The following January, during the first joint meeting of City department directors and MacDill senior staff, including General Soligan, the Mayor described the intent to jointly create "partnering initiatives" which would foster and formalize areas of mutual benefit and leverage both City and MacDill resources. The partnership initiatives initially identified included housing, education and employment, and during the process of developing these initiatives, others, in the areas of public safety, parks and recreation, were identified.

To formalize the partnerships in each area, Memoranda of Understanding were signed by Mayor Greco and General Soligan on June 29. They cover:

• Employment - Providing information and programs to facilitate the City's employment of the spouses of MacDill officers and enlisted members.

• Law Enforcement - Providing programs to assist MacDill staff in delivering public safety services, and agreeing on the joint use of the MacDill firing range and classroom facilities.

• Parks - Providing an easement for access along the northern perimeter of the Base for the City's greenway and trails system. The City will formally recognize the importance of the Base to the community by designating a commemorative Memorial Park.

• Recreation - Providing for use of the Base for special one-day events, and for MacDill's participation in City recreation programs.

• Emergency/Disaster Preparedness - Providing for mutual aid in the case of emergencies and disasters, and undertaking joint training exercises to ensure the coordination works as designed.

Attending the June 29 signing ceremony was Colonel Arthur "Chip" Diehl, III who, taking over as Wing Commander at MacDill on the following day, continued General Soligan's original commitment to the partnerships. On September 1, in the first joint meeting involving both City and MacDill staffs, Colonel Diehl identified additional community partnering opportunities that would be pursued. Among these were shared health care service delivery, the privatization of MacDill utilities, and a youth-focused drug and crime prevention program.

An additional Memorandum of Understanding - currently being drafted for signature by Mayor Greco and Colonel Diehl in January - focuses on the redevelopment of neighborhoods in proximity to the Base - specifically, on the long-term goal of increasing the number and quality of single- and multi-family housing available in these neighborhoods. This housing effort will address all aspects of affordability in order to meet the needs of both Tampa residents and military families and will include privately financed construction of new units as well as renovation of existing units.

As part of the agreement, the City will allocate additional resources for its code enforcement efforts and its Neighborhood Environmental Action Teams which clean up target neighborhoods. The City also will provide information to homeowners on its Residential Rehabilitation Low Interest Loan Program, provide assistance in land development regulation processing and, resources permitting, continue to improve the infrastructure, including roads and sewer systems.

In the September 1 meeting, Colonel Diehl announced the beginning of work on "MacDill 2010 Vision," a blueprint for the continued long-term development of the Base into the early 21st century; he also announced his plans to establish a "visual presence" in the Tampa Bay community through a MacDill military employee welcome flag program. Through this program, Colonel Diehl will provide a flag to all new MacDill military staff and will ask them to display it outside their residences. In addition to increasing their visibility and contributing to the sense of military-civilian integration in the community, the flag will identify the residence as a "safe haven" for children should they be threatened or in trouble.

Colonel Diehl also plans to encourage military retirees to volunteer in the community, taking advantage of the potential community resource represented by the more than 150,000 retirees who live in the Tampa Bay area or visit MacDill each year.

Mayor Greco and Colonel Diehl view the partnership initiative as a dynamic, on-going program and an important link for continued collaboration between the City and the Base. In the event of another national Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effort, they believe, the partnerships that have been established would contribute to a positive overall assessment of MacDill and the Tampa community. Says Mayor Greco, "Our relationship with MacDill Air Force Base will continue to grow."

Additional information on the Tampa-MacDill partnerships - including the Mayor's Resolution on the Memoranda of Understanding signed in June - is available at: http://www.ci.tampa.fl.us/documents/MacDill/19990629_proclamation.htm or from Darcy Foster in the City's Department of Planning & Management, (813) 274-8401.