>>Valley Patriot>> |
LAWRENCE ON THE MOVE!
Furthermore, they found that many of the issues plaguing Lawrence were systemic in nature and had been reoccurring problems over the last ten years. The good news is that there is no evidence of misappropriating or misspending of funds that would have resulted in sanctions or a repayment plan. Well, the good news has just got better. HUD has declared that all the findings of previous concerns have now been ade-quately addressed by the city of Lawrence. To accomplish this task, my administration enlisted the services of several consultants who would, in turn, work closely with HUD staff to improve the city’s department of Planning and Development. The results of those efforts have been impressive and several important benchmarks have been met by a lot of hard work. All programs continue to be funded and expedited to ensure that the many local groups that depend on this funding were not negatively affected. A five-year consolidated plan has been created and approved by HUD, which will take the city through the year 2010: • A
neighborhood revitalization strategy has been approved
for the North Common Neighborhood Area. Most importantly, the city of Lawrence has developed a complete re-organization of our department, which will be vastly different. With the help of consultant Dan Cahill, my administration has submitted a re-organization plan that separates the department into an Office of Planning and an Office of Community Development. This plan was wholeheartedly endorsed by HUD and recently approved by the Lawrence City Council. Along with this division, the plan included a complete compensation and classification of all positions. This will ensure strong qualifications, good chances for advancement, and long-term employee retention to strengthen both departments. Lawrence’s Personal Director Frank Bonett was instrumental in making sure this plan was a good reflection of what he was working on citywide and that job descriptions would enlist strong candidates to all position. Even though many projects will take a coordinated effort from both staffs as well as input from other city departments, the re-organization will allow for a more focused approach on projects that are paid for through HUD funding. The new departments will also have additional support staff to better serve the public and increase the capacity of the two departments. The current staffs of the Office of Planning and Community Development did an outstanding job under less than optimal conditions through the leadership of Mr. Fred Carberry. Both the senior staff of HUD and the consultants Dan Cahill and Jansi Chandler said that they were impressed with the professionalism and the good morale shown by staff throughout the entire process. This certainly bodes well for the future of these departments and I am sure as we continue to build a strong office on this solid foundation, it will be the citizens of Lawrence who will be the big winners in the end. *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
The Office of Planning and
Community Development has been under some heavy criticism
over the last year after a U.S. Housing and Urban
Development Department audit determined that there were a
number of serious issues that needed to be addressed.