PHOTOS
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’ Points of Pr s t n e d id si e R
Residents are encouraged to take a photo showing a favorite “point of pride” in your yard or even a community common area. Send it to glwalker@Verizon.net before the 5th of each month as an email attachment in .jpg format. Up to 8 of the most current photos will be displayed in The Islander each month. No names or addresses will be published. No “people” pictures please. Any questions call Gary Walker at 813-986-0066. Let’s have fun with this and share some “Points of Pride” in our community.
KEM Media Group 813-501-4894
News WHY CITY COUNCIL MATTERS TO CORY LAKE ISLES By Cyril Spiro, MD, MBA Many of you know that I am a candidate for Tampa City Council. Most of you probably do not know how City Council can impact our community and therefore each of us. So, let me tell you a story that is unfolding as I write this article. In the past, several residents complained to the CLI CDD about our “ugly” PVC pipe event signs. They said that those sign posts indicated that the CDD was not investing in our community. The CDD took this feedback to heart and appropriated money from the existing capital budget to install two permanent monuments, matching all other monuments and contain a digital screen within them. This would allow the CDD staff to wirelessly change sign images while perfectly match the community décor. Everything was set to be installed when the process was halted at city permitting. As it turns out, there is a city law that only allows electronic signs to be installed on roads classified as “arterial” or “collector”. For those of us who are not civil engineers, those are roads that are used for the purpose of going somewhere else. They are roads with no destinations, like homes or businesses, on them. At this point you might be asking yourself why that is a problem. After all, the location of our signs at the two entrances of Cory Lake Blvd, behind the guard gates, are on roads that have no destinations on them. And, you would be correct because they are “collector” roads within our community roadway system. However, by definition, CLI roads are private and private roads are not defined as collectors regardless of their structural use. As a result of this definition, our permit was denied. So, the CLI CDD now has to ask the city to change its laws in order to allow us to have attractive electronic signs installed on our private collector roadways. That process will take about 6 months. Which means that by the time it comes before city council, if I win the seat, I will be able to vote to approve the change. I would do so by virtue of the fact that I know the case like the back of my hand and I know that it’s the right thing to do. This is an example of why Tampa City Council matters to Cory Lake Isles and having a city council member with detailed knowledge of community needs is important. Warm Regards, Cyril Spiro Candidate for Tampa City Council Election: November 8, 2016 SEPTEMBER 2016 • Page 7