City's efforts garner praise at Delray Town Hall meeting

By and large, residents were pleased with city leaders' work

Written by TED CARTER, STAFF WRITER
Boca Raton News, Boca Raton, FL
January 30, 2003
Provided by Burrelle's Information Services

Delray Beach's 10th annual Town Hall meeting Tuesday night gave city officials an opportunity to detail a year of achievements climaxed by the city's designation as an 2001 All-America City.

Residents, in turn, praised the city's elected officials and staffers for getting streets paved, improving neighborhoods and showing overall leadership. A few of the dozen or so people who lined up to address infrastructure issues pointed out problems such as dangerous intersections, litter and packs of stray dogs.

But most of the speakers, including Sudan neighborhood resident Joyce Parker, came to Old School Square Cultural Arts Center to praise the people who run the city.

"We're thankful for our sidewalks and signs." Parker said. "I thank you for the people you put in place to help us when we call. When we call, we get things done."

She said her neighborhood of about 40 homes on Davis Road behind Delray Shores has been "beautified" through the city's efforts.

Resident Evelyn Dobson proclaimed that in "2001 a new style" of "leadership" emerged. She said the leaders are showing energy and drive. Especially pleasing: she said, are the work of the steering committee on the Southwest Implementation Plan, the progress on the Atlantic Grove mixed-use project slated for West Atlantic Avenue and the long-anticipated streetscape work to beautify the portion of the avenue that runs between Interstate 95 and Swinton Avenue.

Dobson urged officials to focus more on programs for the city's youth, improving traffic flow and reducing crime.

Addressing the "you-could-have-done-better" category, Jim Smith said city officials didn't do very well on the Venetian Drive and McFarland road-improvement projects. "It took three times longer than it should have," said Smith, an Ocean Boulevard resident.

Another failure, he said, was the newly installed traffic "roundabout" on Pineapple Grove Way and Northeast Second Street. "It just doesn't work. It's rinky-dink. We can change it."

Traffic was also a concern of Gloria Elliot, who said a South Swinton Avenue intersection near her house is far too accident-prone.

"Some person got hit twice" by hit-and-run drivers a couple weeks ago there, Elliot said, adding, "people wind up with cars on their front doors in the middle of the night."

Carolyn Zimmerman, head of the Presidents Council citizens group, called for the city to help residents understand what to do with their trash and to crack down on others who "come by in trucks and drop loads in your yard."

Added Zimmerman, "I go to other cities that don't have the trash in the street like we do."

She also called for more manpower for the animal control unit to help curb the "hundreds of dogs" running loose in the city.

Henry Williams suggested the city ensure that police are alerted quickly when a resident phones in a crime.

He said he called police while holding a bicycle thief at bay. It took police an hour to arrive, he said, but added the officer showed him a radio log that showed he had gotten word of the Williams' call only 15 minutes before arriving at the scene.

"Somewhere someone is falling down and not giving the message to police when they're supposed to," Williams said.

It fell to City Manager David Harden to recite a lengthy list of accomplishments by city officials and staff this year. Most of the efforts focused on meeting the goals outlined in the most recent five-year plan, establishing more community unity, expanding downtown's redevelopment, establishing high-quality neighborhoods and diversifying the city's economic base.

On the horizon, he said, is a "consolidated city Website" to make communicating with the city easier.

He said the site should be operational by summer.

A little further off, he said, is a project to digitalize all city records, including city codes, and make them available on the Website. He said the work will be done through a digital imaging system.

The best part of his year occurred out of town, Harden said. "Nothing could beat the thrill of being in Atlanta and having our name called first as an 'All-America' city," he said, referring to the honor the city won last June from the National Civic League. The award marked the second time the city earned the honor.