Week in Review

OPPONENTS: IORO VOTED AGAINST CRUCIAL ROAD: Tampa mayoral candidate Bob Buckhorn mailed a flier 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."

Iorio said that 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 road would have run through Lutz, an area Iorio represented on the commission, unlike the one now proposed. She told the Lutz Civic Association in 1988 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."

COMMISSION SLOWS WELLHEAD PROTECTION CHANGES: A new wellhead protection ordinance won't be on the books any time soon.

Heeding criticism from residents, the Hillsborough County Commission on Wednesday sent an advisory committee back to the table with a mandate to get more advice from the community.

Members voted unanimously to increase the size of the 25-person advisory committee. They also guaranteed that the revised ordinance would include no less than the current protections.

"I'm very pleased with the direction they took today," said Rich Dugger, president of the Keystone Civic Association.

The 1992 ordinance created buffers around major groundwater drinking wells, such as the Eldridge-Wilde well field in northwest Hillsborough. The advisory committee set out to revise the rules to reflect new pollution data, as well as the inclusion of new surface water sources, such as the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers and the Tampa Bypass Canal.

The revised ordinance also would prohibit and restrict certain activities, such as industrial development and animal stables.

Not everyone was pleased. Keystone residents said they would lose all their current protection if buffer areas are confined to the wellheads.

The board acknowledged those sentiments as members urged more community involvement. Commissioner Ronda Storms chimed in, saying mining interests in her district should have a voice in the final draft.

FORMER USF PROFESSOR SUES ACCUSER: The former head of a nationally recognized Alzheimer's research center at the University of South Florida filed a lawsuit Monday against one of the women accusing him of sexual harassment.

Michael Mullan of Hunter's Green, who resigned from USF last month as the school concluded an investigation into harassment allegations, accused Karen Gosche of defaming him in a newspaper report last week about the inquiry.

Gosche, 43, a former graduate student, worked for Mullan from 1996 to 1997 at the Roskamp Institute, which is trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's.

"He's suing me? I'm shocked," said Gosche, who graduated and left USF in 2000. "This is nothing more, nothing less than Michael Mullan now being held accountable for his behavior."

USF's investigation into the harassment allegations of three women, including Gosche, concluded last month. The report outlining the allegations remains closed to allow Mullan to appeal. USF officials refused to comment.

The lawsuit, filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court, states that Mullan has been "subjected to criticism and ridicule."

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