Issues
Accessability
Imagine easy access to online government records to monitor City projects and programs. Imagine prompt customer service for citizens' concerns from calls for police service to pothole repair. Technology is offering local government additional tools to timely respond to citizens concerns. Our City needs to take advantage of all of these tools to timely and efficiently respond to citizens' concerns. As Mayor, I will make public records available to the public online. Also, easy physical access to government buildings and government programs will be a hallmark of my administration. The City should lead the way in addressing needs of our differently-abled citizens and assist businesses seeking to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") wherever possible.
Accountability
Citizens have the right to expect that their government can account for how all taxes and fees collected are spent. There should never be an "I don't know" answer by any city official in response to a citizen asking "What happened to the City's money?" When I served on City Council from 1996-2001, I advocated for a sounder financial investment policy and more financial disclosures to restore oversight to the City's investments after a City employee risked millions in derivatives. In particular, I questioned the advisability of the City participating in a risky investment scheme known as "securities lending". I encouraged City Council to obtain an advisory opinion from the City's investment advisor at the time, Hough and Company. Hough recommended against securities lending of the City's operating funds, unless the City wanted amend its investment policies to allow for riskier investing. I was opposed to securities lending of City operating funds. Nonetheless, after I left City Council, the Council approved of this risky investment scheme and never instituted appropriate oversight measures to evaluate this strategy. Unfortunately, the City increasingly lent more of its operating funds. By the end of 2007, the City had loans out on $194 million of the City's operating funds. As the market began to crumble, city administrators sought an audit of the City's investment policies. Unfortunately, city administrators never submitted the findings of the auditor, KPMG, to City Council. Instead, they began to secretly unwind the risky mess. Over 9 months after the audit, and one week after Lehman Bros. filed bankruptcy, the City unwound the rest of its securities lending, instantly losing approximately $800,000, in addition to $15 million of Lehman Bros. paper. Rather than hold any city employee accountable, the City gave the employee a BONUS. As Mayor, I will hold employees accountable for their actions. Click here to download and read Kathleen's letter to the St. Petersburg Times and supporting documents.
Affordability
Local government, including the Mayor and City Council of St. Petersburg, nearly doubled the ad valorem tax revenues collected from 2001-2007 ($58 million in 2001 to $104 million in 2007). Tax weary citizens of this state passed a constitutional amendment to finally force local governments, like St. Petersburg, to roll back the property tax rates set by these bloated governments. Now local government is proposing budgets to comply with this state mandate. These required budget cuts are in addition to the unexpected and very expensive losses of operating funds the City incurred from its participation in the risky securities lending scheme. As Mayor, I will implement zero-based budgeting on a department by department basis until all departments are included rather than continue with the illusive accrual based budgeting that allows for annual incremental increases without forcing departments to justify costs in relation to services provided. We expect government to tighten its belt when we tighten ours at home. As Mayor, I will eliminate the excessive management positions in our City. Additionally, as Mayor, I will prioritize our City services. Public safety will be the City's top priority. Next, support for our neighborhoods and business districts will be maintained. Our parks and recreation facilities are important amenities that our citizens rely upon for health and fitness. Access to our libraries should be maintained as these are not just places for pleasure but are for many, the first places they look to seek job information. Our public utilities are funded by fees, and we should consider replacement and maintenance of our potable water pipes a top priority, especially in this drought. We should not continue to lose 1.4 million gallons of potable water per day from leaky pipes. We can do better. Other Capital Improvement dollars should be directed to technology, infrastructure, streets, alleys and sidewalks.
Education
Our children are our future. As Mayor, I will support the continuation of the special programs we have at our public high schools, such as the International Baccalaureate program at St. Petersburg High School, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) program at Lakewood High School, the Todd Center at Northeast High School, Pinellas Technical Education Center, the fundamental schools and all of the special programs our schools offer to ensure the success of all of our students. I will support the educators, families and students striving to ensure a safe and quality education for all of our students. Our public school education is critical to the future success of our City. Thus, as Mayor, I will have a staff liaison to address educational issues. We know that employers seeking to locate to the Tampa Bay Region consider the area's educational resources prior to relocating. A strong education system is a strong attractor for complex businesses offering higher wage paying jobs to its employees. We need to support those educational and technical programs that ensure the success of all of our students. I will work cooperatively with our academic partners whenever and wherever possible to ensure the success of our students at school so they can take their place as productive citizens in our society.
Environmentally Smart
We have the opportunity to create jobs and save our environment by considering how the City uses its resources. Other cities convert their solid waste byproduct, methane, for use as energy. St. Petersburg should do the same. Rather than purchase signs made from pure metals, the City should use recycled materials, such as recycled plastic, for hard plastic street poles for neighborhood street signs. The City could recycle paper, plastic and aluminum at every City facility and contract with private companies for the manufacturing of city products, such as waste bins, poles, wheel stops, benches, tables, decking for city use creating green jobs in the City. There is plenty of space available for such businesses in the Dome Industrial District. The City can restart and expand the curbside recycling. I worked with Marjorie Ruth when I was a neighborhood association president to bring curbside recycling into the Old Northeast. Residents actively participated. There simply is not enough landfill to waste it on recyclable materials. Living in the Sunshine City in the Sunshine State, we should be leading the nation in solar energy panel design, manufacturing and installation. We know all about Miami-Dade's construction standards so we should be showing the rest of the nation how it can be done and how it can be linked to the power grid. Water is a precious resource. The City of St. Petersburg leads the nation with its reclaimed water program for grass lawn watering. Rather than resting on our laurels, however, we need to seek more ways to conserve potable water. Island countries and nations have used cisterns for drinking and grey water (flushing) needs. We can learn from our island neighbors and begin to implement similar systems. Once again our City is looking at critical conservation measures because of a drought. It is time for a real water policy that addresses the short and long term needs of our City and our Tampa Bay region. Power plants in the Tampa Bay area account for most of the pollution in Tampa Bay. It is time the US Environmental Protection Agency enforced its rules and stopped giving permits for these power plants to pollute. Simply enforcing regulation would clean up both the air and the water. The City of St. Petersburg should be carefully monitoring and advocating against all power plant requests for permission to pollute. Likewise, the City should not be seeking permission to pollute, either. For too long the City's deep well waste water injection has threatened the aquifer. We must work diligently to find solutions so we are not polluting our water, our air, or our land.
Government Openness
Envision an open and transparent government where citizens can be assured that their elected officials are looking out for their interests and not primarily special moneyed interests. Imagine a simple click on your computer to view the entire council agenda, complete with all backup materials on line. Imagine an administration where you can review all the details of the bids and contracts and not just summaries. Imagine an administration where you, the citizen can review all reports given to every committee, especially the financial reports so you can see what is happening in St. Petersburg city government.
Public Safety
Whether sitting under sidewalk umbrellas chatting with neighbors, or walking along tree-shaded sidewalks in our parks, we should be able to enjoy our neighborhoods and business districts, confident in our public safety. We need officers visible in those areas where we can anticipate many people will be gathering or where we know issues arise. As Mayor, I will insist on prompt responses to calls for police service and proactive problem solving which was effective under the City's community policing program. As we consider the financial issues related to the City's contract with the County for emergency medical transport, we should evaluate other models which ensure prompt response for EMS at the most affordable price. Effective, professionally trained first responders are the City's first priority, especially in this storm vulnerable Gulf coast region of the United States.
Imagine easy access to online government records to monitor City projects and programs. Imagine prompt customer service for citizens' concerns from calls for police service to pothole repair. Technology is offering local government additional tools to timely respond to citizens concerns. Our City needs to take advantage of all of these tools to timely and efficiently respond to citizens' concerns. As Mayor, I will make public records available to the public online. Also, easy physical access to government buildings and government programs will be a hallmark of my administration. The City should lead the way in addressing needs of our differently-abled citizens and assist businesses seeking to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") wherever possible.
Accountability
Citizens have the right to expect that their government can account for how all taxes and fees collected are spent. There should never be an "I don't know" answer by any city official in response to a citizen asking "What happened to the City's money?" When I served on City Council from 1996-2001, I advocated for a sounder financial investment policy and more financial disclosures to restore oversight to the City's investments after a City employee risked millions in derivatives. In particular, I questioned the advisability of the City participating in a risky investment scheme known as "securities lending". I encouraged City Council to obtain an advisory opinion from the City's investment advisor at the time, Hough and Company. Hough recommended against securities lending of the City's operating funds, unless the City wanted amend its investment policies to allow for riskier investing. I was opposed to securities lending of City operating funds. Nonetheless, after I left City Council, the Council approved of this risky investment scheme and never instituted appropriate oversight measures to evaluate this strategy. Unfortunately, the City increasingly lent more of its operating funds. By the end of 2007, the City had loans out on $194 million of the City's operating funds. As the market began to crumble, city administrators sought an audit of the City's investment policies. Unfortunately, city administrators never submitted the findings of the auditor, KPMG, to City Council. Instead, they began to secretly unwind the risky mess. Over 9 months after the audit, and one week after Lehman Bros. filed bankruptcy, the City unwound the rest of its securities lending, instantly losing approximately $800,000, in addition to $15 million of Lehman Bros. paper. Rather than hold any city employee accountable, the City gave the employee a BONUS. As Mayor, I will hold employees accountable for their actions. Click here to download and read Kathleen's letter to the St. Petersburg Times and supporting documents.
Affordability
Local government, including the Mayor and City Council of St. Petersburg, nearly doubled the ad valorem tax revenues collected from 2001-2007 ($58 million in 2001 to $104 million in 2007). Tax weary citizens of this state passed a constitutional amendment to finally force local governments, like St. Petersburg, to roll back the property tax rates set by these bloated governments. Now local government is proposing budgets to comply with this state mandate. These required budget cuts are in addition to the unexpected and very expensive losses of operating funds the City incurred from its participation in the risky securities lending scheme. As Mayor, I will implement zero-based budgeting on a department by department basis until all departments are included rather than continue with the illusive accrual based budgeting that allows for annual incremental increases without forcing departments to justify costs in relation to services provided. We expect government to tighten its belt when we tighten ours at home. As Mayor, I will eliminate the excessive management positions in our City. Additionally, as Mayor, I will prioritize our City services. Public safety will be the City's top priority. Next, support for our neighborhoods and business districts will be maintained. Our parks and recreation facilities are important amenities that our citizens rely upon for health and fitness. Access to our libraries should be maintained as these are not just places for pleasure but are for many, the first places they look to seek job information. Our public utilities are funded by fees, and we should consider replacement and maintenance of our potable water pipes a top priority, especially in this drought. We should not continue to lose 1.4 million gallons of potable water per day from leaky pipes. We can do better. Other Capital Improvement dollars should be directed to technology, infrastructure, streets, alleys and sidewalks.
Education
Our children are our future. As Mayor, I will support the continuation of the special programs we have at our public high schools, such as the International Baccalaureate program at St. Petersburg High School, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) program at Lakewood High School, the Todd Center at Northeast High School, Pinellas Technical Education Center, the fundamental schools and all of the special programs our schools offer to ensure the success of all of our students. I will support the educators, families and students striving to ensure a safe and quality education for all of our students. Our public school education is critical to the future success of our City. Thus, as Mayor, I will have a staff liaison to address educational issues. We know that employers seeking to locate to the Tampa Bay Region consider the area's educational resources prior to relocating. A strong education system is a strong attractor for complex businesses offering higher wage paying jobs to its employees. We need to support those educational and technical programs that ensure the success of all of our students. I will work cooperatively with our academic partners whenever and wherever possible to ensure the success of our students at school so they can take their place as productive citizens in our society.
Environmentally Smart
We have the opportunity to create jobs and save our environment by considering how the City uses its resources. Other cities convert their solid waste byproduct, methane, for use as energy. St. Petersburg should do the same. Rather than purchase signs made from pure metals, the City should use recycled materials, such as recycled plastic, for hard plastic street poles for neighborhood street signs. The City could recycle paper, plastic and aluminum at every City facility and contract with private companies for the manufacturing of city products, such as waste bins, poles, wheel stops, benches, tables, decking for city use creating green jobs in the City. There is plenty of space available for such businesses in the Dome Industrial District. The City can restart and expand the curbside recycling. I worked with Marjorie Ruth when I was a neighborhood association president to bring curbside recycling into the Old Northeast. Residents actively participated. There simply is not enough landfill to waste it on recyclable materials. Living in the Sunshine City in the Sunshine State, we should be leading the nation in solar energy panel design, manufacturing and installation. We know all about Miami-Dade's construction standards so we should be showing the rest of the nation how it can be done and how it can be linked to the power grid. Water is a precious resource. The City of St. Petersburg leads the nation with its reclaimed water program for grass lawn watering. Rather than resting on our laurels, however, we need to seek more ways to conserve potable water. Island countries and nations have used cisterns for drinking and grey water (flushing) needs. We can learn from our island neighbors and begin to implement similar systems. Once again our City is looking at critical conservation measures because of a drought. It is time for a real water policy that addresses the short and long term needs of our City and our Tampa Bay region. Power plants in the Tampa Bay area account for most of the pollution in Tampa Bay. It is time the US Environmental Protection Agency enforced its rules and stopped giving permits for these power plants to pollute. Simply enforcing regulation would clean up both the air and the water. The City of St. Petersburg should be carefully monitoring and advocating against all power plant requests for permission to pollute. Likewise, the City should not be seeking permission to pollute, either. For too long the City's deep well waste water injection has threatened the aquifer. We must work diligently to find solutions so we are not polluting our water, our air, or our land.
Government Openness
Envision an open and transparent government where citizens can be assured that their elected officials are looking out for their interests and not primarily special moneyed interests. Imagine a simple click on your computer to view the entire council agenda, complete with all backup materials on line. Imagine an administration where you can review all the details of the bids and contracts and not just summaries. Imagine an administration where you, the citizen can review all reports given to every committee, especially the financial reports so you can see what is happening in St. Petersburg city government.
Public Safety
Whether sitting under sidewalk umbrellas chatting with neighbors, or walking along tree-shaded sidewalks in our parks, we should be able to enjoy our neighborhoods and business districts, confident in our public safety. We need officers visible in those areas where we can anticipate many people will be gathering or where we know issues arise. As Mayor, I will insist on prompt responses to calls for police service and proactive problem solving which was effective under the City's community policing program. As we consider the financial issues related to the City's contract with the County for emergency medical transport, we should evaluate other models which ensure prompt response for EMS at the most affordable price. Effective, professionally trained first responders are the City's first priority, especially in this storm vulnerable Gulf coast region of the United States.
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