Bartow Commission to Fill Two Seats After Restructuring Its CRA Board
Bartow Commission to Fill Two Seats After Restructuring Its CRA Board
Bartow city commissioners will rank 12 applicants Monday for two citizen seats on a Community Redevelopment Agency board the commission restructured in June over an $18.2 million loan.
The commission meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 450 N. Wilson Ave. An amended agenda was posted July 30 and July 31.
How the board changed
At a June 25 special meeting, the commission adopted Resolution No. 26-4266-R on a 4-1 vote, declaring itself the Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency and terminating the previous agency and its appointments. Commissioners Gary Ball and Trish Pfeiffer, Vice Mayor Laura Simpson and Mayor Tanya Tucker voted yes. Commissioner Leo Longworth voted no.
City Manager Mike Herr told commissioners the impetus was the CRA’s borrowing of roughly $18.2 million for property acquisition and redevelopment. Because of the agency’s standalone credit limitations, the loan required the full faith and credit backing of the City Commission. Herr called it uncharted territory in Bartow’s CRA history and said he was not claiming anything was broken.
Deputy City Manager Peter Lear said financial advisors were adamant that the loan could not be issued without commission backing, and that the governance question grew directly from who should control funds backed by the city’s credit. City Attorney Sean Parker said decisions on spending the money should rest with elected officials accountable to the public.
Eight residents spoke, nearly all opposed. Speakers praised the board’s recent performance and Executive Director Howard Smith, and questioned the need for change. Longworth, who cast the dissenting vote, said he worried residents on the east and west sides would see commission control as a threat to investment those neighborhoods had only recently begun receiving.
The five sitting commissioners now serve as agency members, joined by two citizen members.
The appointments
The first appointee serves two years. The second serves four. All later appointments run four years.
Twelve applications were received. Four came from former board members. The applicants are Shana Bennett, Christy Byers, Jerome Corbett, Anthony Ghent, Gordon Greene, Leroy Joe Jr., Ashley Knight, Ian Legg, Timothy Sanders, Amber Screen, Alvin Smith Jr. and Symone Wilson.
Bennett and Smith both spoke against the restructuring at the June 25 hearing.
Commissioners rank each applicant. The City Attorney tallies, the City Clerk confirms and the City Attorney announces the result.
A new advisory committee, with one open question
Herr is presenting a framework for a nine-member Community Development Advisory Committee. Seven members would live inside city limits. Two would come from Connersville, Gordonville or Alturas.
The committee would be advisory only under either version. It could not approve spending, administer programs, issue permits or enforce codes, and any project or grant it recommends would go separately to the appropriate governing body for funding and budget approval.
What commissioners have to decide is how many areas the committee covers.
Option 1 gives it five: community redevelopment, neighborhood initiatives, human and social conditions, economic opportunities, and fiscal planning. Under the redevelopment area, the committee would give input on CRA activities, help develop and evaluate the CRA plan, serve as liaison between residents, businesses and the CRA Board, and recommend initiatives to eliminate slum and blight.
Option 2 keeps the last four areas and drops redevelopment. The staff analysis says the committee would not be designated as an advisory body to the CRA Board and would not be assigned responsibility for developing, evaluating or recommending changes to the CRA plan. Those functions would stay within the existing CRA governance structure, which since June means the commission itself, plus the two citizen members being appointed the same night.
The difference between the two options matters because of what was said in June. Simpson told the commission the advisory committee’s role was not the subject of that night’s vote but was very much on her mind, and that she had learned the commission, sitting as the CRA board, could grant such a committee authority to continue handling facade and housing grants within defined parameters. She said that model gave her comfort in voting yes.
370 Parker Street
Resolution No. 26-4271-R would declare a vacant residential parcel at 370 Parker Street surplus and transfer it to the CRA at a nominal price. The property is in the CRA Core Improvement Area near Mill Avenue East. Staff say Habitat for Humanity has expressed interest in building a home there.
Water easements
Commissioners will consider ingress, egress and utility easements for the Polk Regional Water Cooperative at 4250 E. County Road 540A. Bartow, Lakeland and Polk County each own a third of the 2.08-acre parcel. The existing three-way interconnect sits on the south portion. PRWC wants a booster pump station on the north portion.
Staff say PRWC will serve Polk County first and intends to reach Bartow and Lakeland in later phases. No significant cost to the city.
Also on the agenda
September’s two regular meetings move to Thursday, Sept. 3 and Tuesday, Sept. 15, clearing room for county commission and school board budget hearings.
Proclamations recognize August as Florida Water Professionals Month and as Breastfeeding Awareness Month, accepted by Amy Beascoechea of the Healthy Start Coalition of Hardee, Highlands and Polk Counties.
Sources: “City Commission Regular Meeting Amended Agenda Packet, August 3, 2026,” City of Bartow, cityofbartow.net; “City Commission Special Meeting Minutes, Resolution No. 26-4266-R, CRA Governance, June 25, 2026,” City of Bartow; “City Commission Regular Meeting Agenda Packet, July 20, 2026,” City of Bartow; Resolution No. 26-4271-R, City of Bartow
