Photo: Mayor Gary Resnick Courtesy, southfloridagaynews.com

By BOB KECSKEMETY

While small in size, Wilton Manors, with its 13,000 residents, is large in the minds of the LGBT community, making the city one

of the most desirable for the community to work, live and visit. It’s estimated that 40 percent of the city’s residents are gay and lesbian.

Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick is one of the three gay/lesbian commissioners to sit on the board, putting the LGBT community in the majority. However, Resnick, as well as Tom Green and Julie Carson, has always put the city first for all residents regardless of sexual orientation.

“When I walk around talking to the residents, one of the common threads of our conversation is that they like the communications I was maintaining,” said Resnick, who has served on the city commission for more than a decade. “The residents of the city, though they might not come to city commission meetings, really like to know what’s going on in their city and most of them are pretty well informed.”

Resnick laid out plans for his vision of the future of Wilton Manors.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Resnick, along with the help of city commissioners, to focus on economic development — but not just on Wilton Drive.

“Things are going to start turning around a little bit,” said Resnick, “but it’s not going to be like it was in the early-2000s for a while. We need to be proactive in attracting businesses to our city.”

There are several planning and zoning issues that need to be addressed, like valet parking and clinics that prescribe pain killers to their patients. Some of these plain clinics, Resnick said, are immediately adjacent to residential neighborhoods and he feels the city has to enact rules as to where they can be located. He also feels there needs to be more separation between some commercial enterprises and residential areas, feeling that there needs to be more of a separation between businesses that would produce a lot of traffic and noise and the neighboring residential areas.

He also plans to streamline the permitting process, allowing people to fill out the forms and pay the fees online and be able to track the progress of the permits through the various departments.

”It’s something that we didn’t have to focus on very much, because a few years ago we didn’t have to do much to attract businesses to our city,” said Resnick. “But now we have to make sure we’re seen as a very business-friendly and residentialfriendly community.”

PARKING

Resnick says there are now more parking spaces on Wilton Drive than there were in the past even with the addition of the new City Hall. However, there is a problem with locating additional parking areas since the city does not own enough land to provide additional parking and nothing is readily available at an affordable price as he doesn’t want taxpayers footing the bill. There is still a possibility of a public/private parking project on the site of the old City Hall.

Unlike other municipalities, Wilton Manors, he explains, is a nighttime destination. Most cities charge for parking during their peak daytime hours and do not charge for parking at night. In Wilton Manors, it’s just the opposite.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Last autumn, Wilton Manors was rocked with a scandal involving their then-Police Chief Richard Perez, who subsequently resigned his position. An interim police chief has been appointed until a permanent replacement is found.

Resnick feels that the city’s police department functions very well, though there is need for improvement.

“We need to concentrate on keeping police in the field, crime solving and our detective functions, and we might be able to restructure to eliminate some of the administrative functions and put the resources where it does the best for the community — on the streets,” he said.

The city recently received a federal grant to add an additional police officer to its force.

RECREATION

Overall, Resnick is pleased with the city’s Leisure Services (parks and recreation) department and the popularity of the city’s parks, but he would like to see the services expanded at the city’s Island City Park, which has become popular, and Mickel Field, a facility that Renick says is underutilized.

The city’s tennis program, which he wants to beef-up, has lost participants to Oakland Park’s new facilities and Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park.

EVENTS AND FESTIVALS

Resnick feels that the city has learned it needs to have a larger role in the festivals and events, large and small, gay and straight. Events like the canoe race and holiday events need to be turned over to a professional promotion company, he said. There is greater concern about the larger events that draw 20,000 to 30,000 people, which he would like to see handled by a company which is financially viable and can produce some revenue for the city.

TWO-LANE INITIATIVE

A new Wilton Drive task force was organized and has already held several meetings. This task force is looking over the feasibility of the plans laid out in early 2010 by Wilton Manors Main Street (WMMS). This new task force consists of business owners, residents, a member of WMMS and other city officials.

Resnick said that the task force is looking at issues such as public safety, parking, traffic flow, cost and feasibility.

ECONOMY

Resnick says that the economy will remain a challenging issue for the city and it will need to cut expenses and try to avoid cutting jobs or laying off city employees.

Resnick wants to increase tourism to the city as it is already a major LGBT destination. The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association is planning a large convention in Fort Lauderdale this year and he is looking forward to creating events for the conventioneers to bring attention to Wilton Manors. He also feels that Wilton Manors needs a hotel located within the city limits.

He feels the city needs to be more aggressive in negotiating contracts because residents have made it clear that they can not afford to pay higher taxes or fees. He says that if there’s another sharp decline in property values, the city will have to make corresponding cuts in services and expenses. “It’s going to be very challenging in the next couple of years,” he said. Resnick is adamant about not raising taxes.