The interregnum between Christmas and New Years is considered to be a virtual dead zone for local news, but luckily, there are always people who think they can make a difference in our communities. Several stepped up over the past week to announce their goals, and provide needed fodder for political reporters in town.
Though I'm late to the news, in the past 10 days we've had Linda Saul-Sena announce her candidacy for Hillsborough County Commission (against Republican Ken Hagan), Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee Chair Pat Kemp challenge Janet Cruz-Rifkin for the Florida House District 58 seat special election, and former state legislator Sara Romeo announce she'll run for City Council next year in the state that will be vacated by term-limited Gwen Miller in the city wide District 1 seat.
We'll have stories on Saul-Sena and Kemp's campaigns next week, but first, Sara Romeo.
She served in the Florida House for one term(2000 thru 2002) representing parts of Tampa and Hillsborough County, but can hardly be accused of being a career politician.
She's the former head of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, and currently is the Executive Director of Tampa Crossroads, a non profit social service agency that provides counseling for those who have substance abuse or traumatic issues confronting them. "We help men and women get their lives back in order," is how she describes it.
The organization has been working recently with homeless female veterans on a program called The Athena Project.
On the issue of homelessness, Romeo thinks the city of Tampa can do better. "I think we have a long way to go," she says. "We have one of the largest homeless populations in the state of Florida. It's growing daily. "
Another part of local government that she says can be improved is on the permitting process. Romeo lives in the Lowry Park Zoo area of Tampa, somewhat north of Seminole Heights, but is sympathetic to such complaints in that neighborhood, saying addressing those issues would be a "huge focus" for her.
She says a key question is "how we can redevelop in a sustainable way in the future? It's very stressful and very difficult to walk through a permitting process. We need to make that friendlier and simplify that."
Another issue that is big for Romeo is mass transit, and how Tampa connects to other parts of the Bay area. She notes how the Tampa/St. Pete area consistently ranks among the worst areas in the country when it comes to pedestrian safety, saying, "I've traveled to other cities, and notice how nice it is to walk around, and and we don’t do that very well here in Tampa."
We'll have sometime before we have to contend with Romeo's chances in the City Council race. It won't take place until March of 2011.
This article appears in Dec 30, 2009 – Jan 5, 2010.