In his runoff bid for Tampa City Council's open District 7 seat (which Councilwoman Lisa Montelione is vacating because she ran for State House), Jim Davison had apparently crossed a line or two in Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn's view.
At a debate Wednesday, Davison, an emergency room doctor, expressed willingness to keep on the table the possibility of part of his district, suburban New Tampa, seceding from the rest of the city.
New Tampa is on the northern boundary of the city, and part of it sits outside Tampa proper, falling under the purview of the county. Bordered by Lutz to the west and Wesley Chapel to the north, Morris Bridge Road to the east and USF to the south, it's a once-rural area now consisting of traffic-choked roadways, manicured subdivisions and big-box stores.
Some, like Davison, are concerned that Tampa officials are too focused on the revitalization of downtown Tampa and areas closer in, and that they ignore the needs of those (often well-off people) on the perimeter.
"We were not getting our fair share," he said of the tax money the area contributes versus that which it uses, according to the Tampa Bay Times, adding that the specter of secession could at the very least serve as "leverage" as the city develops its budget. (The Times notes Davison didn't necessarily say he was for seceding.)
The suggestion elicited a Donald Trump joke from his opponent, Luis Viera, who scoffed at the notion of seceding and that next his opponent will probably propose building "a wall and making South Tampa pay for it." Davison bristled at the Trump comparison.
On Thursday, Buckhorn announced he is endorsing Viera, a lawyer.
It's not something he'd usually do, given that he'd have to work with Davison should he win, but the though that there should even be a window of possibility for a New Tampa secession — a miniature Brexit, if you will — is "patently ridiculous," Buckhorn told the Times.
The mayor also cited Davison's position on the ill-fated Go Hillsborough transit sales tax (which the latter opposed in favor of using money that's already in the county budget that wound fund a plan of minimal benefit within Tampa city limits) as a reason for endorsing his opponent.
Like the rest of the Tampa Bay area, New Tampa certainly has its transit woes.
Given that the argument for possible secession is largely speculative, it's unclear whether advocates would seek to join the rest of New Tampa as part of unincorporated Hillsborough or if it would seek incorporation, something only three municipalities in the spacious county have done.
The two-way race for the District 7 council seat (it was a six-way contest until the November 8 election) culminates Tuesday evening. Early voting within the district is underway through Sunday.
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2016.