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In mid-January, the City Commission and staff gathered to come up with its priorities for the new year. This commission is energized and committed to building upon the successes of the past while forging ahead with ambitious goals for the future.
Our mission is to improve public safety, tackle the growing prevalence of homelessness, address the affordability of housing, continue to improve our infrastructure, find ways to ease traffic congestion, and promote public spaces and our neighborhoods.
We have made major progress in improving public safety recently. We broke ground on the new police headquarters and are nearing the end of a program to upgrade our fire stations. Between the last budget and the current one, we will have increased the size of the police force by 35 officers and the Fire Department by 26 positions.
With this year’s budget, we will increase the number of rescue units staffed by three firefighters, thus allowing fire engines and rescue units to respond to separate calls if necessary. We also authorized a first-of-its-kind pilot program to have police officers certified as medical EMTs.
Under the leadership of our new police chief, William Schultz, we are planning citywide gun violence prevention projects and will have outreach initiatives to promote gun safety. We also plan to strengthen neighborhood relationships with our officers, address concentrated crime through prevention efforts, and partner with the Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership program to better understand residents’ concerns and develop innovative solutions.
With homelessness, the commission plans to expand the work of our homeless outreach teams in targeting hotspot areas to offer temporary housing and assistance to those willing to accept it and to combat the serious public safety issues that often arise such as aggressive panhandling.
These efforts will be citywide, including homelessness in our residential areas. The city has increased the number of police officers assigned full time to homeless outreach and added the Fire Department to the initiative through its mobile healthcare program. We’ve also doubled the money for our housing navigation program. This is a unique collaboration with the TaskForce For Ending Homelessness to reduce the number of displaced individuals.
We are looking for collaboration with other agencies in our efforts. For instance, we are in discussions with the Broward Sheriff’s Office about jail discharge procedures. As a county seat, we bear an unequal burden in addressing homelessness because anyone arrested anywhere in the county is discharged from the main jail in our downtown.
The city has led the region in efforts to ensure the affordability of housing — that we have a housing stock that supports families of all levels of income.
In the next year, we plan to look for ways to utilize community redevelopment money to expand housing opportunities that are more affordable than the market-rate products under construction. We also are creating an affordable housing master plan.
We must ensure we remain a diverse community open to all income levels – a place where workers from nurses and teachers to bank tellers and waiters can afford to live, a place where someone fresh from college can launch a career, and a place where a senior citizen can retire comfortably.
Regarding our transportation and traffic priority, the commission is committed to improving transportation infrastructure and promoting alternative modes of transportation, such as biking and walking.
We will address conditions on problematic roadways, enhance our micromobility efforts and complete an analysis of sidewalk needs citywide. We want to enhance connectivity, reduce traffic congestion, and improve the overall mobility experience for residents and visitors alike.
Of course, a centerpiece of this priority is to continue to explore options for the New River crossing if the county proceeds with plans to launch a commuter rail service along the Florida East Coast Railroad tracks. Our consulting team is making great progress in assessing the best and most cost-efficient way to build a tunnel for the rail service through downtown, and we expect to be able to provide a detailed update very soon.
Infrastructure continues to be an important priority for Fort Lauderdale. We are continuing our efforts to upgrade water and sewer lines citywide and expand flood management projects in low-lying areas. Our new water treatment plant is now under construction.
In addition, our 2024 goals include planning for future capacity needs at our sewage treatment plant, enhancing waterway quality, improving the cleaning stormwater drainage, encouraging commercial recycling and finalizing our tree canopy ordinance.
Our final goal of the year surrounds public spaces and our neighborhoods.
We want to undertake more neighborhood-specific master-planning initiatives, make it easier for people to preserve historic properties, restart a program to boost neighborhood-driven improvements, and enhance median maintenance and street cleanliness.
We plan to continue to look for ways to better mitigate the issues created by vacation rentals despite the restrictions imposed on the city by the state Legislature. We also plan to work on expanding broadband connectivity and work with the School Board to prevent neighborhood school closures.
As we embark on these priorities, I invite you to join us in shaping the future of Fort Lauderdale. Your input, ideas, and feedback are invaluable as we work to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive community for all.
Thank you for your continued support.
Yours,
Dean
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