Latest news with #ReeseGoad
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tallahassee ranked in top 20 'Best Run Cities in America' by WalletHub
The city of Tallahassee has been ranked among the top 20 "best-run cities in America," according to Wallethub. In a press release from the city, the news comes following the city being named a finalist for the 2025 All-American City Award. "Thanks to our dedicated and forward-thinking professional City Manager, we continue to be recognized as one of the best places to live, work and play in the country," Mayor John E. Dailey said as part of the press release. "Our strategic, focused approach is setting the standard by which other cities aspire and yielding results for our community." Reese Goad also provided comment in recognition of the ranking: "I'm thrilled to see our City's delivery of best-in-class services through efficient budgeting, process improvements and innovative solutions earn Tallahassee a spot among the best-run cities in the country, and the best in Florida." "This recognition is a testament to the high-quality of our services – from parks and planning to utilities and public safety – and the foundation they provide for our unparalleled quality of life," Goad added. In order to receive the ranking, WalletHub, a personal finance company based in Miami, compared the quality of services residents receive against the city's total budget of 148 of the largest cities in the nation. From there, a 'Quality of Services' score made up of 36 metrics was created, and these metrics were then measured against each city's budget per person in order to determine which were managed the best. WalletHub regularly analyzes a wide variety of topics spanning from city management, to the best credit card rewards programs and more. "The best-run cities in America use their budgets most effectively to provide high-quality financial security, education, health, safety and transportation to their residents. Many of the top cities also have a very low amount of outstanding government debt per capita, which can prevent financial troubles in the future," said Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst. Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@ and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee ranked in top 20 'Best Run Cities in America' by WalletHub
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
An All-America City three-peat: Tallahassee 'on the move' with latest designation
The City of Tallahassee is officially a three-time All-America City. A delegation of local leaders took home the honor Sunday night after a high-energy presentation to the National Civic League conference in Denver earlier in the day. Twenty cities, ranging from Delray Beach, Fla., to Memphis, Tenn., to Austin, Texas, vied for only ten spots as an All-America City. It was a nailbiter night with Tallahassee announced as the final All-America City in the list of ten. "This community is investing in its parks," the announcer said. "This community is planning for a clean and renewable future. I'm not sure we'll be able to hear ... this magnetic city." With that, a roar went up from the audience and they chanted "Hey Tallahassee." The local delegation ascended to the stage with hugs and high fives. "We did it, We are bringing it home," Mayor John Dailey said as he hailed City Manager Reese Goad as "the best city manager anybody could work with." "You and your team are absolutely amazing." This is the third time the city has emerged victorious, having gone on to win in 1999 and 2015. The win also means Tallahassee joins an elite collection of cities that have also celebrated a three-peat, including Shreveport, La., Bloomington, Ind., Boston, Mass., Asheville, N.C., Fort Worth, Tex., and Cincinnati, Ohio. To be named an all-American city this year, cities had to show examples of "strengthening environmental sustainability through inclusive community engagement." In this year's application and presentation, the city highlighted "key community-driven initiatives" such as the Southside Action Plan, the expansion of the park system to 100 parks and the Clean Energy Plan. After marching in to the chant of "Hey Tallahassee," the delegation highlighted the three points during their presentation, which was created to emulate a tonight show format with Dailey as the host of "Capital City Tonight." 'For 200 years we have been going strong,' Dailey shouted before a hype video rolled to highlight Tallahassee landmarks and achievements. One by one, the city touted its key initiatives. "We were also the first city in Florida to power all the city municipality buildings with our solar energy," Commissioner Jack Porter said. The delegation was made up of city administrators, volunteers and advocates, including Police Chief Lawrence Revell, morning show radio host Greg Tish and southside community organizer Talethia Edwards. Four of the five city elected leaders were part of the delegation with only Commissioner Jeremy Matlow not in attendance. While trumpeting plans to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050, officials noted that over 90 percent of residents live in a ten minute walk of a park or greenspace. Dailey ended the presentation declaring Tallahassee as a place 'where history, nature and innovation truly come together with a little southern charm as well.' The School of Arts & Sciences middle school rock band Tallahassee Routes closed the presentation out to thunderous applause. Tallahassee also won the organization's social media award for best use of the platform to promote the All-America effort. The city did numerous posts and videos highlighting the city's success and plans for the Denver presentation. The latest accolades come as Tallahassee has seen a string of national recognitions that has led Dailey to proclaim that "Tallahassee is on the move." Florida's capital city was recently recognized by HGTV as one of the top 20 mid-size cities in the United States after landing on the same list in 2023. The city was also recently ranked among the top 20 "best-run cities in America," according to Wallethub. A citywide celebration of the All-America win is expected in the weeks ahead. (The winners are in bold) Akron, Ohio Albuquerque, New Mexico Austin, Texas Carrboro, North Carolina Chelsea, Massachusetts Delray Beach, Florida Denver, Colorado Fort Collins, Colorado Hampton, Virginia Jacksonville, North Carolina Kinston, North Carolina Leominster, Massachusetts Memphis, Tennessee Petaluma, California Port St. Lucie, Florida Seattle, Washington Snyder, Texas Statesboro, Georgia Tallahassee, Florida Western Riverside Region, California This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee wins All-America City honors for third time
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
An All-America City three-peat: Tallahassee 'on the move' with latest designation
The City of Tallahassee is officially a three-time All-America City. A delegation of local leaders took home the honor Sunday night after a high-energy presentation to the National Civic League conference in Denver earlier in the day. Twenty cities, ranging from Delray Beach, Fla., to Memphis, Tenn., to Austin, Texas, vied for only ten spots as an All-America City. It was a nailbiter night with Tallahassee announced as the final All-America City in the list of ten. "This community is investing in its parks," the announcer said. "This community is planning for a clean and renewable future. I'm not sure we'll be able to hear ... this magnetic city." With that, a roar went up from the audience and they chanted "Hey Tallahassee." The local delegation ascended to the stage with hugs and high fives. "We did it, We are bringing it home," Mayor John Dailey said as he hailed City Manager Reese Goad as "the best city manager anybody could work with." "You and your team are absolutely amazing." This is the third time the city has emerged victorious, having gone on to win in 1999 and 2015. The win also means Tallahassee joins an elite collection of cities that have also celebrated a three-peat, including Shreveport, La., Bloomington, Ind., Boston, Mass., Asheville, N.C., Fort Worth, Tex., and Cincinnati, Ohio. To be named an all-American city this year, cities had to show examples of "strengthening environmental sustainability through inclusive community engagement." In this year's application and presentation, the city highlighted "key community-driven initiatives" such as the Southside Action Plan, the expansion of the park system to 100 parks and the Clean Energy Plan. After marching in to the chant of "Hey Tallahassee," the delegation highlighted the three points during their presentation, which was created to emulate a tonight show format with Dailey as the host of "Capital City Tonight." 'For 200 years we have been going strong,' Dailey shouted before a hype video rolled to highlight Tallahassee landmarks and achievements. One by one, the city touted its key initiatives. "We were also the first city in Florida to power all the city municipality buildings with our solar energy," Commissioner Jack Porter said. The delegation was made up of city administrators, volunteers and advocates, including Police Chief Lawrence Revell, morning show radio host Greg Tish and southside community organizer Talethia Edwards. Four of the five city elected leaders were part of the delegation with only Commissioner Jeremy Matlow not in attendance. While trumpeting plans to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050, officials noted that over 90 percent of residents live in a ten minute walk of a park or greenspace. Dailey ended the presentation declaring Tallahassee as a place 'where history, nature and innovation truly come together with a little southern charm as well.' The School of Arts & Sciences middle school rock band Tallahassee Routes closed the presentation out to thunderous applause. Tallahassee also won the organization's social media award for best use of the platform to promote the All-America effort. The city did numerous posts and videos highlighting the city's success and plans for the Denver presentation. The latest accolades come as Tallahassee has seen a string of national recognitions that has led Dailey to proclaim that "Tallahassee is on the move." Florida's capital city was recently recognized by HGTV as one of the top 20 mid-size cities in the United States after landing on the same list in 2023. The city was also recently ranked among the top 20 "best-run cities in America," according to Wallethub. A citywide celebration of the All-America win is expected in the weeks ahead. (The winners are in bold) Akron, Ohio Albuquerque, New Mexico Austin, Texas Carrboro, North Carolina Chelsea, Massachusetts Delray Beach, Florida Denver, Colorado Fort Collins, Colorado Hampton, Virginia Jacksonville, North Carolina Kinston, North Carolina Leominster, Massachusetts Memphis, Tennessee Petaluma, California Port St. Lucie, Florida Seattle, Washington Snyder, Texas Statesboro, Georgia Tallahassee, Florida Western Riverside Region, California This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee wins All-America City honors for third time
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Site of new TPD headquarters still bare, but city says to expect 'verticality' soon
The construction site of the new Tallahassee Police Department headquarters is still barren, but City Manager Reese Goad said the cleared land will start to see activity soon. A 216,000 square-foot facility is slowly underway, and Goad said the city is expecting to see "verticality" in August or September. 'I can't wait," Goad said. The project was launched in 2018 and slated to finish this year, but progress on the project has been pushed back roughly a year with "substantial completion" expected to be sometime in late 2026. But once it's complete, it'll be a great asset to TPD, Goad said. The new headquarters will be fully equipped with a firearm training facility, classroom space, fleet storage and more. Building the foundation takes some time, he said, and work has been done to landscape the property and address stormwater facilities. Goad said the cost of the project has remained the same since the last time the price tag was hiked. Last April, estimated costs for the new facility it rose by about $75 million, totaling around $135 million – more than double the projected price from 2020. At the time, Goad attributed the rising cost of the new HQ to inflation and an expensive post-COVID construction market, as previously reported. The expensive facility has ruffled feathers in the community and local leadership as several commissioners feel taxpayer dollars are better spent elsewhere. During a May 1 town hall with both city and county commissioners present, City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow expressed his disapproval of the cost of TPD's new home. He said the city's investment priorities are out of sort by spending "nearly in excess of $160 million on a new police facility," instead of redirecting funds to help save the city's art district, Railroad Square, which was devastated by tornadoes last year. "I think that's exorbitant, and I think we need to scale that back and look at where we're investing in our neighborhoods, where we're investing in arts and where we're investing in culture that brings people to our community and keeps people in our community," he said. Local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@ Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: New Tallahassee Police headquarters expecting progress this fall
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tallahassee utility customers stunned by high electric bills after rare Florida snowfall
The once-in-a-lifetime winter storm dazzled north Florida last month, but the awestruck wonder thawed almost as quickly as the snow did when Tallahassee residents received their monthly electric bill. Unaccustomed to the cold, many had their heaters working double time last month. Now, it's time to pay up. "During that week, we saw very, very different temperatures, abnormally cold temperatures," City Manager Reese Goad said during the city's latest budget hearing. "When we see that, usage goes up." Residents bantered back and forth on social media, mostly shocked about the steep increase. Many said their bills went up by $100 to $200. Some said theirs even doubled. "I about fell out of my chair when I got mine," one person said. "Mine is abnormally high every single month lol," another person said. Goad told the Tallahassee Democrat that the city saw around a 20% increase in usage last month due to the persistent, sub-freezing temperatures. Tallahassee utilities almost hit a "new all-time peak demand," he said, and would have done so had schools been in session. But even with the extreme weather, sales have remained fairly flat, Goad said. During the budget hearing, he told city commissioners that city staff is sensitive to the high bills and that they are working with customers if they need help. The city is creating payment plans with customers to soften the blow, and it works out, Goad said, because as winter turns into spring, usage starts to go back down, as will the bills. "Good news is, the weather's moderated, which goes back the other direction and overall consumption will start to balance," he said. But even with the warmer weather and some relief in sight, people are still in sticker shock. "My bill has never been this high ever," one person said. Local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@ Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee snow storm's bite lingers as customers get utility bills
