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Mayoral pack largely agrees
By BILL VARIAN and RON MATUS TAMPA -- If Tampa business leaders were looking for ways to distinguish the candidates for mayor, they got little help during a forum early Wednesday at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. All the candidates said the city needs to do a better job promoting redevelopment of blighted areas. The city needs to take advantage of Tampa's assets -- a deep-water port, major universities -- to lure new business, they said. And they agreed the city's debt load will make big public projects a challenge in the years ahead. "I don't imagine the next mayor being able to do any signature projects," said City Council member Charlie Miranda, who perhaps emphasized most that belt-tightening is in order. The forum was one of two Wednesday. The other came that night at the Plant High School auditorium. Seven candidates are vying to replace Mayor Dick Greco: Miranda and fellow council member Bob Buckhorn; Hillsborough elections supervisor Pam Iorio; Frank Sanchez, a former aide to President Clinton; fitness author Don Ardell; car mechanic Carl election is March 4. The night forum was organized by South Tampa neighborhoods. Before 300 people, the candidates largely agreed on audience questions ranging from code enforcement to stormwater fees to the proliferation of giant new homes -- derisively called "McMansions" -- next to smaller homes in older neighborhoods. But agreeing on main points didn't stop candidates from launching the occasional jab. In response to the McMansion question, Iorio said she has friends who hate them but knows other people who live in them. "I think that's all I should say about it," she concluded as the audience laughed. Buckhorn saw an opening. "I wish it was that easy for Charlie and I, who, night after night, have to make the tough decisions," he said. Buckhorn didn't answer the question either, except to say, "we try really hard to balance ... competing needs." Both forums were more notable for revealing how the candidates appear to be finalizing the tag lines for how they'd like their campaigns to be known. Buckhorn was clearly the man with a plan. To repeated questions at the chamber forum, he responded that he has already spelled out his position in a detailed platform unmatched by any of his rivals. "Politicians make a lot of statements at election time," Buckhorn said. "What is your plan?" Sanchez as mayor said he would be the "Chief Vision Officer." As the race's only businessman, he said he wants to promote national and international investment in Tampa, which he considers the basis of improving the quality of life here. In a chamber survey filled out by the candidates in advance, Sanchez also took the strongest stance for new taxes to pay for road improvements. Miranda didn't even turn in his survey, solidifying his apparent slogan: "What you see is what you get." He said the city is largely heading in the right direction, in part through the work he has done as a City Council member. And Iorio is taking every opportunity to remind audiences that she is the supervisor of elections, the one whose elections have gone smoothly, unlike some other Florida counties'. She says she wants to turn the city into a national model for efficiency and service to its citizens. Her stated slogan? "A standard of excellence." Fitness promoter Ardell rounded out the group Wednesday with a happy message roughly translated as "Let's have fun." He got the biggest laugh Wednesday night when the candidates were asked how Gasparilla could be made more inclusive. "What's there to be proud of?" he asked. "A bunch of drunks in the street? "Let's have a healthier parade," he continued. "Get these people to stop dressing up as pirates. That's ridiculous." The audience howled.
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From the Times |
