Many people did not expect me to be in this position, but I knew that I wanted to be able to serve my community.” “I grew up in Ybor City,’’ Milan told the group.
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However, she promised to “do a study by ZIP code and usage of the existing kiosks to see if moving an underperforming kiosk to the East Tampa location is doable.” She promised to work with the vendor to find a solution for East Tampa, including possibly moving an existing kiosk or adding a new site. Milan made sure to clarify that many of the kiosk placements were made prior to her tenure, and that there are various challenges to getting new ones placed. That conversation with Milan led to the start of Coffee + Conversation (and pastries!) in order to bring more concerned citizens together with government officials to get clearer on issues and processes to address them.Ĭity Councilman Joe Citro, representatives from County Appraiser Bob Henriguez’s office, and the Tax Collector herself, Nancy Milan, attended the first event on January 9. We could be using those spaces,” Cobb shared.Īdditionally Cobb advocated for an “equity study” to survey which neighborhoods were most in need of various services and to address the fact that East Tampa residents have the highest amount of toll violations and traffic tickets in the city. There are many spaces in our community that have been underutilized due to COVID. “We need a mobile kiosk for elders to have more access to be able to renew licensure, pay property taxes.
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The inspiration for the meeting came when Cobb was sitting in Nancy Milan’s office back in October, 2021, offering suggestions for how to meet the needs of more East Tampa residents. Housing stabilization, a key issue in most CRAs, is one of the many areas of concern for Cobb as well as an area of focus for the East Tampa CRA, however, it was the need for more services from the Tax Collector that ignited those gathered for the first Coffee + Conversation in January. Tax monies collected within a CRA must be used for specific redevelopment purposes within the targeted area, and not for general government purposes. … We have a very intricate makeup but we don’t always have the right resources to help everyone,” Cobb says.Įight of 140 CRAs in Florida are in Tampa: East Tampa, Central Park, Channel District, Downtown Tampa, Drew Park, Tampa Heights Riverfront, West Tampa, and Ybor City.ĬRAs are parts of a city designated for redevelopment. We have the highest number of residences and businesses. “All of the CRAs can fit inside of East Tampa. We don’t even have a grocery store.”Ĭrime and infrastructure are additional issues that have kept business and services from settling into East Tampa. “A lot of people can’t even afford an apartment, let alone saving for a house … the disparities in East Tampa I could list. We’ve been pushed out of a lot of areas. This is the area we settled in, because we were pushed from other places like Carver City,” Cobb says when speaking of one of the many issues impacting the East Tampa area, including housing stabilization and affordability. … So many stars have come from this area. The sad part about it is they want to come back, but they probably couldn’t afford it. East Tampa is the largest quadrant within the city of Tampa, and also has the largest population of African-Americans in the city. Tampa residents and elected officials can get cozy over Coffee + Conversation, a newly created local meetup curated by East Tampa CRA Vice Chair Dominique Cobb and hosted at Cafe Quiquiriqui within Hotel Haya in Ybor City.Ĭobb, a fifth-generation East Tampa resident, says she is on a mission to help educate and inform residents and local officials about each other to improve understanding and access to government services.įirst up? The Hillsborough County Tax Collector to discuss making services more accessible in East Tampa neighborhoods.
JANINE QUARLES-ADKINS | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022
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