PROGRESS VILLAGE, Fla. — Some people spent their Tuesday night speaking out at a community town hall meeting at the Emanuel P. Johnson Recreation Center.
The one-stop shop allowed folks to learn about county services and the people who provide them.
It also gave them a chance to share concerns directly with them—and it's that real-time feedback that Commissioner Gwen Myers said was the goal of the event.
"It feels good as a leader because we're listening to them and how can we address their concerns," she said.
In the vein of "being heard," we also checked in with the county on the status of construction at Progress Village Park.
Last October, we first shared community concerns about a lack of information about that project and their requests for a multi-use community center there.
The county let us know that construction is in full swing and added that the request for a community center at that location has been heard.
"We do know that the community has asked for the possibility of us returning to that location, and we'll continue to look at our priorities. We're always looking at areas throughout the county to determine where we can best utilize our resources," said Rick Valdez with Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation.
The president of the Progress Village Civic Council, Twanda Bradley, told ABC Action News that they're grateful to know the county is listening.
She added they're looking forward to working with the county on another major project. It's called Grow My Giving Mobile Fresh Market—which provides fresh food to people twice a month.
And she said the change is helping people's pockets and health.
"We save the money, or the individual saves money and [is] getting fresh produce in their household to put into their bodies," she said.
