Scherwin Henry has been very active in the redevelopment of East Gainesville since he was a member of the East Gainesville Task Force over a decade ago.

He says back then, there were no city commissioners who took charge to make sure the plans were followed through, and now that he's an elected official, he's taking the reins to make sure it doesn't happen again.

But he adds, before they can move forward, they need to take a look back at their past.

On Monday, he met with City Manager Russ Blackburn to discuss what they learned from the East Gainesville Action Plan created back in 1997, and discussed how they can apply those lessons to their newest plan.

"I think it will be most important to actually take the best action steps out of each plan and combine them to essentially achieve what we would like to achieve," said Henry.

Despite his criticism of past commissions, Henry says he is pleased with the progress the city is making.

Just last week, the commission unanimously approved the plan to build a 206,000 square foot Walmart on Waldo Road, and they also have plans to revamp Kennedy Homes.

But he also warns that they need to stay on top of things so that they can continue to make progress.

"What is most important is there are other extraneous steps that need to be taken to complete what's already going on there as well. We do need to make sure we are doing all we can to encourage business developments in East Gainesville. We also need to look at the infrastructure in the neighborhoods also."

Commissioner Henry would also like to see improvements in recreation, community, and cultural development in the area.