NPR NOTES

Commentary by former mayor Rob Marlowe

2014 Christmas Parade

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Mayor Rob Marlowe

Mayor Rob Marlowe

It has been an interesting week.  I capped it off by participating in the Holiday Rotary Christmas Parade.  I finally have a grandchild old enough to ride on the city float with me.  We had a great time together.  Kudos to the Holiday Rotary and the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce.

There were lots of activities in and around Sims Park this weekend.

On Friday night The Genesis school had their Christmas performance in the bandshell, followed by a family movie.

Saturday morning had Breakfast with Santa and featured pictures with Santa.  An older fellow apparently surprised his girlfriend with a wedding proposal while she was sitting on Santa’s knee.  Who says romance is dead?

The music after the parade Saturday night apparently left something to be desired.  One concerned citizen posted a note on facebook quoting lyrics that appear to glorify training a 12 year old girl to become a prostitute…

I’m not sure who picked the musical groups and the playlist, but this is simply the wrong sort of entertainment for a family Christmas celebration in the park.

I thought last week’s “party like drunken, womanizing Mad Men” promotion was of questionable taste, but this Saturday’s musical selection takes the cake.

We ought to expect more from those who attempt to promote our city by organizing events in Sims Park.

Things are continuing to move forward in the city.  There will be a “Harbors Update” in Peace Hall at 6pm on Monday evening.  Students from FSU have been working on plans for all of West Pasco, including the New Port Richey area.  It should be interesting to see where things are now.

Tuesday night’s city council meeting should be interesting as well.  There are three proposed ordinances on the agenda:

There is the first reading of a revised ABSEP (Alcoholic Beverage Special Events) ordinance.  I like the idea of making it easier for the adjacent bars to throw block parties on Railroad Square, but I’m concerned that allowing an unlimited number of events to sell beer and wine in Sims Park is a bad idea.

There is a first reading of a new Property Management ordinance.  This is designed to help clean up some of the problematic properties around town.  I’m not quite sure I like all of the details, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

There is a first reading of an amendment to our ordinance regarding Solicitation for Prostitution.  This one is designed to make it easier to bust the prostitution operations along US 19.

The full agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting can be found here.

The New Port Richey Public Library will be celebrating its 95th birthday this coming week.  The big celebration will be on Monday, December 22nd.

1915fumc.jpg

1915 Sanctuary. Picture from WPHS.

The First United Methodist Church will be celebrating its centennial in February.  You need to check out the article in Saturday’s Suncoast News.  When my family joined the church back in 1963, we met in the old sanctuary and the big sanctuary at the corner of Jefferson and Indiana had not yet been built.

Pastor Betty Batey

Pastor Betty Batey, First United Methodist Church of New Port Richbey

 

First Methodist’s pastor, the Rev. Betty Batey, had some comments about the future of New Port Richey in today’s sermon.  With her permission, I’ve uploaded those comments.

Pastor Batey is not the only one who thinks we can and should do better and expect better of our community.  We all can make a difference if we work together.

Rob Marlowe, Mayor

Comments

  1. Excellent post Mr. Mayor!

    I was surprised to hear your report of the poor choice of music and lyrics at a family-oriented event, so yes, I agree with you that in the future organizers of events taking place in downtown and on public property need to vet their musical selections more carefully.

    I, too, am concerned about the revisions in the alcohol ordinance as you are. I am all for the downtown pubs and restaurants having a chance to expand to outside service during downtown events (they pay their taxes and for biz licenses) but I still question the wisdom of nonprofits setting up beer kiosks. We don’t need more alcohol served in public…just keep the ordinance specific to the businesses already there.

    Finally, regarding the solicitation of prostitution ordinance: fine, but I truly hope that the powers behind this understand that the guilty parties first and foremost are the pimp and the johns…not the women. Not many women (or young men for that matter) would chose this “occupation” if they had better opportunities.

    Thanks for your blogs, Mr. Mayor! And Merry Christmas to you and yours!

    Marilynn deChant

    • Sheriff Nocco has proposed seizing property involved in the drug and prostitution trade. I’m guessing that would include houses and vehicles. It will be interesting to see if the county is successful in making this approach stick.

      During a recent prostitution sting that targeted the johns, reportedly more than half of them had to call their wives to come pick them up after their cars were impounded…