Mayor Paul Young's transition team outlines crime prevention, economic development ideas

The collective work of about 130 people came to fruition Wednesday afternoon with the release of Memphis Mayor Paul Young's transition team report.

The report lists a number of goals for the administration to tackle that include governance, economic development, youth support, revitalizing neighborhoods, transportation and infrastructure, public safety and crime technology.

"These teams have been working diligently to create something more than a report that will get read once and filed away," Young said at a press conference that followed hours of presentations from the transition team. "We don't want to do that. We want to do something that's going to be engaging, and they have helped to create a framework of evidence-based, and community-focused, guideposts."

Each group presented multiple recommendations for the administration. Here's a breakdown of what Young's transition team identified as key aspects for the administration's success in the 112-page report.

Renewed focus on 'accountability, accessibility, transparency and responsiveness'

The report's "good governance" section focuses on how to bring more Memphians into contact with city government, and to make sure the administration moves in the best interest of residents.

To do that, Young's transition team recommended:

• Bringing city services and the decision-makers to residents with a vehicle that will give residents hands-on help to learn how to use city services and resources, and schedule events around Memphis' neighborhoods to encourage engagement with city staff and Young.

• Have the city's Office of Community Affairs promote and track city events, train staff on the best ways to interact with the community, work with existing organizations and community leaders in various neighborhoods and have that office coordinate engagement through various advisory boards.

• Show the city's performance via public dashboards, including a "scorecard" for Young's campaign promises. It was also recommended the administration make that information easy to read for the public, through social media and infographics.

• Bring in new technology, and tech-focused employees from Memphis, to enhance Memphis' workforce and improve user experience with the city's website and online tools.

• Use professionally certified translators to translate all public materials. It was recommended the city have translations for Spanish, Arabic and Vietnamese, along with American Sign Language when needed.

Engaging with the community, partner law enforcement agencies to combat crime

Young's transition team suggested a wide range of initiatives to combat crime, some focused on improving policing efficiencies and others focused on creating a more thorough partnership among the criminal justice system.

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Here is what the team recommended:

• Create and staff an Office of Neighborhood Safety that would aid in intervention and early prevention of crime.

• Support youth development, education and other policies that will reduce the likelihood of turning to crime.

• Shift the culture in the Memphis Police Department to be "a holistic, community-centered, fair, transparent and trusted entity."

Improving technology to fight crime

Young's team found that technology should be a focus in reducing crime in Memphis.

Here is what the team recommended as the city looks to upgrade:

• Create a shared data platform that would collect, store and analyze data from the city's various operations and police activity.

• Establish and enhance a police Crime Technology Engineering Team that partners with the city's information technology office to stay ahead of possible threats. This will also centralize IT services, the report said, across the city to strengthen cyber security.

• Improve the city's camera system to prevent crime and improve solve rates, and times. This includes a pilot study for license plate recognition, a more massive public relations push for its Connect Memphis program and improve the security of all camera equipment.

• Expand the use of drones for tactical and non-tactical uses. This, the recommendation said, could improve response times.

• Get an outside point of view to help the city better connect its technology to the need for safety.

Economic support should come through developing Memphis' workforce, helping local businesses

The "economic development" section of the report focused its recommendations on building up Memphis' workforce and encouraging small businesses to develop in the city.

To do that, the transition team recommended:

• Creating a City of Memphis workforce development council.

• Creating a "small business support network and initiative" to accelerate small business growth, and creating a system to connect businesses through "granted or discount services/resources."

• Create a non-profit group that will organize all public, non-profit and private organizations to develop an economic plan for Memphis.

• Create a vehicle and investment fund to support an improved city transit system.

Collaborate with Memphis-Shelby County Schools for more youth programming

The report's "supporting our youth and young adults" section focused on partnering with Memphis-Shelby County Schools and other community organizations to add after-school programming to support Memphis' young population.

More: This Memphis area hospital is giving high schoolers an inside look at healthcare jobs. Here's how.

These were the recommendations from the transition team:

• Invest in community centers, schools and non-profits to bring after-school, summer and workforce development programs to Memphis' neighborhoods. Transportation should also be funded as needed, the recommendation said.

• Create a workforce initiative that encourages youth to develop career skills, and does not leave people behind. This includes expanding who is eligible for the city's youth job program.

• Incentivize expanded internship opportunities locally. One of those incentives, the report said, should be that businesses that work with the city, or receive a PILOT, are required to have a paid internship program.

• Waive rental fees for high school graduations, which can instead be used for tutoring, standardized test prep and other industry certification fees.

• Support quality early childhood education.

Investing in neighborhoods a priority for Young

Young's transition team also pointed to cleaning up neighborhoods suffering from blight, litter and disinvestment.

The transition team recommended Young's administration:

• Develop a "comprehensive investment and implementation plan" to revitalize neighborhoods, and ensure they are stable after that investment and continue to grow.

• Increase annual funding to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and find additional funding sources.

• Adjust staffing, pay and leadership structure for the City of Memphis Code Enforcement so that it can work more efficiently and employ "proactive approaches" regularly.

• Invest in preventing illegal dumping and create a strategy to combat, and enforce, illegal dumping. The recommendation added that this should include "extensive use" of camera technology.

• Provide more funding for Memphis City Beautiful to address staffing to focus on litter reduction.

• Start a neighborhood-focused community liaison program to connect community groups with residents and facilitate local involvement in strengthening their neighborhoods.

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Improving public transit, infrastructure and sustainability in Memphis

Young's transition team recommended working closely with the Memphis Area Transit Authority, along with investing additional dollars to improve everyday life for Memphians.

The team recommended:

• Increasing funding in the upcoming budget for public transit, and creating a sustainable funding source dedicated specifically to funding public transit.

• Create a transportation department position in the administration in charge of planning public transit projects and improving accountability in Memphis' public transit.

• Place someone in senior leadership in charge of leading a "sustainability task force."

• Assign someone to focus on the city's goal to expand fiber optic cable internet access to the city, and create a public dashboard to track the performance of the project.

• Track the progress of the city's fiber optic cable project to ensure it is meeting the benchmarks set in the contract.

Promote Memphis' art scene and culture

Young's team said the city should establish a division dedicated to preserving and funding Memphis' artistic scene.

Here were the transition team's recommendations:

• Establish an Office of Arts and Culture to bring together and facilitate Memphis' art scene.

• Hire a director, investment manager and creative industries manager for that new office.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Inside Memphis Mayor Paul Young's transition teams plans and goals