Sunday marked my wedding anniversary. It was a big day, so many years ago. Carolyn O’Connor walked down the isle with her dad and shortly thereafter changed her last name to Marlowe.
Anyone who has been married for any length of time knows that “for better or worse” means that there are good times and not so good times. We’ve had both over the years. Fortunately, we were both raised to believe that, if something broke, you fixed it. In this day of disposable products and disposable relationships, I guess that may sound a bit quaint, but I believe it is still valid today.
Cities have the same ups and downs. There are good times and not so good times. I believe New Port Richey is on the cusp of some really good times. We’ve got a lot of excitement in town.
Gulf Middle School, long a poster child for troubled schools everywhere, has had a remarkable change over the last year. A new principal set a high performance bar for his teachers and students. The results are already showing.
We are seeing changes downtown, with a new coffee shop scheduled to open in a matter of days.
Mezzaluna closed and signs immediately went up announcing that Johnny Grits will be arriving later this summer. Carolyn and I decided to check out Johnny Grits’ Palm Harbor location for lunch Sunday. The food and service were VERY good. The existing restaurants in New Port Richey are going to need to be ready with their “A” games daily once Johnny Grits opens. Competition is a good thing.
I’m looking forward to the day the old North Funeral Home (aka Spoonbills) is demolished and replaced with a brand new restaurant. The existing building has got to go. I vividly remember my brother’s funeral in there. The existing building footprint also negates the site’s best feature… the riverfront! With any luck, we’ll see fast track construction on this critical corner of the Main Street bridge.
I’ve talked previously about New Port Richey becoming a dining and entertainment district for West Pasco. Imagine a day when you can head to downtown New Port Richey and decide on the way there what you want for dinner. I believe we are closer to that than you might think.
The city council is working with staff to craft measures to improve the “curb appeal” of our residential neighborhoods. These measures include both the parking ordinance and an upcoming rental inspection ordinance. Getting these right is more important than getting them done fast. That’s why I’m not upset that we pushed off final approval of the parking ordinance last week to deal with all the potential issues.
We are going to spruce up a Sims Park that is showing its age and you’ll be amazed at what it looks like by Christmas.
Last, but certainly not least, I heard from a reliable source last week that one of the big properties on US 19 that has been empty for years has just changed hands. There is hope for the US 19 corridor.
Much like a marriage, a city is what we make of it. We all need to work hard to make our city everything it can be.
Rob Marlowe, Mayor
(In Roman numerals, “XL” stands for “forty”. Yes, Carolyn and I are celebrating our “Ruby” anniversary this year.)
Congratulations to both Rob & Carolyn on your XL Wedding Anniversary!
What an amazing tribute Rob regarding your marriage and you also complimented the town of N.P.R. !
Thank you for ALL you have managed to do while being Mr. Mayor!
Best wishes,
Don Purkess
6/8/2015
Happy anniversary, Rob! I am looking forward to working with you and Greater Main Street on events to help make Downtown New Port Richey a destination location.
Nice…a June wedding in 1975! Great photo too! You and Carolyn always seem like a most compatible and caring couple to me. I salute you two and your 40 years of marriage.
Marilynn
There are plenty of good things going on in New Port Richey–and almost all of them have nearly nothing to do with the city government. I volunteered at the Gulf Middle School cleanup, and other than Councilman Jeff Starkey, no one else from the City was involved. There’s little to no communication between the schools (the City’s 3rd largest employer) and the City beyond a couple of tours–no followup.
It has become more and more clear that positive things in town have been happening in spite of, rather than because of, the efforts of the City.
Many residents treat the “escapades” of the City more with disdain and a “look what they’re doing this time” than with any real respect.
Literally, for decades, the City Council and development staff have said “Downtown! Downtown! Downtown!” with revitalization after revitalization, with zero effect. Now, with the prospect of a possible economic recovery, many council members, Mayor Marlowe included, are saying “Look at all the fun we’ve started!” $2 million goes into Sims Park, then we’ll need more parking.
The business incubator is being run by Pasco Economic Development Committee–a non-profit that has started to cross past the mark of “ineffective,” marching quickly toward “incompetent.” Some businesses have abandoned the incubator, saying they “had nothing for us.” Incubators are usually intended for technology startups, not law firms and hair salons (business with tried-and-true business models that can easily afford space off the bat in our vacant commercial buildings).
I have to say that underneath this shiny demeanor there are a number of serious issues, mainly that some of the proposed upcoming projects have a good chance of being failures. My mind immediately jumps to the redevelopment of the Hacienda (which has already entered the early stages of a long step backwards with a renegotiation in the works)–I reported earlier this year on NewsPortRichey that the economic numbers drummed up by Mario Iezzoni were off by a couple of miles (http://newsportrichey.org/2015/02/03/editorial-city-council-plans-sell-hacienda-unproven-developers/)–and the Dulcet, which while having earned a good reputation and obviously being a huge positive is likely to be overwhelmed by the poor demographics of the area.
Now, we have the north river district getting new pink sidewalks (http://newsportrichey.org/2015/06/06/north-river-sidewalks-to-receive-20s-pink-style/) which is curious since I’ve had to complain to Public Works for months to get cracked sidewalks fixed, and there’s apparently no money in the budget (or rather no willpower) to put in a sidewalk between Florida Ave and Indiana Ave on Congress Street. That’s one of the most heavily trafficked vehicle, cyclist, and pedestrian roads in the City. It has no bike lanes either and a pedestrian was severely injured last year at Congress and Mass (http://newsportrichey.org/2014/12/21/pedestrian-struck-car-congress-st-massachusetts-ave/). But since the more affluent residents along the river show up to meetings, when Ms. Joan Hook asked the City to undertake a project, there was movement within two weeks.
The response of many residents to my article on the pink sidewalks is laughter. Just thought you might like to know that.
Congratulations Rob and Carolyn.
Jon,
The last NPR Note that concentrated on the city council was one about the long April 21st agenda. Re-read the Notes in the nearly two months since then and you’ll see that my emphasis has been on everything EXCEPT the city council.
The city council serve as the elected leaders of the city, but they are by no means the only, or even the most important, parts of the equation. The council can set a direction. It is up to the entire community to make things happen.
Gulf Middle School joined the Chamber of Commerce with a ribbon cutting on June 1st and most of the members of the city council were in attendance to show their support. More important were all the members of the business community that showed up to show their support as well.
Staining sidewalks pink is quick, easy and inexpensive. Some residents suggested it and the city crews are making it happen.
New road and sidewalk construction takes a bit more planning. Addressing Congress St. is in the Public Works Proposed Work Plan that I looked at last Friday. It will be part of the capital improvements that get discussed during this summer’s budget season.
The structural assessment for the Hacienda restoration will be presented at the July 7th meeting. Anything else regarding the redevelopment of the Hacienda is speculative until we have a firm grip on the scope of the needed restorations.
The New Port Richey Incubator is an excellent example of a city effort that is going to need some fine tuning moving forward. The PEDC is to be commended for helping to get things off the ground. The key now is to adjust the Incubator’s operations to nurture the sorts of businesses we want to see grow up in New Port Richey.
I’m pleased that three of the initial Incubator startups have decided to put some skin in the game by leasing office space downtown. I’ve walked over to their offices multiple times in the last week with business referrals for them. There is a synergy created by having multiple tech firms within walking distance of each other and having these three firms and others join my company downtown should be good for all of us.
I would encourage you and other small businesses to consider buying or leasing space in downtown New Port Richey. It is a great place to grow your business.
Much like a long lasting marriage, a city needs constant work by all of the parties involved to make it everything it can be.
Rob