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Miller's deeds can quiet critics

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published March 30, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Chris Zuppa] Les Miller kisses his wife, Gwen Miller, after she won the Tampa City Council District 1 race at the Italian Club in Ybor City.

They cheered at the victory party for City Council member Gwen Miller, but those cheers weren't loud enough to drown out the ringing bells of dissent.

The 12-year incumbent had drawn five opponents and ended up in a hotly contested runoff with an adult entertainment owner. It was a wakeup call, not only for Miller but for all of the area's African-American elected officials.

Miller's substantial victory over Joe Redner may signal an endorsement to some, but to me it had more to do with Redner's missteps - offering voters free admission to Mons Venus - than with Miller's previous performance.

Even in victory, the criticism Miller drew as being ineffective still has merit. If one of her other four opponents had ended up in the runoff, Miller may have very well ended up on the losing end.

The question now is how does Miller move forward, and the answer is not the status quo. Clearly people expect more, and she should expect more of herself. Showing up is no longer enough to appease her constituents. Being black is no longer enough to satisfy voters. We're past the point where we celebrate just because someone on a council or on a commission looks like us.

This isn't to suggest that black officials should be held to a higher standard. A city is only as strong as its weakest links, so reducing crime and bringing economic development to areas like east Tampa should be the province of every elected official. And Miller, who holds a citywide seat, can't just focus on "black issues."

This is to suggest, however, that black officials must lead the way and set the bar. Not only should they use the bully pulpit to raise awareness of the area's most pressing issues, they also must help craft a vision to solve those problems.

Miller's mission should be to identify a dire need and then take steps to create a solution. Given the tools at her disposal, I don't see why she can't be successful. After all, her husband, Les Miller, is a former state Senate minority leader. Her longtime friend, Arthenia Joyner, is a current state senator. One of her biggest supporters is former Mayor Dick Greco, who was unabashed in his endorsement, and current Mayor Pam Iorio considers Gwen a friend and ally.

And I haven't even mentioned the other business and social leaders who rallied to her aid when she faced off against Redner.

Now imagine if Miller identified an issue she wanted to tackle, convened this group of influential people and said, "Here's what I would like to do, can you help me?" It's difficult for me to imagine they would say no, and if the funding hurdle - a problem with any effort - can be cleared, I think they could make progress.

If nothing else, I think she would find out pretty quickly who are her real friends.

What issue? Reviving the Tampa/Hillsborough Urban League comes to mind, and so does creating an institute for minority entrepreneurs. Or maybe it could be as simple as building a pedestrian crosswalk on Bayshore Boulevard or bringing more retail development to Drew Park. Whatever she chooses, it should be tangible, empower others and improve the quality of life for all in the city.

For Miller, this is the hour to create a legacy and silence the folks who insist she hasn't done anything during her 12-year tenure on the council. Pundits always argue that City Council members can only do so much, but I'm not asking Miller to solve all of society's ills. I'm just asking her to pick a problem, any problem, and work on it.

I'm just asking for her to lead.

That's all I'm saying.

[Last modified March 29, 2007, 22:42:57]