Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
For weeks, I've been debating with friends and colleagues about how much Mayor Pam Iorio has done in her first year.
The standard most people like to use involves grand projects and celebrated ribbon cuttings, and those have been few since Iorio took over last April. Yet that isn't to suggest her first year has been without merit.
In a speech at a Leadership Tampa Alumni luncheon Wednesday, Iorio detailed a list of accomplishments that spanned three pages. Most were not sexy. But she has laid a foundation for more significant projects to occur in the next two years.
Start with a restructuring of city departments, which stresses accountability. Her attention-to-detail management style may not suit those accustomed to greater autonomy, but if it yields significant results without scandal, we can hardly complain.
The seeds for such results have been planted. A new customer service center should streamline complaints and effectively eliminate those annoying code enforcement violations and other worrisome problems that tend to get marginalized by big-picture leadership.
A new police district focused solely on East Tampa could become the most significant step ever in curbing the crime that has plagued that area. Drug holes like 29th Street and Lake Avenue have received significant attention.
Folks on 40th Street are looking forward to its widening. They began seeking it in the 1970s. The symbolic creation of African American Dollar Day - an initiative encouraging people to support black businesses on the third day of each month - has many blacks singing Iorio's praises.
Sure, some of the changes are cosmetic, but if you were a woman who had gone three decades without a makeover, a little lipstick might be greatly appreciated. Iorio has regained the confidence of that impoverished area, and I believe her goal of strengthening it is more than just talk.
Iorio increased funding for neighborhood improvements by 55 percent in her first budget. If the attention given to some of the city's more influential districts is spread to other neighborhoods, that can only strengthen her credibility and popularity.
Iorio needs to be credible and popular. A high approval rating will help her convince citizens to support revitalization of downtown, Channelside and East Tampa. It won't be easy, given problems with Centro Ybor and the residual rancor from the failed Civitas effort.
But Iorio has to move forward on one of her key initiatives - creating a downtown residential community - and she has to help the new Museum of Art come to fruition. Her second and third years are pivotal. After that, her attention most likely will turn to getting re-elected, and she won't have the political capital to spend on creative risk-taking.
And Iorio said she will take some creative financial risks to bring life to the northern part of downtown, centering on Franklin Street. A master plan is needed, and the city is working with the Downtown Tampa Partnership to craft such a plan.
My only hope is that it includes a place for students and young folks to inject vibrancy into downtown. Imagine artsy Davis Islands apartments blended with eclectic retail.
Overall, you can't help but give Iorio passing marks for her first year, but the bar will be raised 12 months from now. Asked what was the biggest surprises of her first year, Iorio was reticent because she didn't want to criticize the past administration. But her response clearly indicates her risks will not come without great forethought and due diligence.
"I would have to say I was surprised about how some public works projects were managed because I think we should do a better job," Iorio said. "When we say we're going to do a project and there's money allocated and there's a work plan, it ought to march forward in a particularly way and it ought to be done right."
In short, Iorio is going to move forward her way and won't be inclined to simply give carte blanche to developers. She may not accomplish all her goals, but she's not going to be surprised by anything.
That's all I'm saying.
- Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406 or at hooper@sptimes.com