TAMPA, Fla. — Neighbors in West Tampa remain frustrated with TECO and the city over street lights they thought would be installed earlier this year.
"If they really were concerned, and the money's already there, why ain't it been done?" said Joe Robinson, West Tampa native and chair of the West Tampa Community Advisory Council.
A TECO spokesperson said the area should get additional lights by the end of the year as part of the company’s five-year LED conversion program.
However, that’s an unsatisfactory answer to Robinson, after officials said additional LED lights around West Tampa would be added in early 2019.
"It's very frustrating. It's like, ‘we heard you, but we're going to ignore you,’ because they don't have any pressure on them. It's not a priority. If it was a priority, it would have been done,” he said.
TECO also partners with the city of Tampa on what’s called the “Bright Lights, Safe Nights” program. According to the city’s website, the program was implemented in 2012, and budgeted more than $2 million over a period of five years to add new street lights “targeting locations in zones with high crime or high crash rates.”
“So it ain't about money, it's about getting the priority to do it,” Robinson said. “And we don't feel like we are getting priority. We feel like we just another neighborhood that ain't Davis Islands or Bayshore Boulevard. I guarantee you they are getting their lights.”
There has been some new lighting installed in the area, but Robinson said it’s hardly enough to help combat crime in an effective way.
“It's an issue of safety,” Robinson said. “Does TECO care about the safety of the black community in West Tampa and the Hispanic community? I don't think so.”
People can find more information on the LED conversion project and when new lights could be coming to your neighborhood here.
Emerald Morrow is a reporter with 10News WTSP. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@wtsp.com.
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