Buckhorn takes shot at Iorio's voting record

Mayoral candidates exchange criticisms as Bob Buckhorn says Pam Iorio is responsible for traffic problems in New Tampa.

By DAVID KARP and JOHN BALZ
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

TAMPA -- Mayoral candidate Bob Buckhorn mailed a flier Thursday to hundreds of voters in New Tampa that accuses opponent Pam Iorio of causing traffic problems in the area.

The flier says Iorio opposed building an east-west road connecting Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 275 when she served on the County Commission more than a decade ago.

"Pam Iorio wants you to believe she has done something to solve New Tampa's traffic problems," the fliers say in red, capital letters. "NOTHING could be further from the truth . . ."

Iorio called the flier a distortion of her record.

"There is just no resemblance to the truth," Iorio said. "I know voters are able to separate fact from fiction."

Buckhorn said it's fair to criticize Iorio's record.

"If you cast a vote you ought to be able to explain it," he said after a debate Wednesday night in Tampa Palms. "I have cast thousands of votes. I ought to be able to explain every one. If you aren't prepared to defend your voting record then you shouldn't be in this business."

Iorio says the flier takes her position out of context.

As a county commissioner, she did vote against the east-west road in 1988. But the proposed corridor was significantly different from the one currently being considered by the Florida Department of Transportation.

The proposed east-west road would have run through Lutz, an area Iorio represented on the commission. The current east-west road does not extend into Lutz.

And while Iorio opposed the 1988 alignment, she told the Lutz Civic Association then that the building of an east-west road on County Line Road was still possible.

Buckhorn's flier also shows a list of transportation projects that Iorio included in her own flier to voters.

Iorio's ad makes it appear as if she fought to fund the list of projects, said Jon Coley, Buckhorn's political consultant.

"It's obvious what she meant," Coley said. "She was seeking credit for stuff that has already been done, taking credit for stuff that Bob Buckhorn and Charlie Miranda have done."

Iorio said the chart simply lists road projects in the area. It appears under a headline: "I'll fight for money to improve our roadways."

"It was an educational piece," she said.

-- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

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