GEEKNOTE: Patience Hell

GEEKNOTE:  During my college years, back in the 70's, there was a cartoon of a couple of vultures sitting on a dead tree limb in the desert.  One says to the other: "Patience Hell, I'm going to kill something!"  For far too long, we have been like those two vultures, just sitting on the tree limb waiting for something good to happen at our feet.

As we slowly exit from the Great Recession, there are signs all around us that we as a community are ready to spread our wings and go hunting for opportunities.

One of the nicest benefits of my departure from city council is that I no longer have to be careful what I say here for fear of violating the Sunshine Statute.  I intend to take advantage of my new freedom to lay out a vision of what we can make of our community.

At work, we've been dealing with a rather odd Server 2012 networking problem this past week and we've been kicking around various ideas and drawing out theories on a white board to explain what we think might be happening.  We've now got a pretty good handle on the issue and we are going to make some changes this coming week to test our theory.

The biggest disadvantage of the "Government In The Sunshine" law is that it inhibits the casual give and take of ideas that, like the example above, often leads to new approaches to solving complex problems.  In spite of this handicap, council members came to the realization late last year that we would be waiting for a very long time if we expected someone from the outside to help us get projects like the Hacienda off the ground. 

Saving the Hacienda was at the top of the list of projects that started percolating and I think everyone was surprised that the city actually had to turn away volunteers for the first Hacienda work day.  Who would have thought that an old building would garner such support?

The second Hacienda work day was also well attended and the place is now presentable enough to start bringing professional folks in to take a look at it to determine what needs to be done to allow the building to be reoccupied.  The Pasco Economic Development Council has a fund raiser going on Citizinvestor to generate the funds needed to do the engineering work that needs to be done this summer.  I fully expect to see things continue to progress over the coming months and I want to enjoy at least one Chasco 2014 concert while having dinner at an open air table in the Hacienda.  We can make this happen.

One of the side effects of setting aside the grand plan to sell the Hacienda to a developer was that it put the old post office building at 6345 Grand back in play.  The old post office was part of the Baptist Church property purchase and nobody gave it much thought because the hotel plans would have required that the building be demolished to make room for the parking lost to the hotel room wing.  The nice thing about the old post office is that it is in amazingly good shape and can quickly be returned to use.

This past Saturday, about 50 of us showed up to give the building a fresh coat of paint, both inside and out.  All that is left to make it habitable are replacing the nasty (and now paint stained) carpet with a new floor covering and to test out the air handlers.  I understand that a local A/C firm is soliciting gear to replace the air handlers with new, energy efficent units.

The idea of a business incubator is to offer inexpensive space for fledgling businesses that are outgrowing the owner's garage and kitchen table, but aren't quite large enough to be able to justify the expense of renting a full office suite somewhere.  Gulfcoast Networking is right next door and we are flooding the building with free Wi-Fi from our Sims Park hotspots.  Both 100 meg Roadrunner and FIOS cables are already at the back door of the building, making this a dream location for a budding tech firm.  Throw in the Makerspace concept and we would have the 21st century counterpoint to the 1920's Hacienda right across the Gloria Swanson parking lot.

Not to put the city council on the spot, but Saturday, June 1st would make a great date for a Grand Opening of the New Port Richey Business Incubator.   The building is that close to ready.

One of the fellows painting along side of me Saturday is ready to move his growing business off his kitchen table.  Greg's business could well be the first occupant in the new Incubator.

Will this help the downtown?  You better believe it!  It is a safe bet that I'll be handing out business cards and flyers to everyone interested in moving in, telling them what my computer company right next door can do to help them.  The local restaurants should see more customers as they are a short walk from the building.  How cool would it be to have your new business mere footsteps away from your attorney and your financial advisor? 

With fresh faces and ideas on council to lead us, we can take the public involvement and energy generated by these first successful cleanup / fixup projects and start working to address the other parts of our city that need attention.  This is NOT something that city staff or the city council can do by themselves.  If we want to change our city, that change needs to start with us.

We've been like those two vultures for far too long, waiting passively for something good to happen.  It is time for us to take our city's fate into our own hands and get moving.  Are your tired of seeing a downtown dominated by bars and empty storefronts?  This is the opportunity we've been waiting for.  It is sitting there just waiting for us to grab it and run.

Ted Kennedy once quoted George Bernard Shaw: 

"Some men see things as they are and ask why? I dream dreams that never were and ask why not?"

I humbly submit that each of us needs to spend some time dreaming about what we want our city to be and start asking each other "Why not?"

Watch this space in the coming weeks as I explore more of the ideas that are being kicked around on how to remake New Port Richey into the best place in the area to live, work, and play.

As always, feel free to drop me a note or give me a call (847-2424) if you have any questions about your computer or the Internet.

Rob Marlowe, Senior Geek
Gulfcoast Networking, Inc.
http://www.gulfcoastnetworking.com