Mayoral Forum addresses Bartlett Park and Southside

Bartlett Park, Harbordale, and Historic Roser Park Neighborhood Associations sponsored a Mayoral Forum on Tuesday, August 25th at the Harbordale YMCA.

Candidates made opening statements and answered 3 questions on problems with Public Safety, Economic Development, and Race Relations in our neighborhoods.

Some Highlights

Good crowd for a rainy night. People were standing and extra chairs were brought in. Refreshments and signs were well done. Sound was loud and clear.

All leading candidates were here and many community leaders joined residents in the audience.

Candidates showed they know Bartlett Park and have commitment to help us solve neighborhood problems.

Cooperation between the 3 neighborhood associations, residents of Old Southeast, Bartlett Park Community Resource Center and Harbordale YMCA is a model for future projects. Working together we can offer our residents better programs, pool our resources and bring a larger crowd.

St. Pete Times live coverage of questions and answers here. We had a much larger audience on the internet.

First question was about vacant houses in Bartlett Park, that roughly 1 in 5 houses there sits vacant and are targets of crime. Such standards wouldn't be tolerated in north side neighborhoods. The vacant homes drive away businesses and other homeowners. Previous promises have been made to address this. What changes would you make to address this problem and solve it?

Second question: Today, even with an African American president, we still deal with racism that others don't recognize or completely deny. What would you do to combat the stereotypes of Midtown and discourage racism and how to diminish its adverse effects?


Third question: Assertion that most commonly committed crimes are not enforced by police department: public consumption of alcohol, loitering, littering, excessive noise, fireworks, blocking roadways, parking on lawns, etc. By not enforcing these, people stop calling police. Contributes to neighborhood deterioration. Numerous ordinances address these crimes. Why have they not been enforced? Will you direct police to begin enforcing them to help citizens help take back their communities?