These "one-size fits all" mandated cuts from Tallahassee will take a massive bite out of an already quite lean budget. Say good-bye to public service grants, many hours of open libraries, acres of park maintenance, and much more, if the cuts contemplated reach fruition.
What does that mean for downtown? Perhaps less police? A cut to Downtown Vision's budget perhaps? Less park maintenance (which isn't really isn't all that hot as is)? Reduced hours for Main Library? Forget about lighting Laura Street.
The city could be living with the ramifications made in the next 10-15 days for the next 10-15 years...
This seems like more of a reason for the city to step away from the real estate developer game and let the private sector have a little more control on what happens with the downtown landscape. This can be done by easing codes and resolving permitting issues that continue to drag the pace of downtown development down, compared to the suburbs.
There's also a need to get more innovative. You don't always have to spend millions to establish and promote vibrancy. Sometimes you can achieve more at a faster pace, by using common sense and limited funds. With the tax reform issue, we may finally be forced to think that way.
As for Lighting Laura, downtown signage, etc., those are relatively inexpensive things that will go along way in improving the downtown core, morso than creating pocket parks and moving others will ever do. For example, if the Mayor's Office scraps the idea of moving Kids Kampus and sell off a couple of excess public owned downtown properties to the private sector, the funds gained and saved from such transactions would easy fund affordable improvements, such as better signage and lighting (which also help reduce the need for additional cops in the core).
However, if you're in the business of looking for press release with every project, then the little things like signage (that really go along way), than the small ticket items may never be a priority, regardless of the city's budget condition.
