My focus on the future will be to continue working on the implementation of our citizen driven strategic plan based on the following top priorities:

Safety:

Maintaining our Safest City Status is my utmost priority!  We will continue to be Florida’s Safest City and provide the resources necessary for our Police Department to do so!   I championed the need for a new policing district in the Tradition area.  The implementation of District 5 is well underway and will be fully staffed by fiscal year 23/24.

Infrastructure:

Updating our infrastructure is extremely important to meet the needs of our growing community.  I am committed to implementing our mobility and multi-modal plans to address the concerns of our residents and ensure we have safe streets for our residents, no matter what their mode of transportation may be.  I recently championed advancing our traffic calming projects to provide relief in our residential neighborhoods. We will continue the implementation of our sidewalk and road repaving master plans.

The first two segments of the Port St. Lucie Blvd. South widening project is underway. I will continue to fight to get the remaining segments constructed as quickly as possible.

Parks:

I have championed the need for more parks to provide additional ballfields and recreational space in the city to our residents.  We are currently in the process of designing and/or constructing the following parks:

Pioneer Park at the Port District

Tradition Regional Park (in partnership with Mattamy Homes)

Torino Regional Park

Riverland Paseo Park, being constructed by GL Homes.

For more passive and natural recreation, the design for improvements to O.L. Peacock Park is also underway.  In addition, Mattamy is also in the process of planning Stars and Stripes Park which will honor our veterans and first responders.

Debt and Taxes:

During my tenure on the Council, our City has significantly lowered its debt by 33% and reduced the tax rate, also known as millage rate, for the last six consecutive years. I support lowering the tax rate further this year as we plan for the 2022/2023 budget.  In 2021, the City’s bond rating increased substantially. This is due to strong fiscal management of our City’s finances. I pledge to continue reducing our debt!

Quality of Life and Environment:

Port St. Lucie and its natural beauty and environment are what makes us special and enhances our quality of life.

We will continue to encourage our residents to voluntarily connect to sanitary sewer through our septic to sewer conversion program, while adding additional phases to our McCarty Ranch Water Quality Project, to do our part to keep our waterways, river and lagoon clean, while ensuring our residents have clean water for many years to come.  We will also reserve city owned parcels for future green space and land preservation.

Economic Development:

The promise of the Southern Grove jobs corridor is now a reality as we have welcomed Cleveland Clinic, TAMCO, Fed Ex, Accel, Oculus and Cheney Brothers.  The Amazon fulfillment center is under construction now and an Amazon distribution center will also be built very soon.  I am excited about other future economic opportunities that are on the horizon. More jobs will be brought to our city that will pay above the median wage.

City Center:

The acquisition of City Center is final!  Now that the city owns the 22 parcels, we will begin the master planning process with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council.  This process will be a community wide effort that will involve all of our stakeholders through an enhanced public engagement process. I look forward to the future discussions we will have on this topic, and of course the outcome of the master plan!

Thank you again,

Shannon