Tampa City Council Chairman Thomas Scott, who has represented East Tampa for much of his public life over the past 14 years in Tampa and Hillsborough County, today endorsed Bob Buckhorn in the race for Tampa mayor in the Belmont Heights Estates area of East Tampa.
Scott, who finished last with 8.6% of the vote for mayor on Tuesday, said the city needs a leader who can make tough decisions, and he believes Buckhorn is the best qualified to do so. Scott said he had met with Buckhorn's runoff opponent, Rose Ferlita, earlier this week before making his decision on whom to endorse. But he said he was impressed with Buckhorn's specific plans for the area, which is predominantly black in its demographic makeup.
In accepting the endorsement, Buckhorn heaped praise on Scott, who he called a "true warrior on behalf of East Tampa," and a friend for 25 years. He also took a shot at Rose Ferlita when he said, "We cannot react to generalities, we need specifics about where this city needs to go. And the next mayor needs a plan to how to get there."
When asked what his specific ideas he had for the area, Buckhorn said it was important to look at impact fee abatements, density credits and facade programs for small businesses, mentioning that the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency for East Tampa) is an important source of revenue for the area that "needs to be used to energize and invest in economic opportunities", adding that it "shouldn't pay for government buildings."
Because Dick Greco has already said he won't be endorsing, the last man standing on whose opinion is valued amongst the former candidates is Ed Turanchik, who reportedly has met with both Buckhorn and Ferlita and will be making an endorsement in the coming days.
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2011.