starts on March 8, 2011 and by law cannot exceed 60 days in duration.  So look for an ending to take place in the early part of May.

Our legislators are preparing for the session by listening and working with various lobbying groups, activists and influential constituents to work ideas into law.  This is done through committee sessions.  The 2011 Senate President, Mike Haridopolos, assigned senators to serve and chair on 19 designated senate committees.  On the other side, the 2011 House Speaker, Dean Cannon, assigned representatives to serve and chair on the 13 designated house committees.  Some committees are more visible and exciting than other committees.  Getting selected to serve or chair a committee has a lot to do with who you are.  Committee selection is much like a being chosen for anything.  A lot depends on what you know, what you can do, what you have done in the past, and what potential you might have in the future.

The Florida Senate is made up of 40 senators that are elected to serve for a four-year term with a maximum limit of two terms.  The Florida House is made up of 120 representatives that also serve for a four-year term with a maximum limit of two terms.  Our neighborhood is represented in the Florida House by Representative Ed Hooper and in the Florida Senate by Senator Dennis Jones.

Representative Hooper champions ideas and issues that impact our neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods in Clearwater.  He must also tend to the ideas his political party, the Republican Party of Florida, wants him to champion.  Representative Hooper must also work with other representatives in our area such as:  Representative James “Jim” Frishe,  Representative Richard Corcoran, Representative Peter Nehr, Representative Larry Ahern, Representative Jeffrey “Jeff” Brandes, Representative Rick Kriseman, and Representative Daryl Rouson.  Working together helps share the load and helps our community.   Representative Hooper has served in the Florida house since 2006.

Senator Dennis Jones also champions ideas and issues that impact our neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods in Pinellas County.  He must also tend to the ideas his political party, the Republican Party of Florida, wants him to champion.  Senator Jones works with other senators from our area such as:  Senator Mike Fasano, Senator Jack Latvala, and Senator Arthenia Joyner.

Between now and March 8th you can follow the progress of ideas that are being worked on in the senate and house committees.  Once the senate and house committees have finished their work their bills will be introduced before the regular legislative session to be voted on.  Approved senate and house bills go to Florida Governor Rick Scott to be signed for approval.  Signed bills become law and unsigned bills go back to the house and senate for a veto override vote.  Good, bad or indifferent, this session will surely bring out the best and worst in our elected representatives.

Brookhill Neighborhood Association

Clearwater Charter Review Committee

On January 13th our Clearwater City Council members chose thirteen citizens to serve on the City of Clearwater Charter Review.  This committee of citizen volunteers will be required to meet and recommend changes to our city’s charter.  Here is a link to our city charter.

This is generally a cumbersome undertaking and requires a big time commitment from the volunteers as there are many meetings and lots to review.  Mayor Hibbard recommended thirteen volunteers serve on this committee.  He chose this number for two reasons.  One being people have good intentions when they volunteer for these kinds of things but sometimes life happens and the commitment gets impossible to keep.  The other is that odd numbers avoid tie votes.

Many of these committee members are familiar names and have a very good track record of volunteer service in some way to the City of Clearwater.  The charter committee members represent a variety of neighborhoods from our city,  and our city council members tried to get as diverse a committee as possible.

The review meetings are open to the public and the public will get an opportunity to vote on any changes that the committee recommends.  If you have ideas or improvements that you would like to see made to the city charter, then attend a meeting and bring your recommendations to the committee.  Meeting times and places will be available on the City of Clearwater website.

A big THANK YOU to everyone that volunteered to serve on this committee.  You chose to make a difference by volunteering for your community.  Thanks for helping to make the City of Clearwater a better place.

Brookhill Neighborhood Association