The Virginian-Pilot
©
PORTSMOUTH
City Council members demanded faster action Monday on an ambitious economic development plan that they had asked staff to begin drafting in November.
So far, the plan involves a list of goals with deadlines ranging from 45 days to six months. The timelines didn't thrill council members, who were briefed in a presentation from economic development director Patrick Small.
"Another six months of planning - we don't have that much time," Councilman Charles B. Whitehurst Sr. said.
Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr., Councilman Doug Smith and Councilwoman Elizabeth Psimas echoed Whitehurst's push for speed. They also stressed that the plan should involve more frequent briefings between staff and officials.
Rather than quarterly updates, council members and other city officials should meet every month, Moody said.
"We need to know what kind of activities are going on to lure industries," he said.
City Manager Kenneth Chandler told council members that their direction in November was to return with a plan to achieve the objectives that council members had discussed that month at a retreat.
Small's report included eight main goals. Among them: action plans to target certain industries, a communications strategy to work with state officials, a positive media campaign and more current demographic data.
Whitehurst said the presentation was good but not quite what he was expecting. "I don't think we gave the city manager clear instructions on what we were looking for," he said.
Smith said the city needs to do a better job of telling the public about its successes. He gave as an example the work done in Victory Crossing, which boasts the new Tidewater Community College campus, new housing and more projects on the drawing board.
Smith said that's one of the biggest mixed-use redevelopment projects in Virginia, "but we haven't told the story very well."
Council members pushed staff to aggressively market the land that the city owns and wants to develop.
Small, who started as the city's economic development director in November, said the new economic development plan will give officials a document they can track and benchmark for progress. In the meantime, Small and his staff are still working on business deals, he told council members.
"Don't think we're just sitting around planning," he said.
Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com
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time is short
with the council election coming in May,
Smith and Moody
need an accomplishment
they can call their own
--sorry guys, no rabbits to pull out of hats--
so maybe instead of firing staff
we should elect different folks for council
Are you serious?
This is exactly what these people were hired to do from the jump! If they haven't been doing these things what have they been doing? Economic development is not a new concept and other than building and planning to build a lot of Section 8 low income housing I see nothing being done! The Council wants to brag about past performances (that they had nothing to do with)--- try moving forward! How about reinstating the personal property tax on boats for a start! The marina beside City Hall has boats sitting there worth millions! I really hope that someone on the City Council reads this because you guys are doing a lousy job. The City planners are just taking their sweet time and doing very little as usual. Light a fire under their butts or give them their walking papers!
whatever happened to the zero interest bonds
That Auntie Louise Lucas was trying to keep all to herself? Why haven't we heard anything else about those? It makes good sence to offer them to other businesses in an attempt to bring them here. I'm not hating, just stating.