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Municipal Finance and Budget Concerns
November 3, 2009
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
As I pen this letter Columbia is awash with the warm hues of autumn. Our children have just experienced the fun of Halloween "Trick or Treating," and our citizens soon will be preparing for Thanksgiving. To be certain, the weeks and months have flown by this fall, and it has been a busy period in our city government. I am writing to bring several matters to your attention and to update you on my activities as your City Councilwoman.
Municipal Finance and Budget Concerns
Since assuming office last year I have received a real education in municipal finance, particularly regarding the consequences of poor fiscal management. The sad truth is that the City exhausted its previously healthy reserves, and the formulation of this current year's budget reflected a tough and painful belt-tightening. We have had to reduce our expenditures in every area, and our best projections are that this very tight budget situation will continue into the next several fiscal years.
The stark reality of our financial situation has forced me to reconsider projects I might support with enthusiasm under different circumstances. For instance, I have counseled caution and restraint with regard to the creation of a tax increment district and the issuance of up to $40 million in bonds targeted at North Columbia and other blighted areas of our city. I spent much of my professional career at Columbia College in North Columbia and am committed to the redevelopment of this area. However, our current budget situation leaves us no margin of error, and I feel it is unwise to commit now to a plan to borrow up to $40 million in the future when we are not yet on a firm financial footing. I also am deeply concerned about a simultaneous proposal to create a tax increment district in the Innovista area with authority to issue up to $150 million in bonds. This also is a worthy initiative, but in this period when our City's financial condition is so fragile, our future tax revenues so uncertain, and our need to safeguard every dollar for basic services is so great, I question moving forward on initiatives of this magnitude at this time. Our Council is slated to vote on both proposals on November 18, but with no parameters established to determine the conditions under which we might issue future bonds, I think it would be prudent to reconsider them at later date.
I will continue my efforts to strike a balance between our need to dream great dreams about the city we want in the future with the reality that our first responsibility is to provide police, fire and other basic services that are essential to maintaining our high quality of life in Columbia. I remain hopeful that there will be other tools to address redevelopment and blight, or that we might change course and identify small, project-specific TIF initiatives that will enable us to limit our potential risks and build upon successes. I welcome your thoughts and advice as we confront these difficult challenges and are forced to choose among various unattractive options in these tight fiscal times.
Public Safety
Earlier this fall I joined the Commanders of our South and Metro Police Regions for evening patrol rides to get a first-hand look at police patrolling of our city, especially late at night. As I rode through our neighborhoods, saw Five Points at 3:30 AM, and experienced the breadth of geographic coverage in these regions, I was reminded of our need always to keep public safety at center stage in City priorities. Following these two rides, I hosted a meeting with neighborhood presidents and key Police officers from both regions to address crime and safety issues.
As reported by Chief Tandy Carter last month, the Columbia Police Department (CPD) will soon be at full force with 375 sworn officers. You may recall that I have advocated a force of 400 officers, and I will continue to do so. Our City has experienced a dramatic rise in residential burglaries this year (please check the CPD website for statistics and safety tips at www.columbiapd.com), and I believe that increasing our Police presence in all areas of the city will require additional officers and resources. The CPD recently joined an online communication initiative that provides timely updating and routine crime alerts, and I urge you to subscribe at www.nixle.com.
On October 28th the new South Regional Command Headquarters at 2132 Devine Street, just up from Five Points, opened. We had a terrific turnout for the "Grand Opening" including city officials, the president and president-elect of the Columbia Council of Neighborhoods, Ms. Bessie Watson and Dr. Mary Waters, leaders of the surrounding neighborhoods, and merchants and business owners from Five Points and Devine Street.
Fire safety remains a critical concern, and I am a passionate advocate for restoring the full staffing for Engine 9 at the Devine Street Fire Station and Engine 8 at Atlas Road. As you may be aware, these stations were two of the three fire stations in our city with both a Ladder truck and an Engine truck. Although budget restraints resulted in staffing reductions for the Engine trucks at the stations last April, staff for the ladder trucks remained and actually were increased by 1 fireman. City staff now has found the funding to staff Engine 9 at the Devine Street station on a limited basis. Since August this truck has been increasingly utilized, and full staffing is expected to be in place over the next 6 to 8 months.
The Protection of the Historic Bull Street/State Hospital Properties
I have heard from many of you about the great need to ensure the preservation of the historic buildings on the SC Mental Health campus on Bull street as this area becomes available for redevelopment. Concerned that no steps had been taken to provide any measure of protection, Councilman E.W. Cromartie, whose Council District includes the State Hospital campus, and I proposed an historic overlay for this property several months ago. Following City Council's public hearing in September on the historic overlay, representatives of the Department of Mental Health provided a letter with compelling assurances that none of the structures identified in the proposed overlay would be demolished before the sale, that the City would be informed about developments with any potential sale, and that any future contract of sale would require the prior negotiation of a development agreement between the City and the developer to address, among other things, the preservation of the historic buildings. Read the full letter here.
I believe that we now have a win/win compromise that will ensure that the buildings will remain up for consideration of potential historic rehabilitation tax credits at a later date when the property ultimately is redeveloped. Council directed our Interim City Manager to begin the process of fleshing out the city portion of a development agreement and an advisory committee will be established in the near future to provide input.
Around our City
Over the fall I have attended numerous neighborhood meetings and special events. As I joined leaders in the South Kilbourne area for a brainstorming session on future programs; participated with Pinehurst residents in discussions on safety and code enforcement issues; celebrated the change of seasons with residents in Hollywood/Rose Hill and in Forest Hills; attended membership meetings at Bradley, Rosewood, Shandon, and the University Hills; and joined Melrose families for a Halloween carnival, I have been reminded of the great role of citizen engagement in ensuring the quality of life in our city's neighborhoods. I commend leaders throughout our City who have worked so hard to provide a real sense of community and place in Columbia.
Without question, parks and great green spaces are important elements of vibrant neighborhood life. In recent months we have had the opening of the Edisto Discovery Park and the ground breaking for the new Skate Park, both in the Rosewood area. I am pleased to report that the new amphitheater at Emily Douglas Park, in the heart of Shandon, will be completed in the near future. An ad-hoc advisory group comprised of neighborhood representatives from the areas surrounding Maxcy Gregg Park (Wheeler Hill, Wales Gardens, and University Hills) along with representatives from Christopher Towers, the Capital Senior Center, USC, and Columbia Green, has been providing input to our city staff on the restoration of this historic park.
Among the highlights of the past several weeks have been my attendance at the "Green is Good for Business" conference sponsored by our City's Climate Protection Advocacy Committee (CPAC) and the press conference announcing the new partnership with The Cooperative Ministry and the USC School of Medicine to operate the City's Winter Homeless Shelter. I had the pleasure of providing the City "Welcome" at Columbia Green's wonderful Canalapalooza event at Riverfront Park and of judging entries at Historic Columbia's "Scarecrow in the Garden" display at the Robert Mills House. October tours of Fort Jackson the Jim Hamilton- L.B. Owens Airport have provided new understandings of the impact of these important facilities on our Columbia economy. I have been meeting regularly with a dynamic group of individuals interested in literacy and reading in our city and am excited about emerging ideas to foster Columbia's identification as a "Community of Readers." Just this past week I had the opportunity to meet and get to know members of the economic development delegation from our "Sister City" in Yiben, China, who made a two day stop here in Columbia during a tour of the United States.
In closing, please know that it is a pleasure and honor to represent you on Columbia City Council. I hope you will share your thoughts with me, and I look forward to seeing you in the near future.
Sincerely,
Belinda F. Gergel, Ph.D
Columbia City Council, District 3 Representative