Last night at the St. James A&E Church in Tampa's Progress Village area, several of the candidates running for Hillsborough County Commission – including for the time time together all three Democrats running in District 3 – participated in a community forum.
Perhaps the most interesting exchange in the evening came towards the end, when the candidates were asked where they stood on the one cent sales transit tax that voters will decide on in November.
Those 3 candidates in District 3- Kevin White, Les Miller and Valerie Goddard – all said they supported the measure, but emphasized that in addition to the fact that the tax would begin construction of a light rail system in the Tampa Bay area, it would also improve bus service in an area where not everybody has a car.
Les Miller:"The people that need the ridership in our transit system, are the people that live in District 3. Whether its the East side, the West side, the North side, or the South side. They depend on it to get to the doctor's offices, they depend on it for their families, and right now our bus service is suffering tremendously. The plan their putting into place talks about a commuter system that will be throughout the entire County. When you have to wait sometimes, 30-40 minutes for a bus, it will be 15 minutes. It will be shelters where you can actually sit under there and not worry about the heat or getting wet…there's also night service and flex service, something this County has never heard of. Los Angeles has it. You can call for the bus..they will bring it to your door…." Miller said he would be a "watchdog" regarding the tax, to make sure it goes to help the transportation needs of everyone in Hillsborough.
Kevin White clarified the difference between high speed rail and light rail, and said he believes that high speed rail should be connected to Tampa International Airport. He said he supported the one cent sales tax referendum because it would create jobs, including for people in District 3.
"As one of the other panelists was saying, you won't have to wait 40 minutes for a bus, which, waiting out there in today's heat, I wouldn't want to have a young person, let alone a senior citizen waiting out there in 100 degree heat, waiting on a bus for an hour…It's rightfully important that our home town preference and our MB's(minority businesses) and SB's (small businesses) have an opportunity to bid because those are our local people, and they deserve an opportunity," White said.
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.