08/24/11

1.    How has the Office of Neighborhoods improved neighborhood involvement with City Government?  What additional actions or programs could the Office of Neighborhoods implement to further strengthen neighborhoods and neighborhood interaction with City Government?

The Office of Neighborhoods (ON) has improved neighborhood involvement with city government in several ways:

• It has improved communications for neighborhood groups—not just with city departments but also among the groups themselves—by producing the directory of neighborhood groups and the weekly Neighborhood Advisory newsletter.

• ON has served as a liaison between neighborhood leaders and city departments, providing a sounding board and resolutions center for issues and concerns that cannot be addressed by 311.  This has cut across all kinds of issues for neighborhoods throughout the city, particularly with regard to blighted and nuisance properties. When possible, ON appropriately has notified individual associations of public agenda items (City Council, MPC, Better Building Board) that may impact their neighborhoods, while at the same time showing groups how to stay on top of these agendas and be watchful of relevant developments.

• The revival of East Tennessee Foundation’s Neighborhood Small Grants Program, accomplished with financial support from the City and the close involvement of ON, has allowed over 30 different neighborhoods to benefit from city dollars for neighborhood improvements from 2009 through this year.

• The Office of Neighborhoods worked with the Mayor to create the Neighborhood Advisory Council and to provide staff support to NAC in its role as an advisory body to the administration 

• ON encourages interaction between neighborhoods and government by producing and expanding the “Guest Speakers Guide” that provides groups with ideas for speakers and programs from city departments and other agencies.

• Finally, true to the original intent envisioned by the task force that recommended the formation of ON to then Mayor Bill Haslam, this office has supported the organizing of new groups in neighborhoods that had not been organized, and helped build the capacity of existing groups to better serve their individual communities.

All of these activities will continue in my Administration. Moreover, because strong, livable neighborhoods are key building blocks of a vibrant and healthy city, I will:

a)    Appoint, as soon as practicable, a second full-time staff person in the Office of Neighborhoods so that it can offer a full curriculum of classes and workshops aimed at increasing the capacity of neighborhood groups to be effective advocates of their neighborhoods, and to help unorganized neighborhoods organize.

b)    Seek the advice and counsel of neighborhoods on a comprehensive review of the city’s traffic calming polices and practices. Speeding and cut-through traffic are very difficult problems to solve, especially with limited enforcement resources, but it is time for another hard look at this challenging issue.

c)    Involve neighborhood activists in a partnership with city government to tackle the challenges posed by individual blighted and abandoned properties.

d)    Always be receptive to ideas for more and better ways to revitalize neighborhoods and increase neighborhood interaction with city government. 

2.    The City of Knoxville has several redevelopment areas that have plans which were created after much public input.  The Magnolia Avenue Corridor Plan is a prime example.  How would you jump start this plan and what do you believe are the two top priorities within the plan to be accomplished in the short term?

The Magnolia Avenue Corridor Plan is the result of collaboration between the Metropolitan Planning Commission, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and various business and neighborhood stakeholders who participated in a series of public meetings for the purpose of creating a vision for the revitalization of Magnolia Avenue.  The City asked KCDC, as the city’s redevelopment authority, to jump start this redevelopment effort by creating a redevelopment area and plan for the western end of Magnolia, known as the warehouse district.  The area is generally bounded by Hall of Fame Drive, Washington Avenue, Winona Street, N. Bertrand Street, Harriet Tubman Street, E. Summit Hill Drive and E. Magnolia Avenue.  The goal is to get vacant industrial property redeveloped which will spur commercial redevelopment down the corridor.

My goal will be to begin funding this plan with the 2012-13 budget to include public infrastructure improvements necessary to support development that occurs.  I will encourage catalyst projects such as the appropriate redevelopment of the Standard Knitting Mill site with collaboration among surrounding neighborhoods and the developer, make TIFs available for qualified developments, and address blighted properties through our existing enforcement and incentive tools in the departments of codes enforcement and community development.

3.    The South Waterfront Vision Plan is a long range plan created in 2006.  There is currently a Senior Director for the South Waterfront Development within the City Administration.  Do you think it is important to maintain this position, and why or why not?  Should implementing the Vision Plan be a priority for the City?

The implementation of the vision plan for the South Waterfront will be a priority of my administration. The South Waterfront is one of the city’s best opportunities for massive private sector investment and development. I was appointed to serve on the committee that selected the design team for the South Waterfront vision plan and I served on the Oversight Committee during the plan’s creation. 

I have supported the Haslam administration's policy of waiting for development to be ready to start before proceeding with infrastructure to directly support that development. However, given the economy, we may consider modest investment in some areas to help jump start quality development when opportunities present themselves.

While it is premature to announce the organization of my administration, the South Waterfront development will be a major focus and staffed accordingly.

 4.    Often neighborhood organizations and leaders are not aware of actions being considered by various quasi-governmental bodies and various city departments (BZA, MPC, BBB, Codes, Community Development, KCDC, KAT Board, etc.)  Other than email, which many people can not easily access, what would you do to better inform neighborhoods and their contacts of actions being contemplated within, or bordering, their neighborhoods early in the process instead of allowing the neighborhoods to find out once an item is posted on the next meeting agenda?  What should be done to ensure that neighborhoods and various entities work together from the very beginning of a process that affects them all?

Collaborative involvement of neighborhood associations, businesses and other stakeholders is a key component of governing effectively and leads to the best results for the community and taxpayers. To involve neighborhoods closer to the front-end of projects, and before those projects reach the agenda stage, I would: 

a)    Strengthen the capacity of neighborhoods associations to understand the importance of the decisions that impact their communities, I would, through the Office of Neighborhoods, offer workshops and classes, as well as manuals, on how to work effectively with MPC, Board of Zoning Appeals, City Council and various city departments such as Codes, Zoning and Plans Review.

b)    Encourage all department heads to engage neighborhood groups as early as possible if a project is contemplated in or near their neighborhoods.

c)    Support the current initiative of the Office of Neighborhoods to work with MPC to encourage developers to contact and meet with neighborhood groups early in the process of proposing developments that will impact neighborhoods.

d)    Finally, once an item does get to the agenda stage, I would make sure that the mentioned bodies send, via postal mail, their agendas to each neighborhood association which requests such mailing due to having no active members with email and Internet access. 

Working together works. It is so much easier, with so much better outcome, if stakeholders are involved from the beginning. It is not enough to say, “Here is our proposal. Please comment.” Rather, it should be said on the front-end, “Here is the challenge…or idea…or opportunity. What is your input?”

5.    When a controversial decision comes before City Council, what steps will you take to inform the public how you are voting and why?  What will you do to maintain an atmosphere of openness and transparency with constituents?

The Mayor chairs the Council meetings but may not vote on City Council issues unless there is a tie vote, and then it is at the discretion of the Mayor whether or not to cast a vote. 

My administration will communicate through a variety of means and tailored to the needs of the particular issue and affected stakeholders.  Examples are: city-sponsored public meetings, attendance at neighborhood and civic meetings, in the Office of Neighborhood weekly newsletter, at Neighborhood Advisory Council meetings, postal mailings, and press releases. We will also use electronic means such as blast emails, the city website, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.  As Mayor, I will conduct regular Mayor’s Walks in neighborhoods and bring along my department heads so that they too will understand the problems and be responsive.  I was committed to openness and transparency as a Knox County commissioner and as the city’s community development director, and will continue as Mayor.

6.    Neighborhoods have frequently complained that the City of Knoxville Codes Department’s response to complaints concerning codes violations has been slow or non-existent.  What can be done to create a more cooperative atmosphere between the Codes Department and our neighborhoods?  What steps should be taken to make the Codes Department more efficient?

There are several issues here. 

a)    Through 311, it is easy enough to determine if a particular complaint has or has not been acted upon. The 311 reports show that the City is doing a better job of acting on original complaints; the average time to close a complaint or service request has improved by 38% from 2005 through the end of 2010.  However, when a complaint is “closed,” and the complainant is not satisfied with the result, then there should be an added step to review what happened and why.  My administration will implement this step with 311.

b)    A big problem for neighborhoods and the city is repeat or chronic offenders who fix an issue due to codes enforcement and then allow it to occur over and over again.  The city needs to be pro-active with these situations and take action against offenses prior to complaints being received.  Codes enforcement has apparently had some success in this way as evidenced by public signs that have been erected by one repeat offender that personally criticize a codes enforcement official.  The city has improved, but we can and will do better. 

c)    As is the case presently, if a neighborhood association is not satisfied with a particular issue, it can contact the Office of Neighborhoods to set up a face-to-face meeting with the Codes Enforcement manager or zoning inspector (and other personnel as appropriate) to discuss the issue in detail.

d)    As Mayor, I will encourage cross-training and cross-communication between neighborhood groups and codes/zoning inspectors, so that city employees have a better appreciation of the on-the-ground perspective of neighborhoods, and so neighborhood residents have an understanding of what the city can and cannot do with regard to housing and lot conditions.

e)    Finally, my administration will continue the vacant and blighted properties initiative, which I started as director of community development.  We will work with county government, the Trustee’s office, neighborhoods and other stakeholders, to develop strategies to deal with this problem.  For example, municipal court can now assess cumulative fines against those who are cited for codes violations and don’t make the repairs rather than the previous fine of just $50.  Also, we drafted state legislation this year to reform the property tax foreclosure process that leaves tax foreclosed properties with a bad title, thus precluding any substantial redevelopment of those properties.  The legislation was introduced and the State Comptroller is now studying it.  We are developing statewide support, and we expect the legislation to be back on the docket during the next legislative session.  

7.    If a permanent supportive housing unit is proposed for a neighborhood, and the neighborhood decides to fight the proposal, and a vote comes before city council, how will you decide how to vote?

 Again, the Mayor does not have the option to vote unless there is a tie vote on Council.  However, each issue should be decided on its own merits and circumstances, and within local, state, or federal laws that govern.  I support the development of a neighborhood notification policy that is consistent with federal fair housing laws and requires potential housing developers who are seeking city funds or approval to be pro-active in notifying and working with neighborhoods groups. I firmly believe that Knoxville can find solutions that reduce the costs of homelessness to our city, assist homeless individuals who seek to change their lives for the better, and preserve the integrity and safety of neighborhoods

DOWNLOAD THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IN PDF FORMAT