Blight remains one of the most challenging issues facing Pottsville, Mayor Tom Smith said Friday evening during his first State of the City address. Aggressively reducing blighted properties and modernizing the city’s infrastructure will encourage businesses to invest in Pottsville and help improve neighborhoods, he said.
“Without question, the top concern I hear is blight,” the mayor said. “Residents are frustrated by abandoned propertlies, deteriorating buildings, negligent landlords, and the impact on our neighborhoods and city image. If there is one battle we must win, it is the fight against blight. Residents deserve visible improvement and this administration is committed to delivering it.”
Smith spoke to about 75 people inside Majestic Theater. His approximately 30-minute speech resurrected what was once a tradition for Pottsville mayors.
The mayor called on negligent landlords – especially those who live outside the city – to address their deteriorating properties or sell them.
“Fix it up, pay it up, or give it up,” the Mayor said.
Smith said his administration intends to put pressure on negligent landlords through enforcement actions and admitted that Pottsville has often failed on the “follow-through” when it comes to holding these property owners accountable.
“Residents who work hard, maintain their homes, and care about their neighborhoods deserve better,” Smith said. “Responsible property owners and good residents should not suffer because a small number of landlords refuse to properly maintain their properties.
“Many of the worst offenders are out-of-town landlords who collect rent here while failing to reinvest here,” he added.
To hold up the City’s end of that bargain, Smith said City Hall will soon implement Brightly software – which manages workflows – it purchased several years ago and never used.
Smith said Pottsville will use that and other tools already at its disposal, like a vacant property registration, issuing quality-of-life tickets, conducting rental inspections, fines, and legal enforcement, to target these property owners.
“The issue has not always been lack of tools. It has been lack of follow-through. That is changing. We will hold negligent landlords accountable,” he said.
Further, Smith said battling blight requires more than just code enforcement. He said several City boards must work together to address the issue effectively, including the City Council, Planning Commission, the recently renewed Blighted Property Review Committee, which sat dormant for two years, and Redevelopment Authority.
The mayor thanked Walter Davis IV for creating a map of the city’s most blighted properties, all 209 of them.
“With the right vision and coordination, we can move from talking about blight to reducing it,” Smith said.
State of the City Notes
As mayors have done in the past, Smith acknowledged City Hall staff and others in leadership positions during his speech. Many of those people were in attendance at Smith’s address on Friday.
He also touted his administration’s filling of boards and authorities, some of which had been inactive in recent years. Smith said 48 appointments have been made to those boards and there are 89 people serving in positions as volunteers.
“Many of these groups had become inactive or were operating with vacancies. Now they are meeting again, collaborating again, and helping move projects forward again,” Smith said.
The city is operating about $1.1 million ahead of budget this year, the mayor also said during his speech Friday. To maintain stability, Smith touted the City’s approval to enter the state’s Strategic Management and Planning Program (STMP) and pursue Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements to offset revenue lost to tax-exempt properties.
Since Jan. 5, the city has applied for, secured, or is managing nearly $6 million in grants, including $1 million for the Mahantongo, 5th, and Centre Street Corridor Project, the mayor also said.
Smith prioritized hiring a City Administrator by late summer to fill a vacancy open since August. Rounding out his update, he noted the fire department has responded to 328 incidents and installed 3,500 smoke alarms this year, and highlighted ongoing revitalization plans for the JFK facility and the Pottsville Greenways Project.
Business Privilege Tax
Smith said he intends to start an “honest conversation” about the Business Privilege Tax. He said Pottsville must modernize this tax if the city is “serious about attracting businesses and investment.”
The mayor said his administration intends to create a 10-year Business Privilege Tax reduction strategy within the next 90 days.
Police Force at “Full Strength”
Smith said with 22 full-time officers serving, the Pottsville Bureau of Police is at “full strength.” He thanked Chief Jon Morrow for his “steady commitment” to the department and used the opportunity of his address to once again call for support of a plan to purchase the law office building behind City Hall to serve as the department’s new headquarters.
“We have a great police force. We want to maintain it. We want to improve it. And this investment is essential to doing that,” the mayor said.
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