Bob Henriquez isn't the only new face inside the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's office.
Nereia Cormier, a ubiquitous presence in the Tampa Democratic scene over the past couple of years, worked for Henriquez this summer on his campaign to replace Rob Turner. The government and world history professor at Plant High was so integral to the former Democratic House member's victory in November, he asked her to leave her teaching job to become the director of community relations.
"I am community outreach. I set up events for Bob," the 33-year-old told CL last week at a reception in Ybor City held in her new boss' honor. "After we go through the office in the next six months, we're going to add employee relations to my job description also. Coming from a teaching background, I can do employee trainings as well." (Cormier said one of her tasks during her first day on the job was making the office more accessible to the community, which meant setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts.)
Cormier admits that a year ago she would have a hard time telling you anything about the office where she now works (located on the 15th floor of County Center in Downtown Tampa). But then again, a year ago nobody thought Bob Henriquez (or Ronda Storms for that matter) would have entered a race against 16-year-incumbent Rob Turner, who was never seriously challenged since his upset victory over Democrat Ron Alderman back in 1996.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2013.