>>Valley Patriot>> |
Neighborhood Revitalization As Mayor of the City of Lawrence, I am pleased to report that significant progress and improvement has taken place in the Office of Planning and Development. Recent articles and statements made by my opponents would suggest that funding has been lost and that future sanctions were due to take place. The truth of the matter is that neither of these scenarios will take place under my administration. I am also confident that these changes will be wholeheartedly endorsed by HUD. It has been well documented that the findings HUD outlined go back 10 years. I have personally worked with my staff and a consultant, Mr. Dan Cahill, to straighten out this office so that we can better serve our community with housing, economic development, infrastructure improvements and a host of other programs that are specifically designed for communities like Lawrence to expedite urban renewal. I have had weekly meetings with my staff as well as with representatives from HUD to develop a five-year consolidated plan that is in line with all HUD guidelines and is tailored especially for our needs. Along those lines, we have submitted our annual action plan to the Lawrence City Council for their approval and I did not make any changes to the plan developed by my staff and the Citizen Advisory Board that also contained Lawrence City Councilors. I have helped to carve out a neighborhood revitalization strategy area that will meet with HUD approval and is designated to show clear, measurable results over the next several years in compliance with the new reporting standards. Most importantly, I have worked with the consultant, staff, and HUD representatives to develop a new management plan and organizational structure that is vastly different from anything people have seen over the last few administrations. When it comes to the Office of Planning and Development, we will not stop at looking at ways to better deliver programs and services to move Lawrence forward. Under the new management plan, there will be some new and updated job positions with qualifications and job descriptions that are sure to attract qualified, experienced candidates. We have looked at national compensation and classification models to ensure better job retention and longevity in a department that has seen some strong and talented individuals lured away for better salary and benefit considerations. All these proposed changes have been met with strong HUD approval and will ensure that the funding that makes these programs successful will continue to flow. By bringing in some fresh, qualified talent to the Office of Planning and Development, I am sure residents will see a noticeable difference in the quality of service and the extent of our programs. Through this whole learning process, we have taken a hard introspective look and done a serious assessment of our capabilities. We realized that the findings were only systematic of some policies and procedures that had to be implemented in order to be in full compliance with strict HUD guidelines. I feel confident that we have taken the right approach and have every reason to believe that the results will soon be evi-dent. The important thing is that there have been no allegations of any misappropriations and therefore there should be no monetary sanctioning of any kind. I look forward to getting many new and exciting initiatives off the ground while still maintaining the strong, core programming that people have come to expect from our Community Development Department. *Michael Sullivan is in his first term as the mayor of Lawrence and is seeking reelection in the September primary. To comtact him you can email your comments to N_Carroll@cityof lawrence.com *Send your questions
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