The City of Gainesville opened the floor for citizens to voice their concerns and criticism Monday night at the Doyle Connor Building, 1911 SW 34th St.
About 24 Gainesville residents made their voices heard during the two-hour meeting. Citizens discussed a wide range of issues, including land use, transportation, community and quality of life.
The town hall meeting was the third in a series of four.
Gabriel Hillel, 74, and Victor Vega, 15, were residents among the two dozen who spoke about these issues.
Vega said UF students are taking many of the jobs that would otherwise be available for younger or older residents.
"I respect UF students," Vega said. "They run things, but in a way that kind of blows away the other population."
Vega said that local residents have "every right to this place as everyone else does."
Some of his improvements for the city included more events and activities for 14- to 17-year-olds, fewer trees, slightly bigger houses, wider sidewalks, more public parking and more employment for middle-aged people.
Vega discussed the lack of parking for residents not affiliated with the university living near campus.
"One time my mom had to park two miles away to find public parking around UF," Vega said.
Hillel, a former civil rights journalist, focused more on the racial boundaries still present in Gainesville.
"There's a lack of communication throughout the city," Hillel said, "and it gets exacerbated between the races, so no one cares what is happening on the other side of town."
"And when police officers throw eggs in Porters Neighborhood, there's a problem," Hillel said, referencing an incident last November where three Gainesville Police Department officers rode through the neighborhood with the intent of harassing prostitutes and drug dealers.
Hillel told the mayor and commissioners that the new GPD police chief should be black and that the new Office of Equal Opportunity director should not be black, to encourage diversity.
The Gainesville community needs to talk about race, among other things, he said
"(The city is) trying to avoid hard problems," he said. "And I'm not talking about potholes."
Hillel, a resident of Gainesville for 17 years, also said the city is too decentralized and too spread out, and because of this, no one knows what activities are going on.
He believes the city should create a phone number people can call to find out what is going on in the city that day.
"If I like to ride bikes then I would press 7 to hear about places to ride a bike," he said as an example.
He said that many people do not know that the Hippodrome State Theatre shows movies, or that Gainesville is the first "fly city," refering to the butterfly garden on campus.
Overall, Hillel said he believes awareness and communication is key.
"There should be a resident tour bus to take them around town, so they can see where they live."
The next town hall meeting will be June 15 at the United Church of Gainesville, 1624 NW 5th Ave.
