CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

One changeover, 50 recommendations: Mayor Reed's transition team releases report

Montgomery Advertiser - 6/26/2020

Jun. 25--Montgomerians want better public education, city transportation, relationships with police, shuttered community centers re-opened and above all equity in all opportunities.

These were a few of the 50 recommendations Mayor Steven Reed's transition team handed over after months of meetings, community input and "uncomfortable conversations," Co-chair of the team and retired Judge Vanzetta Penn McPherson said

"Mayor Reed tapped more than 70 volunteers to serve on six committees," McPherson said. "The input of more than 300 members of our community influenced this report. Throughout our conversations, in committee meetings and an assembly here, there were consistent themes throughout our conversations. These cross-cutting themes serve as a foundation for most of the recommendations."

Investment banker John Mazyck, the other co-chair, highlighted six recommendations during a news conference Thursday morning -- one each from the education; economic development; infrastructure and transportation; public safety; health and human services; and cultural arts and entertainment committees.

McPherson talked mostly about the city's public education system, something the transition team members across all six committees discussed, she said.

"The lack of adequate investments in public education can impact Montgomery in many ways," McPherson said. "Division education impedes our children's learning and compromises their quality of life in adulthood, especially their employment opportunities. Business attraction is impaired if there is not a ready workforce. Public safety is at risk if there is high truancy and high recidivism among juvenile offenders. Talent attraction with businesses, the military and entrepreneurs is impacted if families are not willing to relocate to Montgomery due to under performing public schools."

Mazyck, in his list of recommendations, acknowledged the city's ability, or lack thereof, to implement change at Montgomery Public Schools. He instead recommended Reed use his position and voice to drum up support for education.

"To me, it doesn't matter if you go to a public school or a private school, you cannot escape the effects of Montgomery's public education system," he said. "We understand the mayor's role in this is probably going to be that as an advocate and a convener. He's not in control of Montgomery's school system. To that end, we recommend that he engage the community around the public school's effort to increase local funding for education by supporting millage increase and being proactive in assisting with pursuing other funding sources."

Where public safety was concerned, unsurprisingly, community members said they wished for better relationships with the police department, Mazyck said. According to the report, the committee recommended elimination of the Department of Public Safety. The former director of the department, Ron Sams, announced his resignation from his position in April.

The report also called on the city to hire 50 more police officers to better facilitate community policing.

"Public safety cannot be achieved in isolation. Mutual respect between the police and community is vital," Mazych said. "We recommend MPD dedicate officers to building and maintaining strong personal relationships with the community base, especially the youth. These officers can sustain the bonds that are formed by the junior police academy and school resource officers. We want more community ties to the citizens they serve."

In the age of coronavirus, the team's recommendation to create a public health position in the mayor's cabinet could not be more timely, Mazyck said. The transition report also called for the city to fully staff and support the Cultural Arts and Entertainment office.

"Montgomery has a long and successful history of artists achieving commercial and community success," he said. "We need to be a place that fosters that growth. It makes our city unique."

Mazyck called on Reed to restructure the department of Economic and Community Development.

"Restructure with a focus on downtown planning and development, retail development, small business development, place-based economic development," he said. "Expand equitable development across the city. Many, many business people are more engaged, more interested in Montgomery now than they have been in my lifetime and I know if you call any of these men and women, they will respond. The citizens are engaged. Now is the time."

The contract for the city's transportation services will soon be up for renewal, and Mazyck said the team suggested Reed rethink it and possibly rebid it.

"Transportation infrastructure has a significant impact on quality of life. Reconfigure the city's public transportation system and implement a model that works for the people who are the actual riders of the system," he said. "I think this current contract has been in place for 20 years. The committee recommends you evaluate this and possibly rebid this out.

While many of the recommendations highlight what the city needs, McPherson said the city needs to improve their megaphone so residents know what's already available.

"There was a general consensus that there is inadequate marketing of city programs, initiatives and services. Ineffective outreach to make citizens aware of those valuable municipal offerings and the absences of a centralized platform that makes these offerings accessible to the public," she said.

The health and human services committee said there needs to be better education about community health issued and the resources available to address them. The economic development committee said there's an opportunity to improve marketing along Montgomery's roadways "to lure traffic off the bypass and into the city to visit," McPherson said.

"Cultural arts and entertainment wants more robust and well maintained events and cultural opportunities that exist in Montgomery. Public safety also discussed the need to invest in promotional campaigns to recruit police officers," McPherson said.

But overall, there's a need for money.

"Most committee members were acutely aware that the city does not have the financial resources to fund all the initiatives in our recommendations," McPherson said. "Committee members were generally realistic about what it would take to implement their recommendations and were sensitive to compromising with the mayor, by creating a set of non-actionable recommendations. In that context, there were frequent conversations about the city's historic failure to pursue outside funding, especially from the federal government."

There's broad support for the city to be more aggressive in pursuing "Philanthropic and federal funding to enable Mayor Reed and his administration to implement these recommendations," McPherson said.

"We hope that implementation of our recommendations results in a Montgomery that is progressive, educationally vital, economically sound and above all equitable," she said.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Kirsten Fiscus at 334-318-1798 or KFiscus@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KDFiscus

___

(c)2020 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.)

Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at www.montgomeryadvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.