Nearly all Tampa City Council candidates unite against mayor’s ‘PURE’ wastewater plan

From a crowded stage in a sold-out ballroom, incumbent Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson told politicos that conflict among council members and the division between city council and Mayor Jane Castor are overblown by the media and pushed by the city’s communication department.

His statement on Friday afternoon was in response to a member of Tampa’s Tiger Bay Club, who alleged that citizens have been disappointed with decorum in city hall.

“We sit there for 12, 14, 16 hour days and you might see a two-minute dispute over 50 meetings a year that last 12 or 14 hours,” he said. “City council gets along very well. What I encourage you to do is look at how we treat each other at events like this, and look at how we talk to each other.”

Carlson added that he recently had a meeting with Castor’s chief of staff to ask what council can do to better get along with the mayor.

“I said for the 10th time: ‘Tell me what we can do to get along with each other. I'm going to be completely committed after I win to make sure we all get along,” he explained.

The response drew a big applause at The Cuban Club in Ybor City, and even prompted Carlson’s opponent in the District 4 race to agree with him.

“Some of this is overblown,” Blake Casper, who literally had to fly in to file his council paperwork in the 11th hour, said. “We do have to address differences, right? Just like in this room, right? We're not going to agree on everything.” That wasn’t all Casper and Carlson agreed on. Both made clear their positions against the Castor administration’s “PURE” drinking water plan.

Last fall, Tampa City Council called for a “radical restart” on the mayor’s controversial proposal to divert treated wastewater to the Hillsborough River and potentially use it to augment the city’s drinking supply.

Proponents of the plan said the city was under pressure to comply with Florida Senate Bill 64, which requires municipalities to implement new wastewater procedures by Jan. 1, 2028. But last December, Charlie Frago reported that it was actually lobbyists for the City of Tampa who helped craft that very legislation.

“I’m against toilet for tap,” Casper said, siding with most of the nine candidates at the forum, running for seats in Districts 4, 5 and 6.

Nicole Payne, Hoyt Prindle, Rick Fifer—all candidates for District 6—all opposed PURE, along with Councilman Orlando Gudes, who is running for re-election in District 5. Only Charlie Miranda—now running in District 6 after terming out in District 2—did not explicitly disapprove of PURE.

Tyler Barrett, running in District 6, said he was not 100% ready to speak on PURE, but promised to continue doing his homework. Gwendolyn Henderson—who switched from the District 3 race to District 5 after Jeffrey Rhodes dropped out—said she, too, would need more information.

The rest of the nearly hour-long forum, however, did shed light on discrepancies between the candidates who hope to be sworn into Tampa City Council this summer.

Most had different takes on what the mayor’s done well.

Some praised her diverse staff, with Carlson lauding Castor’s hiring of Development & Economic Opportunity Nicole Travis. Prindle appreciated her handling of COVID in its early stages. Barrett lauded the mayor’s effort on sustainability. Gudes approved of how she came around to helping East Tampa.
Casper, a developer and McDonald’s heir who gave a shitload of money to Ron DeSantis, agreed with the mayor’s stance against letting voters decide on charter amendments in the upcoming election.

“I believe in a strong mayor and that council needs to stay in its lane,” he said, eliciting one cheer, then a chorus of boos as he tried to find something he didn’t agree with the mayor on.

“This isn't a disagreement, but I think getting the right chief and in that position this time is something that I've been very focused on,” Casper added, alluding to disgraced chief Mary O’Connor, who was selected by Castor despite outcry from the community.

Asked by a Tiger Bay member about what issues the candidates disagree with the mayor on, Henderson stopped short of a disagreement  but mentioned the challenging communication surrounding bidding for the City Center at Hannah Avenue project, which ballooned from $6.2 million to over $100 million without a public bid.

"If I got a face to face with the mayor, I would want to know what happened there," Henderson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in a phone call after the forum.

Gudes mentioned his disagreement with the mayor over charter amendments, citing interpretation of the city’s constitution and the way it allocates power. Last month, Tampa city council rejected four of five controversial Castor vetoes that attempted to prevent voters from making changes to the charter.

“It’s not a matter of this council trying to be against a strong mayor form of government,” Gudes said. “The government has to be transparent for all people.”
Payne said she also disagreed with the mayor’s veto over sending proposed charter changes to voters.

“I believe that you should have a strong city council that supports the people and is a check and balance for the council and also for the administration,” Payne added. “I don't believe that we should have an administration that is the voice of one. The administration should reflect the voice of many.”

Prindle returned to his opposition of PURE.

“Rarely ever have I seen a project that is supported by almost no one in the community be so heavily pushed for and that's a little bit troubling,” Prindle said. “And so I appreciate the members of city council who have shown leadership to provide appropriate checks and balances to make sure that we're not injecting forever chemicals into our aquifer.”

Miranda contended that he does not “agree or disagree with the mayor,” adding that he votes “the way I feel is best for the public.”

He did bring up the City Center at Hannah project and asked anybody who’s a renter to raise their hand.

“If you don’t build that, you’re going to be renting for the rest of your life… and you’re never gonna get anything done right,” Miranda said as he started on a trademark screed that prematurely ended when the mic inadvertently cut out.

And while some candidates on the forum stage tried to downplay the checks and balances, or perceived power struggles between Tampa’s executive and legislative branch, the most notable answers in Friday’s Tampa Tiger Bay forum did center around council’s relationship with the mayor’s office.

Gudes went back to being a ball coach, saying that you have to respect everybody on the field, even when there’s disagreements. He talked about some of the compromises he’s made on his votes, but added that “you also have to have leadership” and bring your experience to the table to render support for ideas.

“We're not always going to agree with the mayor, and that's not our job to always agree with the mayor,” Gudes said. “Our job is to question what goes on in the city. Our job is to question the money in this city.”

Barrett, who recently was the victim of anti-LGBTQ verbal attacks and stalking on the campaign trail, agreed that he believes in compromise, adding that, “I also believe you have to stand for something.”

He pointed to his background in community organizing and asked the room to look up the meaning of the word “agitation.”

“Being an agitator doesn't mean being dysfunctional or confrontational. It means not being afraid to ask the hard questions that people are afraid to talk about,” he said.

While there’s still a lot to learn before the Tampa Municipal Election wraps on March 7, this talk during this latest forum was a pretty good start.