There are so many new things and improvements to Florence that there is not enough space on the forum to list them. Here's my list: we need a city manager, not a mayor and council; Florence has to bring in new industries more high tech. right now no one is bringing new industries to Florence; get with the governor to get Florence some new jobs like he does for Huntsville; have meetings monthly with managers of business located in Florence but owned by out of town companys to make sure they are happy with the area and what the city provides them; the new Florence northern bypass has been cancelled and no one knows by whom, this is needed to open up savannah highway and the central area and could later be built into Mississippi as Congressman Flippo had planned and approved back in the 80's; chishlom rd and the rest of cloverdale road should be 5 laned; a new interstate road with the option of adding train tracks should be build from Florence across interstate 65 to connect to the new Huntsville northern bypass road, this road should bypass Killen, Rogersville, Athens and Madison as they are mostly speed trap places, since this is where all the jobs are, we need a fast and safe way to drive to Huntsville to work daily; Florence takes in a lot of money in taxes but does not spend it wisely. All managers and supervisors should have an immediate pay freeze as their pay is way above average for this area, the whole management system need to be rebuild due to the power grab that as taken place over the years in order to increase managers pay. Employees cost of living increases should be the same amount that people on social security recieve each year. The number of employees having city furnished vehicles should be cut by one third; Dept. budgets should be looked at closely for cutting, the police dept. should be first to be cut, it has been mismanaged for years and with a budget of over 8 million dollars they could cut some, need to cut higher level officers and make more street patrolman, their back parking lot looks like a junk yard where the 3 stooges have parked all of those trucks and trailers; No tax money should be given to charity, that's not the purpose of tax money; a interstate road from north of Florence to Mobile should be build as soon as possible; Florence gets less state transportation money for new roads than anyplace in north Alabama, even in the shoals area. Since there is a beginning already of military items in Veterans park, the city should put a big effort into building a large metal building for displaying large military items such as tanks, apc, helicopters, airplanes maybe borrowing some displays from the Space Center such as rockets, jet planes and such and train engines, little kids love that kind of stuff and could learn lessons from it and we all know little kids control parents on vacations; Not sure about tennis courts but they could work; maybe have camper parking there again; have a special day for all the shoppers who shop in Florence, pass out water bottles on a hot day, maybe hotdogs and little items such as key chains, pens something with the name Florence Al on it, show them that Florence appreicates them shopping here, find someone that knows how to repair pot holes and hire them; organizing stop lights would also help; Florence has limited main streets thru the city and they are overloaded now, find some way to speed up traffic thru Florence, maybe like no left turn that holds up traffic while waiting for a break to turn left; There is plenty more but running out of space. The Lauderdale county courthouse could also use a good cleaning out of people and depts. and policies.
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Save me a seat over at seven points. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
