New Tampa: For him, being a good neighbor means getting involved
Randy Marlowe wants to be supervisor of the Tampa Palms community board because he hopes to inspire more activist neighbors.
By RODNEY THRASH
Published May 21, 2004
TAMPA PALMS - Every second Wednesday of the month, taxing district supervisors sit around an L-shaped table and discuss finances and community projects. Midway through the meeting, it's the audience's turn.
"We will open the floor to the public for discussion," Tampa Palms Community Development District chairman Gene Field usually says. The supervisors and two staff members turn toward the crowd. With only three people in the bunch, two of whom are reporters, there are no takers. Board members start giggling.
The rows of empty seats are not so amusing to Randy Marlowe. Not when 95-foot utility poles are on the way. Not when Tampa Palms is about to open a 300,000-square-foot shopping complex that will add more cars to neighborhood streets.
"I see pretty much the same people at the meetings, and it's a single-digit percentage," said Marlowe, who is entering the race for supervisor of the Tampa Palms CDD. "We have a lot of bright people that can make this community better."
He said his neighbors tell him they don't know when the meetings are. Others tell him they don't know what's on the agenda.
Marlowe said if he is elected, he will rely on more than just monthly Tampa Palms newsletters for meeting dates, times and discussion items. Notices in newspapers are another way to disseminate such information, he said.
"Decisions are always better made with the maximum amount of input," Marlowe said. "One-sided decisions tend to alienate."
But more than increased community participation, Tampa Palms needs to do a better job of educating City Hall about Tampa Palms and how it is governed, Marlowe said. Though Tampa annexed Tampa Palms years ago, homeowners still pay annual assessment fees to the CDD, which enforces deed restrictions and maintains the upkeep of infrastructure. Tampa Palms should "not depend on one elected official" to explain to Mayor Pam Iorio and other city administrators what CDDs are and what they do.
"We are an integral part of Tampa," he said. ". . . What can the CDD do to help the mayor?"
It's that kind of attitude that impresses Dave Hollowell, who sits on the Tampa Palms Owners Association Residential Modifications Committee with Marlowe. He said Marlowe is "engaged with the issues of the community" but also has an eye for the "big picture."
For example, when homeowners come before the committee to resolve disputes, some only consider what is best for "their house and their back yard." Marlowe, however, has a knack for getting residents to look beyond their back yards and at Tampa Palms as a whole, Hollowell said.
"He wants to better our community, our neighborhood (and) ensure the quality we have in Tampa Palms is going to stay," Hollowell said.
The taxing district's four supervisors are elected to four-year terms. This year, three seats - those of Bill Shimer, Andy Miller and Ed Copeland - are up for grabs. Shimer, who was appointed to fill Mark Fitzpatrick's seat last summer after Fitzpatrick resigned to spend more time with family, is seeking re-election. So is Miller. Copeland said he will not be back.
As for Marlowe, being more involved "feels like the right thing to do.
"Tampa Palms is coming up on its first quarter century. I'd like to get it started on its second quarter century with the same community involvement, the same level of awareness and the same superior stewardship."
