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Leader Stepping Down But Not Away From Area

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By KATHY STEELE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 22, 2007

EAST TAMPA - A busy family schedule forced Sam Kinsey to make a decision not to seek re-election to a job that has been his passion for four years.

But in stepping away from leadership of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership, Kinsey said he remains committed to seeing the group's work transform the neighborhoods.

'I'm not giving up the partnership. I'm giving up the leadership,' said Kinsey, who will serve as ex-officio board member with one-year voting rights.

To have more time to car pool grandchildren and care for his 93-year-old mother, Kinsey also gave up positions on the city's public nuisance abatement board and East Tampa's enterprise zone board.

Several other partnership board members opted not to seek re-election; Kinsey said the time demanded of the nine volunteers can be intense.

'People have been doing this for four years,' he said. 'You've got to have the turnover and new people coming in.'

The city's East Tampa redevelopment manager, Ed Johnson, anticipates a smooth transition.

'They, as a community, stayed together 4½ years, created the partnership and have been very successful in directing redevelopment efforts,' he said. 'Sam has stayed on top of the process.'

The partnership was created soon after the city began meeting with residents in 2003 about ways to turn around East Tampa's blighted neighborhoods. Kinsey said residents needed a stronger role.

'We were more like an audience to what the city staff was saying about East Tampa,' he said. 'This isn't the way it should be done. The residents need to be out front.'

When the partnership was formed, residents named Kinsey as executive board chairman. The partnership, which includes individuals, businesses and civic leaders, works with the city in crafting budgets and plans to redevelop East Tampa.

A portion of local property taxes must be spent on projects within a 7-square-mile area bordered by Interstates 275 and 4, Hillsborough Avenue and the city limits. In the partnership's first year, revenues totaled about $1 million. For fiscal year 2008, revenues are about $6.3 million.

'Neighborhoods have been neglected for so long,' Kinsey said. 'That's the whole reason you have a community redevelopment area. Here's the time to catch up.'

Projects supported by the area's property taxes include the recently opened District 3 police headquarters on 22nd Street, Meridian Pointe apartments on Hillsborough Avenue and a makeover for Lake Avenue.

Kinsey sees East Tampa making strides and credits Mayor Pam Iorio for setting 'the tone that caused this interest to develop,' although he believes there are too many bureaucratic barriers that slow the pace.

Dunkin' Donuts and Ross Dress for Less opened on Hillsborough, and Fast Lane Clothing on 22nd. Kinsey said much of his time as chairman was spent discussing potential development.

'These folks looked everywhere but at East Tampa in the past,' he said. 'Pawnshops and used car lots always looked to come, but now we're getting the things that are desirable for the community.'

Kinsey, who grew up in Sulphur Springs, has lived in East Tampa for more than 40 years. He bought his first house soon after graduating from Florida A&M University with a bachelor's in French and a minor in Spanish.

He hoped for a job as an interpreter but said segregation limited his options. Instead, he taught Spanish and English at Young Junior High School for a few years and then took a job as a curriculum planner for the Hillsborough school system.

He left to work for the University of South Florida and Allstate Insurance before returning to the school system. When he retired in 2001, he was a deputy district director.

One of the early lessons he learned as partnership chairman was how large the East Tampa district is. He often goes on riding tours, stopping to talk with residents.

'I've been to every inch of the 7 square miles to know what things are like, what the needs are,' Kinsey said.

As a result, the board last year began directing tax revenue to neighborhood projects such as sidewalks and street lighting.

Kinsey cautions against taking too narrow a view of East Tampa, saying it's not only 22nd, 29th and 34th streets and Lake Avenue that need redevelopment. Other neighborhoods such as Grant Park and Southeast Seminole Heights are part of the mix.

The goal is to invest in projects, such as the remodeling of the Milner Hotel on 50th Street, in order to generate tax revenue and jobs.

'Do we only have one thing on the table?' Kinsey asked. 'I think we can do multiple projects.'

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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