An era has ended at the Planning Commission as longtime member Bruce P. Cury completed his last term as a Planning Commissioner in September. First appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to a four year term from October 1999 to September 2003, Commissioner Cury served as Member-At-Large from November 2002 to September 2003.

Following a move to Tampa, Mr. Cury was appointed to fill an unexpired term for the City of Tampa in January 2005, and reappointed for two more full terms by the Tampa City Council from October 2005 through September 2013.

Commissioner Cury was elected and served as Planning Commission Chair for an unprecedented five consecutive terms since the Planning Commission was  established in 1959.

Appointed by the City of Tampa, Stephen Benson, AICP, CNU-A, was sworn in as the newest member of the Planning Commission at our October 14 meeting. Only 25 years old, Benson is the first member of the millennial generation to serve on the Planning Commission.

Benson, a fourth generation Tampa native, spent most of his life in Tampa, graduating from Plant High School and attending the University of South Florida for both his undergraduate and graduate studies, earning a B.A. in Geography and his Masters in Urban and Regional Planning. Commissioner Benson is a certified urban planner who specializes in multimodal transportation planning and bicycle and pedestrian safety. Other professional affiliations include serving as Chair of the Florida Young Planners Group of the American Planning Association, on the Urban Land Institute's Young Leader's Group, and on the leadership committee for the Congress for New Urbanism's Tampa Bay Group.

Regarding his inspiration to become a Planning Commissioner, "I felt like there was a need for my generation to have a voice on how the future of our community is going to be planned out." He is most looking forward to "20 years from now, seeing something I contributed to having been implemented and making a positive impact on our community. That is what I'm most excited about."

And, we're excited to see the vision for our community through your eyes. Welcome, Commissioner Benson! 

Tampa Downtown Partnership hosted its Annual Meeting and Luncheon on June 13 at the Tampa Convention Center with the theme, "Downtown: Fast Forward," a look at downtown ten years into the future.  A video by the same title was featured, focusing on the voice of youth, as the future downtown is theirs. Students, young entrepreneurs, along with business and community leaders were among those interviewed.  The buzz phrase that attendees took away from the luncheon and video was "Trees and Trains," part of the vision shared by Olga, a second grader at Rampello Downtown Partnership School. We're sure you're going to love this video, Downtown: Fast Forward, as much as we do! 

The conversations about downtown's future continue at December 4th's Downtown Debriefing Series with a Guest Panel including a group of young, creative entrepreneurs from the startup, events, fashion, dining and tech communities converge.  

Register here. 

• November 28
• November 29
• December 24
• December 25
• January 1, 2014