A new board for the Savannah Downtown Redevelopment Authority has been sworn in and given direction from city leaders to set its own course in determining how it will help guide downtown economic development.
That’s an abrupt about-face from the city’s assessment in 2011 when a majority of City Council approved a recommendation from then-Acting City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney to cut the authority’s funding by 67 percent and redefine its mission and source of funding. The authority, with one employee remaining, has essentially been dismantled for more than a year.
New board members, who are appointed by council, were sworn in Tuesday. Acting City Manager Stephanie Cutter has urged them to hold their first meeting quickly.
“It is my hope they will convene soon and begin to focus on the existing bylaws of SDRA and make a determination as to whether or not they wish to continue governing as outlined,” she said. “They need to do that independently of the city government so they take ownership of the process for moving forward.
“Once they decide that, then there will be discussions with the city.”
Time is of the essence, Cutter said, because city staff will begin developing the 2014 budget in late April and the SDRA’s funding expectations need to be factored into that.
The authority is solely funded by the city. That was one concern of Small-Toney and then-Mayor Otis Johnson, who wanted to see the SDRA identify other funding sources.
Reforming the board
Fifteen new board members were sworn this week, but 10 more positions need to be filled.
Five of the newly sworn board members have served on the SDRA board before, Cutter said, including former chairman Phillip “Tony” Cooper and Jerry Lominack.
In deliberating their choices, council members agreed it was important to return members of the board who had continued to support and promote the SDRA’s efforts despite its uncertain standing.
Cutter echoed that feeling and said she did not view them as part of past problems.
“When I got involved, I saw a group of people that really cared about SDRA and were part of the organization,” Cutter said. “They have good knowledge, they owned up to the problems, they made brave decisions, and now it’s time to move forward.”
Cooper declined comment, but Lominack said he, for one, was reassured by the support from Cutter and named Mayor Edna Jackson, Mayor Pro Tem Van Johnson and Alderwoman Carol Bell as well.
Johnson confirmed the city’s interest in seeing the SDRA return.
“I think we’ve established how important the SDRA is as a partner in the city’s downtown revitalization efforts,” he said. “Hopefully, they will work with the city to provide leadership on the redevelopment of the critical corridors of Broughton, MLK and Montgomery.
“This is our lead partner in this effort.”
Setting priorities
Cutter identified revitalization of Montgomery Street as the highest priority, but she also wants the board to focus on wider, long-term goals.
Another issue will involve clearly defining how the SDRA’s role will work with the city’s economic development department with no duplication of function, Cutter said.
That department also is in transition. The city is advertising for the open director’s position.
Lominack wants the board to return to promoting the Downtown Master Plan, which created a blueprint for deciding how the desire for economic development would meld with maintaining the physical beauty, culture and quality of downtown life.
“We need to get action on that,” he said. “It’s a good plan.”
He hopes, too, that the board can play a role with other organizations to develop a larger economic plan for the whole city, one that considers residents’ needs, tourism, education and the type of growth the city wants to see.
That resonates with Hank Reed, a new board member and president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. In December, Reed co-signed a letter with Daniel Carey, CEO of the Historic Savannah Foundation, and Ruel Joyner, president of the Downtown Business Association, urging the mayor and council to revive the SDRA to help create a vision plan to carry the city into 2050.
Like Cutter, Reed wants to waste no time.
“I think it’s kind of pressing in that as we come out of the recession, there’s a lot of development beginning to pop up,” he said. “It’s better to have a master plan and a vision than to be making these decisions ad hoc. We want to build and do it in a way that fits the long-term vision of how we want to be.”
THE SDRA BOARD
CITY COUNCIL APPOINTED 15 MEMBERS, BUT THE SDRA CHARTER CALLS FOR A 25-MEMBER BOARD. OTHER CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED DURING THE NEXT ROUND OF APPOINTMENTS TO CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND AUTHORITIES.
• Phillip “Tony” Cooper
• Jerry Lominack
• Joseph Bell III
• Daniel Chase
• J. Paul Hansen
• Ruel Joyner
• John Lewis
• Tommy Linstroth
• Richard “Dicky” Mopper
• Maurice Norman
• Joseph Parker Jr.
• Patrick Phelps
• Henry “Hank” Reed II
• William Stuebe
• Taylor Watts