On the agenda

1. 1Call to Order - Roll Call▶ 0:00
2. 2

   ↳You arrived here from a search for “Mr. Rudd” — transcript expanded below

   Discussion with Branding and Marketing Consultant

   discussed

   Aaron Arnett of Arnett, Muldrow & Associates introduced himself and presented an overview of the city's branding, marketing, and market analysis project. He outlined the three-element process (vision/kickoff, market analysis, brand development), showed examples from other Florida communities, and explained that focus groups would be conducted over the next three days, with a follow-up visit in late April.

   📍Highway 19 corridor🏢Arnett, Muldrow and Associates🏢Great American Shakespeare Company🏢Place Plus Maine👤Aaron Arnett👤Ben Muldrow👤Charles Rudd👤Kirsten Borgstrom👤Sean#2016 Retail Analysis#2019 CRA Redevelopment Plan Update#Community branding and identity project#Shopability Study#Zip code survey

   ▶ Jump to 0:17 in the video

   ▸Show transcriptHide transcript

   Auto-transcript · machine-generated, may contain errors

   [00:00:19] discussion is discussion with branding and marketing consultants. Yes, sir. Mr. [00:00:24] Mayor, we have Mr. Aaron Arnett of Arnett, Muldrow, and Associates with you this [00:00:29] evening. He was contracted by the city late last year to conduct branding and [00:00:40] identity or community identity exercise for the city, and he has been working [00:00:48] very closely with Mr. Rudd on that project. He will be here for the next [00:00:53] three days, during which time a series of focus groups will take place, and he [00:01:02] will have a sort of a wrap-up session with us later this week with the staff, [00:01:08] and we'll give you a full report on it, but we wanted to not only introduce him [00:01:14] but provide him an opportunity to tell us a little bit about himself and his [00:01:18] experience and and what will unfold over the next few days. With that... Thank you [00:01:28] so much. Again, Aaron Arnett, and I appreciate you all coming to the meeting [00:01:33] tonight. I know it's a special called meeting, but we'd really definitely [00:01:36] didn't want to come to you and share with you what we've done in some other [00:01:41] places, what we're going to be doing here, but most importantly have a conversation [00:01:45] with you all as we're getting into this process about your perceptions of the [00:01:50] community and the character of the community. So with that, what I'll do [00:01:55] is take about 10 or 15 minutes and I will go over the project and the general [00:02:03] process, show you some examples of some of the product that we've done in other [00:02:08] places, and like I said, after that I'll put the slideshow down and have a [00:02:13] conversation with you. Project is brand development, market analysis, and [00:02:19] marketing plan. So there's there's three different elements to it and they're all [00:02:24] connected to each other and I'll explain that, but it's also really this [00:02:29] foundation of the planning and future planning of your community and the core [00:02:34] of your community as well, and I'll touch on that very briefly as well. My firm, we [00:02:40] are Arnett Mulder and Associates. We're based out of Greenville, South Carolina. [00:02:44] We focus on projects like this, community identity and branding, economic [00:02:51] development, a lot of downtown master plans, a lot of comprehensive plans, so we [00:02:56] approach these projects really from that planning and community development [00:03:01] standpoint. Of course, this really hits on a couple of our areas of expertise and [00:03:06] that is market research and economic development, and then of course branding [00:03:11] and community identity, which I'm probably going to talk a little bit more [00:03:14] about tonight. There will be four people involved in this. Three of them are from [00:03:21] Arnett Mulder and Associates, myself and my partner Ben Mulder, who the next time [00:03:26] we'll be here, which will be late April, we're going to have another kind of work [00:03:31] session with the community to really talk more about the creativity and the [00:03:37] work that we'll be doing, but we'll also be developing a lot of it during that [00:03:40] time. Well, Ben Muldrow is the director with our firm with community branding [00:03:46] and he's done most of our work along with me in Florida. I'll share with you [00:03:51] some of that, but he really is a bit of a guru when it comes to community [00:03:55] branding, so you'll enjoy engaging with him. We have another person, Sean, in our [00:04:02] office who will help provide support to this, but we also have another firm on [00:04:07] the team, Place Plus Maine, and that's Kirsten Borgstrom, and she's really [00:04:13] going to help us out with the marketing plan, the strategy behind what will be [00:04:20] recommended in terms of, you know, telling your story and marketing the community [00:04:24] and promoting the community. So all of these folks will be involved. Our firm, [00:04:29] as I mentioned, we're based out of Greenville, South Carolina, but we've done [00:04:35] this type of work all throughout the country. In fact, we have done community [00:04:40] brands now in over 600 communities in 40 states and three countries. You know, a lot [00:04:47] of times we're working in communities right within your wheelhouse, about [00:04:51] 15,000 to 20,000 people. We've worked a lot in communities much bigger than you and [00:04:56] then many communities much smaller than you, but really that community branding [00:05:01] and community identity is something that, quite frankly, there's no other firm in [00:05:05] the country that has the experience that we do, and we're glad to, again, bring [00:05:09] that experience here to help you all put together a marketing program and a [00:05:15] marketing position for the community. Some of the places that we've worked in [00:05:19] Florida are right here, and you'll have to excuse this is my mistake. The [00:05:24] slideshow I created is the wrong size, so each one of these that look like they [00:05:29] should be round, they should be round. So just kind of keep that in mind, and [00:05:33] Charles has the full presentation, so he can share that with you as a PDF, but you [00:05:39] can see some of the places where we've worked. Closest to you all is Plant City, [00:05:43] specifically working with Downtown. That project actually just ended very [00:05:48] recently. In fact, they're just starting to roll out that brand identity. That [00:05:52] piece of that puzzle, much like what we're doing here, we developed the brand [00:05:56] system as well as did some market research and economic development, [00:06:02] business development strategy for that community. It was part of a larger [00:06:06] master plan for their downtown, but that one is one that is very recent, and [00:06:12] you're going to probably start to see more of this imagery, you know, sort of [00:06:16] being released in the wild as they start to deploy it. Some of the other [00:06:19] places where we've worked, you can kind of see the depth of what we've [00:06:24] done. Platka, which is a bit of that old Florida character that it has, to [00:06:29] Maitland, which is that kind of suburban market and identity and character from [00:06:36] the Orlando market, to Ormond Beach, which has really got more of that coastal [00:06:43] and beachfront identity to it, to Diffuniac Springs, which has a really [00:06:49] unique history, but also is the county seat of Walton County. But you can see [00:06:57] the character of each one of those places really led us down a different [00:07:01] creative path, and right now we have zero preconceived notions about the [00:07:08] character of New Port Richey, and that's what these three days are for, and the [00:07:14] next time we come back is to have this continued conversation from different [00:07:19] stakeholders, leadership, business owners, area youth, a number of different focus [00:07:27] groups to understand from their perspective what they love and cherish [00:07:31] most about living here, working here, and being in this community. As I mentioned, [00:07:39] there's three elements to this process. Vision and kickoff, which is what we're [00:07:44] doing right now. As I mentioned, you know, really beginning that conversation. [00:07:48] Market analysis that will be, actually has already started. I'll share with you [00:07:54] where we are on that, and then brand development. Market analysis and business [00:08:00] development. The first thing that that we are doing is conducting a zip code [00:08:07] survey with local businesses. Charles actually has already facilitated this. It [00:08:13] was a couple weeks ago that the survey was done. I think we had about 21 [00:08:18] different businesses in the core of the community help us out. The focus of this [00:08:23] plan, from an economic standpoint, is really looking at downtown opportunities [00:08:28] as well as opportunities along the Highway 19 corridor. From a community [00:08:32] identity standpoint, it's really different layers to who we are as a [00:08:36] place and how these different districts, you know, fit within each other. So we'll [00:08:41] start with, okay, what is the character and identity of New Port Richey? And then [00:08:45] we'll start to drill that down into, okay, what does this mean for downtown? [00:08:50] How does downtown part of this larger system? Same thing with Highway 19. And [00:08:54] there's probably some other character districts that we're going to learn [00:08:57] about that might need to have a place in this larger study. From that initial zip [00:09:06] code survey, we're going to do a market definition exercise and basically figure [00:09:09] out what the geography is, your primary and secondary trade areas, based off of [00:09:14] actual consumer trade patterns that you have here in the community. That's the [00:09:19] baseline information, geography, for us to be able to do the more extensive and [00:09:26] comprehensive market research. It'll certainly begin with understanding where [00:09:30] the customer base is coming from, and then it'll extend to creating an overall [00:09:35] demographic profile for the community, as well as really digging into and carrying [00:09:41] over to the branding piece. What are those potential target markets? People we [00:09:47] need, our community, our downtown to be relevant to. And even also, this will help [00:09:52] us understand what those opportunities are for growth and development based off [00:09:56] the demand, which will help business recruitment and economic development [00:10:00] from a marketing communication standpoint. Now, one thing that's very [00:10:05] important to say here is that, you know, a community, whenever you're going through [00:10:09] redevelopment, whenever you're going through a downtown master plan, whenever [00:10:12] you're going through a community-wide planning process, it's never a one-and- [00:10:18] done thing. And in fact, you all have done numerous master plans throughout, you [00:10:24] know, throughout, probably throughout the last 20 years or so, that are important [00:10:28] foundations from a data standpoint for us for this plan. So I say that to say [00:10:34] that we're going to make sure, from a market research standpoint, that we're [00:10:37] going to build upon the research that has been done in, most recently, the 2019 [00:10:46] CRA redevelopment plan update, but also things like the 2016 retail analysis, the [00:10:52] shopability study, those things. Each one of those data points will, we're going to [00:10:58] make sure this sort of fits within that and tells that broader story about what [00:11:01] market opportunities happen to be. It will be fairly comprehensive. We're [00:11:06] going to look at, really, commercial and retail most. Based on those trade ears, [00:11:12] we'll be able to identify what the market demand is, what the scale of that [00:11:16] demand is. That really will be the framework for what our recruitment [00:11:22] strategy could be moving forward, whether it be downtown, whether it be highway 19 [00:11:27] corridor. We're also going to look at residential. We're also going to look at [00:11:32] office. And again, making sure that we connect that to the foundation that's [00:11:37] been established in the other analyses that have been done. Ultimately, that [00:11:42] will sort of bridge the gap with branding and marketing through a business [00:11:46] development strategy. A lot of that will be, again, how do we communicate to our [00:11:49] businesses that we have here to help them, you know, be more sustainable and [00:11:54] be more prosperous, but also how can we tell our story about what those [00:11:58] opportunities are outside of New Port Richey and recruit new [00:12:01] investments here to the community. That brings us to the branding and marketing [00:12:06] piece. And like I said, I think a lot of our conversation today will focus on [00:12:10] this. When we talk about branding and marketing, really, it's a bit of a [00:12:16] buzzword when you talk about branding, when you talk about a brand, when you [00:12:20] talk about community identity. So what I like to do is put it in context with how [00:12:24] we focus on creating that messaging and creating that strategy for a community. [00:12:30] It's different than a product like a computer or a shoe company or a soft [00:12:35] drink company. Even though the end products may be very similar, it's all [00:12:40] about the place, it's all about the character, and it's all about that story [00:12:43] we need to tell. So that being said, our focus, our objectives on a community [00:12:50] brand or community identity is reinforcing those positive attributes [00:12:55] that the community holds. What makes it special? We certainly need to understand [00:13:00] a lot of the challenges that a community has, but really when we start to create [00:13:04] that face and that marketing message and those graphics, it really [00:13:09] needs to be, okay, what are those positive attributes in the community? How can we [00:13:14] connect those dots? Part of that connecting the dots is that messaging [00:13:17] needs to be unified. We need to create tools that will really build community [00:13:26] pride. A lot of times people think about branding and marketing, they're thinking [00:13:28] about bringing people in from the outside. That's very important, but it [00:13:33] can't be done at the expense of locals communicating to locals. Obviously in [00:13:40] city government in particular, you're always constantly communicating to the [00:13:44] residents, whether it be recording this meeting and posting online to publishing [00:13:49] agendas or, you know, advertising events or activities that are happening in the [00:13:54] library. That's very important, so it needs to be, it needs to build a [00:13:57] foundation of community pride. It also needs to be something that is going to [00:14:02] be relevant to that external market, whether it be visitors, you know, riding [00:14:07] around today or walking around in downtown today. We could see that, [00:14:10] you know, there's plenty of visitors that are here today in February. I know that [00:14:15] I've learned from some of our background and talking to Charles a lot today that [00:14:19] you have a bit of a snowbird population here. People that might spend some of [00:14:22] their time, even though their primary residence is somewhere else, spend some [00:14:26] of their time here. But the point is, is this messaging needs to be relevant to [00:14:30] that visitor, to that tourist. Very important. But also from an external [00:14:34] marketing standpoint, it needs to be relevant to potential investors. People [00:14:39] that might want to come here, people that might want to invest here, start a [00:14:43] business here. Ultimately, I often say that a brand, when people think about a [00:14:51] brand, they think about a logo. And that's certainly how it manifests itself [00:14:55] initially, graphically. But it's really that graphic identity that [00:15:00] logo, most importantly, that market position and that story [00:15:04] that you're telling to those various target markets, but [00:15:07] also when it becomes a brand is when you build that toolbox. [00:15:11] It's based off of that platform, that graphic [00:15:13] platform, and that position to help communicate who you are as [00:15:16] a place to those various targets. [00:15:19] That's the end goal of what we want to try to create here. [00:15:21] And I'll share with you some examples from some other [00:15:23] places. [00:15:24] You see some logos from a community in Virginia and one [00:15:28] in North Carolina there. [00:15:32] The elements of a brand system, again, like I said, it might [00:15:36] manifest itself initially with that graphic, that logo, but [00:15:40] it's part of really this platform that builds from that [00:15:45] initial market position, the story we want to tell, the [00:15:48] strategy, that narrative. [00:15:53] Then there'll be graphic elements of a unified type [00:15:57] face, a color palette, a color palette that connects to the [00:16:00] identity and character of the community. [00:16:01] Ultimately, all that will come together in some sort of [00:16:04] graphic identity, and there likely will be an icon that [00:16:08] will be part of that. [00:16:10] And then there's the tagline, who we are as a place and how [00:16:13] do we basically distill that market position in one succinct [00:16:17] short tagline. [00:16:18] We all are familiar with taglines in communities, and [00:16:23] that's the outcome there. [00:16:24] Ultimately, that platform will be extended to what we call [00:16:28] brand extension. [00:16:29] That's taking that graphic identity, deconstructing that [00:16:35] graphic platform, so to speak, that foundation, and then [00:16:38] starting to apply it to specific needs, whether it be [00:16:42] other organizations, certainly whether it be departments [00:16:45] that are within the city. [00:16:47] It could be events. [00:16:48] But extending that graphic identity to create a system of [00:16:53] logos that are all unique, but they're connected. [00:16:57] And they're connected through to this umbrella graphic [00:17:00] identity that represents the place, the community. [00:17:04] And then finally, as I mentioned before, it sort of [00:17:07] fills out this brand system, and where the equity in that [00:17:10] brand is established is how you implement it over time [00:17:15] through the various strategies that you do. [00:17:18] And I'm going to walk you through each one of these [00:17:20] elements, and then I'm going to put the slideshow down and [00:17:22] ask you some questions. [00:17:25] Market position, it begins with what we [00:17:26] call a brand statement. [00:17:27] I'm not going to read this to you, but a brand statement [00:17:30] really is that elevator speech for the community. [00:17:33] It's different in every place. [00:17:37] In Palatka, it was about the environmental resources that [00:17:42] they had there in the community, that old Florida [00:17:44] character that I mentioned earlier. [00:17:46] In Maitland, it was about the fact that it's a bit more of a [00:17:52] suburban place, but it's growing. [00:17:53] People are moving there. [00:17:54] They're moving there for a reason, but really it's a place [00:17:58] where people are coming together and congregating, [00:18:01] whether it be choosing to live there or whether it be going [00:18:04] to some of their downtown events and [00:18:05] things of that nature. [00:18:07] This particular one is for Stanton, Virginia. [00:18:10] And again, I won't read it, but all of this sort of leads [00:18:14] to a creative narrative that builds a [00:18:17] platform for the graphic. [00:18:18] But also that tagline. [00:18:19] The tagline in Stanton, Virginia is, as you like it. [00:18:24] The graphic that we came up with really there in Stanton, [00:18:28] there's four things in that brand position statement I [00:18:31] didn't read to you that are reflected in this. [00:18:33] One is, is anybody familiar with Stanton, by the way? [00:18:37] You're not. [00:18:38] Had you seen this without knowing the place, you would [00:18:41] have probably called it Stanton. [00:18:44] Obviously, the town name is not pronounced that way, and [00:18:47] we can't get everybody to pronounce it the right way [00:18:49] every time they see it. [00:18:50] But just by highlighting that U in here, it allows us to get [00:18:55] our foot in the door to be able to tell that story and [00:18:58] correct people in a polite way. [00:18:59] No, we're not Stanton, we're Stanton. [00:19:02] The second thing is also within that U icon. [00:19:05] It's a very historic community. [00:19:06] This is a very contemporary logo. [00:19:08] However, they are known throughout the Shenandoah [00:19:11] Valley in Virginia as, they've got this great, wonderful [00:19:14] Victorian architecture. [00:19:16] They're known as the Queen City of the Shenandoah. [00:19:18] That contemporary crown icon over the U is intended to [00:19:23] connect to that. [00:19:25] The next two things are really connected to the tagline. [00:19:29] The first thing is, their major draw in Stanton, [00:19:33] Virginia, and in their downtown, is the great [00:19:35] American Shakespeare Company. [00:19:37] It brings people in from major destination, brings people in [00:19:40] from all over the state and all over the country, and [00:19:44] probably the world. [00:19:46] As You Like It, obviously, is one of Shakespeare's plays. [00:19:50] More importantly, it goes back to that market position. [00:19:55] However, whatever the reason you choose to live and be, or [00:19:59] shop, or be educated, or open a business there in the [00:20:04] Stanton community, they have built a quality of life there [00:20:06] in that community to where you basically create your own [00:20:10] place there. [00:20:11] You create your own experience there. [00:20:13] So Stanton, Virginia, As You Like It. [00:20:16] So once we come up with that position and platform, we do [00:20:19] what's called brand extension. [00:20:21] And I alluded to this earlier. [00:20:23] It's not one singular logo. [00:20:25] That logo I showed in the previous slide was that place [00:20:27] base, that destination, that quality of life logo that [00:20:30] represented the community. [00:20:32] But we also created a separate but connected identity for the [00:20:38] town government, or the city government. [00:20:41] And that's the one you see up in the upper left that has [00:20:43] the town seal, but also shares some colors and typeface to [00:20:47] that umbrella destination based identity [00:20:51] from the previous slide. [00:20:52] It's very important to create a separation in your marketing [00:20:57] and your messaging when it comes to official government, [00:21:02] as well as the character of the community. [00:21:06] An analogy I always like to use is a university. [00:21:08] If you look at, let's say, Florida State, because I'm a [00:21:11] little bit more familiar with it, it has an official [00:21:14] academic identity, which is a seal for the university that [00:21:18] represents the official functions of that entity. [00:21:23] And it's used in all that messaging. [00:21:24] Then it has their athletic logo, the FSU with the spear. [00:21:30] That represents, certainly, more of that marketing [00:21:34] identity for the community. [00:21:36] Yes, it's on athletics, but really it's how they [00:21:40] communicate that experience that you have there [00:21:44] in Tallahassee and FSU. [00:21:47] If you look at them by themselves, they're different. [00:21:50] If you look at them together, they're connected in terms of [00:21:53] the typeface, in terms of the color palette and overall [00:21:56] style, but it's important to separate those identities. [00:22:00] And Florida State's probably a good example, because, let's [00:22:04] say, if their football team has a horrible, horrible year, [00:22:07] you don't want that to affect people's connection to the [00:22:12] university and academics. [00:22:14] That's some strategy behind it, but we do approach [00:22:16] communities the same way. [00:22:18] So that's why we have a different logo that represents [00:22:20] the official government. [00:22:21] Then from that, we continue that extension to things like [00:22:25] their arts district, to things like their downtown [00:22:27] development organization. [00:22:29] You have many of these things here in your community, to a [00:22:32] distinct business as you like in marketing identity for [00:22:35] economic development. [00:22:36] That's brand extension. [00:22:37] That's the second thing that we do. [00:22:41] Another example, it's hard to see this, and again, it's [00:22:43] squished, is Maitland. [00:22:44] And again, you can see that all of these logos are unique, [00:22:49] but they're all connected. [00:22:52] And that's very important to create that seamless marketing [00:22:55] message. [00:22:55] Again, this is a testament to why a brand is not one simple [00:23:00] logo, it's a system. [00:23:02] A brand is a system to communicate. [00:23:05] After brand extension, we start to build the strategy [00:23:09] and the marketing collateral. [00:23:12] Many of these things that we'll develop here will be [00:23:15] print ready that you can implement literally day one of [00:23:20] this process. [00:23:21] Others are more conceptual ideas or visualizations of [00:23:25] things that might be part of a larger, longer term brand [00:23:29] system for you and implementation strategy. [00:23:32] Perhaps it's this, these are just examples from all over [00:23:35] where we've worked. [00:23:35] Back to Stanton, Virginia, we did not design their website [00:23:39] for them, but we showed how they could create a website [00:23:44] that utilizes their brand and their message, but really has [00:23:47] that visitor focus to it. [00:23:48] They're a community that really wanted to push and [00:23:51] could push that visitor strategy. [00:23:54] Maybe it's like Newberry, South Carolina, giving tools. [00:23:58] This is a print and web based calendar to help communicate [00:24:03] the arts resources that they have there in the community. [00:24:06] Every place is different. [00:24:07] Not all places have that arts market that [00:24:10] can be communicated. [00:24:12] Maybe it's creating a series of brochures that either [00:24:16] position the quality of life or maybe the unique history, [00:24:19] and that's what these in Palatka did. [00:24:22] What we would do on this particular strategy is not [00:24:25] create the content. [00:24:26] You all probably have a number of different brochures, but [00:24:29] once that brand identity is created, we will show how that [00:24:34] can be incorporated in cover. [00:24:36] So we'll basically design new covers for any existing [00:24:41] brochure, or maybe we'll have a recommendation for new [00:24:43] brochures that should be created. [00:24:46] Swag, so to speak. [00:24:48] This is very important, both for building that community [00:24:52] pride, but also letting visitors that may come to your [00:24:55] community that want to, they had a great experience here [00:24:58] in New Port Richey, and they want to share that when they [00:25:00] go back to their home. [00:25:01] They can buy a hat, they can get a water bottle, they can [00:25:05] get a t-shirt, those sorts of things. [00:25:07] When it comes to this sort of stuff, it's endless, the types [00:25:10] of things that can be developed, and again, these [00:25:13] are things that can be done in day one, and we'll learn what [00:25:15] some of those opportunities are, and we'll actually [00:25:18] develop designs for those throughout this process. [00:25:23] Advertisements, something that's very important. [00:25:26] When we talk about ad concepts, we will create an [00:25:30] ad template for you all, and we'll create a series of ads [00:25:33] for you all to communicate once we're done with this [00:25:36] process, but that template will help you build that [00:25:38] story over time. [00:25:39] When we talk about ads, there's a number of different [00:25:42] things that are kind of cooked into the strategy here. [00:25:45] They don't necessarily have to be advertisements that we're [00:25:49] placing in media, or we're placing online, they [00:25:51] absolutely can be. [00:25:54] Maybe it's ads that we publish, basically, in our [00:25:58] social media, and we're trying to communicate to people in [00:26:03] the area, or outside the area, a great event that you have [00:26:05] in your community, or a great business opportunity that you [00:26:07] have here. [00:26:08] But certainly, in these two for Beaufort, South Carolina, [00:26:11] were ones that you can see the accolades on [00:26:13] the one on the left. [00:26:16] These were placed in Southern Living, so there could be that [00:26:19] opportunity as well. [00:26:22] You're in a urban market, there's loads of different [00:26:25] media outlets that are in your urban market that you could do [00:26:29] some ad placement in. [00:26:30] Strategy will be part of this, but certainly the [00:26:32] creative is as well. [00:26:35] There's environmental graphics. [00:26:37] This is Hendersonville, North Carolina. [00:26:38] It's hard to see on this, but their logo, really the icon of [00:26:45] that was the H there, and they were able to take this brand [00:26:50] and apply it literally to everything from wayfinding, to [00:26:53] street furniture, to tree grates, even to this beautiful [00:26:57] gateway sign, which I wish you could see up there. [00:27:00] But again, stamping, literally branding the environment, the [00:27:04] physical environment, is something that is very [00:27:09] important to establishing the brand. [00:27:13] Economic development, we talked about that. [00:27:15] Extra marketing is always important to communicate those [00:27:18] opportunities. [00:27:19] Again, we will develop templates here based off the [00:27:21] data that we'll find from the market research and create [00:27:24] some tools for you to be able to communicate [00:27:26] those opportunities. [00:27:27] All of this would be part of, again, that connected branded [00:27:30] system and everything that relates to each other. [00:27:33] Talk about environmental graphics. [00:27:34] There's, of course, wayfinding. [00:27:36] Well, the cool thing here is you all have [00:27:38] already begun this. [00:27:41] This is great. [00:27:42] This is awesome. [00:27:42] You've got these visual cues already within the environment [00:27:48] here with those beautiful signs that we will absolutely [00:27:52] look to to help us create this larger brand identity for the [00:27:59] community. [00:28:00] It's very important. [00:28:01] And I'm sure that was probably one of your questions or would [00:28:03] be one of your questions is, well, we just spent all this [00:28:05] money on signage throughout the community. [00:28:08] We've got other future phases that we'll need to do. [00:28:11] Whatever comes out of this, I can assure you, will be [00:28:13] connected to that identity that you already have out there. [00:28:19] The great thing is, and I would tell you if this weren't the [00:28:22] case, those signs that you've done have been done very well. [00:28:26] They're very beautiful. [00:28:28] A lot of times we'll go into a community and they may have [00:28:31] made this major capital expenditure and their graphics [00:28:36] that they used on that, the colors that they used on that [00:28:39] really were not good. [00:28:41] That's not the case here. [00:28:43] And I'm glad to see that because that really is one of the [00:28:45] sources that we will draw from to ensure that this is all part [00:28:49] of a larger connected system. [00:28:51] So finally, that brings us back to the full system. [00:28:56] And I mentioned a brand is not just that logo. [00:29:00] A brand is that system. [00:29:01] And you can see what we did there in Ormond Beach from that [00:29:04] initial place-based identity to brand extension to communicate [00:29:08] the different districts of their beach side and their [00:29:09] downtown and the Granada Avenue to add templates to [00:29:14] shopping bags to logos for events. [00:29:18] All part of a large connected system. [00:29:20] This is the brand itself. [00:29:22] This is about maybe a quarter or less of what the ultimate [00:29:27] outcome and deliverables would be in any [00:29:30] community, including here. [00:29:31] So it communicates how that system is connected. [00:29:36] So process, I've already alluded to that. [00:29:39] We are working on this right now. [00:29:42] This is part of a larger initiative to focus on growth [00:29:46] and development in your community. [00:29:47] What we're working on is phase one. [00:29:50] This will ultimately lead to a future phase that you all [00:29:54] aren't working on just yet. [00:29:57] But if and when that is done, this [00:30:00] We'll provide a platform for that. [00:30:02] But again, we've talked about what this is, [00:30:03] visioning, brand development, market research. [00:30:08] That's what we're working on here in this process. [00:30:11] Ultimate deliverables, I can go through this, [00:30:13] but you'll have brand style guide. [00:30:15] It'll detail all of the technical aspects of this brand. [00:30:18] It'll show the proper ways to use it, [00:30:21] the ways that you don't want to do it. [00:30:24] But it'll also have that marketing strategy, [00:30:27] the public relations strategy, those target markets. [00:30:29] That'll all be part of those final deliverables. [00:30:33] The last thing is about this is the work [00:30:39] that we do throughout this process. [00:30:41] And I say we do. [00:30:42] You all as a community are helping us with the creative. [00:30:45] I mean, it's really your perceptions, [00:30:49] things you love about the place that is New Port Richey that [00:30:52] is going to fuel our creativity. [00:30:54] So it's a collective plan. [00:30:57] That being said, at the end of this thing, [00:31:00] we sign the rights over all of this to you all. [00:31:02] We retain no rights afterwards other [00:31:05] than me being able to share this work in a community, [00:31:08] the next community that we're trying to get work with. [00:31:11] So we take no royalties or anything like that. [00:31:13] This is yours. [00:31:13] You will own this after the process is over and done. [00:31:18] So with that, I probably talked a little bit more [00:31:21] than I intended to, and I apologize for that. [00:31:24] But what I'd like to do for the rest of the meeting [00:31:27] is just have a conversation with you [00:31:30] all about your perceptions of the place [00:31:34] and things that you want to see happen in this process, some [00:31:40] of the outcomes, and your feelings [00:31:41] about the character of the community [00:31:43] that you live in, that you love. [00:31:47] And with that, if you wouldn't mind, [00:31:50] for this first question, we'll go around the room. [00:31:54] And what I'd like for you to do is [00:31:56] tell me maybe a little bit about how long you've lived here, [00:32:02] why you chose to live here, and then finally, [00:32:07] living here and being here, what you cherish [00:32:10] most about New Port Richey. [00:32:13] And then I have a couple of questions for you, [00:32:15] if that's OK. [00:32:16] I was born and raised here. [00:32:17] I chose to live here because that's where my parents lived [00:32:20] when they took me home from the hospital. [00:32:21] So that's a choice, as far as that goes. [00:32:24] I do recommend, number one, that you hop on a boat [00:32:28] and see this coastline and a river everyone talks about. [00:32:31] People would love to have historic downtowns. [00:32:34] We have a historic downtown with a river running [00:32:36] through it with gulf access. [00:32:37] You just don't run into that a lot. [00:32:40] So I have a boat, if you'd like to take a ride up the river [00:32:44] out to the gulf while you're here, [00:32:45] I'd be more than happy to do it this visit. [00:32:47] And eastward. [00:32:48] What's that? [00:32:49] And go east on the river. [00:32:50] Yeah, I'm all about great preserves as far as I can get. [00:32:53] So I highly recommend you do that while you're here. [00:32:55] I've lived here my whole life, except for my college years. [00:32:58] I went to Whitley, played soccer, transferred colleges, [00:33:00] came back. [00:33:01] Other than that, I've lived in the city of New Port Richey [00:33:03] my whole life. [00:33:05] I love, I guess I'm old fashioned. [00:33:10] A lot of my friends growing up went to UCF, went to FSU, [00:33:13] went to UF, never came back. [00:33:17] People like Frank Starkey, who's someone [00:33:19] you should speak to while you're here as well, [00:33:21] chose to come back and live here the rest of, [00:33:25] I have no plans on going anywhere. [00:33:27] I'm not going to move to Georgia or anything like that. [00:33:30] I love it here because I love the water. [00:33:32] I love fishing. [00:33:33] I love inshore fishing. [00:33:34] I love hopping on the boat, going out to the island. [00:33:37] I love going out to one of the numerous still houses [00:33:40] along our coast that you only see in Charlotte Harbor [00:33:42] and Key Biscayne in Miami. [00:33:44] Only the two other places they have that. [00:33:46] I'm fortunate enough to know people that own those, [00:33:49] it's something I do on a regular basis. [00:33:52] My parents live on the river. [00:33:53] So since the age of 11, I bet we've [00:33:56] had a boat that I operated where we could just drop and go. [00:34:00] I will, two quick questions for you [00:34:02] before we move around, before I forget. [00:34:04] Is number one, out of all, the biggest obstacle [00:34:08] that I have, that we have, I think, collectively as a city, [00:34:13] is, and I don't know if you've run into this with other cities [00:34:16] that you've worked for, as far as marketing, [00:34:17] I should probably lean forward, I apologize, [00:34:19] is that we are a small little area inside a much larger area [00:34:24] that shares our same name. [00:34:26] So it's not like you're just going from this town [00:34:28] and two miles up the road, you're in another town. [00:34:30] So we catch a lot of negative heat, negative publicity [00:34:34] for things that happen way outside our city limits. [00:34:37] I think you got the email, I don't know if you all got [00:34:40] the email, there was a young man who was mouthing off [00:34:42] to a cop at River Ridge High School. [00:34:43] And it's miles and miles from here, [00:34:46] and I got an email from a lady saying, [00:34:48] this is getting national attention, [00:34:50] how can you allow that to go on in your city? [00:34:52] And it's something that lives locally. [00:34:53] So that's been a huge, huge obstacle, I think, [00:34:56] for us, is differentiating ourselves [00:34:58] from the surrounding New Port Richey area. [00:35:00] And then my next question is, I like what I've heard so far, [00:35:04] but once this branding is done, who markets it for us? [00:35:08] Are you gonna market it for us? [00:35:11] No, well, first question first. [00:35:13] Um, hold on, I'm taking a note to make sure. [00:35:21] We have dealt with that, where your community shares [00:35:24] a name from adjacent community. [00:35:28] We've done it in numerous locations. [00:35:32] Sometimes that identity, that confusion, [00:35:37] can be positive. [00:35:39] Sometimes it can be negative and a challenge. [00:35:46] What we need to focus on here is controlling that narrative [00:35:49] and that positive story in New Port Richey. [00:35:53] Once we do that, which the end goal of this process [00:35:56] will provide you the tools to do that. [00:35:59] There, as you implement this, [00:36:01] there's not gonna be that confusion. [00:36:03] I can assure you that that will, [00:36:05] and we've talked about this today [00:36:07] in some of those specific examples of where that, [00:36:11] you know, that connection and name [00:36:14] may sometimes deposit some negative identity for us, [00:36:17] and that's not fair. [00:36:19] The great thing is, is we're not necessarily [00:36:20] telling our story right now. [00:36:22] This is gonna give us the tools to do that. [00:36:23] Once we start to do that, that's gonna go away, okay? [00:36:27] Second part, who's gonna do that to us? [00:36:29] We approach, for us, we approach these processes, [00:36:33] I showed you some of our background. [00:36:36] Our foundation is in community development and planning. [00:36:41] We're used to working not for private companies, [00:36:44] branding and marketing, but for local governments, [00:36:46] branding and marketing, because we know [00:36:50] how you all need to communicate. [00:36:51] We're planners who are also marketing professionals. [00:36:56] Ben has an advertising and marketing and creative background. [00:36:58] You'll meet him next time, as I mentioned. [00:37:00] The point of that is, is we approach these [00:37:03] like any other plan that you might do. [00:37:05] So we will do the creative. [00:37:07] We will create the deliverables for you all. [00:37:10] We will leave you with a strategy [00:37:13] for you all to implement over time. [00:37:17] That strategy will be very purposeful. [00:37:20] It will have timelines. [00:37:22] Again, just like any planning process, [00:37:23] it will have cost estimates, [00:37:25] and it'll have that strategy to it. [00:37:29] We come in, do the work, leave that plan [00:37:33] and that system for you all to implement, [00:37:35] which is great, because I mentioned, [00:37:37] we've got probably more experience nationwide, [00:37:40] not probably, we have more experience nationwide [00:37:42] doing community branding and marketing than anybody. [00:37:45] But we love it when we come in a community [00:37:48] that has creative talent in their own community, [00:37:52] because you probably work with local businesses here [00:37:55] to help you implement it over time, [00:37:57] or maybe you have a marketing position at the city [00:38:00] that can help you from a strategic standpoint. [00:38:02] And certainly, from the CRA and economic development [00:38:06] standpoint, that can be under the umbrella of Charles [00:38:09] and really the community at large, [00:38:11] and the different departments that are here as well. [00:38:19] Just one more comment for my colleagues. [00:38:22] I brought up before, and I still kind of feel this way, [00:38:26] that I think personally, [00:38:28] and I'm not a marketing genius by any means, [00:38:29] but I'm just going on my own business experience. [00:38:31] I own a franchise of an insurance agency. [00:38:33] I brought this up about a month ago publicly. [00:38:36] And we collectively advertise the majority of our business [00:38:39] other than word of mouth, [00:38:40] because we're a phenomenal agency [00:38:41] and everyone loves us, of course, [00:38:43] is internet presence, Google Analytics. [00:38:46] We have a gentleman that our corporate office [00:38:49] has hired his company, basically contracted this company [00:38:53] to do our marketing online. [00:38:56] He does reports to us three times a year [00:38:57] at owner's meetings. [00:38:58] His company's phenomenal at what he does, [00:39:00] but he's not an employee of Great Florida Insurance. [00:39:02] He is someone that our corporate owner has contracted out. [00:39:06] He has other accounts other than ours, [00:39:08] but we're his big account. [00:39:09] You know, we're his bread and butter. [00:39:12] With your experience, and this is my last question, [00:39:14] because I know you guys are probably very eager to answer, [00:39:17] or ask questions as well. [00:39:19] Is it more effective to hire an in-house person [00:39:22] at, say, we've budgeted $60,000 a year, [00:39:26] or use that money to contract that out [00:39:28] to a company to market for us, [00:39:30] rather than having someone sit behind a desk, [00:39:33] maybe, you know, take some pictures, [00:39:34] put on Facebook, and do other things? [00:39:38] In your experience, is it more effective [00:39:39] to contract that out or have an in-house person? [00:39:42] The short answer to that is whatever works [00:39:46] for the community is best. [00:39:47] However, personally, I feel like having someone on staff [00:39:53] who can carry the flag and follow the implementation [00:39:57] strategy, that that's what they do. [00:40:00] That's what they do every day, [00:40:02] particularly from a social media standpoint, [00:40:05] because it's real time. [00:40:08] You don't have to rely on another firm [00:40:10] that has loads of other clients. [00:40:12] You have that person right there cooked into, you know, [00:40:17] your community. [00:40:18] Some places have, you know, marketing professionals [00:40:23] like you all are talking about doing that works for them. [00:40:26] That just really works well. [00:40:28] Obviously, having the right person [00:40:30] is the most important thing, [00:40:32] and I think y'all are trying to figure that out right now, [00:40:34] so thank you. [00:40:35] Thank you very much. [00:40:38] Navy brat. [00:40:39] Moved here when my dad got out of the Navy. [00:40:41] I was in third grade. [00:40:43] Went through, first year elementary, [00:40:45] first year in the Navy, high school. [00:40:49] Went off to college, got married, came back. [00:40:54] Love it here. [00:40:55] There's, the area has just an absolutely enormous potential. [00:41:04] For the last several years, we've been working very hard [00:41:08] to try to make things happen. [00:41:14] They're getting recognized, [00:41:15] and it's becoming really clear [00:41:17] that things are going in the right direction. [00:41:23] Probably the biggest thing that caught my attention [00:41:31] was when my son, who is now in his mid-30s, [00:41:36] would come home on leave. [00:41:39] He makes a point, when we've about had it for the night, [00:41:43] he'll go downtown to downtown Newport, Richard. [00:41:52] And he likes it, and he's even made the comment [00:41:56] that when he turned 18 and graduated high school, [00:42:00] he could get out of the Navy fast. [00:42:03] Now he sees, this is the sort of place [00:42:05] that he could see settling down and raising a family. [00:42:10] That's a huge, huge change. [00:42:16] Credit the staff and my colleagues on city council [00:42:20] and our business community for helping to make that happen. [00:42:29] My questions, I guess, tie back to some of the same things [00:42:34] that Deputy Mayor Starkey came up with. [00:42:39] Sorry about that. [00:42:42] Because, and I understand the need to have some sort [00:42:46] of cohesive branding strategy. [00:42:53] We have some enormously talented people [00:42:57] who live and work in this community. [00:43:00] We've got a couple of them in the audience tonight [00:43:04] who are marketing gurus in their own rights. [00:43:11] We had one company that is based locally, [00:43:15] did a video for us a year ago now, give or take, [00:43:21] that was absolutely phenomenal, [00:43:25] and using drones to do it. [00:43:27] And it just knocked your socks off when you saw it. [00:43:32] And we've got a Main Street organization [00:43:36] that's on the rebound and has some potential [00:43:43] to do some things as far as the business community [00:43:45] part is concerned. [00:43:49] I guess what I would like to see, [00:43:51] irrespectively of what sort of marketing person [00:43:54] we wind up with on city staff to deal with [00:43:59] some of the day-to-day type things, [00:44:01] is figuring out how to best leverage [00:44:06] some of these external resources we've got [00:44:08] that are phenomenally talented. [00:44:14] And I think, you know, [00:44:17] I think it's gonna be important for us [00:44:19] through this process to find opportunities [00:44:22] to engage that local talent [00:44:24] and understand what those capabilities are [00:44:26] to figure out strategically how they can help, as you say. [00:44:30] Because it goes back to what you're talking about [00:44:32] and your love of town, this community in downtown, [00:44:38] and how that environment has changed [00:44:41] to where this is a community [00:44:44] where people now want to come back to. [00:44:46] And you specifically called out past leadership, [00:44:49] this leadership, as well as the business community. [00:44:51] And that's important. [00:44:52] Because whether you're talking about that, [00:44:54] again, that local talent, [00:44:55] that really should be able to help you [00:44:57] implement this through. [00:45:00] implementation, whether we talk about other partner organizations like Main Street who [00:45:04] can do things like program downtown and promote events and those sorts of things, and I know [00:45:10] they do a lot more than that. [00:45:13] From a strategic standpoint, one of the outcomes of this plan is what are those pieces of the [00:45:19] puzzle and how do they all fit together and how can we utilize our resources that we have [00:45:24] here in the community. [00:45:26] Another thing you mentioned too I think that's important and it really builds off of one [00:45:31] of the things that you had mentioned is that most people don't live in the community where [00:45:38] they grew up. [00:45:40] I don't. [00:45:43] Most people don't. [00:45:44] And I'm sure over the next few days and the next time we're here and we talk to people, [00:45:49] we're going to hear, because we hear it a lot of times, is there's not enough things [00:45:52] for young people to do it. [00:45:56] I may not hear this, because I saw plenty of young people out today. [00:46:00] Or more specifically to that point is there's not a whole lot of opportunities for people [00:46:05] to stay here, to live here, and be employed here after they graduate high school and college. [00:46:14] But both of you all related your stories about how you all either was born here or came here [00:46:21] very early and grew up here, left, and something about this community drew you back to it. [00:46:28] Regardless of branding and marketing, when we're talking about what you have been able [00:46:32] to build here in this community and how you are continuing to see that vision on into [00:46:37] the future, you want to make sure, because you're never going to have somebody who lives [00:46:41] here their entire life for the most part and every point of their life. [00:46:45] They never go off to college or they never move to Tampa for a job for a couple of years. [00:46:51] But you want to build a place where people want to come back to. [00:46:53] Both of you all have shared that, that that's something that we have here in the community. [00:46:57] That's important. [00:46:58] It's hard to narrate that in a tagline, so to speak. [00:47:01] But that quality of life that you've built here, that energy that you've built here, [00:47:05] is important, incredibly important to your narrative, because that's not always the [00:47:08] case in many of the communities where we work. [00:47:12] So, thank you. [00:47:15] Very similar to the other two gentlemen, I grew up here my whole life. [00:47:18] I left for about 10 years and served in the military, but I always knew I wanted to come [00:47:22] back here. [00:47:23] I didn't want to come back home. [00:47:24] It used to just burn me up when I hear people talk, or it seemed like for many, many years [00:47:31] New Port Richey was the butt of all the jokes, and so it used to irritate me that they thought [00:47:38] of it that way. [00:47:39] So, I mean, I wanted to come back and try to do whatever I could to help in my little [00:47:42] way. [00:47:44] But I will say, when looking at the branding and stuff like that, until I took the survey, [00:47:50] I never realized how hard it was to try to pick out one picture or one thing about the [00:47:57] city because there's so many things we have. [00:48:00] So that was very difficult, and I was like, oh my gosh, how are you going to fit everything [00:48:04] into one thing? [00:48:06] So we'll see how that goes. [00:48:08] But I definitely wanted to make it a place where people could feel good about living [00:48:16] here, families would want to live here, people talk good about it. [00:48:21] And for the last several years, it's been just expanding and booming, and it's so great [00:48:27] to hear people talk well about it for so long that they didn't. [00:48:32] So I'm just looking forward to seeing what we can come up with and moving forward with [00:48:39] it because I still don't think the city has lived up to its potential, and it still has [00:48:44] so much room to grow, so I'm just looking forward to that. [00:48:48] As far as questions, I guess I really don't have a question right now, maybe further along [00:48:55] on the process, see where we're at, but I'm just looking forward to see what's next. [00:49:03] Well, I appreciate that, and a couple of things that you mentioned, one is it's great to hear [00:49:13] people talk good about this community, and tomorrow night I'll probably share with you [00:49:17] very briefly a community that's in my market to where they have flipped the script between [00:49:24] regional perception of who they are and who they've become, and it's a real positive story [00:49:29] there, and controlling that positive message is important to that, but certainly you've [00:49:35] seen that, and Mary, you mentioned that as well, about how that regional identity has [00:49:41] started to change because of some of those success stories. [00:49:47] It's interesting, too, you mentioned, I was talking to Debbie earlier today about one [00:49:54] of the things in my brief time I've been here, I mean I've done plenty of background work, [00:49:58] but in my time that I've been here since about 1 o'clock today, I've seen that this community [00:50:03] has loads of character to it, absolutely does. [00:50:11] There's really unique, whether it's the river, which nobody has, that river and that Gulf [00:50:16] access like you all have, whether it's your downtown that you all have grown and enhanced [00:50:22] over time, whether it's those other assets here that you have in this community, that [00:50:29] character makes, in a sense, makes our job easy. [00:50:33] We work in places where there's no character, but by the same token, what you mentioned [00:50:39] is it's hard to pick that one thing, that one graphic, that one picture, that's why [00:50:44] we say one on that, because it makes people think. [00:50:49] Sometimes it's easier for us to work in communities that don't have a whole lot of layers to who [00:50:54] they are. [00:50:55] There is that one thing that we can point to, we can still create a great brand graphic [00:50:59] for them and system for them, but that's going to be one of our challenges here, too, as [00:51:03] we go through this process, and an end result of that, and this is a piece of community [00:51:10] branding that's very important, and it's different than product branding, is you can't [00:51:16] be just one thing. [00:51:18] You can't be just relevant to one segment of the population. [00:51:25] You need to be relevant to all, and as I mentioned, that could be locals, that could be visitors, [00:51:29] that could be future or potential investors. [00:51:33] What our challenge is, is crafting a narrative, crafting a graphic that kind of figures out [00:51:39] what that common thread is that binds people together, and that's that foundation of that [00:51:45] brand, but again, I think here, as you mentioned, that's going to be one of our challenges. [00:51:50] And I appreciate, before I forget, that you mentioned the survey. [00:51:54] Hopefully everyone has done the survey. [00:51:56] There's a link to it on the city's Facebook page. [00:52:02] I can tell you it's been open for maybe a week, maybe two weeks, and we've got probably [00:52:08] over 600, I say over 600, it's 582 this morning, over 600 responses. [00:52:13] That is awesome. [00:52:14] We never see that traction so quickly. [00:52:20] Part of that tells me that you all have got good tools to get the word out that this link [00:52:23] is there, and part of that tells me that people want to say what they love about this community. [00:52:29] I'm going to, tomorrow night, incidentally, tomorrow night I'm going to sort of promote [00:52:36] that again, so we'll get another spike. [00:52:39] It's pinned on your Facebook page, so it's going to continue to grow. [00:52:43] We're going to leave that survey open until we come back in late April, and so it's just [00:52:48] going to continue to grow. [00:52:50] Thank you. [00:52:52] So the story, it seems to be the same over and over again here with this group. [00:52:57] Don't you hate it when it starts on the other side? [00:52:59] No, no, I'm happy that it does, because they've covered a lot of ground, and they hear me [00:53:03] talk way too much, way too often anyway, or don't get too excited. [00:53:08] I thought you were going to hand me the mic right there. [00:53:13] No. [00:53:14] Yeah, my father was from Pittsburgh, but it was a World War II story, and same probably [00:53:21] for a couple of us. [00:53:23] But my mother is third or fourth generation St. Petersburg, so I was born in St. Petersburg. [00:53:28] There were no hospitals here in 1957, so I as well came home from the hospital to the [00:53:33] house, in fact, the house that I'm just getting ready to put on the market in town. [00:53:44] I've always felt both the pressure of competition growing up. [00:53:51] I don't know if you played soccer, but when I was trying to play basketball, I was short [00:53:55] as a child. [00:53:56] I don't know what happened all in one or two years, all of a sudden I became the center [00:54:00] of the team. [00:54:01] But I always struggled to get on the basketball team, and I would finally reach that level [00:54:07] where I knew I was going to be a starter, and somebody would come in from Philadelphia, [00:54:11] or somebody would come in from somewhere else. [00:54:13] There was always some hot shot that was coming in to keep me on the bench for a while, which [00:54:20] made me work harder, first of all. [00:54:23] But secondly, I mention it because New Port Richey, in fact, my father always said that [00:54:30] the reason he moved to New Port Richey was because someone told him he could either be [00:54:35] a little fish in a big pond or a big fish in a little pond, and he was the second lawyer [00:54:41] in town. [00:54:42] He was well-known in town just as your father, the doctor, and your father in the insurance [00:54:48] company, and you were a little different generational to me. [00:54:52] I don't know all of your background, Matt. [00:54:54] And of course, Chopper has his own story. [00:54:59] But four out of the five of us are still here today because of that ingrained, maybe parental [00:55:06] or family, attraction to it. [00:55:10] But I couldn't wait to get out of town when I became a senior in high school. [00:55:15] This was a retirement community. [00:55:19] Everybody was old. [00:55:21] There was nothing that was fun to do. [00:55:24] But I certainly loved the river, loved the town, loved the natural part. [00:55:28] But when it came to getting out of town, I wanted to. [00:55:32] But the two takeaways that I'm trying to share with you are, number one, unlike Dade City [00:55:38] or maybe Palatka or some of the other cities that you have where the community has been [00:55:45] maybe more stable in its southern charm, we've had New Yorkers moving in. [00:55:51] In fact, one of the locals I thought of was New Port Richey. [00:55:55] Love it or list it. [00:55:57] Because growing up, it was always, oh, New Yorkers telling us what to do or people coming [00:56:01] in from out of town. [00:56:02] So we've always kind of, as a city, had this one part of us that was proud and didn't want [00:56:09] people to tell us what to do, but the other part, which was learning all of those different [00:56:14] dialects, all of the different viewpoints and angles on life, I think has been the best [00:56:20] education that I could have ever had. [00:56:23] When I went to Indiana, and I thought I was really, must have been real popular, it was [00:56:28] because everybody wanted to come back to Florida for spring break, because this was the place [00:56:33] the rest of the country wanted to be. [00:56:35] I never realized that until you leave and, Debbie, you're from the Midwest, or if I worked [00:56:42] briefly in New York City and Jersey and Philadelphia as a college recruiter, and I, on the subway, [00:56:48] would see signs on the subway to go to Florida. [00:56:54] So in my 20s, I came to realize how lucky I was to live in the place everybody in the [00:57:00] country wants to live, in a country that everybody in the world wanted to live, so I think it [00:57:05] really just seems such a special stroke of luck to live in an area that has those amenities. [00:57:16] The pressures of all of that influx of population caused me to work harder to eventually be [00:57:25] able to be a starter as a senior on a basketball team, and that was good, but I learned so [00:57:31] much as from having those muscles stretched by having to work harder and not be able to [00:57:37] have just the right of birth, the right of my town to be it. [00:57:45] So I think competition, and also there's a chip on our shoulders in this county because [00:57:51] St. Petersburg had been the home base for Florida Power, for the St. Petersburg Times, [00:58:00] for the corporations, Tampa, of course, had all the things, and Pasco has been the blue-collar [00:58:06] retirement. [00:58:09] Some of the folks in our local PR groups, I think the Twins, I think with Rock the Boat [00:58:15] Productions had said, we're proud of who we are as sort of a blue-collar community. [00:58:20] We don't want to be the gated community, and as a final point, I'm just trying to express [00:58:27] my view of the city to you. [00:58:31] It's that interaction that we do have with folks of all of life's backgrounds that makes [00:58:40] us special, and in particular now with the millennials wanting to come in these walkable [00:58:45] communities, the young folks that are coming in, and us baby boomers who are getting to [00:58:50] retirement and empty nesting age who want to stay here. [00:58:55] John Herrig, who ran the Texaco gas station, is looking to move downtown because he likes [00:59:03] the social life. [00:59:06] Arlen Tillis, who lived on the river, owned or ran lumber companies. [00:59:14] Families moved away. [00:59:15] He wants to stay in town, and someone from Gulf Harbors, another from Trinity the other [00:59:21] day, brought a daughter who was graduating from Bayboro campus in St. Pete, and she made [00:59:28] the comment that she found that our town was beginning to be a little bit like a St. Pete. [00:59:33] So, Joppa, you'll be the greatest one to finish this off because you had made some predictions [00:59:37] about what was happening. [00:59:39] That is part of the excitement that we're all feeling right now, and I think the whole [00:59:43] community feels it. [00:59:44] That's why the response in the polling, I think, and I look forward to having some one-on-one [00:59:50] and talking to you more without, you know, boring everybody with my life's history. [00:59:55] Absolutely. [00:59:56] But I will say, you mentioned one thing before we move on that I think [01:00:00] is critically important about this. You talk about, you know, that influx of population, [01:00:07] the pressures that it put on us, whether it be, you know, new people coming in and sharing [01:00:17] their ideas, telling us what to do, or making you compete better for your basketball team. [01:00:23] There's that flip side, of course, that we also learn from those people. A big piece [01:00:27] of that is that competitive piece. We're a part of this process. We need, we're here [01:00:33] working in New Port Richey, but we have to understand the messages, the overall character, [01:00:41] and really the opportunities and challenges that all of these people have around us. We've [01:00:47] got to understand that as we craft this. This will be for New Port Richey, but we have to [01:00:55] make sure it reflects, or that we at least understand, not reflect, but we understand [01:01:00] those things. Because we can learn from some, but there's also this competitive nature, [01:01:05] which is great because, again, going through this process allows you to be competitive [01:01:10] in that, allows you to take control of your story. [01:01:16] First of all, this group here and that group out there probably would look at me if you [01:01:21] wanted to talk about a character in this town. Going past that, I like the I term that [01:01:29] you use when you say New Port Richey, downtown stuff, but when you mention the 19 Corridor, [01:01:36] you lose me there, because I've lived on this coast since 74. I've lived in New Port Richey [01:01:43] for half my life, 36 years. The 19 Corridor looked the same in St. Pete, the 41 Corridor [01:01:52] in Sarasota, the 19 Corridor in Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs. It all looks the same. You [01:01:58] have to get off 19 to actually find the community. In this community, when I lived in Clearwater, [01:02:04] it was when you got here, you turned around and went back because there was nothing here, [01:02:07] and the average age was 55 or higher. Now the average age is in the mid-40s, and that's [01:02:12] because the young people have started to move in, in the 36 years that I've been here. It's [01:02:17] changing, and it's continued changing, and he brought up the word millennial, and that's [01:02:20] happening here too. Trying to identify, and you said look at one picture, and when I did [01:02:27] the survey, the picture I drew in my mind was looking from downtown through the Hacienda [01:02:33] down the river, and that tied it all together in one picture. I couldn't really do it in [01:02:41] one word, so I kind of cheated in that look, but I think to go on a little bit further, [01:02:48] marketing and branding and stuff, that's all, marketing is a really big term. Marketing [01:02:53] is having social media, it's having film, it's somebody out there selling our wares. [01:03:03] This town, New Port Richey or NPR was no place really. Now I'm starting to hear it's some [01:03:07] place really. So that's changing the atmosphere, and I think that's a lot of what's happened [01:03:13] downtown. So whatever guidance you can give us or thoughts, but wait, I'm kind of very [01:03:19] interested in seeing how you're going to look through downtown across the Hacienda and down [01:03:24] the river to try to put it all together. [01:03:27] Absolutely, and I appreciate that, and again I think there's something, as everyone has [01:03:33] done, you hit on an important point when we talk about the larger system and strategy. [01:03:41] I hear you 100% about 19 Corridor, and I see it in my drive up here today, and then talking [01:03:52] with Charles and seeing a piece of it, I'll have a larger tour tomorrow about 19 Corridor, [01:03:57] you know, you could say it's the same as in St. Pete or it's any town in the USA or whatever [01:04:03] you want to say about it, and I can see some of the challenges at all. [01:04:05] It's from Venice to Spring Hill. [01:04:08] And the thing is, I think the thing to think about from this process in terms of the whole [01:04:17] picture is perhaps, and I don't want to get ahead of myself because like I said, we don't [01:04:21] have any preconceived notions, but my gut tells me that it might be more for the 19 [01:04:27] Corridor, the most important thing might be the message. It might be recruitment and economic [01:04:31] development and less the identity and less creating a logo for that. It's more how do [01:04:37] we, you know, how do we evolve it to where it's not any town in the USA. And a testament [01:04:45] to that is you're going to have a new gateway right at the 100% corner of Main and Highway [01:04:51] 19, which I think is going to go a long way outside of this process, but it's going to [01:04:55] go a long way to bridging that gap, so to speak, between that key corridor that may [01:05:02] not be any more special here than it is at other places to downtown. So that's something [01:05:07] that's important. But again, that message might be more important on Highway 19 than [01:05:14] the actual identity. But I don't know. We'll see that when we get there. But I hear you [01:05:17] loud and clear what you're talking about there. [01:05:23] This has been such a great conversation. I've got about 20 questions here, but maybe [01:05:29] in the interest of time, I'll cherry pick a couple more to continue this conversation, [01:05:34] and then I will invite you all back to our public meeting tomorrow night as well. And [01:05:39] of course, as you mentioned, there will be other opportunities for us to meet with you [01:05:41] all as well, so we'll continue this. But we talked about some of the challenges [01:05:48] that you all have with New Port Richey, New Port Richey, some of the competition of other [01:05:54] areas around you all. You shared with me your connection and what you cherish most about [01:06:02] this community that you live in, that you're a leader in, that you've grown up in or left [01:06:07] and came back to. Put yourself in other's shoes. Maybe you're out at a conference somewhere [01:06:15] and you've got some of your contemporaries and you're telling them where you're from, [01:06:18] or maybe you have a visitor, a relative, or someone who comes into your community. What [01:06:25] would you say is, or maybe it's somebody that lives in Tampa or St. Pete or New Port Richey [01:06:30] or wherever, what would you say is the outsider's perception today of New Port Richey? [01:06:38] I didn't know it existed. [01:06:41] Is that still today, you say they didn't? [01:06:44] That's all come about in the last couple of years, people coming here, I didn't know it [01:06:47] existed. I didn't know this was here. [01:06:49] Outsiders from how outside? [01:06:51] Well, he's St. Tampa, St. Pete. [01:06:53] Your choice, anywhere. [01:06:55] Honestly, dirty, run down. That's a perception, you know. There's negative stuff still all [01:07:02] over Facebook. Someone sees something, a drug addict towing three bicycles on his bike on [01:07:09] US 19 and it's on Facebook, gotta love Pasco, gotta love New Port Richey. It happens over [01:07:15] and over again. I don't get involved in arguments on Facebook, especially politically, but I [01:07:20] just want to say, you're part of the problem, you're part of the solution. We're up here [01:07:24] because we're trying to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, but it's a very negative [01:07:28] stigma that we have for West Pasco County. You want to raise some family and you have [01:07:32] money, you move out to Trinity, Longleaf, Wesley Chapel, that's where all the nice homes [01:07:38] are, gated communities, but they don't have the river, they don't have the historic downtown, [01:07:43] they don't have the walkability that we have here with so many options. You can just explore [01:07:47] on foot. [01:07:48] And the park. [01:07:53] And it's not all the city of New Port Richey, and that I think is part of what needs to [01:08:01] be stressed and how we divide it out. As recently today, one of our local satire websites was [01:08:11] praising the new Ridge Road extension for having so many bridges because it would allow [01:08:19] for protection of the KKK members that live in that section of New Port Richey, which [01:08:27] is miles outside of our area. And I get it as mayor. I've had people that have called [01:08:38] me wanting me to fix their speeding tickets when a deputy sheriff on State Road 52 pulled [01:08:46] them over for speeding, and State Road 52 is six, ten miles away from here, but the [01:08:56] cities have, the post office lists it as New Port Richey. [01:09:01] I don't think he'd fix anybody's ticket. [01:09:05] And I have to tell them, well, first of all, I can't do that, and second of all, you're [01:09:08] not in New Port Richey. But it really is true that the area that is the city of New [01:09:16] New Port Richey is about 16,000 souls. I would guess there's 150,000 or more that live somewhere [01:09:24] that is listed as quote, unquote, New Port Richey. [01:09:29] We have people that come in to give us a hard time at city council meetings that are upset [01:09:39] because they live in New Port Richey, quote, unquote, when they don't. We've had people [01:09:48] come down to vote in municipal elections and then get turned away at the polls because [01:09:52] they don't live in New Port Richey. We've had people try to apply to run for political [01:09:58] office in the city of New Port Richey, only to be turned down by the clerk who tells them, [01:10:03] no, you live outside, because they just don't understand that. [01:10:09] And combine that with New Port Richey, which is very similarly named, and I went for probably [01:10:21] four months last spring explaining to I've lost count of how many people. I'm the mayor [01:10:29] of New Port Richey. No, the SWAT team did not break down my door. No, I didn't shoot [01:10:36] at them. And no, I'm not in jail still. Still. But it's between the two, the New Port Richey [01:10:47] being described by the post office as this enormous area that is so much larger than [01:10:53] us and then our next door neighbor, New Port Richey. We've got an identity problem and trying to [01:11:04] make it so that people understand that the city of New Port Richey is separate and distinct [01:11:08] and we're moving forward. To me, that's the key. [01:11:13] What other questions do you have? [01:11:14] Can I add on to that real quick, just to give you something I experienced last week? I feel [01:11:23] like we're the epicenter of the redevelopment for West Pasco County, but we're having to [01:11:27] kind of do it. Don't you guys feel like we're doing it on our own, right, by having you [01:11:30] here today? The head of the Pasco Economic Development Council spoke at our Rotary meeting [01:11:35] last week, did a great job, had great slides, so many, thousands of jobs are coming to Pasco. [01:11:42] If you look at all the slides, and I'm not trying to call him out, he's doing a great [01:11:45] job for what he's doing, but it's all east of here, right? There's great presentation [01:11:53] and everyone's like, oh, that's great, Pasco's doing great. I had to speak my mind so I raised [01:11:59] my hand in front of 100 plus Rotary members and say, you're doing a great job, but all [01:12:03] those slides and photos are 10 miles east of here and further east. Does the county [01:12:10] and does Pasco Economic Development, PDC, do they have plans on how, any kind of implementation [01:12:17] plans specifically for the US-19 corridor as far as redevelopment goes? And he basically [01:12:23] said that redevelopment is not part of development and that's not what they're concentrating [01:12:28] on. Although our city used to pay that organization 40 plus thousand dollars a year to help us [01:12:34] redevelop, but he made that statement in front of the entire Rotary Club in Newport, which [01:12:37] is a lot of powerful, important people that have been here for generations, many of them. [01:12:43] And it just, I didn't call him out on it, but it absolutely blew my mind. So I'm glad [01:12:47] you're here today because I honestly feel, although our partners in the county we want [01:12:51] to work with, I want to work with the county commissioner staff as positively as we can, [01:12:56] but when I heard that coming out of the head of our Pasco Economic Development Council, [01:13:01] I just felt like I was standing, like we're standing on an island alone having to do this [01:13:04] ourselves and I'm okay with it. So just kind of throwing that at you, it's like one of [01:13:09] the biggest issues we have here in our county is all the money is going to East Pasco, and [01:13:12] it is. You know, they want to build a sports complex there, they increased the tourist [01:13:16] tax for the first time in 20 years to generate 14 million dollars to build an indoor and [01:13:21] outdoor sports complex, which is going to be great for a county in Wesley Chapel, right? [01:13:25] But we can't even get district parks large enough in West Pasco and Central Pasco to [01:13:30] house our demand for competitive soccer, lacrosse, football, cheerleading. I mean, you go out [01:13:36] to any one of our district parks, the shopper will tell you, any night during the week they're [01:13:40] packed and by the end of the season all the fields are completely worn down. So we want [01:13:44] to be partners with the county, but I just want to bring that up to you as well. There's [01:13:47] still this, a lot more give and a lot less, a lot more take and less give we feel like [01:13:54] here in West Pasco as far as, and anyone, you know, I'd like to tag on to that because [01:13:59] the economic folks, when we did the study the last time and we were talking with them, [01:14:05] there is a fund coming from Penning for Pasco, 10 percent goes to economic development. Under [01:14:09] the state statutes it's set up to do that. Right, you touched on that, but he said that [01:14:13] redevelopment's not their goal. Development is basically building on CalPastors. But my [01:14:18] point was when I talked about, and it was about getting good jobs, and so when they [01:14:24] talked about what we have over here in the tourism, the dig on us is that we're in the [01:14:32] service business and the tourism business and the hospitality business and those are [01:14:36] not high paying jobs, so consequently there's no focus on it. Going back to economic development, [01:14:43] getting high paying jobs, increasing the level of income that we draw into the county. Unfortunately [01:14:49] they're drawing in other, more people to get, toss me back to the bench on the basketball [01:14:54] team. In other words, we've got a bunch of people living here that we care about that [01:14:59] are blue collars. [01:15:00] that are salt of the earth, that do mix with us and make us, I think, more authentic, more [01:15:05] real as people, you know, than to try to just go after the top of the, the top jobs. But [01:15:12] I think that part of it is the industries that we're seeing as being able to promote [01:15:18] the hospitality industry is not seen as a high-paying job market. That's why we can't [01:15:23] get them to give us money to develop. [01:15:27] I'd like to get more of his questions. What we're talking about, we know, you know. [01:15:31] Well, I mean, we need, I need to hear it, too, which is really important. [01:15:35] Yeah, okay. I'm just saying, at some point, if you get what you want, let's go on to the [01:15:39] next question. [01:15:40] Oh, I got you. And just to kind of... [01:15:41] So I'd like to see more of those 20 questions. [01:15:43] Yeah. Just to sort of, sort of kind of talk about some of the things that y'all just mentioned [01:15:51] and it's very important to ask about perception. You know, you mentioned people just don't [01:15:57] know. Sometimes that's, you know, that's, that's good. That's an, you know, that's an [01:16:01] easy starting point. If a community doesn't know about a place or people outside don't [01:16:06] know about your place, all you got to do is just tell the story. Now people start to understand [01:16:10] it. We also mentioned the challenges and people might see us dirty or run down or whatever [01:16:17] or maybe compare us to some of our other neighbors like Trinity that they may point [01:16:21] to and want to emulate. But also the common theme, I think, that all of you said is about [01:16:29] the fact that the efforts, the leadership, the business community here has kind of flipped [01:16:36] the script in the regional identity of New Port Richey and that people, y'all have created [01:16:42] this buzz that's going to grow. That's awesome because, again, we just need to capture that [01:16:47] in this process and use that as a platform. And by the same token, and I hear you loud [01:16:52] and clear, and this is important from a marketing standpoint, when you talk about some of the [01:16:58] efforts that have happened in the eastern part of your county that may not necessarily [01:17:02] be happening here, this effort by putting this tool set together, by actively telling [01:17:10] our story and promoting who we are, that's going to, on the one hand, raise our prominence [01:17:18] amongst our peers because you all deserve the same attention as the rest of the area. [01:17:26] So that's a piece that's very important of this as well. So I appreciate y'all sharing [01:17:31] that with me. That's not the first time I've heard that today as well. And I think you [01:17:35] can look at the geography of your county and that makes sense. We had a similar issue [01:17:40] that I'll share with you after this meeting if you're interested in Diffuniac Springs [01:17:46] because they're kind of similar. Long County, coast, city in the middle of it or opposite [01:17:52] the coast that may or may not have been drawing some of that. And it's actually the opposite [01:17:56] there. But when we talk about, let's specifically say, we talk about perceptions, we talk about [01:18:05] what you love about the place. We began that with some of the confusion that might be out [01:18:10] there of New Port Richey, New Port Richey and New Port Richey. What makes, when we're talking [01:18:17] specifically about New Port Richey, New Port Richey, comparing it to New Port Richey, what [01:18:24] makes you different, A, and then B, really asking the same question, what are your competitive [01:18:31] advantages when you compare New Port Richey to New Port Richey? [01:18:34] We don't have a city center. It's two square miles, we're five square miles. They share [01:18:42] the same river. [01:18:47] Right, so we have a downtown. All of our waterfront is residential though, so they have a waterfront, [01:18:54] a commercial waterfront. So it's pretty much the Johns Pass of Pasco County. [01:19:00] Right, that's all they have, that's it, period. [01:19:02] But I think that they're our twin sister in a way. I mean, they're our friends, our relatives, [01:19:07] the people we grew up with, the people we went to school with. [01:19:11] There's no adversity there. When you talk about the county, there's no adversity. [01:19:15] We're trying to work with them because while we have the historic downtown, they've got [01:19:20] the working waterfront. Between the two cities, we've got the full package. And one of the [01:19:25] things that we've been pushing now for a couple of years at least is tying their waterfront [01:19:34] together with our historic downtown so people can easily get from one to the other. [01:19:39] On land. [01:19:40] On land, yeah. [01:19:49] And I think that basically builds off some of the assets that you were talking about [01:19:53] earlier in this conversation. A couple more questions. One of the questions on the survey [01:20:05] and one of the things, quite frankly, I'll ask tomorrow night is about taglines. And [01:20:11] I'm not asking you to look at it on the survey, what would be that tagline. I think I asked [01:20:18] that on the survey anyway. But I do see a couple of taglines that are out there right [01:20:26] now. And I want you to share with me what it means to you. And it could be positive, [01:20:35] it could be negative for sure. But what it means to you and how it connects to New Port Richey. What I'm looking at right now is the gateway to tropical Florida. [01:20:45] The river that runs through it is more local than the gateway. [01:20:50] That was the Great Preserve sort of logo on the hats when they first came up. The river [01:20:56] runs through it. [01:20:57] I personally would like to see that saved with all the different logos that you have [01:21:01] branded. I think that's a logo that you put in one of those brands. And we've been the [01:21:06] gateway to tropical Florida since before I was born. I don't think you come up with a [01:21:09] new logo and just throw that out the window. I think you tie that in. [01:21:12] And I certainly, and point taken, and I just want to make sure you understand too, I was, [01:21:18] I absolutely wasn't asking for, I wasn't hinting at that. [01:21:23] Well it's come up, that's why I brought it up. [01:21:25] No, no, I got you. I got you. But that wasn't my intent. But I hear you. [01:21:31] That being said too, one of the things that I hope you saw is there are different layers [01:21:38] to a brand system. Whether it be a city seal, whether it be a marketing logo, there's also [01:21:45] by the same token, a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times it will be that one singular [01:21:51] tagline. And then other times there will be more strategic taglines that are used in conjunction [01:21:59] with that. [01:22:01] And I'll say that to say, to answer that thought, is we need to, Barnett-Muldrow, as we're going [01:22:12] through this process, we need to look at those things that already exist out there. [01:22:16] See what has equity, and what we need to preserve, and anything that's created new, how it needs [01:22:26] to connect. [01:22:28] And what may be worn out correctly. [01:22:32] But the logic behind Gateway to Tropical is real because we have the coastal breeze coming [01:22:39] in and we generally don't freeze, where to the north of us is frozen and to the east [01:22:45] a lot of freeze. So worn by that shallow Gulf of Mexico, I think someone along back saw [01:22:52] plants that lived here that didn't live very much farther to the north. So it was really [01:22:57] a geographic or a biology statement almost. You finally got here. We're the gateway to [01:23:05] all of what you're coming to. [01:23:06] You have oranges to the south, you don't have oranges to the north. You have coconut [01:23:11] trees to the south, you don't have coconut trees to the north. [01:23:13] And Highway 19 was the way down before Interstate 75, so. [01:23:20] Yeah, I certainly experienced that today coming from 40 degrees, and I don't live that far [01:23:26] north, 40 degrees and rainy to 80 degrees. But, and I mentioned this to Charles as we [01:23:32] were walking around, I'm like, is it always this breezy? Because it's 80 something degrees [01:23:36] out here, and I feel entirely comfortable being out here. [01:23:41] You'll be different than me. [01:23:42] Mr. Mayor, may I ask you a question? I know Mr. Renner probably has more questions, but [01:23:47] at some point this evening, are we going to, there are some folks in the audience that [01:23:51] may have something to contribute. [01:23:53] I'd like to give him at least three minutes. [01:23:55] As well as Mr. Weiss has done, in my opinion, a tremendous amount of social media promotion [01:24:01] of our city, and he basically does it for free. And he was very involved with the video [01:24:06] that was made and promoting that video. The original video was kind of your idea working [01:24:11] with Mario, I believe, right? So, and Mr. Schott, and if you'd like to speak as well, [01:24:17] I mean, whenever you all want, I would just. [01:24:19] I'd like to hear from the staff. These are the people that, you know, do the day-to-day. [01:24:23] So you want to hit us with a one-minute drill on a few questions. If you have anything else [01:24:27] you want from us, go sound like with Segway in here. [01:24:30] Well, I would say that I think we've had a good, well-rounded conversation. We've actually [01:24:35] gone an hour and a half, and I intended to kind of go an hour, but it's just such a great [01:24:40] conversation. I think we can continue, and I can ask those broader questions perhaps [01:24:44] the next time we meet. Certainly, we're going to have a workshop with you all again the [01:24:49] next time we come, but it would be an opportunity. Because if I keep asking my questions, we'll [01:24:54] be here for about five hours. So, you know, certainly look to you all. I mean, I can, [01:24:59] I can... [01:25:00] Could you read off the questions just so we'll know in case somebody from the audience wants [01:25:05] to... [01:25:06] I'm sure thoughts came up here that they'd like to add to. [01:25:09] I guess that's where I was going to. I'm fine with... [01:25:12] I would concur, Deputy Mayor. I'd love to hear Reagan and Marilyn. [01:25:18] Email us. Email us the questions individually. [01:25:20] Absolutely. I can do that for sure. Absolutely. But I do appreciate your candid and honest [01:25:29] thoughts. This is very helpful to us. [01:25:31] Not to put either of you on the spot, but... [01:25:34] Yeah, let's hear it. Come on. [01:25:39] Three-minute reports from everybody. [01:25:41] Well, Phil Dahlman, you're going to take the mic out. Why don't you do that? [01:25:45] Yeah, absolutely. [01:25:46] Chief Bogart, you got anything? [01:25:48] They've got a mic right here. [01:25:53] I think a few of the council members have hit on something that is very important and [01:25:59] should not be lost in this, is that no matter how hard we try as a city to improve our environment, [01:26:08] all it takes is for a homicide to happen a mile away, or a couple of miles away, or some [01:26:15] other horrendous thing happen, and we read about it in the paper, and it'll say that [01:26:20] a deputy was involved in investigating, but it's blamed on the city. I get this all the time. [01:26:26] A few council members get the emails where people have issues, law enforcement-related [01:26:33] issues. I get a lot more than you guys do, and I'm constantly having to look up the address [01:26:38] and realize it's three miles out of our jurisdiction. In fact, you're dealing with one right now, [01:26:45] Debbie, that we're going to have a meeting about. [01:26:48] Thanks for telling me, Chief. [01:26:50] I'm just giving you a heads up. But I think that is crucial to somehow inform people of that, [01:26:58] and I don't know how you do it. We've been trying as a city. [01:27:03] Come on down, Marilyn. [01:27:11] Marilyn was the Executive Director of the New Port Richey Community Cooperative, [01:27:15] which ultimately became New Port Richey Main Street. [01:27:18] And that was about 35 years ago when we got started talking about peg lines. [01:27:23] And a prior council member as well. [01:27:25] Was that Jack? [01:27:26] I said, and a prior council member as well. [01:27:29] Oh, yes, I served on city council in the 2000s. [01:27:32] But our tagline back in the day, because we were so new at everything, right? [01:27:36] I mean, we just sprouted from literally nothing. [01:27:40] Vic Mallet, his brother, Butch, Sue Hasley, and then eventually me. [01:27:45] And the tagline was, Revitalizing Tomorrow's Downtown Today. [01:27:52] And we can say that came true because today is 35 years later. [01:27:58] This is not my first rodeo with marketing specialists. [01:28:03] So I didn't hear a whole lot new tonight. [01:28:06] But that's not to be disrespectful. [01:28:08] That's only because I've been around a long time. [01:28:11] I'm a little surprised that we don't have representation tonight from Main Street. [01:28:16] I mean, I thought this would be just right up the rally. [01:28:20] Did this word not get out about this? [01:28:23] I don't really know. [01:28:25] The purpose of the meeting tonight is really to get input from the public and from the council. [01:28:30] There are other focus groups, and Main Street is a scheduled participant. [01:28:35] Yeah, well, for tomorrow, you say. [01:28:38] Yeah, because I don't see them here. [01:28:42] So I wanted to just be really brief because, you know, it's been a long time. [01:28:48] I think of Chopper all those years ago. [01:28:50] I mean, we even created an event for the Palm District that time, Spring Fever, remember? [01:28:55] It had a fine art event that took place for about seven or eight years. [01:28:58] It was a wonderful event. [01:29:00] I mean, the only fine art event in the entire county. [01:29:03] But so let me just say, though, it may be true that I may have just decades now of experience [01:29:11] and past knowledge of how we came to where we are today. [01:29:16] Let's remember, though, we've got a lot of people in our downtown with vision, like Jose, Frank, Leah, the twins. [01:29:25] I mean, just so many people in our library and their staff. [01:29:30] So I say, really, let's bring it in, our own people, and get that feeling for our trademark and the new logo. [01:29:38] Thank you very much. [01:29:39] Thank you. [01:29:47] Hi, everyone. [01:29:51] How are you doing tonight? [01:29:52] How are you doing? [01:29:53] Nice to meet you. [01:29:54] My name is Reagan Weiss. [01:29:55] I moved my family here in 2008. [01:29:58] My family... [01:30:00] My father moved me here from middle school, [01:30:02] so I've been a Floridian since middle school. [01:30:05] I wanna say that Greenville, South Carolina is awesome. [01:30:08] I'm a North Greenville University alum, [01:30:10] so I know where you're from. [01:30:11] I love it, love Greenville. [01:30:13] Just a couple things. [01:30:13] Everything he has said is on point. [01:30:17] I just wanna set that tone right now. [01:30:19] Brand awareness, brand community, brand name, logo. [01:30:23] I mean, everything he said is on point, [01:30:25] and that's great, and that's phenomenal, [01:30:26] and we need that, and we're gonna need that brand. [01:30:29] But to articulate that and to promote that, [01:30:31] that's gonna be the next step and the next level. [01:30:34] And Jeff, you brought up a great point. [01:30:36] Matt, everyone here brought up a great point. [01:30:38] It's utilizing or getting that right person involved [01:30:41] to promote the message, to get it out there. [01:30:44] Now, I'm gonna reiterate this, [01:30:45] and I know I have so much time. [01:30:47] To bring someone in staff, in my opinion, [01:30:50] and it's only my opinion, guys, is a detrimental mistake [01:30:54] because you're gonna hire someone at 50, $60,000 a year [01:30:58] who is green, and you're not gonna get very far, [01:31:01] when you could take that $60,000 a year [01:31:03] and get it to a third-party marketing company [01:31:06] and utilize it for video and social media and so forth, [01:31:09] and you get that buy-in, [01:31:10] and your word is gonna get out there tenfold. [01:31:13] You're also, and something that you brought up, sir, [01:31:15] which I thought was great, [01:31:17] was that, well, someone's vested, right? [01:31:19] If they're working for the city, [01:31:20] that's their job, and they're there every day. [01:31:22] But if we build a protocol [01:31:23] and you have an ironclad contract [01:31:25] with a third-party contractor, [01:31:26] they have to abide by those rules. [01:31:28] I, myself, along with the team or anyone [01:31:31] wants to get involved to create a group [01:31:32] to say these are the guidelines, [01:31:33] this is what you have to follow, [01:31:34] this is how many times we have to post, [01:31:36] this is how many videos we want, et cetera. [01:31:38] So that $60,000 can go out to the masses, [01:31:42] and we're talking about, [01:31:43] these are terms that some of you might not know, [01:31:45] but you will know right away. [01:31:46] Geofencing, radius marketing, [01:31:48] these are things that we can take specific videos [01:31:50] that we create, and we can highlight the chief, [01:31:53] we can highlight the fire department, [01:31:56] we can highlight Debbie, [01:31:57] we can highlight all the good things, [01:31:59] all of our businesses, the boat ramp, et cetera, [01:32:01] and then we can take that, [01:32:02] and let's talk about our fishing. [01:32:04] We could geofence and just cover it [01:32:07] over a fisherman's area, like a wharf, right? [01:32:10] We can cover it over a fishing store. [01:32:12] I can literally take a map and draw it out [01:32:14] and cover a fishing store. [01:32:16] So every person that walks in that fishing store [01:32:18] to go buy lures, to go buy bait, to go all that, [01:32:21] all of a sudden an ad's gonna pop up on their phone. [01:32:23] Wow, the city of New Port Richey has fishing, [01:32:26] has great fishing. [01:32:27] I didn't know there were stilt houses. [01:32:28] I didn't know all these things were there. [01:32:30] So there's strategies involved to get his message out there. [01:32:34] This is inevitable, it's gonna happen. [01:32:36] Brand awareness is phenomenal, [01:32:37] but it's articulating it to the next message. [01:32:39] And just really quick, you're right, Jeff, [01:32:41] in regards to the gateway of tropical Florida, [01:32:44] and just something I jotted down while I was in there, [01:32:46] because this is how my brain works. [01:32:47] I apologize, I'm omnidirectional. [01:32:49] It's our gateway, it's your gateway. [01:32:52] It's your gateway to downtown New Port Richey. [01:32:54] It's your gateway to a great nightlife. [01:32:56] It's your gateway to good times. [01:32:58] It's a gateway to good boating. [01:33:00] It's a gateway to good fishing. [01:33:01] It's a gateway to great memories with your family. [01:33:03] So utilize what we have, but just turn it around. [01:33:07] Thanks, guys. [01:33:09] Thank you, Reagan. [01:33:10] Thank you. [01:33:15] Anybody? [01:33:17] I'm surprised, really. [01:33:19] I really am. [01:33:20] This is your job. [01:33:21] The staff, they do have a meeting tomorrow [01:33:25] with the consultant, at which time [01:33:27] he'll be presenting questions to them [01:33:29] and they'll be responding. [01:33:31] Mr. Knapper, do you have any ideas for us? [01:33:33] He's with the times. [01:33:41] Okay. [01:33:43] Thank you all so much, I really appreciate it. [01:33:45] Can I throw one thing out there before we leave? [01:33:48] I was driving back from Collier Parkway, [01:33:51] soccer fields last night, and it's been fresh in my mind. [01:33:54] I've been looking at little entranceways. [01:33:56] I brought up Safety Harbor and we talked about [01:33:59] obtaining that part of the land with Walgreens. [01:34:01] If y'all are out that way, [01:34:02] especially in the evening or nighttime, [01:34:04] I urge you to look at the just east [01:34:06] of the expressway on 54. [01:34:08] Unfortunately, they built a racetrack right next to this, [01:34:10] so it kind of took away from it a bit. [01:34:12] But it's one side of the street, [01:34:14] but it grabs the attention from so many different angles. [01:34:16] It's the entranceway to Bexley, just east of 54. [01:34:21] They've tied in green, like just trees and bushes in there [01:34:25] with this huge sign, and it's just really inviting. [01:34:28] Whether you're driving north, south, east, west, [01:34:29] even though it's on one corner, [01:34:31] the way they've designed it catches your eye. [01:34:33] So check it out next time you're out that way. [01:34:35] It's a really, really good starting point. [01:34:37] I'll get some pictures in of the signage [01:34:40] that they have down at Mahaffey Theater. [01:34:44] The light up, I've already shown Debbie, [01:34:46] but we'll get it in Friday's, maybe not this Friday, [01:34:49] but next Friday. [01:34:50] But this, like I said, it's just one corner, [01:34:51] but the way it grabs so many eyeballs from different areas, [01:34:53] it just blew my mind. [01:34:55] It's really good. [01:34:56] We've got time for some communications, [01:34:59] Chopper, anything? [01:35:00] Pete? [01:35:01] Just one thing that was said that I want to, [01:35:04] maybe make sure I'm gonna take exception with the idea [01:35:10] that the second part of this that we may or may not do, [01:35:14] I mean, we've got so much attention to our city, [01:35:16] this idea that the second phase [01:35:18] where we're gonna see some development occurring [01:35:21] is happening now, so we're having to almost scramble [01:35:24] to keep up with it, whether it's the Kaiser University [01:35:27] and the way that comes out, [01:35:28] whether we have a parking garage or don't. [01:35:30] There is interest in our community now in a capital way, [01:35:34] and we need to also, I think, be on our toes [01:35:37] and be prepared to help mold that into that vision, [01:35:44] not just rest on the vision we have. [01:35:47] Ben? [01:35:48] Yeah, nothing right now. [01:35:50] I've said enough tonight, thank you. [01:35:52] I just wanted to share with you all, [01:35:54] I had an individual actually texted me on Facebook, [01:36:00] wanting to, he apparently, [01:36:03] they're hazards in the process of buying [01:36:05] one of those four-wheel bicycles, [01:36:08] and wanted to know if he could drive it on the street, [01:36:11] which, of course, it falls under the same category [01:36:14] of the law as a conventional bicycle. [01:36:17] Then he told me that they're called Surreys, [01:36:20] to which point I asked him if it had a fringe on top, [01:36:23] and he confirmed that it did, [01:36:25] so I'm figuring if it's okay in Oklahoma, it's okay here. [01:36:29] Oh, goodness. [01:36:31] On that note, Debbie? [01:36:33] Nothing further for you this evening. [01:36:35] Counsel? [01:36:38] Nothing, just, I'm excited. [01:36:39] Tonight kicks off the focus groups. [01:36:41] This was our focus group for you all, [01:36:42] your dedicated time, [01:36:44] and the next couple days can be really interesting. [01:36:46] And in that case, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn. [01:36:48] To adjourn, thank you for that. [01:36:49] Thank you.

   This text was generated automatically from the meeting video. It is not a verbatim or official record. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.

3. 3Communications
4. 4Adjournment