Highlights

Neighborhood Resource Office
During the FY99 budget process, the Mayor approved funding for office space and equipment to support neighborhood organizations. Approximately $50,000 will be spent to staff and equip the office. Thus, citizen groups will have access to equipment and resources necessary to assist organizing efforts and plan meetings, outings and neighborhood activities.

Fixing Broken Windows
Early in FY98, the Police Department adopted the "fixing broken windows" philosophy as part of the Mayor's campaign to improve the City's image. This philosophy holds that strictly enforcing laws against petty crimes will create a ripple effect of reducing other crimes as well. This strategy has worked well in other areas, such as New York City where fixing broken windows, cleaning up graffiti and trash, and cracking down on prostitution and small time drug dealing are credited with a dramatic drop in more serious crimes. Since adopting this policy, Tampa has experienced an 8% overall reduction in violent crime.

Firehouse COPS
The City has accepted a $1.5 million Federal Grant that allowed us to add another 20 firehouse police officers. This grant will pay a portion of their annual salaries over the next three years. This is in addition to the existing 40 firehouse police officers (from similar grant funding) and will allow for
around the clock staffing.

Neighborhood Environmental Action Team (NEAT)
For its first year of operation, from January 1997 thru December 1997, the NEAT had a very successful year of sweeping through the City leaving it a cleaner place to live. The NEAT crews work seven days a week cleaning up neighborhoods, working with THAN (Tampa Homeowners Association of Neighborhoods), Mayor's Beautification Program, Neighborhood Associations and/or Homeowner's Associations, VISTA, Americorps, Neighborhood Crime Watch, Peer to Peer, and the individual neighborhood volunteers. The City also works closely with the Salvation Army in coordinating the Community Services workers. NEAT also works with Bay Area Youth Services, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Family and Juvenile Court Program. During 1997 the team covered 41 communities. Yours was probably one of them. Look at what they did with the help of more than 400 volunteers:
   removed 3,248 tons of litter/debris,
   cleaned 2,424,056 linear feet of streets and thoroughfares and
   removed 3,305 illegal signs in the right-of-way.

Services from Business and Community Services
Operation Clean Sweep is a program that cleans up the City by demolishing condemned homes, apartment houses and other abandoned buildings that attract vagrants, vandals and drug addicts. This will be the third year of this program with a goal of demolishing another 250 structures. Additional inspectors are being added to the City's Neighborhood Improvement Division of the Business and Community Services Department to enhance the City's code enforcement and rental certification programs and provide timely resolution of complaints (phone 274-8391). The City, in its continuing effort to provide better service to its citizens, rehabilitated the historic German-American Club located at 2105 North Nebraska Avenue. Now called the Ybor Service Center, this location provides the convenience of free parking for visitors to the building. Offices housed in the center include cashier services for utility bills, business licenses and other payments to the City; the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Economic Development Resource Center.

Centro Ybor Entertainment Retail Complex
Groundbreaking work has occurred on the more than $40 million Centro Ybor project. This exciting complex will have upscale restaurants, a 20 screen cinema, retail stores, as well as a virtual reality arcade with its interactive high tech computer games. This is only part of what you will discover as construction is completed in 1999 on this urban pedestrian development. Also, the Historic Centro Espanol will be renovated to house the Ybor City History Museum. The proposed acquisition and development financing includes a $29.4 million conventional first mortgage; a $9.1 million Housing and Urban Development Section 108 second mortgage provided by the City and a $6 million equity contribution by the project developer.

Tampa-Ybor Historic Streetcar
Planning is well underway for commencing operations by mid-year 2000 for the Tampa-Ybor Historic Streetcar. The first phase will be 2.3 miles and will run between Ybor City (8th Avenue and 20th Street) and the Convention Center with 10 stops in between. Stops will include the Florida Aquarium and the Ice Palace. In the beginning there will be four streetcars running daily and the system will be operated by a not-for-profit corporation. Two additional cars will be added in the second and third years of operation bringing the total to eight. The current estimated capital costs for design, construction, and inspection services are approximately $24 million with funding coming from a variety of sources such as: City Gas Taxes; HART grants; State and Federal funds; endowments; and special assessments. Initial funding will be advanced by the City through a bond issue.

Technology/Y2K
Fiscal Year 1999 funding will help us meet several important technology needs of the City and also to replace/upgrade systems to be in compliance with the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer requirements. Efforts will also be directed to replace a significant number of non-Windows and non-network computers during FY99 to more fully utilize the benefits of the Intranet and Internet systems. In addition, the Police Department will be expending approximately $5 million from the first two years' funding of the Law Enforcement Block Grant for additional network computers, mobile digital computers and replacement of its records system. This will allow substantial progress toward addressing the Strategic Information Plan the Police Department and the MIS Department developed over the last year.