Every would-be mayor has a spiel. Listen to the candidates at campaign events, and each will promise to grow the city’s economy, support neighborhoods, fight crime, protect equal rights and civil liberties etc. etc. These are all good goals, and a few of the candidates might even have some decent skills for attaining them.
How many of us judge a mayor’s performance, though, on how good the city feels to us personally?
Do our streets flood every time it rains? Is there trash on the sidewalk? Can we walk the dog without worrying we might get mugged?
No mayor, no matter how brilliant, can afford to ignore these so-called quality-of-life issues — the kind of small-scale complaints that come to City Hall every day. With this in mind, we devised an exercise to see how each of the five major candidates would handle pesky questions from their constituents. We imagined a series of cranky residents accosting Hizzoner (or very possibly, Herhonor) at lunch counters in various parts of the city — you know, someplace where the big cheese can’t just pass the complaint along to an assistant. How would the mayor handle each complaint, and what would she or he say?
Sly dogs always, we also asked a follow-up question designed to gauge how each candidate might balance street-level politics with a more strategic vision. After all, we do want a mayor who can see the big picture, who understands how systemic change is what often makes the little problems go away and who can do more than just schmooze and pander to the person in front of him/her.
(We do want this in a mayor, don’t we?)
Finally, we hoped by printing the candidates’ answers verbatim, we might reveal a little something about their intellects and characters — at least a little more than what their campaign slogans and other rehearsed speeches say. Senior writer Eric Snider wrote the questionnaire and talked to the candidates last week.
Think of our little game as part of a major job interview (we’ll do other things in coming weeks). Read the candidates’ answers, consider the words they choose, then tell us what you think.
Five nights a week, a guy gets off a bus on Nebraska Avenue after working a 2 to midnight shift. Hookers constantly proposition him while he walks home. He's called the cops, but they haven't taken his complaint seriously. How do you respond?
DON ARDELL : My first response would be that I would follow up his concern as I would on any citizen complaint. I'd get particulars, take notes from him. I'll ask the police chief, ask someone designated to that neighborhood — is it true that this is happening? Then I follow up on that, make sure that someone got back to him. I personally would want to know what communications took place to ensure that city employees respond to the citizen's complaint.BOB BUCKHORN: Well, first off (I'd tell him) he's absolutely right — having to tell a visitor take a right at the second hooker is no way to live. Nuisance crimes, quality-of-life crimes, I've been focusing on them for the last eight years. I'd also tell him that over the last eight years I've taken steps to alleviate these nuisance crimes. I initiated "John TV." I've initiated an ordinance that allows the city to impound the vehicles of johns that we arrest. We've impounded more than 4,000 vehicles. But more importantly, I'd tell him I'm going back to basics when I become the mayor. Community policing. The principles of Giuliani in New York: nuisance crimes and qualify-of-life crimes are the top priority, whether it's streetwalkers, street level drug dealing or what have you.
PAM IORIO: (Pause) I would listen to what he had to say, get all the specifics, then I would call the police chief and discuss it with him or her, and I would have the police chief get back in touch with (the resident) to discuss the specifics of the incidents. I would want the police chief and citizen to talk about it — about what occurred, about the lack of response. I'd make sure the police chief let the citizen know all the police efforts in dealing with prostitution in the city. After that conversation, I'd have the police chief get back to me, with recommendation to address the prostitute problem. After that (chuckles), I would call the citizen back, and let him know we had followed up and plan to address the problem in more comprehensive way in the future.CHARLIE MIRANDA: First of all, I think police did a terrible job if that's the case. I'd tell him, "Call me so I can record it. When you finish work — you work, what, 10 hours? — we want to make sure when you get home that no one bothers you. So you call me." I would also go out with police to find out what's going on. I've done that before in different scenarios.FRANK SANCHEZ: In that particular case, I consider trying to clean up Nebraska Avenue as high priority in terms of quality-of-life issues and public safety. I call my chief of police and ask him, "What are we doing to achieve the goal to eliminate streetwalkers on Nebraska? We have that as a stated goal. This is what was told to me by a constituent. It needs to be revisited." I hold my department heads to goals and objectives. One would be to help neighborhoods in and around Nebraska, to reduce and eliminate street walkers. Whatever it is we're doing is not working. We need to revamp (our efforts).
There's a pothole on the street at the end of a constituent's driveway. It keeps getting bigger. He's called the city a number of times to get it fixed, to no avail. How do you respond?
ARDELL: This is a factual situation. I personally would get involved. I'd want to talk to the official responsible for filling potholes in that neighborhood. How long has that pothole been there? Let's get it fixed. Lastly, I'd go out there and make sure it happened.
BUCKHORN: A pothole that you hit twice a day does more to affect your quality of life than the two times you're going to the convention center. We started this campaign talking about neighborhoods and we'll end it talking about neighborhoods. One of my proposals is a mayor's action center, with a single number, a single point of contact, for all constituent complaints. When a constituent calls, they're assigned a number and we can track the complaint through the system. There will be specific time frames assigned to each (complaint) — with potholes, we will deliver a 48 hour to three-day response time, guaranteed. People will be held accountable. The short answer (to the citizen) is, "Give me the location. I'm going to have it done in two days."
IORIO: Mr. X is going to very pleased with my administration. I'm going to fill as many potholes as possible. The first thing I'm going to do when I get in, I'm going to evaluate how we deliver every city service with every department. I'm going to look at how much it costs us to deliver the services compared to other cities of similar size and best-practices cities. And we are going to analyze how many potholes we're currently filling with how much manpower, how much it's costing. Can we do a better job, even with existing resources? There is always in any city a list of problems in the infrastructure, a list of pothole needs. There will be a list of how long they've been waiting to be filled. This particular citizen is going to have to see where his pothole fits into the scheme of things. If it's a pothole along a road where there a lot of cars, and it's a safety issue, we'll make it a priority.
MIRANDA: If he's got a pothole, there's a difference between that and a sinkhole. If it's getting bigger, it's probably a sinkhole.
Well, it's a pain in the ass and shouldn't be there. It only takes minute or so to fix, if it hasn't broken through into the sand area. That, I would call (the appropriate) department and say, "Listen when you're in the area, stop buy for a minute and fix that damn thing." By the way, I apparently went to the wrong place at lunch (laughs). What you're telling me happens to me at least once a week.
SANCHEZ: I get on my cell phone right then and call my public works department and have someone go out there and fix it that afternoon.
A woman's 16-year-old daughter has been sneaking out of the house to attend all-night raves held at different warehouses around the city. She's complained to the police, who say they don't know where the raves are. She doesn't know what to do. How do you respond?
ARDELL: Since the police don't know, I sure as hell don't. I would get specific info and offer some assistance. The complications in this case are, unlike being hassled by prostitutes, in this case I'm not sure there's anything other than a person not being happy with a daughter's behavior. Are raves still illegal? If she's going to a warehouse, that's not necessarily a crime as I see it. I'd look into it, but in this case there's less urgency.
BUCKHORN: I would tell her that I was the one that initiated to shut down the rave industry here in Tampa. Kids were dying. The rave culture encourages drug use as part of the experience. We are going to set up two special task forces at TPD — one dealing with club drugs; it's a huge problem. And the other dealing with crystal meth; it has the ability to devastate the urban core if it becomes the drug of choice. Currently it's not, but it could become crack on steroids. We'll go after club drugs hard. Thirdly, I would tell her if you know the location (of the raves), let me know. I have been to enough of these rave clubs to know what goes on there. It's dangerous for juveniles. Government doesn't raise kids, but we do have a responsibility to create an environment that's safe for them.
IORIO: Well (sigh, chuckle). (Your first scenario) was about someone specifically unhappy with the police department. This is a different situation. Another issue here is the mother making sure her daughter is not sneaking out at night. That's the part of it I can't control. I'm always respectful of people's concerns; I'm the mother of a teenager, I understand the difficulties. I would let the police department know I've received a complaint about raves. That should be part of the of overall police concerns in the city, part of their agenda. I don't think one complaint is going to prompt them to do anything differently. Part of their agenda is to be concerned about underage drinking and any other illegal activity that could be going on. With that sort of complaint, as mayor I'm a little bit limited in what I can do.
MIRANDA: I had an incident almost like that two months ago. A lady called, or wrote a letter, about a rave with underage alcohol. First of all, government can't be everything for everybody. I don't know the situation of the family — if she's the only daughter, the oldest daughter, if they've been at odds. Parenting belongs to parents, not the government. Once she leaves the house, it becomes a governmental problem — about her doing something that may not be legal. We should review that, find out where the raves are at. I hope that the police — but I don't know — I hope they make regular rounds of city, looking for this type of activity.
SANCHEZ: I would focus on developing activities, alternative activities, not just for this woman's child but for all kids. I'd be working with nonprofits, and with our school systems, to find alternative activities that her child would find appealing and interesting, and perhaps give her mom more comfort that her child is not somewhere at risk of getting in trouble.
This is a real scenario: Angelica Diaz, who owns Viva La Frida restaurant, has rental property on Florida Avenue that she says she's xeriscaped with native plants. The city has cited her for an overgrown lawn, instructing her to 'mow" or 'eliminate" it. How do you respond?
ARDELL: I don't think the mayor is going to handle questions like that. There must be a nuisance abatement group dealing with aesthetics in neighborhoods. As mayor, I may have opinions on aesthetics, but I don't see where it's the mayor's business. She's in violation of some kind of code. Her responsibility is to address the people who monitor those codes. Otherwise, the mayor's not going to get anything done. (The mayor must have) vision, passion, not go around micromanaging the city's complaints. No wonder a lot of people don't run for mayor (chuckles).
BUCKHORN: I think if we're going to encourage people to use xeriscaping, we also have to adapt our codes to recognize it, assuming that it's not a nuisance and not completely overgrown. If it's natural flora and fauna, it doesn't mean she can let it grow 10 feet tall. Ultimately, we're all responsible for a community standard. We've got to change our culture of water consumption and recognize xeriscaping.
IORIO: That's the easiest one. I'd call the head of code enforcement and say, "What's going on with this lot on such-and-such a property? It's xeriscaped and supposed to look overgrown. We need to make sure our inspectors are trained to discern the difference between weeds and xeriscaping." He'd say "yes," and we'd do away with the citation. I'd probably drive by and take a look at it, to make sure I'm not just taking someone's word about it.
MIRANDA: Well, if a city inspector doesn't know what xeriscape is — the native plants, the goofy looking things, they don't take any water, they don't die. … Unless she has grass and weeds that are high; there's a difference. First of all, I know who would know if those plants are native or not. You send someone out there that knows those types of plants, someone in the water department to take a look. Maybe they're not, maybe they are. Maybe it's just scrub. Then whatever side it falls on. If its xeriscaped, that ends it right there. We give awards for xeriscaping.
SANCHEZ: Angelica's a dear friend and major supporter of my campaign. First, I would congratulate her for using landscaping techniques that reduce water usage. Then I would bring in the department that cited her and do a review of policies to see if they're consistent with other goals that we have with the city, such as water conservation — to see if we can meet both goals of making nicely landscaped property with our goals of water conservation. I wouldn't assume that city rules are the correct ones. One concern I have with city government is that there are a number of "silos" that don't necessarily interact with one another. The water department would probably be delighted that she's using techniques to conserve water. The code enforcement department has certain rules and wants to maintain certain levels of attractiveness. Part of it is better communication among various departments. I would encourage citizens to use xeriscaping, and we need to have code enforcement. I'd come up with polices that meet our needs to maintain a level of aesthetic, while still achieving water conservation.
As mayor, how do you balance your concern for individual quality-of-life issues with bigger-picture governing.
ARDELL: My philosophy is pretty libertarian; I'm big on freedoms. I don't want to see the city be a place for codes and rules and ordinances and other limitations that inhibit people's ability to do what they bloody like. I really want to see the city and the people think about larger issues. I want to inspire people to take better care of themselves, pursue big ideas, national ideas, questions of war and peace, freedom over how we deal with problems like abortion, the right of consenting adults to engage in pleasures that may be at odds with society.
If I were to run into the mayor, I would want to talk to him about possibilities. As mayor, I would hope people would want to talk with me about larger issues that transcend your front yard. People do care about these things, but maybe there's someone other than the mayor to talk to.
I don't see where the mayor takes his office to the community for the primary purpose of taking complaints. A direct line to mayor is not practical, in my view. As mayor, I'd focus my energies on creating a well city that's fit, fun, free and functional.
If I run into someone talking about prostitutes, I might try and talk to that person about his lifestyle, to see if it has consequence and meaning. Is he an unhappy individual? Maybe I could persuade him to join a community center, to work on relationship skills, refer him to a city program, to find new directions.
BUCKHORN: I think the answer is probably twofold: The New York experience has shown that with particular quality-of-life crimes, if you don't stop them early, don't focus on them early, they become much bigger issues down the road. Ultimately, we all go home tonight to neighborhoods, not to a convention center. The No. 1 priority is that the basic building blocks of the city (neighborhoods) are intact.
The other issue as mayor is equally as important but on a parallel path: how we grow the economy, add value to the tax rolls — the macro issues — because you can't do the micro issues of you don't have economy to pay for the city's debt load and also create wealth, a level of affluence, a standard of living. They are separate but parallel paths. Here's an analogy: You don't put an addition on a house when roof leaks. You fix the fundamentals first.
As I drive through the city, I write down locations that need fixing. The hallmark of my time here is to be, No. 1, accessible, and, No. 2, to be responsible. If I can create a culture of customer service that permeates the entire city. … It's a priority.
I'm going to establish a deputy mayor for neighborhoods and community empowerment. There's never been one. Neighborhoods and those issues are going to be elevated for the first time and given the stature they deserve. If we create that culture, with the administration responding to the priorities of the people who elected me, it'll trickle all the way down to the every-day city employee.
IORIO: You know you have to have the skills to be able to do that. As Supervisor of Elections, I had to deal with bigger picture of touch screens and also pick up the phone and handle problems about the parking lot at Precinct 43 being unpaved. I'm used to both — the big picture and paying attention to detail. You've got to have the personality to effectively deal with both. The key to all of this is to assemble a team that thinks like you, with every city department head committed to excellence. So when they get a call from the mayor about a small problem, it can't be, "Oh boy, here we go again." I'd keep key department directors and all employees focused on the same mission: excellence in public service.
I can't give you any percentage, but I've said in this campaign that this is a town of personal politics. And I tell you that's just not for campaigning. In order to be an effective mayor you've got to be out in the community. You also have to work in meetings and on attracting new businesses and ceremonial things. I enjoy being with people and interacting. This is a personal town, and I think to be a very successful mayor you need to be out and about where people feel they can just come up to you. A staff meeting is not always the best place to hear you're doing something wrong. Out in the community, people will let you know. It's great way to get feedback.
MIRANDA: Let me put it this way: I've always had two or three jobs my whole life. One (job) stretching to two don't mean a damn thing to me. I managed a restaurant, did city hall and was a steward at a race track. One year, the only day I had off was Easter. I did three jobs. That ain't gonna worry me one bit. You always have time. Time is precious, but if you use time right, mark the calendar — let's say you start at 9 in the morning and see four, five or six of these problems; you come back to the office from 11 to 1 for two or three appointments.
Not everybody has to see the mayor that wants to see the mayor. If you're coming in to BS, see me at the house. There's a need to balance time, use its appropriately for what's best for city.
The big picture things usually don't come to mayor's office until the end, or maybe, very briefly, in the beginning. That's the trade-off. I'd rather delegate those (big issues) and take care of the needs of the people that elected me. Most of the people that come in with something (big), half of 'em don't even live in Tampa.
SANCHEZ If you hire bright, talented people, give them a set of core values, clear objectives, which includes being customer-driven and responsive, then I should receive few complaints. When I'm in the streets and do get a complaint, the system should work. A call is received — (I'd instruct staff to) "Please look into it." I'd model this from the top, making sure department heads and immediate senior staff, on down the line, understand those values and live them.
My management style would be, if a problem's brought to my attention I'm going to take action. I may not go fill the pothole myself, but I will report it to the appropriate department and am going to want to know it's been done. I don't know if I can give you an exact percentage about time (allocation), but I'm not going to pass it on and hope it gets done. I'll want to know (it's been solved).
But I don't see my role as a go-to guy with citizens. I want to be out and about, but for different reasons. If city hall is working, people shouldn't have to call me. I intend to literally spend one full working day one day a week outside my office, at a firehouse or rec center or something. Part of what I believe in is management by walking around. I fully intend to get reports and briefings by department staff, but I also want to hear from citizens, the rank and file. And there's no better way than to be out there.
Contact Senior Writer Eric Snider at 813-248-8888, ext. 14, or via e-mail at snider@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2003.