There are an extraordinarily large amount of candidates running for office in the seven Tampa City Council seats up for election this winter, and 12 of them, running in districts 4,5 and 7, participated this afternoon in a forum held by the Tampa Tiger Bay Club at Maestro's restaurant at the Straz Center.
In the wake of the explosion of astronomical water bills that thousands of citizens have encountered in recent months, several candidates blasted the Iorio administration for their handling of the situation.
District 5 candidate Frank Reddick, who served as an interim council member back in 2006-2007, said he was surprised at the "arrogance of some employees towards the customers. Having customers staying on the phone line for 45 minutes without answers – that is arrogant."(such comments were made by some citizens Thursday at the city council's weekly meeting). Reddick said the mayor shouldn't tolerate such behavior from city employees.
Standing right next to him was fellow District 5 candidate Stanley Gloster, who said he is one of those city residents with the shockingly high water bills, as he said last month's charges came to a whopping $736. He also criticized Mayor Pam Iorio saying there's nothing wrong on the city's end (which entirely accurate, if you read the mayor's comments to the Tampa Tribune earlier this week). "There is something wrong with the problem that I get a bill that is the average for the whole year," he complained.
But District 4 candidate Dennis Meyers said he didn't think those reactions were appropriate. "I like to take much more reasonable, moderate approach to the issues, " he began. "Let's not swing into blaming everybody," he added, explaining that he understood the issue is being investigated, though he said he is concerned about the new tiered system that's been in effect since last May, where high use customers are now paying higher rates. District 4 candidate Tony DeSisto said flat out he believed the top tiers of that new system are too expensive.
There were some humorous moments during the forum. Currently term limits allow candidates to only serve two terms in a particular seat. However, they can then run for another seat and stay there for another 8 years if they get re-elected (as is the case in Hillsborough County). When one Tiger Bay member called that a "loophole" and asked the candidates collectively if they would commit if elected to not take advantage of that situation, the first candidate to answer, Harry Cohen, refused to pander, saying succinctly, "No," which elicited laughter and some applause (most of the other candidates said they were so focused on the current race they couldn't look that far ahead).
Even though the dominant issue of the 2011 campaign to date, panhandling, was seemingly addressed yesterday in Tampa to a degree when the current city council opted for a "partial" ban on panhandling, the question was asked of the candidates if they were on the council, how would they come down on the issue, District 5 candidate Herold Lord Jr. said he supported a solution to panhandling, but not a ban. "As the next city councilman, I will do the research so that we can find solutions." After one of his opponents in that race, Stanley Gloster, said he also didn't support a ban, Frank Reddick joked, "I'm beginning to like my little brother here." Lynette Tracee Judge and Carrie West, the other candidates in that race, both said they also supported the ban.
District 4 candidate Julie Jenkins said she has researched how cities like San Francisco, Denver and Miami have dealt with the homeless situation with similar ordinances, and says she supports the one that the council approved on Thursday, but said at the same time the face of homelessness has changed. "Women, 53%, and children are out there on the streets, too," she said.
As the other candidates also said they supported banning panhandling, emphasizing the public safety aspect, one audience member in the back of Maestro's barked, "Why we just kill 'em all?"
Only two of the four candidates on the ballot in District 7 were at the event, incumbent Joseph Caetano and Lisa Montelione. When asked by former city councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena what they would do to make the city more sustainable, Caetano, who said earlier in the forum that he will be 81 by the time his term expires if he's re-elected, said he supports green initiatives, but took issue with candidates saying that they can create jobs. "The city cannot create jobs, the only thing they can do is re-zone property, PD's (planned development) and stuff like that that's going to bring industry here…the city has too many positions."
Montelione said the company that she is a business manager for, Rising Force Construction, won an award last year for its sustainable practices. "That means we take care of people, planet and profit." She said there were great opportunities to retrofit city buildings and create ordinance to implement such actions.
South Tampa hair stylist Joe Citro is a familiar presence at Tampa Tiger Bay events, as he currently serves as vice-president of the organization. But instead of wandering through the audience and holding the microphone for members to ask questions, he was answering them on Friday as a candidate in the District 4 race. When asked about transportation in the city, he bemoaned the fact that he knows of employees who work at the Straz Center who cannot take HART buses because they stop running after midnight. He spoke enthusiastically about a light rail system, "if done correctly."
Most of the other candidates said they did support a light rail system, although Lynette Judge said that she didn't support taxing the citizenry to pay for it, however.
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2011.
